dr.know Posted December 17, 2021 Posted December 17, 2021 Hello World! I was a little surprised to see that no one had started a forum for MFA Directing 2022 application season and as a long time lurker of this site, I guess it falls on me this year! Anyone else out there who applied for Fall 2022? How are your applications coming along? Where are you applying to? Any interview invites yet? Looking forward to connecting with you!
cornyartist Posted January 5, 2022 Posted January 5, 2022 This is my first year applying with my choices being Yale, Northwestern, and Carnegie Mellon (I debated applying to Columbia, but I didn’t know enough about the program to feel like they were the right fit for me). Haven’t heard back from any schools yet. Based on previous conversations on this site, if Yale is still following their pre-Covid pattern this is the last week they’d be reaching out for first-round interviews, however that might be moved around because of the recent Omicron spike.
WRRabbit Posted January 6, 2022 Posted January 6, 2022 I heard from Yale in December and University of Washington yesterday. has anyone heard from Columbia or CMU?
dr.know Posted January 9, 2022 Author Posted January 9, 2022 Hi friends, glad to see others on this forum! I heard from Yale on Dec 20 and Columbia yesterday. Also waiting on Northwestern and a few others. Hope you both hear back from CMU soon, they have a great program!
ghostwriter Posted January 14, 2022 Posted January 14, 2022 Hey all, quiet group this year! I heard from DePaul earlier this week, and UCSD today. Still waiting on a few others as well (including Northwestern).
dr.know Posted January 18, 2022 Author Posted January 18, 2022 Hi ghostwriter! Indeed quiet! I also heard from UCSD. Which play are you picking to discuss? Anyone hear anything from CalArts or UT Austin?
WRRabbit Posted January 18, 2022 Posted January 18, 2022 I've heard that schools are generally receiving more applications this year which makes the quiet bit more perplexing. How did y'all hear from UCSD? I don't see any change in my online application but it sounds like I missed the cut off. dr.Know, well wishes on your Yale interview! Or have you already had it?
ghostwriter Posted January 20, 2022 Posted January 20, 2022 On 1/18/2022 at 6:50 AM, WRRabbit said: How did y'all hear from UCSD? I don't see any change in my online application but it sounds like I missed the cut off. I received an email invitation from UCSD. My online application doesn't appear to have changed either, so I think they just emailed. On 1/17/2022 at 4:26 PM, dr.know said: Hi ghostwriter! Indeed quiet! I also heard from UCSD. Which play are you picking to discuss? Anyone hear anything from CalArts or UT Austin? I am anticipating doing MUD, but have not responded yet. What about you?
ghostwriter Posted January 21, 2022 Posted January 21, 2022 I believe first round(?) interview invitations for UT Austin have just gone out. I received one via e-mail, for a 20-minute interview.
dr.know Posted January 21, 2022 Author Posted January 21, 2022 (edited) Ghostwrtier: Yep! Also got one for UT Austin. 20 minute conversations seem short to me, but I'll take it! I'm doing Seagull for UCSD. Love Mud, but one of my good friends directed it and I can't top her production, so won't even try! haha! WRRabbit: Yale went well! I feel confident and the conversation was really great! How did yours go? I also heard from Northwestern this past week. They invited me to campus for an interview but aren't providing lodging or transportation. So I'm going to do a Zoom interview. I'm now only waiting on CalArts. Anyone hear from them? Edited January 21, 2022 by dr.know
cf99 Posted January 22, 2022 Posted January 22, 2022 Hi all! I applied last year, got into one program, but ultimately turned it down. This year I've only applied to UT Austin, Yale, and NU. Interviews scheduled next week for UT and Yale, nothing yet from NU (looks like their invites went out this past week?). 20 minutes does seem short - wonder if they're just matching the length of the URTA interviews they're conducting?
ghostwriter Posted January 24, 2022 Posted January 24, 2022 (edited) dr.know, what are you thinking for "presenting information about productions you've directed"? I'm thinking a lot about how to best achieve this within the time limits, having already sent in my portfolio. I didn't apply to CalArts so unfortunately no help there. On 1/22/2022 at 11:58 AM, cf99 said: 20 minutes does seem short - wonder if they're just matching the length of the URTA interviews they're conducting? This is a great thought, cf99! I appreciate this perspective, it demystifies the structure a bit for me. Edited January 24, 2022 by ghostwriter
heyolicorice Posted January 27, 2022 Posted January 27, 2022 Hi all! I've been trying to make an account here for 4 days but the website kept glitching. Then once it FINALLY worked, the little reply box to post in the feed was missing from the page. Maybe the technical difficulties are why it's so quiet on here this year. It's my first year applying and I'd be going straight out of undergrad so decided to apply to only one school in London for my first (and hopefully only - fingers crossed) attempt. I see some of you have had interviews so far. I've been trying to find some general info on how to prepare for them online but haven't found anything that fits MFA directing programs. Do you mind sharing what kinds of questions they ask? I like to be as prepared as possible and the program I'm applying to seems to automatically do interviews as part of the application process.
