MFA 2021 Freak Out Forum

[artapplicant]

so weird! nothing is coming up on my portal for yale. is anyone else experiencing the same thing? 

[artist wannabe]

Does anyone know when Columbia will send out their interview invites and rejections? Also does anyone know how does recommendation letters work for UCLA? Do they just contact for recommendations at will? 

Also does anyone have artist residencies recommendations in mind? I will likely have to reapply next year....

[Dgzrlemc]

20 minutes ago, 3arabiyya said:

I'm sorry to hear that! What did you study there?

My BFA is in painting. I do actually have upcoming interviews there for ceramics and painting, so it’s not like I wouldn’t recommend it. I just personally don’t see myself accepting any place where you have to pay for any MFA. Figured I’d see what SAIC was willing to give money wise, but don’t expect much. Also - was recently talking to some professors I’m still in touch there and they recommended I read this: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/inside-the-fight-for-racial-equity-at-saic/Content%3foid=85493380&media=AMP%2bHTML

[NoraEllie]

Received an email from Yale! Rejected. 
I ended up applying to Parsons and SCAD last minute and have an interview at both!! I would be happy with either. Good luck everyone! 
 

and for those who didn’t get into Yale. This was my dream school ever since I was little and can’t imagine how many more individuals feel that way on here who received a rejection. Don’t let a silly little school in a world of opportunities keep you from succeeding. Everyone on here is so exceptionally talented and will at the end be where they want. ?

Edited February 6, 2021 by NoraEllie

[Gorg]

10 hours ago, guitarhero said:

hey guys, just wondering about Yale. They say on their website that after they invite people to interview, applicants are required to send/bring original work to the school. I'm sure that sending original work might take quite a long while for people living outside of America. Do you guys know if you need to send everything before your interview date and is it something they need to look at during the whole interview process? 

Also good luck everyone!!! hopefully we hear back next week! 

If you look on their YouTube channel, they have posted videos of the virtual open houses they did for this round of applications. At least for the photography dept they talked about how the interviews will be conducted remotely and that nobody will be at the school to look at your physical work during your interview so they said not to send anything.  They also said that since you will not be showing physical work that you would possibly have an opportunity to show more work than usual if you would like to. I would check out the video for the dept you applied for and see what they say! Good luck with your interview!!

[PlzTakeME]

7 minutes ago, Dgzrlemc said:

My BFA is in painting. I do actually have upcoming interviews there for ceramics and painting, so it’s not like I wouldn’t recommend it. I just personally don’t see myself accepting any place where you have to pay for any MFA. Figured I’d see what SAIC was willing to give money wise, but don’t expect much. Also - was recently talking to some professors I’m still in touch there and they recommended I read this: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/inside-the-fight-for-racial-equity-at-saic/Content%3foid=85493380&media=AMP%2bHTML

I see, thanks for sharing. The article is very informative– I did not know of all these issues. From their scholarships page it seemed there are many opportunities to cover part or all of the cost for the MFA! The dont say how many students these go to though.. I definitely feel for the students in the article

Where else have you applied?

[Paintyface]

29 minutes ago, katfude said:

Does anyone understand the financial aid component at this point in the game?

If you have an interview/interviews at some schools should you complete the FASFA now? Or do you wait until you have a formal acceptance letter? I do not want to wait too long, but every school has a different timeline for when you find out if you are accepted or not. I also have no idea if I will be accepted anywhere, and it seems silly to preemptively submit for schools that I am still unsure if they will give me an offer. 

FAFSA requests you list all schools you're applying to (regardless of acceptance). You can list up to 10. Once you accept an offer you can edit your FAFSA and delete the schools you're not attending...

[Scrambledmegs]

36 minutes ago, 3arabiyya said:

You never know what the programs want every year.. theyre building a cohort and requirements change and are unpredictable. Congrats on your yale interview!

Honestly this is so true. After that rejection, I was sure my grad school dreams were completely sunk. But that advice should comfort anyone who received a Yale rejection too. This is an extremely RANDOM roll the dice kind of process. No one should take a rejection or an acceptance too much to heart. We all know who we are. When it comes downs to it, getting in or not is a reflection of individual fit with a school not value of our work. 

[dramallama_07]

40 minutes ago, NoraEllie said:

Received an email from Yale! Rejected. 
I ended up applying to Parsons and SCAD last minute and have an interview at both!! I would be happy with either. Good luck everyone! 
 

and for those who didn’t get into Yale. This was my dream school ever since I was little and can’t imagine how many more individuals feel that way on here who received a rejection. Don’t let a silly little school in a world of opportunities keep you from succeeding. Everyone on here is so exceptionally talented and will at the end be where they want. ?

When did you get the Parsons interview call? Because I applied last minute as well and haven't heard back. Maybe I'm rejected

[Dgzrlemc]

33 minutes ago, 3arabiyya said:

I see, thanks for sharing. The article is very informative– I did not know of all these issues. From their scholarships page it seemed there are many opportunities to cover part or all of the cost for the MFA! The dont say how many students these go to though.. I definitely feel for the students in the article

Where else have you applied?

