MFA 2021 Freak Out Forum

[jack343234]

16 hours ago, artgradstudent49 said:

Interior Design. Did you have any luck with contacting them and getting any money? I am about to do that 

I'm attempting to do that, but I'm not seeing much on their website about any need based aid, so I'm skeptical it will work.

[SocialKonstruct]

8 hours ago, San Diego Stone said:

Hi Ashley. Art History is awesome. When I was in community college I took so many Art History classes that I accidentally earned an Associates Degree for it. My mother is an Art Historian, it's practically all we discuss. 

I totally see your point of view, and trust me, you're preaching to the choir with me, my friend. I've worked union with the IATSE Union since 2004, and both of my parents were labor organizers for the UFW and Registered Nurses, grandfather was an Ironworker. So I'm with you.

It just doesn't sit right with me that you are anonymous and taking a stand. If someone takes a stand, everyone should know who they are, otherwise you're just another avatar in a sea of opinions on the interwebz. And that bugs me out because as an artist, it's my responsibility to be a public figure when I am making revolutionary art. If not, I'm just another tired Banksy clone. People need real people. Where would Anarchism be without the real Emma Goldman or Peter Kropotkin?

Don't get me wrong, I'm not hating. In fact, I'm all about you and what you are sharing. It's just better if we let people know exactly who we are. It's easier to rally around a person and a cause than it is to care about a nameless avatars opinion. You feel me Ashley?

You do you, tho.

I'm did not apply to Columbia. I only applied to the one university I thought would work for me.

Union till the day I die. Good luck with your campaign!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rs5_gB582IM

I agree. I am pretty unsure what to make of a name entitled "MFA Troll." This isn't a Duchampian gesture either LoL

[Scrambledmegs]

On 3/29/2021 at 10:23 AM, peachy4345 said:

Not trying to be a downer, but something to consider if anyone is thinking about Columbia:

Among your choices, you should also consider which programs have a grad worker union AND treat grad students right. I am a current 2nd year PhD student at Columbia. The majority of grad students are currently on strike for a living wage, better healthcare, and protection from harassment and discrimination. I have been watching the process of our new graduate union try to bargain for our first contract for over two years. In these sessions, I have seen admin (and their sleazy lawyer, who charges $1,500/hr) do everything possible to stall negotiations, belittle us, and play down heartfelt testimonials that make clear why our demands are reasonable and necessary. Every time we've gotten a raise in the past, our Columbia rent magically goes up by a higher percentage. Our wages are not enough to live in NYC. There is no dental or vision coverage, and they recently removed the better health insurance plan option. The school has a terrible history with harassment and discrimination cases brought by both undergrads and grads (Google it), and at the moment they are doing everything possible to avoid meeting our contract demand about changing the investigation process to give more rights to the complainant (see link below).

We're entering the 3rd week of the strike, and Columbia has made very clear that they plan to not only doc our bi-weekly pay (which we receive for TA/RA work), but our academic stipends--yep, they are going to debit our student accounts, thereby jeopardizing course registration, degree progress, visas, and health insurance. We have a legal right to strike, but this later action constitutes illegal academic retaliation.

Long story short: I'm sure a lot of schools are as corrupt as Columbia, but I've just seen first hand how rotten this place is to the core. They only care about profit (their endowment grew $300 million during the pandemic alone), squeezing as much our of grad workers and adjuncts for as little pay as possible, sweeping bad press under the rug, and gentrifying Harlem with multi-million dollar campus expansions.

I encourage folks thinking about attending/applying to Columbia to express concerns to department chairs and administrators, and ask them why they insist on denying grad workers a fair contract: 

• President Lee Bollinger officeofthepresident@columbia.edu, Phone: (212) 854-9970
• Provost Ira Katznelson provost@columbia.edu,  +1 212 854 2404
• GSAS Grad Admissions: gsas-admissions@columbia.edu

 

https://gothamist.com/news/columbia-grad-students-strike-over-wages-and-harassment-policies-nyu-counterparts-vote-similar-actions

Totally support your cause here but I feel what you are saying doesn’t apply to MFAs all that much. Most MFA programs don’t have stipends anyway and very few have any kind of substantial paid TA positions. The schools that do have that kind of funding are mostly smaller names than Columbia. 
So the people on here going to get their MFA at Columbia are doing so without expectation of being paid or unionizing. Programs vary so much within schools; it feels to me that an art history PhD candidate’s experience at Columbia actually isn’t all that applicable to an prospective mfa candidate. So I suppose I’d take this information differently depending on what program I’m interested in. However, maybe I’m tripping. I hope your grad experience gets better and your demands are met. 

