MFA 2021 Freak Out Forum

[SocialKonstruct]

1 hour ago, theundoing said:

All I know about it is that they don't do interviews. The pick you from your statement and portfolio alone. Also if you are applying straight from undergrad you can get your application fee waived if you are on financial aid (I did this last year when I applied). Also, I've heard the studios are super nice. There is more info on UCLA in past years' MFA forums.

I am glad that you were able to state how nice UCLA is. I have a friend attending CalArts right now.

Luckily I just finished my summer art residency at SVA and I look forward to doing more artwork before I apply in the fall of 2022 ish for 2023 entry.

[SocialKonstruct]

1 hour ago, theundoing said:

interesting. The MFA website states they don't so this is good info to know. thanks

I think that they made exceptions only for this year. They won't allow this in any other typical year.

[theundoing]

1 hour ago, SocialKonstruct said:

I think that they made exceptions only for this year. They won't allow this in any other typical year.

That makes sense. I was rejected last year from Yale but I was asked to reapply by the faculty ...I suppose it will be slightly more competitive this year due to deferrals. 

[incoming first year mfa]

Which programs are notable & funded that any of you have knowledge of? That information isn't totally clear on many of the application sites. 

Edited October 14, 2020 by incoming first year mfa
grammar mistake

[SpillToBuilt]

31 minutes ago, incoming first year mfa said:

Which programs are notable & funded that any of you are knowledgeable? That information isn't totally clear on many of the application sites. 

Notable is subjective, so I won’t speak to that. Tons of funded programs are out there; just google something like funded mfa art programs—a few lists will come up. One program I know that is funded and likely a solid option is Rutgers New Brunswick in NJ, due to its proximity to NYC. My suggestion is to find a funded program that has faculty you really want to work with—of course, the program should also fit other personal criteria needs such as location. 

Edited October 14, 2020 by SpillToBuilt

[theundoing]

7 hours ago, incoming first year mfa said:

Which programs are notable & funded that any of you have knowledge of? That information isn't totally clear on many of the application sites. 

A lot of my information comes from conversations with friends who have recently gone through MFA applications/MFA programs so it could be somewhat inaccurate. 

And I live in nyc so I am biased but....

Rutgers (currently not accepting applications but definitely funded however you have to TA)

VCU (allegedly for sculpture the funding is very good. However, you don't really want to go to VCU for anything besides sculpture)

Columbia (allegedly for printmaking the funding is very good --all other disciplines have trash funding just because the tuition is very high)

If you are a New York State resident Hunter is not funded but it is relatively affordable. 

If you are a California resident/attended high school in California UCLA is not funded but it is relatively affordable.

CMU is fully funded. (I'm pretty sure?)

A lot of good schools have okay financial aid. Yale has a good rep for financial aid although, of course, there is still debt. 

RISD, SAIC, SVA, Columbia, from what I have heard have pretty terrible aid.  A lot more schools could be added to the terrible list with the COVID budget crunch, who knows

If you want to go to a good school that is connected to the art world in nyc (which honestly means less and less these days) and pay $0 in tuition basically you have to wait to apply to Rutgers (imo).

Edited October 14, 2020 by theundoing

[SocialKonstruct]

2 hours ago, theundoing said:

A lot of my information comes from conversations with friends who have recently gone through MFA applications/MFA programs so it could be somewhat inaccurate. 

And I live in nyc so I am biased but....

Rutgers (currently not accepting applications but definitely funded however you have to TA)

VCU (allegedly for sculpture the funding is very good. However, you don't really want to go to VCU for anything besides sculpture)

Columbia (allegedly for printmaking the funding is very good --all other disciplines have trash funding just because the tuition is very high)

If you are a New York State resident Hunter is not funded but it is relatively affordable. 

If you are a California resident/attended high school in California UCLA is not funded but it is relatively affordable.

CMU is fully funded. (I'm pretty sure?)

A lot of good schools have okay financial aid. Yale has a good rep for financial aid although, of course, there is still debt. 

RISD, SAIC, SVA, SAIC, Columbia, from what I have heard have pretty terrible aid.  A lot more schools could be added to the terrible list with the COVID budget crunch, who knows

If you want to go to a good school that is connected to the art world in nyc (which honestly means less and less these days) and pay $0 in tuition basically you have to wait to apply to Rutgers (imo).

