MFA 2022 Freak Out Forum

[The-Fourth-Dimension]

22 minutes ago, slickjaketheruler said:

Is anyone getting paranoid by not hearing back from any schools? I feel like I’m checking my email every 30 minutes.

Yes, dood. For real. I keep rotating from the application management sites where your decisions are given, to my inbox, to The Grad Cafe. It's Wednesday. If you look back at the FOF's from last year till 2018, the schools start sending out stuff starting from tonight. 

So, yeah... Nerves in full-effect fasho!

[Strawberrycat]

27 minutes ago, shivbat said:

Yes same!! Checking portals constantly too even though I know I'd probably get an email first. Picking up spam calls just in case it's an admissions office. Going insane here haha.

The spam calls are killing me. ? They're in full force this week and it is not the timing for it, haha. 

[recyclable]

51 minutes ago, Strawberrycat said:

The spam calls are killing me. ? They're in full force this week and it is not the timing for it, haha. 

Same! I installed an app that blocks spam calls, I don't want to sound like product placement so I'll leave name off here, but I would 10/10 recommend!

[MFA-Painting-2022]

On 1/24/2022 at 11:06 PM, The-Fourth-Dimension said:

So nice to hear from Raza going for the MFA! We really need more of us doing this. I've been private messaging with another homegirl on the forums here who is doing her MFA and is also really good. She's not Mexican/Chicano, but her culture has so much in common with us.

Woodland is real nice! I did a commissioned painting for the Mayor of Woodland City Council Member, Art Pimantel back in 2014.

I know Maceo!!! ? You didn't go to the bottom of the webpage in my signature? There's a whole video of me and Maceo and his brother and the Royal Chicano Air Force and Chicano Park getting awarded for our Chicano art at the Leland Stanford Mansion. Maceo's dad José and my dad Arturo were friends back in the early days of the movimiento and the Royal Chicano Air Force. My dad taught agriculture and Chicano Studies at Deganawidah-Quetzalcoatl University at Davis, José taught arte there before he went over to CSUS. Maceo's uncle, Malaquias, taught Chicano Studies, over at UC Davis. I still do arte with Esteban Villa who created the RCAF with Maceo's dad.

Back in the day the Chicanos all got into being professors and working in education in order to elevate and maintain our cultura that the White supremacists in and out of the art world were trying to ignore and destroy. People like the Montoya's, and Villa's and Orozco's and the RCAF, and my father made sure that MEChA became strong and we put our people in places of learning. We have to keep it going and be strong, as well.

Yeah, things are not so good here in Califas. It's getting impossible to afford anything. Forget about being a homeowner. Everyone from all the other states and countries bought up and gentrified all the land here in the mid aughts, priced it up, and sold it back to us like we're a bunch of pendejos acting like we're investors about to get rich. Plus, the ghetto-lyfe attitude is everywhere and people are totally entitled ready to get mad at each other at the drop of a hat and start fighting. I'm not exaggerating.

My little Chicano neighborhood here in Alkali Flat was nice when I moved up here 5 years ago from San Diego. They put in a homeless camp right across the street from my apartments a few years back and filled it with homeless people from other states who decided to come out to Califas and live here because we're better to homeless people than other states. I feel for them, but now my friends with familia won't bring their little kids to my house to play anymore because people shoot meth right outside my building.

I can't walk out of my house without being harassed for change from grown men. I usually live in Chicano Varrios because you don't really have to deal with that sort of thing, but times have changed. Sacra is very terrible now and I can't wait to move far away from here back to Southern Califas near the border with Mexico and the beach.

It's not like ALL of Califas is like that, just most of it, but you won't see it on the news enough to make a difference. Every year that Silicon Valley keeps inviting cheap slave-labor to "innovate" and make Califas less livable, more expensive, more dangerous, and less family friendly for those of us that have always been here in Aztlan. 

The White supremacists are definitely making a big-time comeback since the Orange Nazi was president. I've been told to "GO BACK TO WHERE YOU CAME FROM" on numerous occasions enough that it wouldn't feel abnormal for that to happen to me.

It's still not as bad as the South or Midwest Estados Unidos, tho, for the most part.

Do you have links to pictures of your murales??? I'll drive out there to Davis and check them out!

