MFA 2022 Freak Out Forum

[slickjaketheruler]

If anyone was applying to Lamar Dodd at UGA, I just received an invitation to interview.

[Font]

3 hours ago, chunkeymonkey said:

I was also just wondering - I read on one of the past year's forums that you should email the faculty who interviews you to thank them etc. Does anyone actually do this in practice? 

Yes you need to initiate a paper trail. It shows you know how to 1) be professional in your practice and 2) have great communication skills. 

The below video created by a former RISD prof says you should treat grad school interviews like job interviews. A simple 'thank you' goes a long way.

youtube.com/watch?v=KEwgwfw6JAs

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 11, 2022 by Font

[Strawberrycat]

6 hours ago, hibiscusleaves said:

I'd love to hear how it went as well. I have an interview tomorrow for Visual Communications.

It went okay, but felt kind of weird? There were 2 faculty and idk if they'd seen my work or statement prior, but they had me screenshare and go through my whole portfolio once and then they picked some pieces out to ask some questions about. They said some positive things, but I felt kind of awkward because it wasn't super structured like some other interviews I'd had, and in hindsight, I think I was supposed to sort of take the reins more, but kept expecting them to, so I stayed quiet during certain parts while they were looking at stuff, when I could have expanded more probably and taken advantage of that time. Also there was a moment where I explained something and they thought I said something else and they politely disagreed with how I was describing the work, but what they said they thought of it instead was exactly what I said so I was like noo, that is what I'm saying. ? It was cleared up, though, thankfully. I think it was loud wherever one of them was zooming from and harder to hear. 

They asked where I was from, where I went to school, what I've been doing since I graduated, what I want to accomplish in an MFA, what my work is about, and what artists I'm looking at, + some material questions about specific pieces. 

I imagine every interview is different, though, because there are so many different faculty interviewing. 

 

Edited February 11, 2022 by Strawberrycat
Typo

[hibiscusleaves]

55 minutes ago, Strawberrycat said:

It went okay, but felt kind of weird? There were 2 faculty and idk if they'd seen my work or statement prior, but they had me screenshare and go through my whole portfolio once and then they picked some pieces out to ask some questions about. They said some positive things, but I felt kind of awkward because it wasn't super structured like some other interviews I'd had, and in hindsight, I think I was supposed to sort of take the reigns more, but kept expecting them to, so I stayed quiet during certain parts while they were looking at stuff, when I could have expanded more probably and taken advantage of that time. Also there was a moment where I explained something and they thought I said something else and they politely disagreed with how I was describing the work, but what they said they thought of it instead was exactly what I said so I was like noo, that is what I'm saying. ? It was cleared up, though, thankfully. I think it was loud wherever one of them was zooming from and harder to hear. 

They asked where I was from, where I went to school, what I've been doing since I graduated, what I want to accomplish in an MFA, what my work is about, and what artists I'm looking at, + some material questions about specific pieces. 

I imagine every interview is different, though, because there are so many different faculty interviewing. 

 

thank you for the info, i hope you get good news!

[Strawberrycat]

22 minutes ago, hibiscusleaves said:

thank you for the info, i hope you get good news!

Thanks, good luck with yours!

[seelamfa22]

1 hour ago, Strawberrycat said:

It went okay, but felt kind of weird? There were 2 faculty and idk if they'd seen my work or statement prior, but they had me screenshare and go through my whole portfolio once and then they picked some pieces out to ask some questions about. They said some positive things, but I felt kind of awkward because it wasn't super structured like some other interviews I'd had, and in hindsight, I think I was supposed to sort of take the reigns more, but kept expecting them to, so I stayed quiet during certain parts while they were looking at stuff, when I could have expanded more probably and taken advantage of that time. Also there was a moment where I explained something and they thought I said something else and they politely disagreed with how I was describing the work, but what they said they thought of it instead was exactly what I said so I was like noo, that is what I'm saying. ? It was cleared up, though, thankfully. I think it was loud wherever one of them was zooming from and harder to hear. 

They asked where I was from, where I went to school, what I've been doing since I graduated, what I want to accomplish in an MFA, what my work is about, and what artists I'm looking at, + some material questions about specific pieces. 

I imagine every interview is different, though, because there are so many different faculty interviewing. 

