MFA 2022 Freak Out Forum

[minidragonfly]

3 hours ago, Ponygurl said:

Any updates?

@Ponygurl I emailed RISD about their printmaking waitlist on March 10 and got this response:

”Each department has a small waiting list with a handful of applicants. There is no internal ranking system to the waiting list.”

Hope this helps. So nerve wracking…

[Ponygurl]

1 minute ago, minidragonfly said:

@Ponygurl I emailed RISD about their printmaking waitlist on March 10 and got this response:

”Each department has a small waiting list with a handful of applicants. There is no internal ranking system to the waiting list.”

Hope this helps. So nerve wracking…

Thank you! I’m clinging to any info I can get. And you’re telling me! My heart has dropped every time I get a gmail notification since January lol do you think risd accepted the amount of people they take or say accept 12 and take 10 

[Shade54]

42 minutes ago, Ponygurl said:

Thank you! I’m clinging to any info I can get. And you’re telling me! My heart has dropped every time I get a gmail notification since January lol do you think risd accepted the amount of people they take or say accept 12 and take 10 

I got the same response. I'm kind of giving up on waiting

[Ponygurl]

Just now, Shade54 said:

I got the same response. I'm kind of giving up on waiting

What do you mean!

[limpcigarette]

On 3/23/2022 at 10:21 AM, slickjaketheruler said:

I live in Richmond and love everything I’ve seen come out of VCU’s sculpture + extended media program. You get a really cool space to show your MFA thesis work in. What I’ve noticed they do differently than other programs, is that they really prize work that is reflective of experience and feeling rather than object making (so lots of installation work that I’ve seen come from the program in both the sculpture and craft program). I think your best bet would be to look at the MFA catalog and ask yourself if you see yourself and your practice in the types of work students are coming out from. 
 

I’ve attached the show I saw in person from 2018, which feels like the strongest I’ve seen come from the program. 

https://issuu.com/vcuarts/docs/vcuarts_2018_mfathesiscatalog_pages

I did part of my undergrad at VCU so can also vouch for VCU's Sculpture program. I was lucky enough to know all the people who are included in this thesis catalog. I am not sure on what their specific experiences were, but can say that the work coming out of the program is amazing!

[Shade54]

9 minutes ago, Ponygurl said:

What do you mean!

What i mean is I will forget about RISD, and accept The new school offer

[refereemandem]

RISD's waitlists are ranked. Last year I was told by the Painting MFA Program Director thru email that I was at the Top of their ranked waitlist. It didn't work out last year, so I applied again this year. The faculty also ranks the initial accepted students, the program director told me this in a phone call this year. 

I've attached the words, that I've sent to the admissions office email address. This transcript of my email summarizes the communications I've had with RISD over the last month. I hope this information will help current and future RISD applicants make informed decisions. I've contacted as many current, former, and prospective RISD students as I could, so that I could also try to make an informed decision about the financial aspect of attending RISD.  

In this day in age,  time and money equal freedom. I think it's very important to keep that in mind, when a prestigious programs cost is so high. It's also important to remember that we are artists already, with or without going to a graduate program. This path may or may not work out for me, but I am happy that I tried my best. I am also grateful that there is a resource like this forum, where we can have these transparent conversations. In the end, know your worth, and do your best to advocate for yourself.

 

 

 

[flowr]

Hey everyone, I thought I'd give a wrap up here and solicit opinions now that I've heard back from (nearly) everywhere and now am just left to stress over decision making.

SAIC Art and Tech - Accepted, 20% scholarship

NYU ITP - Accepted, $10k scholarship (plan to decline)

USC Interactive Media and Games - Accepted, not hearing back from financial aid office, plan to decline

UC Santa Cruz Digital Arts and New Media- Accepted, full tuition + small stipend

UC Santa Barbara Media Arts and Tech (MS) - Accepted, no word on funding yet

MIT Media Lab - rejected

UCLA DMA - rejected

Georgia Tech Digital Media - still no word

I think I'm deciding between SAIC and UCSC. I feel like SAIC has such great resources and I really like the studio model, but it's hard to pass up a fully funded program. Does anyone have opinions on UC Santa Cruz Digital Arts and New Media program? I really click with some of the faculty and looks like some impressive alumni but I get the impression that the program is less organized/established, so I'd love to hear other impressions if anyone has any .  Thanks!

[refereemandem]

10 hours ago, refereemandem said:

RISD's waitlists are ranked. Last year I was told by the Painting MFA Program Director thru email that I was at the Top of their ranked waitlist. It didn't work out last year, so I applied again this year. The faculty also ranks the initial accepted students, the program director told me this in a phone call this year. 

I've attached the words, that I've sent to the admissions office email address. This transcript of my email summarizes the communications I've had with RISD over the last month. I hope this information will help current and future RISD applicants make informed decisions. I've contacted as many current, former, and prospective RISD students as I could, so that I could also try to make an informed decision about the financial aspect of attending RISD.  

In this day in age,  time and money equal freedom. I think it's very important to keep that in mind, when a prestigious programs cost is so high. It's also important to remember that we are artists already, with or without going to a graduate program. This path may or may not work out for me, but I am happy that I tried my best. I am also grateful that there is a resource like this forum, where we can have these transparent conversations. In the end, know your worth, and do your best to advocate for yourself.

