MFA 2022 Freak Out Forum

[Squirrelboy]

8 hours ago, hopeful.jpeg said:

So far, I've gotten offers from RISD and RCA (which I'm so excited about) and still waiting to hear back from the other programs.

Hello! Congratulations on your offers!! Can I ask when you heard back from RISD D+M? I haven’t heard anything from my interview…I’m hoping they’re still sending things out.

Edited March 1, 2022 by Squirrelboy

[ORRI]

Is there anyone who did an interview with VCU sculpture? It was a bit unfriendly and tough for me. I felt I am not in mutual conversation but in one-sided test process (?)

[Hjuoollpphhfcvn]

I interviewed as well and I think it was very neutral, so it did feel one-sided in that sense. I did not feel them "unfriendly" or "unkind", just maybe trying to avoid interest/desinterest to show objectiveness?

[lilybee23]

10 hours ago, hopeful.jpeg said:

Hi everyone!! I wanted to introduce myself I applied to art/design programs that combine art and technology/experience. I'm applied out of my undergrad program (currently at Stanford, happy to answer questions about the art programs!) studying design and engineering.

Schools I've applied to: RISD Digital + Media, Royal College of Art IED, NYU ITP, Central Saint Martins, MIT Media Lab, UCL Bartlett

So far, I've gotten offers from RISD and RCA (which I'm so excited about) and still waiting to hear back from the other programs. Do y'all know anyone else who has been accepted to these programs/schools? I'd love to get to know everyone better 

Hi, Congrats on the offers!  I was wondering if you have gotten a video view from ITP?? I tracked mine but it's still the same, I am starting to worry, esp based on gradcafe submission in the past, they usually started giving offers early March so i find it weird that my unlisted video views still the same, I am probably overthinking but i cannot help it lol

Edited March 1, 2022 by lilybee23
add somthing

[hopeful.jpeg]

3 hours ago, Squirrelboy said:

Hello! Congratulations on your offers!! Can I ask when you heard back from RISD D+M? I haven’t heard anything from my interview…I’m hoping they’re still sending things out.

Hi thank you! No worries! They got back to me earlier than when they are officially sending decisions and said that the official notice is due to be released in early March, they're definitely sending things out still

[hopeful.jpeg]

1 hour ago, lilybee23 said:

Hi, Congrats on the offers!  I was wondering if you have gotten a video view from ITP?? I tracked mine but it's still the same, I am starting to worry, esp based on gradcafe submission in the past, they usually started giving offers early March so i find it weird that my unlisted video views still the same, I am probably overthinking but i cannot help it lol

Thank you!! That's a good question, I hadn't thought about it but I just checked my analytics and no ? it only has 1 view and that one is from myself. I think that probably means they look at the videos last after reviewing applications to make final decisions in March

[cirrostratusphere]

Just wanted to update for any MICA hopefuls that I had my interview with professor Waltemath on Saturday. She said there are way more people applying for the painting MFA than usual this year by a large margin, and speculated that maybe the pandemic was making everyone want to go back to school.

I LOVED my interview with her, it was so much better than my SAIC interview. She was direct, had tons of questions prepared, and gave me great feedback. She says results will be out in two weeks.

[shivbat]

Hey all, long time no post.

I honestly was very disheartened after being rejected from UT Austin and SVA back to back (my top two). I needed to take a break from gradcafe and regroup.

I come back today with great news! I got into a choice pretty far up my list, the MFA in Children’s Writing and Illustrating at Hollins University!! Still waiting on an answer from Hartford, but everything about Hollins right now seems great.

[MMING]

Hello.

I just got accepted SVA POD.

Just let you know.

[impliedpaste]

Waiting to hear back after the interview stage is so rough. What is everyone doing to cope? 

[tomatoriot]

37 minutes ago, impliedpaste said:

Waiting to hear back after the interview stage is so rough. What is everyone doing to cope? 

YES. I’m lucky (I guess) to be working on my bfa thesis show. But even still, I’m desperate for news and trying not to get too attached to the idea of one place being my next home. Cannot wait to just know already, even if it’s a no from everywhere. 

