MFA 2023 Freak Out Forum

[paul123]

6 hours ago, rootingforeverybody said:

I just got my SAIC “award” and it’s horrible. No way I can afford going if it doesn’t increase. Is anyone else still dealing with this? Had to set a meeting for next Wednesday which is uncomfortably far off

I had a meeting with them because my "award" was...not great. Admittedly this is for the low res program, so funding might be different if you were accepted to a different program. The woman I spoke to was very nice, and told me how to appeal my student aid package, but she was not optimistic that things would improve enough for me that it would make a difference. It seemed like they don't haver a ton to offer. I hope you have better luck than I do!

[Miso]

5 hours ago, rootingforeverybody said:

Also WTF is going on with UCLA? Have any painters heard back?

I believe someone in this forum talked to their friend that isn't in this forum, and their friend who applied to UCLA for Painting/Drawing has already done their interview. I usually try to stay optimistic but I think it's safe to say if you didn't hear from UCLA in February then be ready to receive your rejection letter Mid-March

[cyb3rci3lo]

2 hours ago, borg said:

Wondering if anyone might have completed the online interviews for Hunter sculpture and if they'd like to share their experience with it. The 25 minutes they allotted seems like not enough time!! Many thanks!

i did the hunter interview for painting! we had 20 minutes and it was suuuuper rushed, we had to show 5 pieces and i only got to talk about three works, they also asked questions but it seemed like an alright interview, but they definitely kept saying we were going to run out of time 😕 sad i didnt get to say everything i wanted but i the interviewers were nice! how did your interview go?

[hogii]

29 minutes ago, Gaara said:

I believe someone in this forum talked to their friend that isn't in this forum, and their friend who applied to UCLA for Painting/Drawing has already done their interview. I usually try to stay optimistic but I think it's safe to say if you didn't hear from UCLA in February then be ready to receive your rejection letter Mid-March

sorry kinda off topic but do rejection letters for grad school come in the mail or just via email? jw how the whole process goes for grad schools

[Miso]

Just now, hogii said:

sorry kinda off topic but do rejection letters for grad school come in the mail or just via email? jw how the whole process goes for grad schools

You have asked the right person because I have gotten plenty of rejections lol 😂 And I can assure you, rejection letters are sent via email. Usually goes something like this "Thank you for your application to blah blah blah...was extremely competitive...blah blah blah....We regret to inform you that you haven't been selected" 

Sending a hard copy of that via mail would be messed up lol....couldn't imagine opening an envelope with UCLA on the outside just for it to be a rejection, but who knows maybe some schools actually do that 

[hogii]

2 minutes ago, Gaara said:

You have asked the right person because I have gotten plenty of rejections lol 😂 And I can assure you, rejection letters are sent via email. Usually goes something like this "Thank you for your application to blah blah blah...was extremely competitive...blah blah blah....We regret to inform you that you haven't been selected" 

Sending a hard copy of that via mail would be messed up lol....couldn't imagine opening an envelope with UCLA on the outside just for it to be a rejection, but who knows maybe some schools actually do that 

lololol im dying!! that would be pretty messed up okay whew thank goodness most schools don't do that! but aww, you got this this year! i send good vibrations and im sure good news will be arriving to you soon 💓

any case, really sending the best vibes to everyone on here waiting for their emails.. kind of terrifying since acceptances are sent via email too right? or are they by phone call? ... im rlly not looking forward to the anxiety i'll get in the future of opening the acceptance/rejection email next year 

[d.arren]

Was a bit surprised it came this late, but just got an interview invite for VCU's photo/film concentration. I think I saw either here or on last year's forum that the stipend for VCU is 10k per year, but is anyone able to confirm that?

[Miso]

3 minutes ago, hogii said:

lololol im dying!! that would be pretty messed up okay whew thank goodness most schools don't do that! but aww, you got this this year! i send good vibrations and im sure good news will be arriving to you soon 💓

any case, really sending the best vibes to everyone on here waiting for their emails.. kind of terrifying since acceptances are sent via email too right? or are they by phone call? ... im rlly not looking forward to the anxiety i'll get in the future of opening the acceptance/rejection email next year 

LMAOO thank youuu!!! Also wishing the best for everyone! 

Yeah I've seen a few people in previous forums say they've received acceptance phone calls. I think most of the time acceptances are sent via email though. You're right, no matter how you put it...this process is stressful and will make the most relaxed person in the world have anxiety 

[anonymousartstudent]

1 hour ago, tmngc said:

I interviewed with Columbia last week, so I'd imagine we hear back in the next week or so? Or at least by mid-March, I hope...

Hey me too… last sunday. They told me it would be this week.. I guess not. Anxiously waiting now…fingers crossed for both of us

[thisisnotapipe]

17 minutes ago, Gaara said:

LMAOO thank youuu!!! Also wishing the best for everyone! 

Yeah I've seen a few people in previous forums say they've received acceptance phone calls. I think most of the time acceptances are sent via email though. You're right, no matter how you put it...this process is stressful and will make the most relaxed person in the world have anxiety 

One of my acceptances was a cold call at 9am from a number my phone marked as potential spam (but ‘tis the season for answering every call you get). The other acceptance was via email. 