 

Strawberrycat I had a similar interview experience but with a different school. I felt like maybe I was supposed to take the reins on talking about my work, which wouldn't have been a problem, but it wasn't clear. The committee asked a lot of questions, but the questions were from a list of general questions rather than follow-up questions to what I said. At the end of the interview, I didn't gain any insight about the program, and I don't know what new things--if any--they learned about me. I have to think that maybe this is just the style of interview practice for some schools.

[Strawberrycat]

2 minutes ago, seelamfa22 said:

Strawberrycat I had a similar interview experience but with a different school. I felt like maybe I was supposed to take the reins on talking about my work, which wouldn't have been a problem, but it wasn't clear. The committee asked a lot of questions, but the questions were from a list of general questions rather than follow-up questions to what I said. At the end of the interview, I didn't gain any insight about the program, and I don't know what new things--if any--they learned about me. I have to think that maybe this is just the style of interview practice for some schools.

Thank you for sharing your experience with it! Interview styles really vary so much. It's always a surprise. I appreciate it when they're clear about how they want it to go...I think it's more helpful for both sides, like you mentioned.

On the flip side, I've also had ones where they ask like 5 really in depth, really great questions, but all at once and my brain is scrambling trying to keep all of the questions in mind while answering, haha. Like I can only hold so many at once, especially when I could write an essay on each question. 

Just tacking on another thing while I'm thinking about it, but I've found that when I write about my work, I search for really precise language to describe it. But I don't have a lot of opportunity to talk about those things out loud, so having to discuss the work conversationally has been a challenge. I keep getting hung up on how I wrote it and feeling kind of stiff. So I really recommend to everyone interviewing in the future to practice just casually talking about your work if you can and getting really comfortable and loose with it. 

 

[Pickle555]

Had UCLA interview earlier today. I was definitely a little more nervous than I had expected to be lol, but I think it went well overall! 

For those interested/interviewing, it was with 3 painting faculty. Many thorough questions, they asked what I knew of the program, if I knew any alumni, if I've ever been to LA before. Then they mentioned specific things I wrote in my statement and asked me to elaborate on them, made references to specific pieces, asked what I envisioned myself doing throughout school, and what other schools I had applied to. I guess nothing out of the ordinary, it just felt like they were being very intentional, which was maybe a little intimidating lol.

At the end of the interview they did say that they planned on having results out by March/mid-March. So a little more waiting to do.. 

Edited February 11, 2022 by Pickle95

[lilyxia99]

On 2/4/2022 at 8:54 AM, lilyxia99 said:

invited to be interviewed from CMU and Calarts~ ?

so now: 

Keio Media Design(KMD)-interview

SAIC-FVNMA-rejected

Carnegie Mellon University(CMU)-Fine Arts-interview

Calarts-Experimental animation-interview

RISD-Digital media-pending

VCU-Kinetic Images-pending

UC Berkeley(UCB)-Art Practice-pending

------------

I saw a lot of threads before, and maybe I can share some thoughts on CMU.

I have known a person who went to CMU and was the assistant faculty for a semester. I am just transferring her words so it might be inaccurate. 

CMU has pros and cons. The pros is that faculties are nice, the school is generous on giving financial support (the information I got from the info session is that they cover from at least 2/3 of tuition to full tuition, tho their general tuition is high), and the three year program gives you a lot of time to do your projects. 

The cons is indeed...the atmosphere is that everyone learns coding lol, probably you will see a lot of people walking on the street who look like they are going to google or apple. Art students might feel a bit estranged, but that might be the general situation in any big university. Also, Pittsburgh is indeed a small place, which can't be compared with big cities like NYC or LA which has a lot more opportunities. 

I couldn't rephrase a lot because I am afraid of mis-interpretation, and maybe I didn't really say any valuable information...anyway, hope it could be of some help 

Keio Media Design(KMD)-interview

SAIC-FVNMA-rejected

Carnegie Mellon University(CMU)-Fine Arts-interview

Calarts-Experimental animation-interview

RISD-Digital media-pending

VCU-Kinetic Images-interview

UC Berkeley(UCB)-Art Practice-pending

[seelamfa22]

Did anyone interview with Northwestern today and want to share their experience? ?

[_redrabbit7]

Has anyone heard from Columbia?

Edited February 12, 2022 by _boluwatife

[SadPainter]

2 hours ago, _redrabbit7 said:

Has anyone heard from Columbia?

Also waiting on Columbia! Hoping they are just behind since the application wasn’t due until January 15th. 

[lamentyung]

7 minutes ago, 1800goodluck said:

Also waiting on Columbia! Hoping they are just behind since the application wasn’t due until January 15th. 

haven't heard from Columbia MFA either!

