MFA 2022 Freak Out Forum

[foundobjectlife]

6 hours ago, foundobjectlife said:

Update on UCI (interview) invite:) 

& same UPenn

[Strawberrycat]

3 hours ago, artsyfartsy2000 said:

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.

(I'll just reply here but direct this to everyone who replied.) Thank you guys so much for all of your thoughtful answers!!! Grad Cafe told me I'm not allowed to react to anymore posts today after liking all of them, so I can't reply to each one. ? But I really appreciate every answer. 

I just get caught up in overthinking it beforehand, personally, worrying that asking certain questions might make it seem like I haven't researched enough or was unprepared or something. I want to always try to ask something thoughtful, too. But I think they're usually just happy to answer whatever is asked and can expand on pretty much most things. 

I had an interview with UCSB today and it was honestly a really comfortable, fun, and engaging conversation, and not intimidating at all! I have high key anxiety in these situations (clearly haha), so it can be tough to let my personality show through, but this suggestion in particular was really helpful and I was able to loosen up and laugh and smile a lot in the interview, which felt great. It also definitely helped that the professor interviewing was so warm and responsive, which is a big plus for UCSB for me. Those who mentioned that you are interviewing the schools just as much as they're interviewing you are totally right too. 

Wishing good luck to everyone and peace of mind during the waiting game. ❤ 

(I also want to say to everyone, please try not to get discouraged if you don't get the news you want this time around. There are so many reasons that that could be, and none of them are to do with your worth as an artist. Sometimes it just comes down to timing. But best of luck either way!) 

 

 

 

 

 

[RyanV]

Hey All,

 

Long time lurker first time caller.

thank you all for so much valuable info. I’m starting to get pretty nervous. I’ve heard back and have interviews with SAIC and SVA for photo.

Still waiting on Yale, Columbia, Hunters, Parsons UCLA and Pratt. 

I feel like my heart is always in my throat now. 

I know Yale photo was reviewing candidates  this last week with their current class. 

Does anyone know once you interview is there ever pressure to accept before hearing from other schools? How does that work?

Good luck to everyone this year!

 

 

Edited January 30, 2022 by RyanV

[Strawberrycat]

1 hour ago, RyanV said:

Hey All,

 

Long time lurker first time caller.

thank you all for so much valuable info. I’m starting to get pretty nervous. I’ve heard back and have interviews with SAIC and SVA for photo.

Still waiting on Yale, Columbia, Hunters, Parsons UCLA and Pratt. 

I feel like my heart is always in my throat now. 

I know Yale photo was reviewing candidates  this last week with their current class. 

Does anyone know once you interview is there ever pressure to accept before hearing from other schools? How does that work?

Good luck to everyone this year!

 

 

There can be pressure from some places, but you can ask for an extension if they give you a deadline to decide by and you're still unsure! It can feel tricky or awkward to have to ask, but deciding where to go is a huge decision, so try not to let anywhere rush you without knowing all of your options, including funding packages. 

Good luck too!! 

 

 

[The-Fourth-Dimension]

Bah... They nuked my gif.

Edited January 30, 2022 by The-Fourth-Dimension

[The-Fourth-Dimension]

[katfude5]

12 hours ago, RyanV said:

Hey All,

 

Long time lurker first time caller.

thank you all for so much valuable info. I’m starting to get pretty nervous. I’ve heard back and have interviews with SAIC and SVA for photo.

Still waiting on Yale, Columbia, Hunters, Parsons UCLA and Pratt. 

I feel like my heart is always in my throat now. 

I know Yale photo was reviewing candidates  this last week with their current class. 

Does anyone know once you interview is there ever pressure to accept before hearing from other schools? How does that work?

Good luck to everyone this year!

 

 

I looked back and in 2020, Yale responded January 28th, and in 2021 it was February 6th. Since they extended the deadline this year, it may be later (but hopefully not!)

[shivbat]

Happy Monday everyone! Hoping that everyone gets some sort of good news this week!

[Pickle555]

Just received an interview email from Stanford!  

[Strawberrycat]

19 minutes ago, Pickle95 said:

Just received an interview email from Stanford!  

So hyped for you!!!!

[nameless cat]

Hello! 

I've been lurking and decided to finally say hey. Thank you all for providing such great information, advice, and support! 

I too am doing the nervous email checks. Thinking about turning off my notifications to try and maintain my sanity. 

Kind of disappointed to hear someone got an interview from UO and UT Knoxville as I applied to both... was excited about the potential for a 3 year program. 

I interviewed with UCSB and UC Davis. I was blown away by how friendly the UCSB faculty member was, definitely good vibes for the school. UC Davis said they will have decisions very soon (fingers crossed). 

Really hoping to hear back from Rutgers!! Also, anyone else apply to UC Boulder? 