 

 

 

Just to clarify my stance on all of this. After much thought, I am most likely going to decline. Nobody wants to enter a program feeling resentful, nobody wants to leave a program feeling resentful and in $100,000+ debt. 

It was a great experience applying to schools, and I also learned a lot by having such an annoying, frustrating, disappointing experience in regards to the financial aid package. There are a lot of aspects to their decision making process that will never be revealed to the public. I was able to get a glimpse into that process, and realized that this is not a system that I truly want to be a part of. 

Looking back, I'd apply to Fully funded programs, or NY State programs (I'm a NY'er) that are much more affordable. 

But looking forward, I'm going to just keep on painting. 

Parting thought:

Our time is more valuable than money, and in the end I didn't feel like they valued my time.

Edited March 25, 2022 by refereemandem
parting thought

[Danais]

23 hours ago, ABLBDB345 said:

@Danais, wondering if you've heard anything yet? I interviewed for Printmaking March 10 and haven't heard anything yet, not sure if I should assume rejection at this point...

 Hi there!! noop, no response yet. silence )

[ABLBDB345]

1 hour ago, Danais said:

 Hi there!! noop, no response yet. silence )

Great to know, thank you! I emailed admissions yesterday to see if they could give any timeline and they said within a couple weeks.

[Thursdayhasnofeel]

I was told to lookout this week for an email from Tyler Sculpture, has anyone received anything?

[dazedandconfused99]

On 3/24/2022 at 7:06 PM, SocialKonstruct said:

Rankings only mean so much. To be honest, if you find a cohort of people you want to work and hang out with, that would be much more meaningful here.

Of course, but since I won't know my cohort until much later, that is not something I can base my decision on. 

[709 LurkerA2V]

 

Hi.. Lurker! ?‍♂️

 

Edited March 29, 2022 by 709 LurkerA2V

[seelamfa22]

It was an extremely tough decision but I turned down Cranbrook’s offer of admission that came with a full tuition remission fellowship. :,,,,(

[imnotsure]

I’m losing hope in UCLA ? I interviewed early February & they haven’t reached out and my application portal hasn’t updated even though someone here mentioned theirs updated so I haven’t even gotten either a yes or no in that way. I just want to know if it’s one or the other.

[chunkeymonkey]

17 hours ago, imnotsure said:

I’m losing hope in UCLA ? I interviewed early February & they haven’t reached out and my application portal hasn’t updated even though someone here mentioned theirs updated so I haven’t even gotten either a yes or no in that way. I just want to know if it’s one or the other.

You should email them! 

[imnotsure]

28 minutes ago, chunkeymonkey said:

You should email them! 

I’ve never emailed a school about admissions before I’m not sure how I should ?

[RyanV]

59 minutes ago, imnotsure said:

I’ve never emailed a school about admissions before I’m not sure how I should ?

I had the same thing happen at Columbia and just got my waitlist notification like 3 days ago. I did email before that and they did’t really say anything other than wait. But emailing the admissions department never hurts. 

[eatyoveggies]

For anyone still waiting to hear from Arizona State- I emailed and they said they had sent out acceptances/WL notifications so that if you haven't heard by now, it's a rejection. My portal still says 'in review' though, classic haha

[Strawberrycat]

4 hours ago, imnotsure said:

I’ve never emailed a school about admissions before I’m not sure how I should ?

You could just reach out and let them know who you are, when you interviewed, and say something about how you really appreciated the opportunity to interview and that you were hoping to follow up and find out when there will be a decision available to you.

Edited March 30, 2022 by Strawberrycat

[imnotsure]

2 hours ago, Strawberrycat said:

You could just reach out and let them know who you are, when you interviewed, and say something about how you really appreciated the opportunity to interview and that you were hoping to follow up and find out when there will be a decision available to you.

Thanks for the advice & also everyone else that has also given me advice. It is definitely appreciated!

[709 LurkerA2V]

On 3/29/2022 at 5:18 PM, imnotsure said:

I’m losing hope in UCLA ? I interviewed early February & they haven’t reached out and my application portal hasn’t updated even though someone here mentioned theirs updated so I haven’t even gotten either a yes or no in that way. I just want to know if it’s one or the other.

lurker

"Dear Jamar XXXXX,  

Applicants should have received an email a week or two ago. You can login to the application portal and see the link to your application status.    

 

Best,  

UCLA Department of Art  

www.art.ucla.edu"    

 

I email. you are welcome and not in pain  

It is all over.

[impliedpaste]

A school’s admissions office told me decisions would be made by the end of March and I still haven’t heard from them. I interviewed 2 months ago and I’m trying hard to not get too anxious about it! Man I just want to know either way. 

[Strawberrycat]

36 minutes ago, impliedpaste said:

A school’s admissions office told me decisions would be made by the end of March and I still haven’t heard from them. I interviewed 2 months ago and I’m trying hard to not get too anxious about it! Man I just want to know either way. 

Same, I'm looking at March 31st on the calendar and thinking they really weren't joking about "end of March". I really hope they send an update today.