Applying for your MFA in painting/drawing??! GATHER HERE!

[michaelwebster]

Yeah, if its for the whole department then its really not a lot.

Thats just how many people asked the exact same question.

[L333makes]

Hunter is not a community college--it's part of the City University of New York system (CUNY)--it's a college in that system. very good school, very well regarded. Brooklyn College, Queens College and City College are also part of this system, all have great MFA programs. If you like Hunter, you should apply--and you should be proud if you get in: I hear it's quite competitive.

Good luck,

L

Yeah, first impressions are very important...

To add to my other inquery on schools.... I always hear Hunter is a good art school, plus it's in New York. But it's also a COMMUNITY COLLEGE. I am a little uneasy to think about applying to a community college after all my hard work and money...the idea that if I got in, I'd be flying across the country after 2 years of work and be like,'wtf!' So how is Hunter?

[Demain]

Hello again everyone,

Sorry for the late reply to those who addressed questions to me. I, like you, have been busy these last few weeks trying to get apps out. I'm a horrid procrastinator and had to rush a lot of my materials. (Never again if I don't get in, $40 for rush transcripts!)

@TheStranger

You asked:

"What were your thoughts on Tyler, MICA, Hunter, NYU, and UCLA in respects towards figurative artists and not super-conceptual artists? Those are all very strong big name schools. "

Tyler: I really cannot say enough about this program. I believe it is one of the strongest balanced programs in the country right now. Yale will probably always rank 1st for a disciplined figure painting school, however, the overall experience that is available at Tyler surpasses it in my opinion. I had the chance to sit in on a graduate seminar when I visited and I was very impressed. Although the seminar was focused on discussing conceptual issues, our discussion evolved into a very contemporary debate between art and craft. Although old, the ideas that were presented certainly helped spark the imagination of a few people present with regard to mediums. The only reason I am not applying for Tyler is cost. They can promise a minimum of 25% funding for all candidates, with a chance at 50%. Beyond that it seems, you are on your own. At approx. $33k/year, I simply cant afford it.

MICA: Mica was easily my second favorite program that I visited in person. The separation of the painting school and the interdisciplinary school I feel really ads to the draw here. The painting school would be a great place for a traditionally minded figure painter to be pushed and challenged. On my studio tour I was able to see a lot of conceptual work in progress but also spied 2 studios that were focusing on the human form. I think you would be accepted here, but also asked to defend your choices.

Hunter: What can I say? I was not a fan. The graduates that I spoke to at hunter seemed ill-informed about current art events. They were really pretty underwhelming in concept and I do not fault the students for that nearly as much as the instructors. I cannot comment on figure painting specifically, but unless you are a NY resident, I'd shy away from Hunter.

NYU: I was curious to see if this program could hold up to similarly priced competitors; it cannot. There is really no reason to attend NYU unless you have tons of money to throw around and don't mind small, cramped studios. The advisor is a really kind woman however, the one redeeming feature I found.

UCLA: UCLA is, for a state school, an absolutely amazing program. The involvement of their grads into the LA art scene is unparalleled. I feel that if your goal is to become a gallery showing artist (not a teacher or public project artist) then this is the best school on the west coast to accomplish that. I would, however, caution a figure painter. The school and faculty itself would be supportive of your choice of subject matter but with the heavy involvement in the contemporary art scene you may not be as well received by the gallery owners who often come on studio visits. You may say 'that's fine, I don't care about keeping up with gallery owners demands" and to that I would reply "that's fine, but then why the hell are you at UCLA?"

In general, I greatly trimmed down my applications as I began to ask myself the question "If I was rejected from my top choices and I got an acceptance to back up school _______, would I be excited to attend that program? I trimmed out about 5 schools when the answer to this question was "not really". I want to be excited to accept my offer. I want to have no reservation that I selected a 'lower' program over my higher choices. Its for this reason that I dropped off many of the 'back up' programs I was planning on applying to.

Schools I've applied to in order of desire to attend: UC Berkeley, UCLA, UC Irvine, Cal State Long Beach.

You'll notice that I dropped my two east coast favorites, MICA and Tyler. I found after long reflection, that I just don't think the job market justifies taking out $40k in loans; no matter how amazing the program.

Good luck to us all.

