MFA 2022 Freak Out Forum

[thehamburglar]

1 hour ago, moolala said:

congratulations!

 

I am having a similar issue. i received 100% tuition + $12k-$23k yearly stipend from 1 program and just received about 70% tuition from my top choice (location, faculty, ranking).  I am not sure what my next steps will be and am finding it hard to focus on anything else!

That's wonderful! Both are strong offers, congratulations! 

I've received 50% from one of the programs plus the ability to TA and teach. My top choice has offered more in total, but it is a more expensive program, so it's only about 20% of the tuition. So I'm trying to decide if the larger loans will be worth the overall stronger program. Lots to think about. Best of luck with your decisions!

[Frank14]

Just got my rejection notice from UC Irvine. Huge disappointment as that was my top choice :/

Also feeling hurt that they didn't even email me or respond when I reached out with a question a few weeks ago! hahaha 

I'm glad at least to know one way or the other. 

[Strawberrycat]

6 minutes ago, Frank14 said:

Just got my rejection notice from UC Irvine. Huge disappointment as that was my top choice ?

Also feeling hurt that they didn't even email me or respond when I reached out with a question a few weeks ago! hahaha 

I'm glad at least to know one way or the other. 

I'm sorry to hear it, same here though!

[Frank14]

34 minutes ago, Strawberrycat said:

I'm sorry to hear it, same here though!

We're in it together at least! haha

[hopeful.jpeg]

On 3/2/2022 at 12:31 PM, Pickle95 said:

Anyone attending the second interview with Stanford tomorrow? I don't live in California so will be flying in tonight. First time visiting California... kind of excited lol, and a bit nervous..!

Oh!! I saw an interview group come through the sculpture studio this afternoon, were you a part of this? It was so nice to see some of the prospective MFAs on their studio tour~ 

[hopeful.jpeg]

1 hour ago, swifteggtart said:

just checked my email and I was accepted to NYU ITP! really thrilled right now

also, does anyone know about scholarships and TA positions at ITP? didn't receive any notice in my admission letter, does it mean that I was not considered for a scholarship?

Congratulations!!! I also just got into NYU ITP~~ 

and no scholarships or TAships were mentioned yet. I’m hoping that will come later!

[hopeful.jpeg]

Final update! I’ve heard back from all my grad schools as of today ? 

Accepted:

- NYU ITP (no financial info yet)

- RISD D+M (assistantship + 65% RISD fellowship )

- RCA IED (London schools are out of pocket for an international student like me ??) 

- UAL CSM Narrative Environments (“ ”)

- KAIST CT (full tuition + lab stipend)

Rejected:

- MIT Media Lab (Tangible Media Group, they were looking for technical applicants so I expected this, but I thought why not try at least)

After thinking through a few of my options, I’m leaning towards going to the Royal College of Art and moving to London for at least a year. There is one more opportunity I’m nervously waiting on, which is the Fulbright. I’m applying to conduct independent research about media in Korea which would be incredibly hard to pass up on if I do make it as a finalist (shot in the dark)! But yes, that’s it for the grad decisions. I had a ton to think about and learn. Please feel free to reach out to chat if you ever want ☺️

Edited March 4, 2022 by hopeful.jpeg

[katfude5]

4 hours ago, moolala said:

congratulations!

 

I am having a similar issue. i received 100% tuition + $12k-$23k yearly stipend from 1 program and just received about 70% tuition from my top choice (location, faculty, ranking).  I am not sure what my next steps will be and am finding it hard to focus on anything else!

If it makes a difference to you, I was in this exact situation last year (full ride+stipend+insurance vs. 80% scholarship) and I picked the full ride over my top choice because I am an extremely frugal person. I ended up leaving almost immediately because it was clear that I would not thrive at that school for a number of reasons. It actually ended up being more expensive to have such a bumpy ride of a gap year, than it would have to just suck up the tuition cost and go to my top choice. I can’t say that the same would happen to you, but really consider what you want out of your education and consider how you’ll get there. 70% is a great scholarship if you can make it work!