I interviewed at Arkansas and have an interview at Northwestern. Still waiting to hear from UGA and UConn. Oh and rejected from Yale ? haha. What about you? 

[NoraEllie]

7 minutes ago, dramallama_07 said:

When did you get the Parsons interview call? Because I applied last minute as well and haven't heard back. Maybe I'm rejected

I received the call on Friday! And no, I doubt it! My friend is at Parsons and she says their application is more like rolling admission after deadline which is Jan 1st. They’ll get to you! If you were rejected they would have definitely let you know! 

Edited February 6, 2021 by NoraEllie

[PlzTakeME]

38 minutes ago, Dgzrlemc said:

I interviewed at Arkansas and have an interview at Northwestern. Still waiting to hear from UGA and UConn. Oh and rejected from Yale ? haha. What about you? 

Congratulations and good luck for the Northwestern interview! I've interviewed at SVA and SMFA, rejected from Yale and UCL, waiting for Goldsmiths, UCLA, Columbia and RISD. This is my first time applying and I'd really like to start in the fall

[artapplicant]

lol has anyone not heard from yale yet? still no word on my end! 

[Sofullsofull]

has anyone heard back from MICA (The LeRoy E. Hoffberger of painting) for interview? 

I am waiting but I guess I get rejected

Edited February 6, 2021 by Sofullsofull

[joeyjoejoeshabbadoo]

I am curious, do people ever get accepted to MFA programs without an interview? It's not a necessary component at NYAA, and conversation ITT seems to be of the thought that it's exclusively interview or rejection

[2021MFA]

4 hours ago, Scrambledmegs said:

Just got an interview for University of Washington studio art!  So excited!  From their website, it seems this program is generally very well funded. Does anyone have more information on that?

I also heard their funding is strong! What medium or track did you apply for?

[Dgzrlemc]

1 hour ago, 3arabiyya said:

Congratulations and good luck for the Northwestern interview! I've interviewed at SVA and SMFA, rejected from Yale and UCL, waiting for Goldsmiths, UCLA, Columbia and RISD. This is my first time applying and I'd really like to start in the fall

Good luck to you as well!!

[Scrambledmegs]

12 minutes ago, 2021MFA said:

I also heard their funding is strong! What medium or track did you apply for?

Ooo did you apply? I applied for painting. I was really drawn to the faculty and grad student work. I’m very realistically inclined so I loved to see that they have a lot of that but a lot of less traditional approaches as well!

[2021MFA]

Just now, Scrambledmegs said:

Ooo did you apply? I applied for painting. I was really drawn to the faculty and grad student work. I’m very realistically inclined so I loved to see that they have a lot of that but a lot of less traditional approaches as well!

Congrats!! I also applied to painting and I had the same reaction! But I haven’t heard from them yet 

[Scrambledmegs]

Just now, 2021MFA said:

Congrats!! I also applied to painting and I had the same reaction! But I haven’t heard from them yet 

Best of luck! Hope you hear soon. 

[NoraEllie]

Was wondering for any art school how does a school handle a situation if a student doesn’t accept the invitation of acceptance for that school but rather chooses another? 

[slickjaketheruler]

Out of curiosity, for those that chose to apply to Yale, what is bringing you to apply there?

I thought about applying this year, but their program seems to be more painting focused than printmaking within their MFA cohorts. I just couldn’t see myself going there.

[katfude]

11 minutes ago, slickjaketheruler said:

Out of curiosity, for those that chose to apply to Yale, what is bringing you to apply there?

I thought about applying this year, but their program seems to be more painting focused than printmaking within their MFA cohorts. I just couldn’t see myself going there.

I really did not like the program itself because of their overall attitude and how separate they keep their majors (I’m super interdisciplinary).. but I was hoping to utilize a research opportunity that is unique only to Yale would influence my art practice like no other school could. Anyway, for anyone disappointed, my good friend just graduated from their MFA program this past year and tried to dissuade me from applying since they did not think that their program was up to the standards that they advertise.

Edited February 6, 2021 by katfude

[NoraEllie]

6 minutes ago, katfude said:

I really did not like the program itself because of their overall attitude and how separate they keep their majors (I’m super interdisciplinary).. but I was hoping to utilize a research opportunity that is unique only to Yale would influence my art practice like no other school could. Anyway, for anyone disappointed, my good friend just graduated from their MFA program this past year and tried to dissuade me from applying since they did not think that their program was up to the standards that they advertise.

Wow, I’ve heard MANY stories like this but never imagined them to be true. I heard many students who applied in the past years and were interviewed came out unhappy because they were being made fun of in regards to their art. I applied because I’m a painter and that’s my only main focus— the school just appealed to me. But I thought different? Many painting students in the past classes have had WAY more 3D structures/sculptures rather than paintings. 

[SpillToBuilt]

2 hours ago, joeyjoejoeshabbadoo said:

I am curious, do people ever get accepted to MFA programs without an interview? It's not a necessary component at NYAA, and conversation ITT seems to be of the thought that it's exclusively interview or rejection

Not all schools do interviews.