[TheStranger]

@ Demain:

Thanks for such a great breakdown of your experiences of schools. It seems money is always going to be a big factor. Do you find out all the scholarships and possible financial aid a school will offer upon being accepted to a school? I am hoping financial aid will make going to an expensive school possible. I'd hate to apply just to be accepted and find out I can't afford it. My folks keep asking me how I plan on paying for school and I just keep banking on the idea that I'll get financial aid or possibly a scholarship. From what you say, MICA and Tyler seems to be a damn good school. I live in LA so I don't really want to take classes at UCLA as I feel the art world is in New York and I must go there for the experience and change. I guess I'll try to find out how generous they are with financial aid. I only work a part time job and live in an apartment with 3 other roommates. It's not like I'm rich.

[caraa]

@Demain:

Thanks for that informative post! Very helpful. I'm wondering, what do you know about UC Irvine? Have you visited? I applied there, but have never visited...

[Artist1]

I did not see anything on Yale's site that said we had to put the artwork in chronological order. Guess I missed that, even though I thought I went through everything carefully and several times!

Almost all of work was completed in the last 12 months with a few from 2009. I mixed them up. Starting out strong, keeping the middle strong, and then ending on a strong note. None of my pieces are actually weak, but some are better than others. So the "weaker" ones I mixed in when appropriate. I ordered my work to have variety of composition and also show narrative pieces together that made sense.

If they actually like my work, I doubt they will pay attention to a few 2009 pieces in the middle instead of the end.

Oh well, there's nothing that can be done about it now... :/

Edited January 23, 2011 by jmc2011

[wannaknow]

Hey

psstpsstah_art:

We are applying to several of he same schools... Penndesign, Rutgers, CU, Univ of Cincinnati... are you applying to all painting? I am scultpure, so I'm curious to see if we hear from them around the same time???? What type of work do you do?

"I applied to thirteen MFA painting[/drawing] programs, and recently I got a notice that I'm on the short list for acceptance at University of Chicago. In fact, I have a phone interview tomorrow afternoon. I'm tremendously nervous though also fairly confident in my abilities to talk about my art, influences, and particular desire to attend UofC. Nonetheless, I would appreciate any and all advice that you, who have applied or phone-interviewed before, can offer.

Of the other twelve schools, I have heard nothing. I will keep you updated, and I look forward to your updates. Good luck, fellow applicants!

Peace.

School list (it's considerably random... beware):

University of Chicago ... Interview (01/24/2011)

UIC

UPenn [PennDesign]

Rutgers (New Brunswick)

OSU

VCU [VCA]

UGA

American University

UNC Chapel Hill

UT (Knoxville)

CU (Boulder)

University of Cincinnati"

FSU

Edited January 24, 2011 by wannaknow

[Artist1]

Just applied for MFA Painting programs at Yale, Columbia, SMFA, and Syracuse. I saw no point in applying to any other schools since these are the only ones I'd like to go to. I could have went to a local University free in my state with a TA Fellowship but am not interested. So we'll see if I get any interviews! Trying not to obsess about it too much. Out of my hands at the moment. And all I can do in the interview is be prepared and be myself. If they don't like me or my work - then nothing I can do about that either. So try to relax a bit.

If it doesn't pan out....I'll be depressed for a while, but will pick up and move to Plan B.

[wannaknow]

how did your interview go???

I've applied only to painting or interdisciplinary programs. I would label myself as a non-representational, abstract artist, and I work in the 2-D though some of my more textural pieces get a bit sculptural. I am glad to have a "buddy," so to speak. We can definitely keep each other informed!

Best of luck, wannaknow!

Peace.

School list (it's considerably random... beware):

University of Chicago ... Interview (01/24/2011)

UIC

UPenn [PennDesign]

Rutgers (New Brunswick)

OSU

VCU [VCA]

UGA

American University

UNC Chapel Hill

UT (Knoxville)

CU (Boulder)

University of Cincinnati"

FSU

[Demain]

Alright everyone, here is some info that will make you feel good about your level of preparation. I'm completing my app for CSULB today (as, its due, well, *today*), and I've just noticed that their process for letters of recomendation is different than every other school I've seen. I'm required to have the recomendations on a seperate form that must be signed by the instructor. So, given that, its a road trip for me today to meet up with old professors and then get this package post-marked before 4pm, yay! I have to be the biggest procrastinator around.

Someone asked about UCI. UCI was a tough choice for me to apply to. I was debating between UCSD and UCI. I would (very briefly) sum up the two programs as this; UCI is conceptually focused on interdisciplinary work dealing with gender issues and cultural awareness. UCSD is conceptually focused on the emergence of new technology to educate audiences. I'm not driven by gender issues but I think I could have an interesting dialog at UCI where as UCSD's focus on technology just simply does not fit my traditional focus on paint.