It’s really cool that you know Maceo. He put me in touch with the people for the mural in Woodland. Nice guy. Never met his dad but I heard good things about him within the community. I saw that you wrote an explanation of how to upload images, thanks! I’ll check it out. I’ll try uploading something in the next few days. I’ve been working a lot so I’m exhausted right now and the idea of dealing with inefficient technology is kind of off-putting. The Chicano community has always had a rich culture and Maceo was doing some good work in Woodland Community College, I don’t know if he’s still there. Hope your applications are going well ✌?

[MFA-Painting-2022]

5 hours ago, The-Fourth-Dimension said:

The Grad Cafe sux for data hosting. If you want to add images of your artwork to the forum you have to first post them to a site that will host the pix, then add the image as a URL to hotlink them from the host site to The Grad Cafe. It workz for animated gifs, as well.

A good site for that is imgbb.com because you don't need to give any personal info and you can use a burner email account from temp-mail.org to give them as a contact. Just sign up and start posting the hostings.

It's really easy. Plz see instructions below in my gif with our boi Speedy Gonzales.

 

Thanks! I’ll try uploading some on Friday. I appreciate the gif

[Forms Without Formula]

Anyone else apply to Hunter this year? It's the only school I applied to and I'm going crazy waiting, seems like their interview requests come out in mid February and decisions in mid March but I don't know how I'm gonna wait any longer!

[The-Fourth-Dimension]

7 hours ago, MFA-Painting-2022 said:

It’s really cool that you know Maceo. He put me in touch with the people for the mural in Woodland. Nice guy. Never met his dad but I heard good things about him within the community. I saw that you wrote an explanation of how to upload images, thanks! I’ll check it out. I’ll try uploading something in the next few days. I’ve been working a lot so I’m exhausted right now and the idea of dealing with inefficient technology is kind of off-putting. The Chicano community has always had a rich culture and Maceo was doing some good work in Woodland Community College, I don’t know if he’s still there. Hope your applications are going well ✌?

Maceo is over at the Chicano Studie Department at UC Davis. He's pretty cool. We don't really hang out, we just run in the same circles. Plus, his dad and mine had beef since like the 1960's, LOL! Old Chicanos were crazy. I peeped your Davis painting, online. I haven't gone by the joint but yeah, it's tight! I can't find your Woodland piece, online. Can you post pix or a link?

I hope you get into the MFA program because we really need more prolific and Masters Level Chicana Artists doing big artwork in the public gallery for the kids and abuelitas and varrios. There's so much of us men, too many, and a lot of the guys aren't even that good. Not to be mean, but I've seen some very crummy Chicano "Arte" out there. Too many Dia de los Muertos, Aztec Warrior, Pachuco/macho stuff. Chicano Arte has become very stereotypical. We need some fresh new ideas from some pros, some LADY PROS!!! ?

I'm hanging out with my artista homegirl Marbella, and also Esteban Villa, this weekend. Esteban created the RCAF with Maseo's pop. Esteban is a living legend in Chicano Arte. I'll post you some pictures! ?

Edited January 27, 2022 by The-Fourth-Dimension
Fashion visits Japan in the winter.

[etm94]

5 hours ago, Forms Without Formula said:

Anyone else apply to Hunter this year? It's the only school I applied to and I'm going crazy waiting, seems like their interview requests come out in mid February and decisions in mid March but I don't know how I'm gonna wait any longer!

I applied to Hunter. For some reason I actually thought their interview requests go out even later than mid-Feb, so I'm happy to hear that it's sooner than I expected!!

[Forms Without Formula]

1 hour ago, tmng said:

I applied to Hunter. For some reason I actually thought their interview requests go out even later than mid-Feb, so I'm happy to hear that it's sooner than I expected!!

Their website says early March but looking back on past forums it seems like people got interviews earlier than that so hopefully only a couple more weeks!

[slickjaketheruler]

Just got an interview request with the Printmaking head of Tyler. Finally hearing something.

[Antisocialprintmaker]

Does anyone know when Bard sends out interview requests? I saw that I got an email from them and got really excited, but it just said my application is being reviewed and to do my FAFSA in by February 1st for scholarship consideration. Lol it bummed me out a little, because I haven't heard back from any schools about interviews. A lot of the schools I applied to though don't stop taking apps until mid-February so I think I'm anxious for no reason

[recyclable]

If anyone wants to share MFA interviewing tips or experiences, please hit me up. My interview with Oregon was today--and I think it was good?--but I find it so hard to gauge how these things go?