WRRabbit Posted January 27, 2022 Posted January 27, 2022 (edited) dr.Know: It went well and I'm glad to hear yours went well too! heyolicorice: I found looking at past threads here to be helpful. My prep has been to generate a list of every question I think they might ask, group those questions into common themes, and make a list of everything that I want to make sure they know about me. I then group the questions into categories, draft some talking points/stories/examples that incorporate what I want them to know about me, and practice outloud, revising as I go. The question in some form or fashion I've been asked in every interview is, "Why graduate school and why now." I'm still waiting on CalArts and Carnegie Mellon. Edited January 27, 2022 by WRRabbit
dr.know Posted January 28, 2022 Author Posted January 28, 2022 Hi All and welcome heyolicorice! I also had issues creating an account, so it might definitely be the reason we have less engagement this year. Or maybe there's another forum on a different website that I haven't found yet. I tried looking on Reddit, but tbh, I still don't *exactly* get reddit. I had my UT Austin interview this week and apparently they interviewed their top 9, then a small group will be invited to campus for a final round. Also had my NU interview and they are conducting interviews until mid February, but this is the only round of interviews. So acceptances will go out probably by early March. Totally agree with WRRabbit regarding questions they ask. Great summary! Yes, everyone is asking "Why graduate school and why now." Ghostwriter: I chose specific productions to discuss that will illuminate who I am and the work I'm interested in, instead of trying to run through everything. Sort of, what are the pillars of my career so far. Hope that helps and best of luck to you! Also waiting on CalArts!
WRRabbit Posted January 28, 2022 Posted January 28, 2022 dr. Know: Thanks for all of that detail! Anything you can share about Northwestern's interview? I'm heading to Chicago mid-February for mine.
dr.know Posted January 28, 2022 Author Posted January 28, 2022 For NU, you interview with almost all Directing faculty. I found them all to be incredibly kind and excited to meet me. Their questions were your typical grad school questions: why now? why here? why have you chosen directing as a life path? what brought you to this moment? what production would you direct and how if you were given a ton of money? what are your strengths and weaknesses? what questions do you have for us? I felt really great about the interview and if you just show them who you are, then I'm sure you'll do great! kjhstage 1
heyolicorice Posted January 31, 2022 Posted January 31, 2022 Thanks everyone for your info on the interviews. I find it very helpful, as having insight into what could be asked makes the whole process seem less mysterious and scary. On 1/28/2022 at 2:12 PM, dr.know said: I tried looking on Reddit, but tbh, I still don't *exactly* get reddit. I checked reddit after reading this comment and couldn't find anything regarding directing grad school other than a couple questions people asked years ago that had very few responses on r/theatre. I feel pretty confident in my search on there but I don't use reddit often so it's possible I could be missing something. But as far as I can tell, this is still the only resource that is like this forum! I wish you all well on your interviews! I have mine scheduled for around mid February, so I'll be spending all my free time prepping!
WRRabbit Posted February 1, 2022 Posted February 1, 2022 CMU just sent our invites. It's another 20 minute interview. Anyone have any insight on CMU's process or how to prepare for that chunk of time? I'd love to hear more about how the UT Austin interviews were.
ghostwriter Posted February 2, 2022 Posted February 2, 2022 21 hours ago, WRRabbit said: I'd love to hear more about how the UT Austin interviews were. Everyone is incredibly kind, but 20 minutes is a very short time frame! I got the impression they had spent a lot of time with my materials, and their questions were pretty straight to the point. More detailed follow-up questions about things I said in my statement, and fewer big picture "why grad school" questions from Austin, at least for me.
dr.know Posted February 3, 2022 Author Posted February 3, 2022 To those who are curious: Yale and UCSD sent out finalist invites and CalArts sent out first round invites this week. Anyone hear anything else?
WRRabbit Posted February 3, 2022 Posted February 3, 2022 1 hour ago, dr.know said: To those who are curious: Yale and UCSD sent out finalist invites and CalArts sent out first round invites this week. Anyone hear anything else? I haven't heard from Yale after my first interview or CalArts so I assume I'm not moving forward with either. Should we assume you had some better news dr.Know?
dr.know Posted February 4, 2022 Author Posted February 4, 2022 Hey WRRabbit, I'm sorry you haven't heard from Yale! This is my 2nd time applying there. I hear many people apply multiple times. I met a Yale Directing grad that applied 4 times before he got it. So if Yale is where you want to go, don't give up hope and definitely re-apply! I got a callback at Yale and a prelim interview at CalArts. But I got rejected after the first round interview at UCSD.
journeon Posted February 4, 2022 Posted February 4, 2022 (edited) Hi everyone and particularly to @dr.know and @WRRabbit I'm interested in applying to a few programs next cycle (including Yale) and I'm wondering if you would mind sharing your websites? Thank you and love to all those going for a 2022 acceptance! Edited February 4, 2022 by journeon
ghostwriter Posted February 4, 2022 Posted February 4, 2022 Congrats @dr.know, for the Yale and CalArts news! It sounds like UW is moving into offers within the next few weeks, they're in the midst of finalist interviews right now. DePaul final interviews are this weekend.
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