[moolala]

4 minutes ago, katfude5 said:

If it makes a difference to you, I was in this exact situation last year (full ride+stipend+insurance vs. 80% scholarship) and I picked the full ride over my top choice because I am an extremely frugal person. I ended up leaving almost immediately because it was clear that I would not thrive at that school for a number of reasons. It actually ended up being more expensive to have such a bumpy ride of a gap year, than it would have to just suck up the tuition cost and go to my top choice. I can’t say that the same would happen to you, but really consider what you want out of your education and consider how you’ll get there. 70% is a great scholarship if you can make it work!

thank you for this advice! I really appreciate it.

It's hard to ignore the physical $$ in favor of an abstract long term goal.

 

I am currently drafting an email inquiring about financial aid appeal -- the admin work doesnt quit!

[friendlyvoidcritter]

7 hours ago, tomatoriot said:

 

 

Edited March 4, 2022 by friendlyvoidcritter

[friendlyvoidcritter]

1 minute ago, friendlyvoidcritter said:

Were you contacted for an interview with them before? I haven't heard anything yet.

Also has anyone heard any news about when Cranbrook is sending out decisions? They're my top school and I'm so nervous. I interviewed with them mid - February. 

[moolala]

6 minutes ago, friendlyvoidcritter said:

Also has anyone heard any news about when Cranbrook is sending out decisions? They're my top school and I'm so nervous. I interviewed with them mid - February. 

That's where I received the 70% offer from! I think every department is on their own schedule though.

[friendlyvoidcritter]

2 hours ago, moolala said:

That's where I received the 70% offer from! I think every department is on their own schedule though.

Yes I’ve heard that too. Which department are you a part of? 

[ORRI]

10 hours ago, tomatoriot said:

Holy shit… I just got into Stamps (UofMich Ann Arbor.) Full ride. I am SO PUMPED. 

oh! not 75 % but 100 % scholarship + extra funding?

[Pickle555]

5 hours ago, hopeful.jpeg said:

Oh!! I saw an interview group come through the sculpture studio this afternoon, were you a part of this? It was so nice to see some of the prospective MFAs on their studio tour~ 

Omg yes I was lol. Stanford's facilities kind of blew me away! The grad studios are probably the largest grad studios ive ever seen lol.... like gigantic! 

[impliedpaste]

8 hours ago, friendlyvoidcritter said:

Also has anyone heard any news about when Cranbrook is sending out decisions? They're my top school and I'm so nervous. I interviewed with them mid - February. 

I interviewed for painting and they said something like “by the end of March”

[seelamfa22]

I also received my official admit letter from Cranbrook yesterday. The letter included a link to video tours of the campus and facilities, which looked amazing. 

[HJAn]

On 2/26/2022 at 6:16 AM, Anxietyismymiddlename said:

Do the evaluators actually read the SOPs and descriptions for the pieces in the portfolio? I wonder how they evaluate. I had heavy descriptions for my pieces and I feel that might've been a drawback. Any thoughts on this?

 

In all my interviews, my interviewers came prepared - having read my SOP and descriptions. But I've heard that they might not read everything in the selection process of choosing who to interview, since they're reviewing so many portfolios. So perhaps, they read everything after sending out the interview invites.

I also wrote a lot in my descriptions too. I applied for sculpture, so I attached multiple images per piece, and my descriptions usually continue and fill up the 3-4 image descriptions for each piece. I've gotten interviews at about half the places I applied for, so I don't think it was a drawback.

It may also depend on what you're putting in the descriptions. For example, I come from math/science background, and a lot of my work is inspired by mathematical concepts that are probably not common knowledge. So I used the description boxes to explain those that I can't fit in my SOP. And I made sure I'm not including any redundant information. Hope this helps!

 

[Hjuoollpphhfcvn]

got accepted (not oficially but via zoom) to calarts

[lilyxia99]

Just now, Hjuoollpphhfcvn said:

got accepted (not oficially but via zoom) to calarts

Congrats! what major? I am still waiting for Experimental Animation

[Hjuoollpphhfcvn]

Just now, lilyxia99 said:

Congrats! what major? I am still waiting for Experimental Animation

Art and Technology

[learner22]

On 3/3/2022 at 10:25 PM, swifteggtart said:

just checked my email and I was accepted to NYU ITP! really thrilled right now

also, does anyone know about scholarships and TA positions at ITP? didn't receive any notice in my admission letter, does it mean that I was not considered for a scholarship?