[katfude5]

If I remember correctly, the majority of schools last year sent out interview requests after Yale did which was the 6th of February or something close to that-- so if you're stressing out that people are hearing back from schools this early, it's honestly pretty uncommon until February. Also different majors from the same school are known to send out requests at different speeds, so if someone hears back from your school but with a different concentration it doesn't mean that you won't hear back! 

[Strawberrycat]

Just got an email to schedule an interview with SAIC Painting/Drawing. Check your emails and schedule asap to pick the time/day you want if you're interviewing with them!

[Slowly]

Had my interview with RISD Illustration earlier this week. I feel pretty good about it, in fact I enjoyed it! My inbox is open if anyone wants to ask questions, or even just let us yell at each other/blow off steam about our respective interviews. Best of luck to everyone with interviews still coming up!

[Strawberrycat]

Something I always struggle with is coming up with good questions to ask schools during interviews, so I'm asking for your suggestions once again. ? What are you guys asking? 

[The-Fourth-Dimension]

1 hour ago, Strawberrycat said:

Something I always struggle with is coming up with good questions to ask schools during interviews, so I'm asking for your suggestions once again. ? What are you guys asking? 

I had to edit this to add a thing at the beginning. I just want to say I'm not trying to be bossy or tell you or anyone what to do. I hope I don't come off pushy when anyone reads this. LOL! ?

Just be all, "yo, wherez my DOLLA DOLLA BILLZ!?!" JK! If they ask about your biggest fault, don't be like, "my biggest fault is that I work too hard." That's some bullshit, LOL!!! Honesty is a good thing. Tell the truth. You don't have to tell the WHOLE truth, tho. Like, don't tell them that your biggest fault is that you're a raging alcoholic who likes to steal just to see if you can get away with it. But I got a feeling if that's where someone is at then the main thing prob isn't applying to grad school.

For reals, tho... I think it's wise to ask about things that are important to YOU and YOUR world. It's your future, be a little selfish about it. These cats are interviewing lots of peeps every year, and have been interviewed themselves mass times in the academic world. I think the best policy is to just be exactly who you are and ask about what matters to you because these folks have heard it all. Be the most Strawberry the Cat, ever! ?

The other thing is that we're going to be repping for our cohort, professors, and bringing glory to our learning institutions. Because I'm a super hyper and high strung people-person, that idea gets me all pumped up. Don't hold back your enthusiasm. My enthusiasm is what gets me into crazy situations that shy people don't ever get to participate in. My enthusiasm makes other people want to engage in what I've got going on and be part of MY thing.

They've already seen your art portfolio, you sold them on that. Now sell them on YOU. Be EAGER. And I know that you are up to it after seeing you here for a couple rounds. If the institution you're applying to gets you bouncing, then you will have no problem being exciting, being yourself.

The reality about any kind of interview like this, whether it's a job or school, is that it's always about behavior and psychology. Is it about mad skillzorz? But of course. But these peeps want people who are all about it and getting on with the gang. When I conducted interviews as a floor manager I would look for people who could gel with the team and create good energy in the work environment.

Everyone can make art, it's a fakt... But can everyone be interesting, be motivated, be outgoing, be crazy, be sane, make a grip of GOOD art all the time and STILL KICK ASS??? No, most people can't do that. That's why they want US to be at their school, because WE CAN do that and bring glory to the institution.

To reiterate: As boring as it sounds, just be yourself. Be honest. Ask about things that are important to Strawberry the Cat and what she needs and can offer. Make sure we let them know EXACTLY what we can offer the outfit, and what makes it unique to US, just like any relationship.

I've got things that are important to ME!!! Numero uno is MONEY. If I'm gonna give myself to the program 100% then I need a stipend, I need a part time job, and I need grants. Does the school have these things? How can I have them as soon as possible? Numero dos would be about how they've handled studio-work during the pandemic. That's GOTTA come up because if their thing was just to close up shop then that's a problem.

Also, what ABOUT the studios? How big are they, what kind of access do you have, can you be really loud or will that bother people... I don't think it hurts to ask the interviewers exactly what they would like to get out of YOU. Not what they would like about any old admitted student, what they would like to see from YOU and what is it about you and what you have on offer in specific that is of interest to them. Be like you already got admitted and you're asking them what's crackin today.

I don't know why I started numbering the things that are important to me and then stopped at two, but those are some of my ideas. I'd also like to hear what others think, and what you think as well.