[seelamfa22]

49 minutes ago, impliedpaste said:

Waiting to hear back after the interview stage is so rough. What is everyone doing to cope? 

I hear ya. While waiting, I have read each of the MFA Freak Out forums going back to 2019. I think I will eventually finish as far back as 2012 or something by the time this is over. 

[MMING]

I accepted to SVA and in the mail, there was no scholarship or TA option.

But as SVA was my no.1, so I just enrolled.

And I wonder, is negotation is needed for TA or scholarship? 

As I know, they usually let me know in the first place..

[seelamfa22]

Interviewed with Rutgers today. They're interested in hearing you speak about the overall themes in your portfolio as well as discussing ideas of individual pieces. Then they ask why grad school now. It sounds like a great program, and I had immense admiration for the interviewing faculty.

[seelamfa22]

Did everyone who applied to RISD receive an update in their application portal? I received an admit letter, but I will likely decline.

[limpcigarette]

Hey all,

I’ve posted a couple times in this thread but thought I’d introduce myself and ask for advice.

I am an artist and poet working primarily with fiber art, with a background in sculpture, painting, and video from my time in undergrad.

For general information, I’ll list all the schools I’ve applied to:

SAIC - Fiber (interviewed, accepted with 100% tuition); Painting (interviewed, accepted with 20% tuition); Sculpture (Rejected)

UChicago - Interviewed, second year full tuition waiver

Northwestern University - Interviewed, Accepted with 100% tuition and stipend

University of Michigan - Interviewed last week

Hunter College - Interview this weekend.

My question pertains to my current dilemma: choosing between SAIC’s Fiber program and Northwestern’s Art, Theory, and Practice. How did previous applicants go about choosing the right program for them, and what factors did they weigh?

I love the idea of living in downtown Chicago and the resources SAIC offers for Fiber Art, but the stipend for Northwestern has my mouth watering.

I’d also like to add a tidbit of advice/reassurance to future applicants who will anxiously be reading past threads next year: good photos are great, but my photos were shitty! Your artist statement can be as beautiful as you want to make it; one of mine’s was a short story. I am a first generation student who had no idea how to navigate grad applications, and I made it out to the other side (admission decisions). Being chosen for an interview is a good sign, and while they may be stressful every faculty member I’ve interacted with at the schools I applied to were gracious and engaged.

Best of luck and all my love for all future graduate applicants and candidates ❤️

 

[Squirrelboy]

Waitlisted for RISD Digital + Media…

[minidragonfly]

On 2/24/2022 at 7:58 PM, Pickle95 said:

Hey there! I went to Pratt for undergrad, and aside from taking 2 years of lithography and one year of screen printing, my "work study" job was being one of the techs for the print studios (I was very into printmaking as an undergrad). I worked alongside a lot of grad students as well. From my experience, and from visiting other print studios, Pratt has an extremely robust print studio layout. Giant screen printing room, very large litho stones with maybe 6 presses (?), intaglio studio, and a pretty big letter press studio. Many of the print faculty are master printers as well. I'm not sure if she's still there, but the studio manager at the time made prints for Louise Bourgeois (if you're into that), and one of the litho professors was like a litho freak, attended Tamarind and such. I can't necessarily speak to the grad program, or what life is like after grad school with jobs/teaching, but if you're looking for a school with great facilities Pratt definitely has them. 

Best of luck! 

Thanks for this thorough reply! It's really good to hear the facilities are amazing, and sounds like the faculty are top tier too. My interview is tomorrow morning so hopefully I'll be able to ask some more of my print program specific questions since it was weirdly hard to find a lot of info on their site and online. Pratt is seeming more and more appealing to me since I'm NY based and my partner wouldn't have to leave his job if I was accepted and chose to go there.

[ORRI]

2 hours ago, limpcigarette said:

Hey all,

I’ve posted a couple times in this thread but thought I’d introduce myself and ask for advice.

I am an artist and poet working primarily with fiber art, with a background in sculpture, painting, and video from my time in undergrad.