[LizRAE]

Just a general question, if applications were due by the 15th of January, when do you think they would start to reach out?

[HJAn]

1 minute ago, LizRAE said:

Just a general question, if applications were due by the 15th of January, when do you think they would start to reach out?

It seems a bit random. So far, based on the interviews/rejections I've received so far, I don't see any correlation between due date and when they reach out. For example, I heard back from SMFA the fastest, despite their application due date being Jan 15, before hearing from any of the other schools that had earlier deadlines.

[lamentyung]

does anyone know if Columbia MFA (Sound Art/Visual Art) Notifies applicants if they did not receive an interview?

[impliedpaste]

Got an interview at cranbrook yesterday, has anyone interviewed there before? 

[Eric from America]

4 hours ago, _redrabbit7 said:

Has anyone heard from Columbia?

@_redrabbit7 @1800goodluck @lamentyung I applied a couple years ago at Columbia. Applications were due Jan. 15, and then on Feb. 18 they sent an email asking me to interview. All interviews were on the same day, March 12, either in person or online. This was for New Genres; my memory is that the other disciplines' interviews were also on the same day. So, if they are on a similar timeline this year, you might hear in a week.

[LizRAE]

On 1/31/2022 at 8:03 PM, eatyoveggies said:

Hey everyone ? another long time lurker here to join the fun. I wonder how many more lurkers are out there!?? I’ve been considering applying for a few years now and decided this is the year. Applied to FSU, GSU, UArk, UNCG, UofU, ASU, and Indiana. So far I’ve interviewed at FSU and it seems like an amazing place.

So many interviews were sent out this same time last year so I am dying with anticipation!!! ? good luck all!

Which program at Indiana did you apply for?

[starcrumbz]

hello fellow hopeful humans, has anyone heard anything from UC Irvine Studio Art?

This is the only school I applied to and the anticipation is killing me. I emailed them about a month ago with questions about the timeline for our application because the website had two different dates, then again with concerns about not being able to upload images to the portfolio portion, and then later with a question about a letter of recommendation... crickets since day one...

[Jar_of_Mayonnaise]

On 2/1/2022 at 1:03 AM, eatyoveggies said:

Hey everyone ? another long time lurker here to join the fun. I wonder how many more lurkers are out there!?? I’ve been considering applying for a few years now and decided this is the year. Applied to FSU, GSU, UArk, UNCG, UofU, ASU, and Indiana. So far I’ve interviewed at FSU and it seems like an amazing place.

So many interviews were sent out this same time last year so I am dying with anticipation!!! ? good luck all!

Hey eatyoveggies! I'm also applying to UArk ?. What program did you apply to and have you heard anything yet?

[Forms Without Formula]

16 minutes ago, starcrumbz said:

hello fellow hopeful humans, has anyone heard anything from UC Irvine Studio Art?

This is the only school I applied to and the anticipation is killing me. I emailed them about a month ago with questions about the timeline for our application because the website had two different dates, then again with concerns about not being able to upload images to the portfolio portion, and then later with a question about a letter of recommendation... crickets since day one...

Aw I feel you, I only applied to Hunter and the anticipation is overwhelming! Feels risky putting all my eggs in one basket but it was the school that seemed like the best fit so I didn't see the point applying to school that didn't feel right! Best of luck to us both!!!

[Strawberrycat]

25 minutes ago, starcrumbz said:

hello fellow hopeful humans, has anyone heard anything from UC Irvine Studio Art?

This is the only school I applied to and the anticipation is killing me. I emailed them about a month ago with questions about the timeline for our application because the website had two different dates, then again with concerns about not being able to upload images to the portfolio portion, and then later with a question about a letter of recommendation... crickets since day one...

Hey there, I had an interview with them on Tuesday. I'm sorry that you haven't heard back from them yet, I hope you do soon. That's so frustrating when you reach out and don't hear back at all. That happened to me with another school. 

[eatyoveggies]

41 minutes ago, LizRAE said:

Which program at Indiana did you apply for?

Painting! You? 

[eatyoveggies]

12 minutes ago, Jar_of_Mayonnaise said:

Hey eatyoveggies! I'm also applying to UArk ?. What program did you apply to and have you heard anything yet?

Hey there! I applied to the painting, and nothing yet … although someone from Fayetteville was looking at my website in mid Jan ??what about you? Around late Jan they sent out interview invites last year so fingers crossed they’re just running late this year …