Why am I up at 2am?

Edited January 28, 2022 by The-Fourth-Dimension
"A principal idea is omni-present, much like candy."

[Slowly]

3 hours ago, Strawberrycat said:

Something I always struggle with is coming up with good questions to ask schools during interviews, so I'm asking for your suggestions once again. ? What are you guys asking? 

Apart from Fourth's suggestion to ask honestly about funding, I asked about the TA process, and how much of the course/syllabus we were expected to propose. I also asked to know a bit more on some of the electives they advertised on their website (phrased it like "I plan to do work about [subject], so I'm very interested in [elective name], may I know a bit more about what's tackled there?")

[English Breakfast]

Just had my interview with UNC. Big tip for anyone interviewing in different time zones: REMEMBER THAT THERE ARE DIFFERENT TIME ZONES! I ended up getting a text from them 7 minutes into when my interview was scheduled. 

Despite the massive mix-up with time, I think my interview went pretty well. They asked these questions:

• Why are you applying to Grad School?
• Why are you applying to UNC specifically?
• What is your greatest strength and weakness as an applicant?
• What motivates your Art?
• What is your self-driven practice like?
• How do you handle interpersonal and collaborative relationships?

7 hours ago, Strawberrycat said:

Something I always struggle with is coming up with good questions to ask schools during interviews, so I'm asking for your suggestions once again. ? What are you guys asking? 

Because I missed 7 minutes of the interview, there was not much time at the end for me to ask questions, but I was able to ask "How would you describe the relationship between faculty and students? Is it more instructive, collaborative, or like a mentorship?" another question that I plan to ask is "What do you value the most about your involvement in this program?" I think engaging interviewers on a personal level is a cool route to take if you're into that sort of thing!

[katfude5]

The biggest mistake I made last year during my interviews was trying to please them in order to gain acceptance. I was so focused on saying what I knew they wanted to hear to get in, that I didn't allow myself to interview THEM to see if the school would actually be a good fit for me. If this is your first time around, it's better to be rejected after a really honest and open back and forth dialogue where both parties learn that they don't click the right way, instead of dancing around the interview in order to be who they want you to be. It's so easy to be shy and scared and nervous and let them interview you, but if you are applying to multiple schools-- the reality is that you have the power to grill them also to see if they offer what you need to succeed in your program.

[foundobjectlife]

Update on UCI (interview) invite:) 

[AncientQuail]

hi all! a quick school response update. I was accepted the UMN via phone call last Tuesday and heard back from UW-Madison via email on Monday that my application had been "advanced to the next stage of the review process" and they would contact me soon to schedule an interview. 

I also applied to Rutgers and RISD (for printmaking) and haven't heard back yet. 

[slickjaketheruler]

9 hours ago, Strawberrycat said:

Something I always struggle with is coming up with good questions to ask schools during interviews, so I'm asking for your suggestions once again. ? What are you guys asking? 

From my experience, my best interview questions are ones that insert yourself into the university and community. I like to approach it as these are things and programs within the school I’m specifically interested in working with. 

For example, I’m really particularly interested in working with the artist book special collections archive at most of the universities I’m applying to. And I’m curious as to why sort of programming the collections has in conjunction with the printmaking departments. So I may ask the program how I could get involved with them? 

I’ll probably be asking about ways in which students do artist run based projects as well (for me particularly it’s important for schools to foster that sort of attitude).

I always want the faculty Im interviewing to have a sense or picture of how I can contribute to their program. 

[artsyfartsy2000]

I know people are confused on what to say/how to act during interviews. This is the time to shine your personality at the faculty. Something they take into consideration is if they think you will fit in well/ get along with the current cohorts. There have been incredible artists with SOUR attitudes that they had to reject due to the fact they thought the current cohorts would dislike them. Be funny, smart, gentle and enthusiastic and show that you’re willing to work with the faculty and be involved with the cohorts.

[The-Fourth-Dimension]

Just got an email from San Diego State University saying that my file is now "under evaluation." That makes me happy. San Diego is my home town and it would be kool to have the option of studying there. 

Still waiting on UCSD, UCI, Stanford, and scholarship opportunities from USC.

Happy to see one artist got an interview at UCI. One of the reasons I chose to apply at Irvine is that they have a lot of community outreach to the Chicano, Latino community, their art faculty is tight, and their housing opportunities are great.

Get it!