MFA 2022 Freak Out Forum

[The-Fourth-Dimension]

Hi!!!

I don't do social media or spend a lot of time on the internet, so I don't have much of anywhere online to give out any sort of good will to but this forum! ?

I just ate a big Christmas Eve dinner and laid down on the couch all lazy to listen to some music the enjoy the evening and check out some internet stuff. I figured I would wish everyone here a MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! ?

This is my favorite time of the year, you know??? There's the Charlie Brown specials, and sparkly Christmas trees, the colorful lights, the kids running around acting crazy, and presents and food and candy and EVERYTHING! I'm so happy to see the gente appreciating it all and never forgetting about giving gratitude for what we have and understanding that there are billions of people out there that don't have the good things that we do. ?

Thank you to the big man upstairs for my familia, for love, for coffee (of cooourse), for friends, for ARTE, for all of the things that make life worthwhile, and for everything else. ?‍?‍?‍?

From the bottom of my heart I want to wish YOU Feliz Navidad próspero año y felicidad! I want YOU to know that no matter what, there is someone special out there that loves YOU EXACTLY for who YOU are! ?❤️????????

[The-Fourth-Dimension]

9 hours ago, 123123435 said:

Curious ... seems to be a lot less activity this year on this forum than the year before. Do you think this corresponds to less interest in the visual arts MFA generally? And by extension, fewer applications being executed?

NAHHH G!!! Art is the way of the WALK. Art is always interesting. People are always interested in it. There are TONS of applications going in, and I know you are gonna get in, too!

If you do the numbers, (which I did), this year is actually popping off harder than the past five years, and I didn't even count the other 2022 "COVID" FOF.

Peep this:

Let's use the 2022 Freak Out Forum as a baseline, okay? We will look at the date that the FOF threads were launched each year, how many days they were up from original posting until December 24th, how many posts were initiated, and how many individuals posted in each FOF from beginning up to December 24th.

 

? 2022 FOF started on 3-October. It has 82 days online up to December 24th. The 2022 FOF has 130 posts, and 29 posters, (individual avatars posting).

 

? 2018 FOF was created on 3-September. Compared to 2022 it had 112 days online up to December 24th which is 136% of the 82 days online the 2022 forum has. The 2018 FOF has 41 posts up to December 24th which is 31% of the 130 posts 2022 has. The 2018 individual posters number 22 up to December 24th which is 75% of the 29 posters here in 2022 up to December 24th.

The 2018 FOF showed less posters, less posts, and was online a longer length of time from inception until December 24th than the 2022 FOF by 30 days.

 

? 2019 FOF was created on 2-October. Compared to 2022 it had 83 days online up to December 24th which is 101% of the 82 days online the 2022 forum has. The 2019 FOF has 76 posts up to December 24th which is 58% of the 130 posts 2022 has. The 2019 FOF individual posters number 24 up to December 24th which is 82% of the 29 posters here in 2022 up to December 24th.

The 2019 FOF showed less posters, less posts, and was online a longer length of time from inception until December 24th than the 2022 FOF by 1 day.

 

? 2020 FOF was created on 25-September. Compared to 2022 it had 90 days online up to December 24th which is 109% of the 82 days online the 2022 forum has. The 2020 FOF has 29 posts up to December 24th which is 22% of the 130 posts 2022 has. The 2020 FOF individual posters number 18 up to December 24th which is 62% of the 29 posters here in 2022 up to December 24th.

The 2020 FOF showed less posters, less posts, and was online a longer length of time from inception until December 24th than the 2022 FOF by 8 days.

 

? 2021 FOF was created on 9-September. Compared to 2022 it had 106 days online up to December 24th which is 129% of the 82 days online the 2022 forum has. The 2021 FOF has 156 posts up to December 24th which is 120% of the 130 posts 2022 has. The 2021 FOF individual posters number 27 up to December 24th which is 93% of the 29 posters here in 2022 up to December 24th.

The 2021 FOF showed less posters, more posts, and was online a longer length of time from inception until December 24th than the 2022 FOF by 24 days.

Of note, one poster in the 2021 FOF posted 54 out of the 156 posts counted up to December 24th which is 35% of the total up to December 24th. That skewed the average significantly in relation to 2022. To put that in perspective: I've personally posted 29 times in the 2022 forum, the most posts thus far. This means that out of 130 posts, I've contributed 22% of the total to this forum to date. In statistics anything above 33% is significant.