[daiy]

Congratulations! At least now you know you have a good place to go

I saw Ohio State on your list of schools, and I wonder if you ended up applying to it. I applied to that school but haven't seen many people here applying, so I never brought it up. Have you heard anything from them? I haven't heard a word from them ever since they sent the auto email confirming the receipt of my ONLINE application. Their website also doesn't seem to be very informative in terms of the admission process. I don't even know if they conduct interviews or not, or when they will send out admission decisions. Do you have any idea? I know it's not a bad program and Ann Hamilton teaches there...

My interview went well. In fact, it was more like an acceptance call than an interview.

I've still heard nothing from any other school.

School list (it's considerably random... beware):

University of Chicago ... Accepted

UIC

UPenn [PennDesign]

Rutgers (New Brunswick)

OSU

VCU [VCA]

UGA

American University

UNC Chapel Hill

UT (Knoxville)

CU (Boulder)

University of Cincinnati"

FSU

Edited February 1, 2011 by daiy

[caraa]

Alright everyone, here is some info that will make you feel good about your level of preparation. I'm completing my app for CSULB today (as, its due, well, *today*), and I've just noticed that their process for letters of recomendation is different than every other school I've seen. I'm required to have the recomendations on a seperate form that must be signed by the instructor. So, given that, its a road trip for me today to meet up with old professors and then get this package post-marked before 4pm, yay! I have to be the biggest procrastinator around.

Someone asked about UCI. UCI was a tough choice for me to apply to. I was debating between UCSD and UCI. I would (very briefly) sum up the two programs as this; UCI is conceptually focused on interdisciplinary work dealing with gender issues and cultural awareness. UCSD is conceptually focused on the emergence of new technology to educate audiences. I'm not driven by gender issues but I think I could have an interesting dialog at UCI where as UCSD's focus on technology just simply does not fit my traditional focus on paint.

thanks for the tidbits on those two programs! (i think i was the one asking)

btw, i have sooo done exactly the type of last-minute/procrastination bullshit you are describing, many times over. i think some of us just work that way...believe me, i think that there is some kind of productive craze that comes out of procrastinating. as dangerous as it can be, it isn't always a bad thing

[baja318]

All of this waiting is really irritating my IBS. Nail biting continues.

[Cobalt]

Hi guys,

So far I've only heard from one school. I have a phone interview at CCA. No word yet from the rest of the schools I applied to (most are from the east coast) and it's probably still to early to hear from them. Has anyone heard anything yet?

Also, does anyone have experience interviewing with CCA? Or any experience with phone interviews? I'm nervous...What do they typically ask?

Did you have your interview yet? I just found out yesterday that I have a phone interview with CCA on Tuesday.

What kinds of questions did they have for you? Any tips would be helpful!!!

[ECM]

rejection notice from Yale by email yesterday. bummer.

still waiting on SAIC, Columbia, and UCLA

[orangetrousers]

I did not expect that. I looked at your work and thought for sure you get an interview.

rejection notice from Yale by email yesterday. bummer.

still waiting on SAIC, Columbia, and UCLA

[caraa]

rejection notice from Yale by email yesterday. bummer.

still waiting on SAIC, Columbia, and UCLA

Mi heard from them on Friday, rejected as well

One down, 10 to go...

[ECM]

I did not expect that. I looked at your work and thought for sure you get an interview.

Thanks Orangetrousers makes me feel a bit better. Yale has one of the lowest acceptance rates out of the schools I've applied to, and although it was a top choice, I'm glad to hear from them first. I hear the interview process is brutal anyway!

Best of luck to everyone this week, I have a feeling we'll be hearing from a few schools in the coming days!

[Demain]

Hello again all, I've been off the boards for a while. Once I finished my applications I threw myself into some volunteer work to not think about the process until the letters started arriving. Now they have.

UC Berkeley: Rejected.

UCLA: Rejected.

UC Irvine: Rejected.

CS Long Beach: ?

So, there is my situation. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed on CSLB. If I don't get in, I'm not sure I can go right back to hitting the studio and making work for next year. I'm considering taking some time off and going into a program like Teach for America, Peace Corps, or maybe even WWOOFing. Just something to get out of this economy and clear my head for a bit.

I wish you all good luck as our responses come in. Remember (as I am trying to do), it is all a learning experience and whatever happens it only makes you a stronger applicant for next year.

[Demain]

Just got my acceptance to CSLB.

Hope others are having some luck as well.