 

Edited January 31, 2022 by nameless cat

[whitewhales]

Hey guys, lots of comfort in reading these posts. Found you guys off reddit. Applied to grad school for the first time. Undergrad in Painting from Pratt. International student.

 

Applied to Painting at

UMass Dartmouth

University of Washington - Seattle

Pratt Institute

RISD

Yale

 

Noticed a couple of folks here applied to UMass Dartmouth.

Honestly, UMass was my "safe school" um, because I had never heard of their program. Some faculty seem interesting, but like, why are you guys applying? 

And am I really the only person applying to the UW? Their program is great and their cohorts are awesome. 

Now I know why Yale has over 1k applications per year - we are all literally applying lol. 

 

Haven't received any word from any of these schools, but I'll keep you guys posted.

 

 

[Strawberrycat]

17 minutes ago, nameless cat said:

Hello! 

I've been lurking and decided to finally say hey. Thank you all for providing such great information, advice, and support! 

I too am doing the nervous email checks. Thinking about turning off my notifications to try and maintain my sanity. 

Kind of disappointed to hear someone got an interview from UO and UT Knoxville as I applied to both... was excited about the potential for a 3 year program. 

I interviewed with UCSB and UC Davis. I was blown away by how friendly the UCSB faculty member was, definitely good vibes for the school. UC Davis said they will have decisions very soon (fingers crossed). 

Really hoping to hear back from Rutgers!! Also, anyone else apply to UC Boulder? 

 

Congrats on your interviews so far! I'd love to chat with you about UCSB if you're interested and want to dm! UC Davis is also great, I have a friend who goes there and loves it. 

[Strawberrycat]

2 minutes ago, whitewhales said:

Hey guys, lots of comfort in reading these posts. Found you guys off reddit. Applied to grad school for the first time. Undergrad in Painting from Pratt. International student.

 

Applied to Painting at

UMass Dartmouth

University of Washington - Seattle

Pratt Institute

RISD

Yale

 

Noticed a couple of folks here applied to UMass Dartmouth.

Honestly, UMass was my "safe school" um, because I had never heard of their program. Some faculty seem interesting, but like, why are you guys applying? 

And am I really the only person applying to the UW? Their program is great and their cohorts are awesome. 

Now I know why Yale has over 1k applications per year - we are all literally applying lol. 

 

Haven't received any word from any of these schools, but I'll keep you guys posted.

 

 

I applied to UW too! Ann Gale and Sangram Majumdar both being on the faculty there is just wild. Good luck with all of your apps! 

[whitewhales]

2 minutes ago, Strawberrycat said:

I applied to UW too! Ann Gale and Sangram Majumdar both being on the faculty there is just wild. Good luck with all of your apps! 

That's so cool! Yes! They're both fantastic artists! I really like Govedare's work too. UW is my preferred school - as much as I loved Pratt. I don't want to go to "art school" again, I know I want a bigger university with more resources and opportunities for interdisciplinary work. No art school bubble. Which program did you apply to? 

[Pickle555]

16 minutes ago, whitewhales said:

Hey guys, lots of comfort in reading these posts. Found you guys off reddit. Applied to grad school for the first time. Undergrad in Painting from Pratt. International student.

 

Applied to Painting at

UMass Dartmouth

University of Washington - Seattle

Pratt Institute

RISD

Yale

 

Noticed a couple of folks here applied to UMass Dartmouth.

Honestly, UMass was my "safe school" um, because I had never heard of their program. Some faculty seem interesting, but like, why are you guys applying? 

And am I really the only person applying to the UW? Their program is great and their cohorts are awesome. 

Now I know why Yale has over 1k applications per year - we are all literally applying lol. 

 

Haven't received any word from any of these schools, but I'll keep you guys posted.

 

 

If you don't mind me asking, what year did you finish Pratt? I attended Pratt for undergrad as well, however I was in the drawing department. Finished in 2018.

[whitewhales]

5 minutes ago, Pickle95 said:

If you don't mind me asking, what year did you finish Pratt? I attended Pratt for undergrad as well, however I was in the drawing department. Finished in 2018.

Hi Pickle. We might have overlapped when I was a senior and you were a freshman in foundation : - )

I graduated in 2014, had Kit White and Greg Drasler for my thesis. Masback in my junior year and.. a lot of Howard Buchwald throughout the 4 years.

Did you happen to have any seminar courses with Michael Brennan? He was the best, and teaches grad primarily now. 

[The-Fourth-Dimension]

1 hour ago, Pickle95 said:

Just received an interview email from Stanford!  

I just knew they were gonna hit you up! Remember? That is so great. ?

[eatyoveggies]

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!

[Pickle555]

9 minutes ago, whitewhales said:

Hi Pickle. We might have overlapped when I was a senior and you were a freshman in foundation : - )

I graduated in 2014, had Kit White and Greg Drasler for my thesis. Masback in my junior year and.. a lot of Howard Buchwald throughout the 4 years.