I don't care if someone posts a lot, I welcome it. It would be rad if people were posting more! I just had to point that out because of the statistical implication. ?

 

But, yeah... 2022 is rocking it!!! ❤️?????❤️

 

 

[katfude5]

16 hours ago, Therealsriracha said:

@123123435 That is what I am thinking.... I only see 6 pages on this forum for this year when there were at least 70+ pages in previous iterations with everyone being all hyped? 

There is also an entire year of students who took time off while colleges went remote, so the whole calendar of graduates is probably a little skewed. All of the seniors who took a leave of absence last year are either back in school this year or did not return to their degree-- meaning a least a good bit of students who would be jumping right into their MFA are currently still tied up in their bachelors degree. On the flip side, there seems to be a lot of people who enrolled in an MFA program in the last year or two and left and are reapplying, so some of them probably need less help and have less questions so the forum chatter is a little more low key. 

[123123435]

19 hours ago, The-Fourth-Dimension said:

NAHHH G!!! Art is the way of the WALK. Art is always interesting. People are always interested in it. There are TONS of applications going in, and I know you are gonna get in, too!

If you do the numbers, (which I did), this year is actually popping off harder than the past five years, and I didn't even count the other 2022 "COVID" FOF.

Peep this:

Let's use the 2022 Freak Out Forum as a baseline, okay? We will look at the date that the FOF threads were launched each year, how many days they were up from original posting until December 24th, how many posts were initiated, and how many individuals posted in each FOF from beginning up to December 24th.

 

? 2022 FOF started on 3-October. It has 82 days online up to December 24th. The 2022 FOF has 130 posts, and 29 posters, (individual avatars posting).

 

? 2018 FOF was created on 3-September. Compared to 2022 it had 112 days online up to December 24th which is 136% of the 82 days online the 2022 forum has. The 2018 FOF has 41 posts up to December 24th which is 31% of the 130 posts 2022 has. The 2018 individual posters number 22 up to December 24th which is 75% of the 29 posters here in 2022 up to December 24th.

The 2018 FOF showed less posters, less posts, and was online a longer length of time from inception until December 24th than the 2022 FOF by 30 days.

 

? 2019 FOF was created on 2-October. Compared to 2022 it had 83 days online up to December 24th which is 101% of the 82 days online the 2022 forum has. The 2019 FOF has 76 posts up to December 24th which is 58% of the 130 posts 2022 has. The 2019 FOF individual posters number 24 up to December 24th which is 82% of the 29 posters here in 2022 up to December 24th.

The 2019 FOF showed less posters, less posts, and was online a longer length of time from inception until December 24th than the 2022 FOF by 1 day.

 

? 2020 FOF was created on 25-September. Compared to 2022 it had 90 days online up to December 24th which is 109% of the 82 days online the 2022 forum has. The 2020 FOF has 29 posts up to December 24th which is 22% of the 130 posts 2022 has. The 2020 FOF individual posters number 18 up to December 24th which is 62% of the 29 posters here in 2022 up to December 24th.

The 2020 FOF showed less posters, less posts, and was online a longer length of time from inception until December 24th than the 2022 FOF by 8 days.

 

? 2021 FOF was created on 9-September. Compared to 2022 it had 106 days online up to December 24th which is 129% of the 82 days online the 2022 forum has. The 2021 FOF has 156 posts up to December 24th which is 120% of the 130 posts 2022 has. The 2021 FOF individual posters number 27 up to December 24th which is 93% of the 29 posters here in 2022 up to December 24th.

The 2021 FOF showed less posters, more posts, and was online a longer length of time from inception until December 24th than the 2022 FOF by 24 days.

Of note, one poster in the 2021 FOF posted 54 out of the 156 posts counted up to December 24th which is 35% of the total up to December 24th. That skewed the average significantly in relation to 2022. To put that in perspective: I've personally posted 29 times in the 2022 forum, the most posts thus far. This means that out of 130 posts, I've contributed 22% of the total to this forum to date. In statistics anything above 33% is significant.

I don't care if someone posts a lot, I welcome it. It would be rad if people were posting more! I just had to point that out because of the statistical implication. ?

