MFA 2021 Freak Out Forum

[dramallama_07]

4 minutes ago, SocialKonstruct said:

I have a close friend who is a top notch artist who graduated from Otis and I can say woohoo for that choice too!

Plus it doesn't hurt to go to a place where Art School Confidential was shot at (LOL or maybe not :p)

You got any sources from Parsons?  

I'm seriously losing hope seeing nobody on this forum ever talks about the college

[SocialKonstruct]

Just now, dramallama_07 said:

You got any sources from Parsons?  

I'm seriously losing hope seeing nobody on this forum ever talks about the college

I actually don't sadly enough. I think I knew of a printmaking professor from Parsons who gave a lecture here at the U but apart from that, I really don't have any info regarding it. Pratt on the other hand...

[wambam]

Anybody want to weigh in on RISD painting? Is it worth it? (If you had some funding, but not a ton)

 

[everyonelikesbubbles]

13 hours ago, wambam said:

Anybody want to weigh in on RISD painting? Is it worth it? (If you had some funding, but not a ton)

 

Hey! I'm not sure any program is worth going into debt for. But RISD painting is an excellent program with awesome faculty who are all quite prominent and active (and mostly live in NY). I think Providence is such a cute college town. You could likely live downtown and walk to class/your studio. Lots of cool gay bars.  You have constituent access to Brown, if you want to do research. RISD has a cool little research center for biomorphic design with animal specimen called the Natural Lab, a good museum, and a nice art library. You can take lots of classes outside the department, which is nice if your work is interdisciplinary. RISD definitely has some of the nicest and largest maker spaces out there. The painting department has their final show in the city's exhibition center and another final show is organized in NYC.

[wambam]

6 hours ago, everyonelikesbubbles said:

Hey! I'm not sure any program is worth going into debt for. But RISD painting is an excellent program with awesome faculty who are all quite prominent and active (and mostly live in NY). I think Providence is such a cute college town. You could likely live downtown and walk to class/your studio. Lots of cool gay bars.  You have constituent access to Brown, if you want to do research. RISD has a cool little research center for biomorphic design with animal specimen called the Natural Lab, a good museum, and a nice art library. You can take lots of classes outside the department, which is nice if your work is interdisciplinary. RISD definitely has some of the nicest and largest maker spaces out there. The painting department has their final show in the city's exhibition center and another final show is organized in NYC.

Thanks for your insights.  It does sound like a great experience if you can afford it!  Ha

 

have most people on here made decisions? Still waiting on schools? It’s gotten really quiet... Columbia????

[f.m.m]

Hi

is there anyone who applied for UT austin (MFA design)?

or be invited to an interview?

Edited March 22, 2021 by f.m.m

[Killerdonuts]

Tyler painting folks - any updates? I reached out to Tyler Grad admissions on Friday, but they said everything was through the department, so they couldn't provide any ETA on admissions decisions. 

[justaperson]

Hey any thoughts/comments would be super appreciated! I got accepted into MFA Photography program 2021 at SAIC and CalArts. Does anyone have any impressions on either school in general or the photo program/faulty/student body specifically? Anything is worth sharing. Just trying to cast a wide net of opinions.

 

[mfaer]

Hey all, I just got accepted into my 2nd choice school from the waitlist. If I decide to decline and reapply next year because the timing is bad, will that hurt my chances of being re-admitted? Any thoughts on this? I’m debating just accepting it but I didn’t get to apply to my first choice (UCLA) this year which has left me slightly hesitant. Anyone in a similar situation? Maybe I should just be grateful and accept the offer? 

[a_monster]

Last I heard from Tyler was an email a couple weeks ago (3/5) from the head of the department saying decisions should be out in "the next weeks". I wrote admissions earlier that week, got the same response about it being through the department. Maybe I'll check in about it again if I don't hear by Friday.

[eiffel65]

On 3/19/2021 at 4:08 PM, dramallama_07 said:

That's exactly the dilemma. And I was hoping somebody here would help me on it. My motivation to go to SVA initially was its faculty and the fact that it has a lot of reach and provides good networking opportunities for its students. But in contrast, Parsons is way cheaper and I probably won't even have to apply for loan whereas I would've gone into considerable debt for SVA.

So is the debt worth it for all the opportunities SVA provides? Or should I rather be debt-free?

 

Also, another's question- SVA originally offered me 8k but when I requested for more, they brought it up to 32k (for both years combined). Do you guys think I can negotiate more now that I have Parsons in hand with a much better scholarship? Or is that just rude to ask since I've already requested once before?

How do you guys go about negotiating with schools for scholarship? It's something I should do but I'm scared of seeming rude or ungrateful, which I know is silly. Have y'all used any form letters or articles that might be helpful? Do you mention other schools and the aid they offered as leverage or is that not appropriate? Any advice would be appreciated thanks!

[lizavetar96]

2 minutes ago, eiffel65 said:

How do you guys go about negotiating with schools for scholarship? It's something I should do but I'm scared of seeming rude or ungrateful, which I know is silly. Have y'all used any form letters or articles that might be helpful? Do you mention other schools and the aid they offered as leverage or is that not appropriate? Any advice would be appreciated thanks!