Nice. Btw, I am originally from Brooklyn.

In any case, my goal is to be entering into the NYC/LA contemporary art scene so I plan someday to have my art studio/second home close to one of those two cities. I really enjoy living in Utah and hope to have a family someday but on a practical level, my type of conceptual art doesn't jive at all with where I live at.

Yale is just tough to enter and they want a variety of students in their program and not just artists who have thick resumes.

Columbia and UCLA and and SAIC and RISD and Yale are pretty much in the kingmakers if you want to be recognized in the contemporary art world (we are talking about gallery representation and nods in Art in America, ArtNews, and ArtForum if you are lucky... plus art fairs). However if you want to have a quiet less hectic art practice, then pretty much any MFA where you find a kindred professor and student body is important so anywhere would be fine in that case.

Edited October 15, 2020 by SocialKonstruct

[aniben3]

2 hours ago, SocialKonstruct said:

Nice. Btw, I am originally from Brooklyn.

In any case, my goal is to be entering into the NYC/LA contemporary art scene so I plan someday to have my art studio/second home close to one of those two cities. I really enjoy living in Utah and hope to have a family someday but on a practical level, my type of conceptual art doesn't jive at all with where I live at.

Yale is just tough to enter and they want a variety of students in their program and not just artists who have thick resumes.

Columbia and UCLA and and SAIC and RISD and Yale are pretty much in the kingmakers if you want to be recognized in the contemporary art world (we are talking about gallery representation and nods in Art in America, ArtNews, and ArtForum if you are lucky... plus art fairs). However if you want to have a quiet less hectic art practice, then pretty much any MFA where you find a kindred professor and student body is important so anywhere would be fine in that case.

Seconding this, if you want a gallery career then the big names are supposed to help you with that. If you're looking for an academic career, then look into programs that will give you chances to teach. These are also usually the better funded programs because TA = stipend from what I've seen. I shifted my focus from gallery to academic schools because of my career plans, haha.

[SocialKonstruct]

22 hours ago, aniben3 said:

Seconding this, if you want a gallery career then the big names are supposed to help you with that. If you're looking for an academic career, then look into programs that will give you chances to teach. These are also usually the better funded programs because TA = stipend from what I've seen. I shifted my focus from gallery to academic schools because of my career plans, haha.

The question I have is: Can I do both a gallery and academic career? I REALLY want to!  I love teaching.

[aniben3]

12 minutes ago, SocialKonstruct said:

The question I have is: Can I do both a gallery and academic career? I REALLY want to!  I love teaching.

I would assume so... Top schools also give out TAships, I got one from SAIC, but it's far less experience than a public university. I'd like to have as much experience as possible, plus my research draws from outside of art so going to an all-art program wouldn't be as beneficial. 

I suppose it depends on how much you want of either and what sort of teaching. Do you want a gallery career where you also do workshops? Do you want a teaching career where you also make art? I've seen plenty of both. So many factors, lol

[SocialKonstruct]

2 hours ago, aniben3 said:

I would assume so... Top schools also give out TAships, I got one from SAIC, but it's far less experience than a public university. I'd like to have as much experience as possible, plus my research draws from outside of art so going to an all-art program wouldn't be as beneficial. 

I suppose it depends on how much you want of either and what sort of teaching. Do you want a gallery career where you also do workshops? Do you want a teaching career where you also make art? I've seen plenty of both. So many factors, lol

My main focus is mostly studio practice and gallery sales/career and then be an adjunct faculty/workshop teacher. I would say 80% gallery/20% academic career. I suspect that going to a top-tier MFA school is going to be the direction here.

[simmodium]

On 10/11/2020 at 7:26 PM, SocialKonstruct said:

What bothers me is the lack of transparency on the school informing the public that they aren't taking a new batch of folks. Here is an example of a student list not updated for a class of 2022. https://arts.columbia.edu/visual-arts/students and http://mfafinearts.sva.edu/students

Also some schools did put up their new rosters for 2022 but one can see that classes have diminished quite a bit. https://www.art.yale.edu/about/people/current-students and http://www.art.cmu.edu/mfa/students/ (CMU wasn't impacted too much). Yale sculpture probably had 4-5 deferred folks.