[hello this is]

Hi! just got an email from Carnegie Mellon telling me that I am on the waitlist. Anyone else hear from them? not sure what my chances are getting in from the waitlist but now i'm on two.. carnegie and yale lmao fuck 

[peachy4345]

1 hour ago, Scrambledmegs said:

Totally support your cause here but I feel what you are saying doesn’t apply to MFAs all that much. Most MFA programs don’t have stipends anyway and very few have any kind of substantial paid TA positions. The schools that do have that kind of funding are mostly smaller names than Columbia. 
So the people on here going to get their MFA at Columbia are doing so without expectation of being paid or unionizing. Programs vary so much within schools; it feels to me that an art history PhD candidate’s experience at Columbia actually isn’t all that applicable to an prospective mfa candidate. So I suppose I’d take this information differently depending on what program I’m interested in. However, maybe I’m tripping. I hope your grad experience gets better and your demands are met. 

I hear you and thanks for your support! It is certainly true that MFA and PhD experiences are different. And it's super unfortunate that Master's level funding is so terrible (across the board, regardless of field, it's very rare). I'll just say quickly that one reason for that is the lack of unionization at universities, or union contracts that exclude MA-level students. I did a fully-funded MA (with health insurance) at a university with a strong grad union, and I now see that was only possible because of the union's push to include MA students in the unit. Universities never want that because it increases costs. That's one thing strikers at Columbia are currently fighting for. At least at Columbia, my understanding is that folks pay a lot to attend their MFA programs, so it's worth thinking about who they are leaving out/who can't access these programs if there is no push to include work opportunities for them in a contract. Anyways, I think these issues are relevant to this thread, because 1) the way a university treats its grad students (whether workers or not) is pretty similar, and 2) it's important for folks trying to work in the art world to aware of / involved in organized labor (which we see happening a lot at museums right now), because we're all part of the same ecosystem. 

[theundoing]

1 hour ago, Scrambledmegs said:

Totally support your cause here but I feel what you are saying doesn’t apply to MFAs all that much. Most MFA programs don’t have stipends anyway and very few have any kind of substantial paid TA positions. The schools that do have that kind of funding are mostly smaller names than Columbia. 
So the people on here going to get their MFA at Columbia are doing so without expectation of being paid or unionizing. Programs vary so much within schools; it feels to me that an art history PhD candidate’s experience at Columbia actually isn’t all that applicable to an prospective mfa candidate. So I suppose I’d take this information differently depending on what program I’m interested in. However, maybe I’m tripping. I hope your grad experience gets better and your demands are met. 

There is an MFA TA for each studio based undergraduate visual art class at Columbia. The increase in stipend would apply to them as well. The admin attitude is very prevalent in the MFA program. For example there are currently zero photo faculty for the MFAs at Columbia yet they are still accepting photo students bc those students represent $$$ and they know that people will come regardless. Some of the MFA programs at Columbia are still okay like printmaking and painting but the whole demoralizing attitude is just super prevalent and that is a result of the admin. But I do absolutely agree this has a bigger impact on the PhD students. And it would still be a very hard decision to turn down Columbia despite all of this. It just sucks that it is basically a hedge fund with an education wing attached to it

Edited March 30, 2021 by theundoing

[theundoing]

2 minutes ago, peachy4345 said:

I hear you and thanks for your support! It is certainly true that MFA and PhD experiences are different. And it's super unfortunate that Master's level funding is so terrible (across the board, regardless of field, it's very rare). I'll just say quickly that one reason for that is the lack of unionization at universities, or union contracts that exclude MA-level students. I did a fully-funded MA (with health insurance) at a university with a strong grad union, and I now see that was only possible because of the union's push to include MA students in the unit. Universities never want that because it increases costs. That's one thing strikers at Columbia are currently fighting for. At least at Columbia, my understanding is that folks pay a lot to attend their MFA programs, so it's worth thinking about who they are leaving out/who can't access these programs if there is no push to include work opportunities for them in a contract. Anyways, I think these issues are relevant to this thread, because 1) the way a university treats its grad students (whether workers or not) is pretty similar, and 2) it's important for folks trying to work in the art world to aware of / involved in organized labor (which we see happening a lot at museums right now), because we're all part of the same ecosystem. 

I hope yall get your demands met! Are people not supposed to go on campus at all right now? I was so confused the other day and wasn't sure if I was supposed to go on Columbia's campus or not. I can't believe the crap the admin is pulling (but also I can believe it.) 

[wambam]

9 minutes ago, hello this is said:

Hi! just got an email from Carnegie Mellon telling me that I am on the waitlist. Anyone else hear from them? not sure what my chances are getting in from the waitlist but now i'm on two.. carnegie and yale lmao fuck 

Uggg I feel you.  What now?? 

[peachy4345]

57 minutes ago, theundoing said:

I hope yall get your demands met! Are people not supposed to go on campus at all right now? I was so confused the other day and wasn't sure if I was supposed to go on Columbia's campus or not. I can't believe the crap the admin is pulling (but also I can believe it.) 