Did you happen to have any seminar courses with Michael Brennan? He was the best, and teaches grad primarily now. 

Oh wow yeah, I had a lot of these professors too lol, or at least interacted with them. Definitely had Buchwald for a few years, quite the character but I learned a lot. Masback was cool too, had him and Joe Stauber senior year. Kit and Greg were great, not my professors but had them in my studio a lot. I actually didn't have Michael Brennan though, I had Jen Mazza for seminar towards the end of my time there. She might have been newer to the program by that time? Anyway, nice to see a fellow Pratt alum on here.

[eatyoveggies]

51 minutes ago, whitewhales said:

Hey guys, lots of comfort in reading these posts. Found you guys off reddit. Applied to grad school for the first time. Undergrad in Painting from Pratt. International student.

 

Applied to Painting at

UMass Dartmouth

University of Washington - Seattle

Pratt Institute

RISD

Yale

 

Noticed a couple of folks here applied to UMass Dartmouth.

Honestly, UMass was my "safe school" um, because I had never heard of their program. Some faculty seem interesting, but like, why are you guys applying? 

And am I really the only person applying to the UW? Their program is great and their cohorts are awesome. 

Now I know why Yale has over 1k applications per year - we are all literally applying lol. 

 

Haven't received any word from any of these schools, but I'll keep you guys posted.

 

 

One of my mentors had a student go to umass Dartmouth and she loved it! Another past student of his is a professor there now. good program as far as I have heard. 

[Strawberrycat]

54 minutes ago, whitewhales said:

That's so cool! Yes! They're both fantastic artists! I really like Govedare's work too. UW is my preferred school - as much as I loved Pratt. I don't want to go to "art school" again, I know I want a bigger university with more resources and opportunities for interdisciplinary work. No art school bubble. Which program did you apply to? 

Yeah, Govedare's great too! I didn't know his work prior, but it seems like the whole faculty line up is pretty stellar. I applied to Painting as well! 

That's understandable. What kind of interdisciplinary work are you hoping to do? I do painting and sculpture myself, but I applied for the painting options when I had to choose one. 

 

[tomatoriot]

Another lurker coming out of the woodwork to say hi and thanks for posting such relatable content. This is my first year applying. Mostly applied to funded printmaking programs. I cannot stop obsessively checking my email.

Northwestern - rejected

Tyler - no news (tho I saw some people interviewed already)

UConn - no news

U of Iowa - no news

Carnegie Mellon - no news

UW Madison - no news (think I saw someone interview for print)

UM ann arbor - no news

WashU - no news 

 

The chair of the visual mfa at WashU / Sam Fox emailed me a few days ago. Said they had already viewed my half finished slideroom application, loved the work on my website, and encourage me to submit the application. They extended their deadline til 2/1, so I was just taking the extra time to fine tune the writing. Is it a good sign that she reached out? Do you think they did that for everyone? The email was super informal. I replied right away and she replied to that saying she looked forward to talking about my work.

[Strawberrycat]

On 1/31/2022 at 7:36 PM, tomatoriot said:

Another lurker coming out of the woodwork to say hi and thanks for posting such relatable content. This is my first year applying. Mostly applied to funded printmaking programs. I cannot stop obsessively checking my email.

Northwestern - rejected

Tyler - no news (tho I saw some people interviewed already)

UConn - no news

U of Iowa - no news

Carnegie Mellon - no news

UW Madison - no news (think I saw someone interview for print)

UM ann arbor - no news

WashU - no news 

 

The chair of the visual mfa at WashU / Sam Fox emailed me a few days ago. Said they had already viewed my half finished slideroom application, loved the work on my website, and encourage me to submit the application. They extended their deadline til 2/1, so I was just taking the extra time to fine tune the writing. Is it a good sign that she reached out? Do you think they did that for everyone? The email was super informal. I replied right away and she replied to that saying she looked forward to talking about my work.

Hey! I would think it's a really great sign that they looked into your website and reached out personally. They might remind everyone who started an app of upcoming deadlines, but it sounds like that was more than just a generic reminder sent to everyone. 

I had no idea they could look at slide room materials before they were submitted though, glad I didn't have that knowledge before my apps were in. ? 

[Frank14]

Hi everyone! 

It's been so great reading your posts, I feel very validated in my obsessive email and application status checking ?

I am in my last semester of undergrad, studying Art History with no studio art credits at all (I know, ?) but have been maintaining my own practice and building my portfolio over the last couple years.

I applied to the following MFA programs: 

Colorado State - Art

UC Irvine - Art

MICA - Mount Royal School of Art (Multidisciplinary MFA)

VCU - Painting and Printmaking 

U of Montana - Art 

Cal State SF - Art 

So far I've only received "your materials have been sent for review" type of emails but I'm encouraged by the fact that I haven't seen other people on here applying to these programs saying they've gotten acceptance/rejection emails or interview invites. Best of luck, everyone!!!!