For Painting, I was doing research into Yale's program in June/July when they had the original cohort of 1st years listed before they started this fall, there were 22, and 6-7 appeared to defer, and they added 3 off the waitlist I believe for a class size of 18. So the class size for Yale Painting entering next fall is likely just around 10-12 spots left haha 

[seal]

Is anyone compiling funding information for each program? I'm emailing some schools and would like to know if I can add to an existing spreadsheet.

I found the google doc BFAMFAPhD Free/Paid MFA programs 2018 update (visual arts focus) created by bfamfaphd.com, but a lot has changed this year. 

[SocialKonstruct]

5 hours ago, seal said:

Is anyone compiling funding information for each program? I'm emailing some schools and would like to know if I can add to an existing spreadsheet.

I found the google doc BFAMFAPhD Free/Paid MFA programs 2018 update (visual arts focus) created by bfamfaphd.com, but a lot has changed this year. 

I am not since I have 21 credit hours and I won't be applying for another 1.5 years.

Edited October 19, 2020 by SocialKonstruct

[Strawberrycat]

Hi everyone!

Have any of you participated in the national grad portfolio review days? I recommend it if you have questions about your portfolio, the process, different schools or programs, and want to talk one on one with faculty or admissions people. I also got some app fee waivers from some schools last year when I went to the one in SF. (idk if that would be different this year since they're all online and things are weird in general, though.) I'm very nervous to do it through zoom. Video calls feel so awkward to me, but I guess it will be good practice because I'm sure a lot of schools will be interviewing that way. 

I paint/sculpt/draw and I'm aiming to primarily apply to schools in California with TAships and good funding (scary, because they're all small and competitive), but I really liked the way some of MICA's programs were described too (just not the price). 

Is anyone else applying with a mixed or interdisciplinary portfolio? How do you plan to break it up and organize it? I applied last year and didn't get in anywhere, and I think that might have been something that hurt me during the process. 

Good luck to everyone and please stay safe in these strange times! ♡

[aniben3]

1 hour ago, Strawberrycat said:

Hi everyone!

Have any of you participated in the national grad portfolio review days? I recommend it if you have questions about your portfolio, the process, different schools or programs, and want to talk one on one with faculty or admissions people. I also got some app fee waivers from some schools last year when I went to the one in SF. (idk if that would be different this year since they're all online and things are weird in general, though.) I'm very nervous to do it through zoom. Video calls feel so awkward to me, but I guess it will be good practice because I'm sure a lot of schools will be interviewing that way. 

I paint/sculpt/draw and I'm aiming to primarily apply to schools in California with TAships and good funding (scary, because they're all small and competitive), but I really liked the way some of MICA's programs were described too (just not the price). 

Is anyone else applying with a mixed or interdisciplinary portfolio? How do you plan to break it up and organize it? I applied last year and didn't get in anywhere, and I think that might have been something that hurt me during the process. 

Good luck to everyone and please stay safe in these strange times! ♡

Since I'm abroad, I've done national portfolio online for a couple years now. It's always been more of a chatroom situation vs zoom, unless they're changing it this year? I did have one online call for it last year, but that was pretty unexpected.

Are you in contact with your undergrad profs at all? I'm 6 years out, but I've gotten various advice from them on what they thought looked best for portfolio order after they reviewed my materials for recommendations. (I'm interdisciplinary / fiber) Could you have someone look it over for you? 

[Strawberrycat]

14 hours ago, aniben3 said:

Since I'm abroad, I've done national portfolio online for a couple years now. It's always been more of a chatroom situation vs zoom, unless they're changing it this year? I did have one online call for it last year, but that was pretty unexpected.

Are you in contact with your undergrad profs at all? I'm 6 years out, but I've gotten various advice from them on what they thought looked best for portfolio order after they reviewed my materials for recommendations. (I'm interdisciplinary / fiber) Could you have someone look it over for you? 

