Reapplying

[isavedlatin]

So this is the second go-round for me. Anyone else reapplying this year? What are you doing differently?

[newms]

It's the second go-around for me too. A few things I'm doing differently this year:

1) I'm reworking my SOP entirely to be more focused on my research interests.

2) I've identify schools and profs I'm interested in from early on.

3) I'm contacting profs to make sure they have space in their groups for new students. I've been able to meet with one and had a good talk.

4) I'm reading as many papers in my research interests as much as I can, and undertaking an independent research project.

5) I'm taking the subject GRE in my area.

6) I'm going to be working closer with my LOR writers this year, giving them a better idea of what I want to do.

7) I'm applying to roughly twice as many schools as I applied to last time.

8) I'm putting up a website for myself.

And I want to be done with all of this by the end of November. I've got my work cut out for me!

Edited September 1, 2010 by newms

[zaquon]

I am!

The big thing I'm doing this is making sure my portfolio doesn't suck.

Last year I came up with my projects that made up my portfolio less than 6 months before I applied. I had never really though about what it meant to be an artist vs. being a photographer and so all the pretty picures I'd made before that were useless for creating a cohesive body of work. The work I showed reflected that lack.

This year I'm only showing one project (I showed two last year) and I'll have enough good pieces to fill it out. Second, I've taken several art history courses which have helped me be able talk about my work. I can now saw in one or two sentances, what I'm doing and in the language that artists talk in. One of my letters of recommendation will be from one of the profs who loves how I think about art and will write a glowing letter for me.

Also, all my supporting documents (SOP, letters) will focuss on why I work the way I do and how I think about what I'm doing. I'm going to make sure all my recommenders see my current series and i'll ask them to focus on my ideas and how I show them.

Finally, I'm reaching out to my top pick schools. I visited the SMFA and had a portfolio review and I'll be going to the portfolio review day will show my work to as many schools as I have time for. I didn't do any of that last year becuase at that point I only had about 4 photos to show them. I still don't have as big of a body of work as most people who've been doing this longer, or very many shows on my CV (I had none last year, vs 3 so far this year), but my current work shows focus and a commitment to ideas. That's gotta be worth something, right?

FYI-last year I applied to 7 schools and got half an acceptance, post-bacc at the SMFA, which i had to decline for financial reasons.

[caraa]

I am too, and, like zaquon, "making sure my portfolio doesn't suck" is top priority.

this means I still need to make some more paintings, because my work has been in a very transitional period since last year, and I'd like it to appear as coherent body of work...

i am also deciding on which schools to apply to with a bit more thought, and not just aiming for top-tier places, which I kind of did last year. this time around, I'm counting geography as a major factor, because that's really important to me (and to my boyfriend, who will be moving wherever I go, bless his heart). I'm mainly interested in urban areas, with a strong desire to be in nyc, the west coast, or perhaps the UK. So I'm letting that lead my decision making process on top of whatever other research I can do about different schools.

I'm trying not to stress too hard about all of this; I learned last year that this kind of stress can be so consuming, and I don't want that again. I think it was mostly because I didn't prepare myself for the reality that hearing back from schools was a long, sloooow process, and the longer it drags, the worse the outlook becomes. I was rejected from 7 schools, waitlisted at 1, and accepted to 1 which I decided to decline because I just wasn't feeling the location...or the cost, for that matter.

This year I've got to prepare myself for the worst (but sometimes it's impossible not to have your heart set on something). I will also know this time around that if it's taking a long time to hear back from a school, it probably means rejection.

[zaquon]

I'm trying not to stress too hard about all of this; I learned last year that this kind of stress can be so consuming, and I don't want that again. I think it was mostly because I didn't prepare myself for the reality that hearing back from schools was a long, sloooow process, and the longer it drags, the worse the outlook becomes. I was rejected from 7 schools, waitlisted at 1, and accepted to 1 which I decided to decline because I just wasn't feeling the location...or the cost, for that matter.

This year I've got to prepare myself for the worst (but sometimes it's impossible not to have your heart set on something). I will also know this time around that if it's taking a long time to hear back from a school, it probably means rejection.

We're in the same boat! I was rejected from 6.5/7. Got a post-Bac offer from SMFA. I drove my girlfriend crazy with all the nerves and the worry about me moving away. We haven't really been looking forward to the discussion we'll have to have if I get into a school on the other side of the country.

I learned the same thing about hearing back. But, this board is good since at least you know when other people are getting interviews you've been rejected. The big envelope with the post-Bac offer was just cruel.