For general information, I’ll list all the schools I’ve applied to:

SAIC - Fiber (interviewed, accepted with 100% tuition); Painting (interviewed, accepted with 20% tuition); Sculpture (Rejected)

UChicago - Interviewed, second year full tuition waiver

Northwestern University - Interviewed, Accepted with 100% tuition and stipend

University of Michigan - Interviewed last week

Hunter College - Interview this weekend.

My question pertains to my current dilemma: choosing between SAIC’s Fiber program and Northwestern’s Art, Theory, and Practice. How did previous applicants go about choosing the right program for them, and what factors did they weigh?

I love the idea of living in downtown Chicago and the resources SAIC offers for Fiber Art, but the stipend for Northwestern has my mouth watering.

I’d also like to add a tidbit of advice/reassurance to future applicants who will anxiously be reading past threads next year: good photos are great, but my photos were shitty! Your artist statement can be as beautiful as you want to make it; one of mine’s was a short story. I am a first generation student who had no idea how to navigate grad applications, and I made it out to the other side (admission decisions). Being chosen for an interview is a good sign, and while they may be stressful every faculty member I’ve interacted with at the schools I applied to were gracious and engaged.

Best of luck and all my love for all future graduate applicants and candidates ❤️

 

First of all, congrat!! It's amazing result.

Personally, I consider the works of alumni and student resources. My works are a bit specific. It involves social practice and participants often. So I tried to find programs which have resources or centers related to this kind of works. Also, if I could love alumni's works and career, it might mean my future community is inspirational.

Btw, being accepted with 100% scholarship from SAIC is amazing! I heard they offer 1 person in each department. I applied for SAIC last year and only got 20 percent discount haha.

 

ps. I am not a current student!

Edited March 2, 2022 by ORRI

[minidragonfly]

Received a message a few hours ago from RISD saying I was waitlisted for printmaking. I was half expecting to receive a followup message saying it was sent in error, because I did not have an interview with them. I'm actually super happy because I thought it was a reject at this point ?

[seelamfa22]

2 hours ago, limpcigarette said:

My question pertains to my current dilemma: choosing between SAIC’s Fiber program and Northwestern’s Art, Theory, and Practice. How did previous applicants go about choosing the right program for them, and what factors did they weigh?

I love the idea of living in downtown Chicago and the resources SAIC offers for Fiber Art, but the stipend for Northwestern has my mouth watering.

 

Congratulations! I wanted to hear from previous applicants too, so I asked the graduate director (of a different school that I got into) to put me in contact with current students in the program, and I asked the grad students this question about how they knew it was the right program for them.

It sounds like your practice is already interdisciplinary, so Northwestern might be a good fit. SAIC has a strong studio-practice, which is great if you're not interested in spending your MFA writing papers.

[hopeful.jpeg]

3 hours ago, seelamfa22 said:

Did everyone who applied to RISD receive an update in their application portal? I received an admit letter, but I will likely decline.

Yeah I also got my admit letter + an assistantship position, but will definitely be reaching out to current students to ask about their experiences because the financial support is... not what I expected 

[lilyxia99]

I received the offer from VCUarts Kinetic Imaging  with full tuition offer (as long as they don't run out of funding ?） and I am still waiting for CalArts and CMU 

Does anyone know more about VCUarts? and does anyone familiar with their kinetic imaging program?

I also got official rejection from RISD (finally...I know they are not gonna accept me but it's really annoying how they send stuff so late) so right now my results are

KMD-accepted 

VCU (Kinetic Imaging)-accepted

Calarts (Experimental Animation )-interviewed, waiting for results

CMU (Fine Arts)-interviewed, waiting results

RISD (D+M)-rejected

SAIC (FVNMA)-rejected

UCB (Art Practice)- nothing heard

 

 

[greentea2]

I just got an interview invite for Otis (Fine Arts MFA). Anyone else??

[hellotothefuture]

Hey everyone! 

Could anyone tell me if someone is on the waitlist of the university then does they have a shot? or is it a soft rejection?