Ohh okay! I think I read that some were through zoom, but chat room ones seem less stressful for me, haha. Yeah, I keep in contact with a few of them. I'll try to ask them, thank you! 

[incoming first year mfa]

Where is everyone applying?

[silverbuttons]

hello! i have a Q for the forums if anyone has sum insight:

so, i've been on the fence about getting an mfa (painting) for a few years now but feel up to it this year and plan to apply. while compiling my cv I began to feel like its really lacking ( which it is ) and that I dont have the necessary pre-mfa requirements that many applicants do ( residency, shows, grants ). I haven't shown work since undergrad nor have I participated in any residencies ( was about to but covid  ) and I havent received any grants since undergrad either. I've done other stuff since school ( opened a gallery/curatorial projects ), worked for artists, and have kept a steady studio practice. I feel pretty good in all other application requirements but i guess im wondering how much weight is on the cv and if my chances are drastically lowered due to my lack of experience in showing and residencies. 

 

thanks<3 ! I'm interested in bard and rutgers..(i know rutgers is cancelled for 2021)

[SpillToBuilt]

4 hours ago, silverbuttons said:

hello! i have a Q for the forums if anyone has sum insight:

so, i've been on the fence about getting an mfa (painting) for a few years now but feel up to it this year and plan to apply. while compiling my cv I began to feel like its really lacking ( which it is ) and that I dont have the necessary pre-mfa requirements

Have you been making lots of work? Does your practice have a conceptual background? Do you know where you sit within your medium(s) history and the current discussions going on in the art world? That’s probably a lot more important than recently showing it in galleries, plus your other experiences should help.

[silverbuttons]

2 hours ago, SpillToBuilt said:

Have you been making lots of work? Does your practice have a conceptual background? Do you know where you sit within your medium(s) history and the current discussions going on in the art world? That’s probably a lot more important than recently showing it in galleries, plus your other experiences should help.

thanks for the response! I definitely agree, all of that is way more important than just showing work and I definitely feel competent in those areas, I just worry schools favor people who have had some degree of exposure since graduating,,,but hopefully my other experiences can translate. 

[mfaer]

UCLA isn't accepting MFA students in Photography for 2021.... ?

Hoping to get into BARD...a little concerned hearing that they are accepting a smaller class for Summer 2021? Any other interdisciplinary programs out there that come recommended? 

[XSX]

On 10/13/2020 at 2:58 PM, incoming first year mfa said:

I am reapplying this year after COVID-19 restrictions felt a little too strict to warrant tuition. I want to focus on funded programs, though not applying to them exclusively. I have gotten a lot of information about UCSD, but does anyone have information on UCLA? Their website is opaque, and I don't know much about the program other than its evident exclusivity. 

funny you say that, because i feel like UCSD's website is pretty opaque and hard to navigate.

[SocialKonstruct]

On 10/22/2020 at 1:06 PM, rettetsvo said:

UCLA isn't accepting MFA students in Photography for 2021.... ?

Hoping to get into BARD...a little concerned hearing that they are accepting a smaller class for Summer 2021? Any other interdisciplinary programs out there that come recommended? 

Wow, that's news to me about UCLA

[SocialKonstruct]

On 10/21/2020 at 10:37 AM, silverbuttons said:

hello! i have a Q for the forums if anyone has sum insight:

so, i've been on the fence about getting an mfa (painting) for a few years now but feel up to it this year and plan to apply. while compiling my cv I began to feel like its really lacking ( which it is ) and that I dont have the necessary pre-mfa requirements that many applicants do ( residency, shows, grants ). I haven't shown work since undergrad nor have I participated in any residencies ( was about to but covid  ) and I havent received any grants since undergrad either. I've done other stuff since school ( opened a gallery/curatorial projects ), worked for artists, and have kept a steady studio practice. I feel pretty good in all other application requirements but i guess im wondering how much weight is on the cv and if my chances are drastically lowered due to my lack of experience in showing and residencies. 

 

thanks<3 ! I'm interested in bard and rutgers..(i know rutgers is cancelled for 2021)

Silverbuttons you don't need to worry. A long CV does not matter much. Even Yale is focused on fit and whether they can have a diverse range of students. If you are rejected most likely the program has too many of one type of student.