Thanks for your support! There are some people on campus right now, but I think it's pretty limited. If you are a prospect, I think it's ok? But you might want to check the website to see if there are specific policies about going into buildings if you aren't a student. Good luck!

[theundoing]

54 minutes ago, peachy4345 said:

Thanks for your support! There are some people on campus right now, but I think it's pretty limited. If you are a prospect, I think it's ok? But you might want to check the website to see if there are specific policies about going into buildings if you aren't a student. Good luck!

oh yeah. sorry I meant...is it considered disrespecting the strike to go on campus? but thank you for answering my question!!

[seenmanwell]

On 3/29/2021 at 3:22 PM, artgradstudent49 said:

This is for people who got accepted to Pratt: Did your scholarship offer come in your acceptance letter emailed to you or was it in the letter mailed to you? The email contained no scholarship but I have not received the mailed letter yet. Just wondering!

It came in my email acceptance letter. Same thing happened with SAIC though. They didnt mention any scholarship I had to call the program director. 

[rororiroor]

Are people still waiting on Columbia? I interviewed over a week ago and have heard nothing. I haven’t seen much on here about Columbia acceptances. 

[peachy4345]

1 hour ago, theundoing said:

oh yeah. sorry I meant...is it considered disrespecting the strike to go on campus? but thank you for answering my question!!

Ah sorry! Now I get you where asking about crossing the picket line? I think it's fine if during the visit you join the picketing! We've had a lot of community members and allies do so--it's fun and it's socially distanced. You can find the hours on the landing page:

https://columbiagradunion.org/

[nobodyok]

On 3/19/2021 at 6:06 PM, nobodyok said:

I am in the same boat with VCU - Sculpture. I saw they already gave interviews and acceptances, so I'm assuming rejection as well. The website for sculpture states final decisions will be given by the end of March.

@salad did you wind up getting any kind of communication from VCU? now that it's officially the end of the month, i'm wondering why i didn't even receive the rejection notice yet lol.

[SocialKonstruct]

[mari11]

Where did you get this stat, out of curiosity?

[wambam]

33 minutes ago, SocialKonstruct said:

This is from 2017... is there an updated version by chance?  Either way, interesting. Thanks for sharing 

[SocialKonstruct]

1 hour ago, basilmari said:

Where did you get this stat, out of curiosity?

https://news.artnet.com/art-world/new-york-galleries-study-979049

[SocialKonstruct]

1 hour ago, wambam said:

This is from 2017... is there an updated version by chance?  Either way, interesting. Thanks for sharing 

Sadly enough I couldn't find any.

[hello this is]

what do y'all think of UCSD vs RISD? anyone wanna tell me what to do

[MFA Troll]

Mason Gross is one of the few art schools that provides grad students with insurance/stipeds/tuition-remission BECAUSE RU has an extremely robust union. RU is not a small school by any means. Labor solidarity is the answer to the exploitative nature of elite institutions. 

[a_monster]

12 minutes ago, MFA Troll said:

Mason Gross is one of the few art schools that provides grad students with insurance/stipeds/tuition-remission BECAUSE RU has an extremely robust union. RU is not a small school by any means. Labor solidarity is the answer to the exploitative nature of elite institutions. 

This ^^ 100%. I'm so bummed Mason Gross weren't taking MFA applications this year. Looks like a great program.

MICA lost my interest entirely when they framed payment for TAs as like a little bonus gift on top of the "real gift" of the experience they were providing. Not cool.

Edited March 31, 2021 by a_monster
bad word choice

[MFA Troll]

1 minute ago, a_monster said:

This ^^ 100%. I'm so bummed Mason Gross weren't taking MFA applications this year. Looks like a great program.

MICA lost my interest entirely when they framed payment for TAs as like a little bonus gift on top of the "real gift" of the experience they were providing. Not cool.

Try for the Rijksacademie. Free with generous stipend and their reputation envies Yale. The Netherlands is suffering through a bout of neoliberal austerity, so socially supported art institutions are suffering. Plus people hate American these days, but worth a try. LOL know I seem like a total jerk but I think its criminal to burden young artists with unsurmountable debt. 

 

[wambam]

1 hour ago, MFA Troll said:

Mason Gross is one of the few art schools that provides grad students with insurance/stipeds/tuition-remission BECAUSE RU has an extremely robust union. RU is not a small school by any means. Labor solidarity is the answer to the exploitative nature of elite institutions. 

Rutgers isn’t even taking a cohort this year

[XSX]

2 hours ago, hello this is said:

what do y'all think of UCSD vs RISD? anyone wanna tell me what to do

. 

Edited March 31, 2021 by XSX