[Miso]

2 minutes ago, thisisnotapipe said:

One of my acceptances was a cold call at 9am from a number my phone marked as potential spam (but ‘tis the season for answering every call you get). The other acceptance was via email. 

I've gotten a few "Spam Risk" and "Telemarketer" calls recently, I just don't pick them up. If it was a school I'm pretty sure they would leave a voicemail though 

[borg]

1 hour ago, cyb3rci3lo said:

i did the hunter interview for painting! we had 20 minutes and it was suuuuper rushed, we had to show 5 pieces and i only got to talk about three works, they also asked questions but it seemed like an alright interview, but they definitely kept saying we were going to run out of time 😕 sad i didnt get to say everything i wanted but i the interviewers were nice! how did your interview go?

Yes, I was also asked to bring in 5 pieces too! I'm so sorry that it was super rushed! 20 min definitely doesn't feel long enough to talk about process/practice/etc. I have my in person tomorrow, but will let you know 🙂 

[azumarill]

1 hour ago, d.arren said:

Was a bit surprised it came this late, but just got an interview invite for VCU's photo/film concentration. I think I saw either here or on last year's forum that the stipend for VCU is 10k per year, but is anyone able to confirm that?

Hey congrats on the interview invitation! I also applied to VCU's photo/film department but heard nothing so far. I guess it's a firm NO by now. Good luck with your interview! 

[cyb3rci3lo]

35 minutes ago, borg said:

Yes, I was also asked to bring in 5 pieces too! I'm so sorry that it was super rushed! 20 min definitely doesn't feel long enough to talk about process/practice/etc. I have my in person tomorrow, but will let you know 🙂 

ahhh you're doing the in person? that's awesome! good luck 😃

[Starrr]

Does anyone know anything about submitting aid appeals to these programs? I also got 30% from Pratt, but it would be nice to receive a bit more in the event that I don't win the full tuition scholarship I applied for.

 

[fieldtrip]

10 hours ago, AJJAY said:

Hey everyone, I'm curious as to the ages of everyone applying. I'm 27 (2 weeks shy of 28). Took a few years off after undergrad and started teaching HS Art. Realized I would rather be an art professional than a teacher.

I'm thinking if I don't get in this cycle, I'll do a post bacc for 1 year and then find 2 year MFA programs to apply to for 2024.

I have this weird thing about not wanting to be in my mid 30's by the time I finish, lol. 

 

I also got a credential and was teaching high school art for 2 years as well. I’ll be 30 at the end of this year. Some programs prefer a “mature” candidate.

[CRLF]

22 hours ago, AJJAY said:

Hey everyone, I'm curious as to the ages of everyone applying. I'm 27 (2 weeks shy of 28). Took a few years off after undergrad and started teaching HS Art. Realized I would rather be an art professional than a teacher.

I'm thinking if I don't get in this cycle, I'll do a post bacc for 1 year and then find 2 year MFA programs to apply to for 2024.

I have this weird thing about not wanting to be in my mid 30's by the time I finish, lol. 

 

I am 38, completed my undergraduate BFA last year.

Applied to 3 programs, accepted to 1 with generous scholarship.

Sorry to hear about your "weird thing." You might want to get over it. 

 

Edited because I feel like I'm being a little bit rude, even though it was intentional:

From my perspective, being in your mid-30s and pursuing graduate work (and even undergraduate work) is an advantage, not a disadvantage. 

Edited March 4, 2023 by CRLF

[Sweetie123]

2 hours ago, CRLF said:

I am 38, completed my undergraduate BFA last year.

Applied to 3 programs, accepted to 1 with generous scholarship.

Sorry to hear about your "weird thing." You might want to get over it. 

 

Edited because I feel like I'm being a little bit rude, even though it was intentional:

From my perspective, being in your mid-30s and pursuing graduate work (and even undergraduate work) is an advantage, not a disadvantage. 

I'm 38 too!  And I also graduated from undergrad last year! Look at us go!!!!! :))))))))

Good luck with your MFA! I applied to a handful of programs was was accepted to two, both with generous scholarships  

[SocialKonstruct]

22 hours ago, Huis.clos said:

 

I am in a similar situation. Though I was offered 34% in scholarship grant +$8,000 in work study (for fall/spring) I'm expected to take out $39,000 each year in loans. $78000 in debt for 2 years with no housing/living expenses accounted for is wild to me. I'm a first time applicant so are candidates finding this amount of debt for a MFA reasonable??

Yes similar result and I probably will decline SAIC due to an inability to get funding.

[cornchip]

On 3/3/2023 at 12:23 PM, Huis.clos said:

 

I am in a similar situation. Though I was offered 34% in scholarship grant +$8,000 in work study (for fall/spring) I'm expected to take out $39,000 each year in loans. $78000 in debt for 2 years with no housing/living expenses accounted for is wild to me. I'm a first time applicant so are candidates finding this amount of debt for a MFA reasonable??