 

But, yeah... 2022 is rocking it!!! ❤️?????❤️

 

 

Appreciate the unpack here. Interesting -- and, yes, game on for me, too. Doing it again!

[artsyfartsy2000]

Hello, 

Current student at UCSD. Just plugging in to say that it’s a great school. Over 300 applied last year and only accepted 8 incredible artist. One even chose UCSD over YALE. We got no painters in the newest cohort so if you are a painter, you might have luck this round. Many lens based artist in the newest cohort. The program overall is very happy and supportive of the queer community. Totally recommend. Xoxoxo

[Strawberrycat]

44 minutes ago, artsyfartsy2000 said:

Hello, 

Current student at UCSD. Just plugging in to say that it’s a great school. Over 300 applied last year and only accepted 8 incredible artist. One even chose UCSD over YALE. We got no painters in the newest cohort so if you are a painter, you might have luck this round. Many lens based artist in the newest cohort. The program overall is very happy and supportive of the queer community. Totally recommend. Xoxoxo

Thanks for the info! I've been thinking about UCSD and would love to hear more about it if you had time and wanted to message about it. I was also just looking more through the site and saw that they recommend reaching out to professors you'd like to work with before applying. Did you do that during your applications? I feel like it's a little late to be doing that at this point with the deadline so close, so I'm a little nervous about not having done it. 

[artsyfartsy2000]

1 hour ago, Strawberrycat said:

Thanks for the info! I've been thinking about UCSD and would love to hear more about it if you had time and wanted to message about it. I was also just looking more through the site and saw that they recommend reaching out to professors you'd like to work with before applying. Did you do that during your applications? I feel like it's a little late to be doing that at this point with the deadline so close, so I'm a little nervous about not having done it. 

Responded by private message! I can help you out with any questions as best as I can ?

[Strawberrycat]

4 minutes ago, artsyfartsy2000 said:

Responded by private message! I can help you out with any questions as best as I can ?

Thanks very much!

[slickjaketheruler]

Is anyone else applying to VCU confused by the transcripts portion of their application? Does anyone know if official transcripts are supposed to be sent after an offer has been given, and that unofficial ones are good for now?

[SpillToBuilt]

10 hours ago, slickjaketheruler said:

Is anyone else applying to VCU confused by the transcripts portion of their application? Does anyone know if official transcripts are supposed to be sent after an offer has been given, and that unofficial ones are good for now?

Seems clear. Pulled from their MFA application instructions page.

”Step 3: Submit your official transcripts & test scores 

Transcripts

Unofficial transcripts from all post-secondary institutions should be uploaded with your electronic application and may be used for departmental admission review purposes.

If offered admission, you will be directed and required to submit to the VCU Admissions Office an official transcript from any institution from which a degree has been awarded to finalize your admission. Transcripts are considered official if they are sent to VCU directly from the issuing institution.”

Edited December 28, 2021 by SpillToBuilt

[slickjaketheruler]

2 hours ago, SpillToBuilt said:

Seems clear. Pulled from their MFA application instructions page.

”Step 3: Submit your official transcripts & test scores 

Transcripts

Unofficial transcripts from all post-secondary institutions should be uploaded with your electronic application and may be used for departmental admission review purposes.

If offered admission, you will be directed and required to submit to the VCU Admissions Office an official transcript from any institution from which a degree has been awarded to finalize your admission. Transcripts are considered official if they are sent to VCU directly from the issuing institution.”

Apparently I couldn’t find it or just can’t read. Thank you for clarifying. 

[katfude5]

Does anyone have any tips for writing a captivating and not corny first sentence for their statement? 

Edited December 28, 2021 by katfude5

[Pickle555]

37 minutes ago, katfude5 said:

Does anyone have any tips for writing a captivating and not corny first sentence for their statement? 

Hey there! Maybe this can help:

A former professor of mine advised that when writing an opening statement I should imagine that the faculty don't have my work in front of them. He suggested having the first two sentences visually describe my work in a way that will also state my thesis. I should also add that this professor was an advocate for simplicity and recommended getting straight to "the point" in hopes of getting the faculty hooked from the jump, while being as clear as possible. Obviously this isn't the only way to write an opening statement, and maybe you already know this, so take it all with a grain of salt. This advice did help me though.

Anyway, hope that makes sense and is helpful. Best of luck!