I was to told to absolutely mention aid from other schools as that makes your merit grow in their eyes. As long as you do not sound like a mob boss lol, but are respectful and realistic about the prospects, they will be understandable. Remember - they can not retract their offer once they sent you an acceptance letter. 
Unfortunately, I do not know much beyond it, but I will be writing such letter to Parsons the moment SVA lets me know the amount of $$ I get in scholarship (which I hope will happen soon)

[XSX]

42 minutes ago, mfaer said:

Hey all, I just got accepted into my 2nd choice school from the waitlist. If I decide to decline and reapply next year because the timing is bad, will that hurt my chances of being re-admitted? Any thoughts on this? I’m debating just accepting it but I didn’t get to apply to my first choice (UCLA) this year which has left me slightly hesitant. Anyone in a similar situation? Maybe I should just be grateful and accept the offer? 

It might be worth taking the offer. UCLA is extremely competitive, doesn’t accept many students, and kind of a dice roll anyways. Depends really if you think you can handle waiting another year 

[XSX]

1 hour ago, Killerdonuts said:

Tyler painting folks - any updates? I reached out to Tyler Grad admissions on Friday, but they said everything was through the department, so they couldn't provide any ETA on admissions decisions. 

Still crickets over here 

[lizavetar96]

Question. 
 

SVA wants everyone either to accept or reject the offer by the 1st of April. I am still waiting on some schools and I need time until the 15th of April to decide. Do you think if I ask they can hold off one spot for me and wait for my decision on the 15th? 
 

did anyone have experience asking a certain school to wait? I feel like they will immediately understand that they are not much top priority school just by the nature or my request and will not allow me to hold off until the 15th...

 

dilemma. 

[eiffel65]

12 minutes ago, lizavetar96 said:

Question. 
 

SVA wants everyone either to accept or reject the offer by the 1st of April. I am still waiting on some schools and I need time until the 15th of April to decide. Do you think if I ask they can hold off one spot for me and wait for my decision on the 15th? 
 

did anyone have experience asking a certain school to wait? I feel like they will immediately understand that they are not much top priority school just by the nature or my request and will not allow me to hold off until the 15th...

 

dilemma. 

Different school, but I asked IIT ID for more time to decide and they were super flexible with me-- moved the deadline from Mar 5 to Mar 30th. No harm in asking -- I emphasized how much I liked the school but wanted to make a fully educated decision by hearing from everywhere I applied to.

[SocialKonstruct]

47 minutes ago, lizavetar96 said:

Question. 
 

SVA wants everyone either to accept or reject the offer by the 1st of April. I am still waiting on some schools and I need time until the 15th of April to decide. Do you think if I ask they can hold off one spot for me and wait for my decision on the 15th? 
 

did anyone have experience asking a certain school to wait? I feel like they will immediately understand that they are not much top priority school just by the nature or my request and will not allow me to hold off until the 15th...

 

dilemma. 

I think that it's unlikely that you will be able to hold your position. After all, others are on a waiting list and they want to vye for your position. So it's a do or die type of thing.

[SocialKonstruct]

1 hour ago, mfaer said:

Hey all, I just got accepted into my 2nd choice school from the waitlist. If I decide to decline and reapply next year because the timing is bad, will that hurt my chances of being re-admitted? Any thoughts on this? I’m debating just accepting it but I didn’t get to apply to my first choice (UCLA) this year which has left me slightly hesitant. Anyone in a similar situation? Maybe I should just be grateful and accept the offer? 

Out of curiosity what was your second choice?

[XSX]

Does anyone have any insight into the program at UC Riverside? I was accepted awhile back, and am trying to decide if I should accept or decline the offer. 

[Spjsnb]

Hi folks I just wanted to share this sentiment from one of my former professors that has been a guiding light for me and I think a good way to think about final selections...

“...it's worth considering that the best schools are sometimes more likely to take someone who's applied once before (it shows both progression in the work and also a desire to go to that particular program), so consider carefully whether you really want to apply to "safety" schools- you only get one MFA, and it's often better to be patient and reapply than to go somewhere that you're not really excited about.”

 

[mfaer]

1 hour ago, SocialKonstruct said:

Out of curiosity what was your second choice?

Bard MFA 

[SocialKonstruct]

1 minute ago, mfaer said:

Bard MFA 

That's quite a wonderful program and dependent on whether you like the faculty. If you think Bard fits your concepts well then go for it!

[Picnic.Lunch]

Has anyone heard from Columbia post-interview?

I interviewed with the painting department 10 days ago and have not heard anything. I was told by a friend who attended the Columbia MFA previously that those accepted usually here sooner, and those waitlisted or rejected here after the initial acceptances go out. 

Any info from any department is appreciated as I was told that all departments usually notify around the same time despite the staggered interview schedule. 

Thanks! 

[wambam]

1 hour ago, Spjsnb said:

Hi folks I just wanted to share this sentiment from one of my former professors that has been a guiding light for me and I think a good way to think about final selections...

“...it's worth considering that the best schools are sometimes more likely to take someone who's applied once before (it shows both progression in the work and also a desire to go to that particular program), so consider carefully whether you really want to apply to "safety" schools- you only get one MFA, and it's often better to be patient and reapply than to go somewhere that you're not really excited about.”

 

This really resonates with me.  Thanks for sharing 

[theundoing]

1 hour ago, mfaer said:

Bard MFA 

my friend is a current student and is somewhat upset because photo only has 6 faculty (including cochairs) this year and 50% of the photo faculty are online only. but hopefully they passed on that info in the acceptance. and congrats on getting in! I'm on the bard photo waitlist as well. I feel like even if it is bumpy this summer since it is a 3 year program it will likely smooth out.

Edited March 22, 2021 by theundoing