If you got offers from other schools you should use them as leverage with SAIC to potentially get more funding if it is your top choice. I also got a scholarship from SAIC that amounts to less than $10k total. Granted I don't know what finaid will look like but this is not enough to live off especially in Chicago. I kind of thought SAIC would be better with funding because they're so big and established but maybe not. 

[Frank0000000]

6 hours ago, Gaara said:

You have asked the right person because I have gotten plenty of rejections lol 😂 And I can assure you, rejection letters are sent via email. Usually goes something like this "Thank you for your application to blah blah blah...was extremely competitive...blah blah blah....We regret to inform you that you haven't been selected" 

Sending a hard copy of that via mail would be messed up lol....couldn't imagine opening an envelope with UCLA on the outside just for it to be a rejection, but who knows maybe some schools actually do that 

VCU did that to me last year lol I hadn't received any correspondence and then I got a letter in the mail from them telling me I'd been rejected. 

[Garamond]

On 3/3/2023 at 7:40 AM, AJJAY said:

Hey everyone, I'm curious as to the ages of everyone applying. I'm 27 (2 weeks shy of 28). Took a few years off after undergrad and started teaching HS Art. Realized I would rather be an art professional than a teacher.

I'm thinking if I don't get in this cycle, I'll do a post bacc for 1 year and then find 2 year MFA programs to apply to for 2024.

I have this weird thing about not wanting to be in my mid 30's by the time I finish, lol. 

 

I'm 36, though I completed my BA in Graphic Design when I was 24.

Having been in a few interviews myself, I think being in my mid-30s has only helped my chances. I've matured as a person and have some 15+ years of industry experience, which is great if you want to teach classes. You also get a better idea of what your work is about and what is important to you, so you can build your portfolio that way. Instead of creating work that I think would get me accepted, I made work that I wanted to create for myself and what interested me. My portfolio is a little weird in that there are no examples of branding (logos, identity systems) or UX/UI mockups, and is instead about magazine spreads and posters. But I love print media and some of the professors that interviewed me shared that love as well.

If you're in your thirties and older, I wouldn't let your age discourage you. The professors who interview you probably had a similar career path.

If you're younger and worried that a school prefers mature applicants, I would apply anyway, especially if it's a program that excites you. There are enough gatekeepers in this world, you don't need to be closing the door on your own opportunities.

I'll be finishing my MFA a few months shy of 40. When I graduated from undergrad, I thought I would never get an MFA or have a chance to teach because I didn't think I would be good enough and that it was too expensive. But the fact that I am getting my MFA degree much later is proof that I refused to give up on my dreams.

[Huis.clos]

1 hour ago, SocialKonstruct said:

Yes similar result and I probably will decline SAIC due to an inability to get funding.

 

30 minutes ago, cornchip said:

If you got offers from other schools you should use them as leverage with SAIC to potentially get more funding if it is your top choice. I also got a scholarship from SAIC that amounts to less than $10k total. Granted I don't know what finaid will look like but this is not enough to live off especially in Chicago. I kind of thought SAIC would be better with funding because they're so big and established but maybe not. 

Yesterday the director of my program called me to negotiate a higher funding package. Nothing is set in stone yet (will likely be updated mon) but I expressed my minimum percentage tuition coverage and they said they're optimistic in providing at least that. It's worth it to thank your interviewers and to also reach out to directors, introduce yourself and the aspects of the program you're looking forward to; I feel like this made things a bit more hopeful for me now. 

Still awaiting an official notice and funding options from RISD. Now that I have some actual numbers to reference, I think it'll be more *emotionally* manageable to parse through. 

What a vulnerable process to go through the mfa process so as always I'm grateful for y'all on this forum.

[AJJAY]

6 hours ago, CRLF said:

I am 38, completed my undergraduate BFA last year.

Applied to 3 programs, accepted to 1 with generous scholarship.

Sorry to hear about your "weird thing." You might want to get over it. 

 

Edited because I feel like I'm being a little bit rude, even though it was intentional:

From my perspective, being in your mid-30s and pursuing graduate work (and even undergraduate work) is an advantage, not a disadvantage. 

I doubt I’m the only late 20’s person to ever be hit with the sudden realization of my own mortality and that I haven’t accomplished everything I thought I would have by the time I became a “real adult” in my 30’s.

 

I know we are all strung out with the admissions process, and I’m also grappling with the fact that I may have to push my plans back another year on the very real possibility that I don’t get an offer anywhere.
 

But no one was personally attacking you, so in short, don’t be an ass. 

[CRLF]

19 minutes ago, AJJAY said:

I doubt I’m the only late 20’s person to ever be hit with the sudden realization of my own mortality and that I haven’t accomplished everything I thought I would have by the time I became a “real adult” in my 30’s.

 

I know we are all strung out with the admissions process, and I’m also grappling with the fact that I may have to push my plans back another year on the very real possibility that I don’t get an offer anywhere.
 

But no one was personally attacking you, so in short, don’t be an ass. 

you're right! my bad, for real.