[aniben3]

Hey, y'all, I'm a current student at ASU. I'm very happy I'm here, and since this forum was pretty helpful for me in the past, if anyone has any questions about ASU, feel free to send me a message! ☺️

[painting549]

Letters of Recommendation: if someone selects "I agree to waive my right to view this recommendation", does that help or hurt them as an applicant? Is it expected that we waive our right?

[The-Fourth-Dimension]

38 minutes ago, painting549 said:

Letters of Recommendation: if someone selects "I agree to waive my right to view this recommendation", does that help or hurt them as an applicant? Is it expected that we waive our right?

GOOD MORNING! As far as I know, you don't have a choice. I'm not sure why they do that. Hopefully you've gone over what you would like your letter writers to highlight about you and made sure that the letter that they write will be a FANTASTIC letter and not some boring thing. I've never asked to read a LOR. I make sure that I approach the people I have the best relationships with who know me and my work on a deep level.

[The-Fourth-Dimension]

On 12/26/2021 at 1:16 PM, artsyfartsy2000 said:

Hello, 

Current student at UCSD. Just plugging in to say that it’s a great school. 

Hello! I used to work at UCSD in the La Jolla Playhouse. I really like the campus. I recently turned in an application for the UCSD MFA program. I'm actually from San Diego and have been living in Northern California for while. Are there any artists that focus on Chicano Art in the UCSD MFA program? What about sculptors, specifically sculptors who create large-scale art? Do they have a good metal-work studio? What about bronze? Do they have a metal forge? Are any of the professors interested in large-scale metalwork?

[SpillToBuilt]

18 hours ago, The-Fourth-Dimension said:

Hello! I used to work at UCSD in the La Jolla Playhouse. I really like the campus. I recently turned in an application for the UCSD MFA program. I'm actually from San Diego and have been living in Northern California for while. Are there any artists that focus on Chicano Art in the UCSD MFA program? What about sculptors, specifically sculptors who create large-scale art? Do they have a good metal-work studio? What about bronze? Do they have a metal forge? Are any of the professors interested in large-scale metalwork?

These are questions that the graduate faculty there would likely be happy to answer—it would also get your name in their heads and show you might have an above-average interest in that program. And that goes for anyone asking these things about specific universities’ programs.

You can also check out their current students below, although these pages are sometimes not up to date. It is helpful to look at current and past students of a program, to gauge where you might fit in, but you can also of course possibly find people to connect with about the program.

https://visarts.ucsd.edu/people/grad-students/index.html#MFA-Students

Edited December 31, 2021 by SpillToBuilt
grammar

[artcat]

Hi All!  Wondering if anyone has looked into SUNY Purchase.  It's on my "maybe" list for the sculpture program as I hear they have pretty decent faciliites and the proxiity to NYC but I don't see lots of info about it.  

[katfude5]

Hey everyone, does anyone know anything about Yale’s graphic design programs from an inside perspective? I’m still thinking about some “maybe” schools too, and am interested in the idea of the preliminary year for non graphic design undergrads! 

[AncientQuail]

hi all, 

I was wondering if anyone knows whether or not it reflects poorly to not include the max of 20 different pieces in your portfolio? feeling like maybe I should pair down, but the 10-20 range scares and confuses me. 

[kaflake]

Thinking that myself! I have too much to sift through honestly but I'm wondering if I'm including things just to fill space or not. 

 

I think it's fine to have less to be honest as long as you feel the work is good. And it's the modern internet age. If they like what they see, they might look at your website to see more. But that's just speculation.

[painting549]

3 hours ago, AncientQuail said:

hi all, 

I was wondering if anyone knows whether or not it reflects poorly to not include the max of 20 different pieces in your portfolio? feeling like maybe I should pair down, but the 10-20 range scares and confuses me. 

in all my research and all my conversations with people, its emphasized that its quality over quantity. if adding the extra work will weaken the portfolio bc the additions are not strong enough, I wouldn't do it

[painting549]

hey! does anyone know approx how many interview offers Yale paint/print sends out, and then how many admission offers are made from the pool of interviewees?

[katfude5]

45 minutes ago, painting549 said:

hey! does anyone know approx how many interview offers Yale paint/print sends out, and then how many admission offers are made from the pool of interviewees?

I have heard that there are about 70 painting finalists, and 21 will be admitted from that. It all depends on how many studio spaces open up, and there are a few more some years than others.