 

On 3/3/2022 at 5:49 PM, flowr said:

If anyone has applied to NYU ITP, I would check your application! I didn't receive an email but reloaded my application today and there was an update saying I had been accepted

Also accepted at NYU ITP yesterday!

And today I was accepted at the UCLA DMA MFA program. Great news

[worldcleft]

I just got accepted to CMU and the MIT ACT programme, both with scholarships.
CMU however requires me to give them an answer in a week -- due to recent loss and the fact that I haven't heard back from all my schools yet, I don't really know what to do or how to make a decision! would love any advice ...

[Eric from America]

On 3/2/2022 at 9:32 AM, lilyxia99 said:

Hi Eric, I saw your posts and it's really nice of you to keep posting even after graduation for the upcoming mfa applicants. I'm Leilei, a newly accepted VCU applicant tho I haven't decided on whether I should go there. I also applied to Kinetic Imaging and have applied to schools like CalArts for experimental animation ( I saw you was accepted by CalArts, tho probably for different major). I guess our backgrounds are sort of similar so your experience will be very valuable for me. 

So one of the big thing I wonder is if VCU KI is well-equipped. I saw that they have a cinema program for BFA, and I wonder if KI students can borrow equipments from their program, as I didn't see very fancy facilities for KI department yet...Also I am an animator, tho my discipline is changing but I might still do some animation work. Do you observe that VCU has enough facility for animation such as stop-motion or good enough computer to render 3D animation? 

Thank you so much! Have a great day

Hi, Leilei! Congrats on being accepted at VCUarts Kinetic Imaging! If anyone else has questions about VCU, let me know, I got my MFA there last spring and will try to help you out.

Short answer to your question, Leilei, is yeah, Kinetic Imaging has a lot of 3D and stop motion animation equipment. You get your own studio with a 27" iMac, you have 24-hour access to computer labs (outside of scheduled classes that might be using them during the day), including the ability to log into to those computers remotely. There were also two animation stands in the KI grad studio area, which was more than enough for the 5 or 6 students in the program; students who wanted to use them could move them into their own studios. There is also a "Stop Motion and Animation Room" and an "Animation Studio" room, which were used mostly by upper level undergrads but I suspect a grad could find a way to use if you wanted.

Among the work I created as a grad student were 3D animated 360 videos for viewing in VR headsets. I was also a TA for an Animation class, a Senior Studio class, and a VR class where I taught undergrads who were doing stop-motion and 3D animation.

You asked about possibly working with the Cinema department. I worked with other departments quite a bit, like the Dance department (I did live video projection mapping for a faculty performance, and also borrowed some of their video projection gear for my own installations) and I also took classes in other departments (like in Photo/Film and Sculpture) and I had multiple members of my thesis committee who were from other departments, so I'd suspect you'd probably be able to work with the Cinema department if you wanted. I found Kinetic Imaging and VCUArts as a whole to be really flexible.

I hope that helps! If you or anyone else have any questions, let me know either right here on the forum in a message.

 

 

[Eric from America]

1 hour ago, worldcleft said:

I just got accepted to CMU and the MIT ACT programme, both with scholarships.
CMU however requires me to give them an answer in a week -- due to recent loss and the fact that I haven't heard back from all my schools yet, I don't really know what to do or how to make a decision! would love any advice ...

 

I was in similar situations when I applied. One school initially asked me to make a decision in like mid February, when I still had interviews with other schools in mid March. I just politely explained the situations, and everyone was always cool about it.

I did try to get back to everyone as fast as I could, meaning I tried not to have more than one or two schools waiting on my decision at a time. Like, if you're accepted at five schools, and still waiting on three others, then make a decision among the first five while you wait, let them make someone on their wait list very happy ASAP, if that makes sense.

To everyone: Good luck, congrats on any acceptances so far, and maybe most importantly: If you haven't gotten an acceptance yet, maybe try to think about all the cool things you will make and do for the rest of this year that will make next year's applications even more awesome.