interview preparation

[waiter]

I just wanted to mention a few things that I learned last year while preparing and then giving my presentation at the Yale interview. After talking with other students who had already been accepted into the school it seemed clear that they had all experienced high levels of nervousness while being interviewed, I had two tell me that they blacked out and don't even remember what they said, they got in so it couldn't have been that bad. I made to the waitlist (which at Yale has a 99.5% percent chance of not getting in).but thought I'd give it another go this year. The interviews will probably be in mid March and last year they announced their decisions on February 8th for who they would interview, they interviewed around 30 people and choose 10. One thing they will b e looking for is the amount of work you have made between the initial application and the interview, I didn't learn this until I was asked to fly there for an interview so I had lost a month of preparation time. Toastmasters was very helpfull in getting over my public speaking nervousness.

I hope this helps

[philo-Sophia]

thanks a lot for sharing~~ NO relaxation before the final decision. It really helps a lot.

[Artist1]

I was obsessing about interviews months ago. Then I realized I should just focus on getting my statement, portfolio and applications ready first. Now I'm almost done with all of that and am feeling anxious about interviews, particularly Yale and Columbia (*if* I get an interview). I'm comfortable talking about my work and have a very clear direction. I'm worried about being drilled about art history, specific artists, or to quote something. I have been out of school for 6 years now and am a little rusty on some of my art history in general and am bad at memorizing specific titles and quoting artists sometimes. I've heard that Yale/Columbia does this. I'm worried that if they catch me off guard, I'm just going to freeze up. I've been interviewed many times for local press and only froze once and that was for a video interview (completely bombed that one - deer in headlights).

Question: If the will be looking for the amount of work you have made between now and the interview: Is this the work they want you to bring? or see images of? or to just talk about? I thought they would want you to bring a couple pieces from your portfolio you submitted. I'll be painting for a show between now and interviews but the work is a little different than my portfolio because it is specific for this exhibition. So I wouldn't want to show that.

Thanks for sharing info!

I just wanted to mention a few things that I learned last year while preparing and then giving my presentation at the Yale interview. After talking with other students who had already been accepted into the school it seemed clear that they had all experienced high levels of nervousness while being interviewed, I had two tell me that they blacked out and don't even remember what they said, they got in so it couldn't have been that bad. I made to the waitlist (which at Yale has a 99.5% percent chance of not getting in).but thought I'd give it another go this year. The interviews will probably be in mid March and last year they announced their decisions on February 8th for who they would interview, they interviewed around 30 people and choose 10. One thing they will b e looking for is the amount of work you have made between the initial application and the interview, I didn't learn this until I was asked to fly there for an interview so I had lost a month of preparation time. Toastmasters was very helpfull in getting over my public speaking nervousness.

I hope this helps

[lapainter123]

Thank you for posting this, waiter! I'm a first time applicant, so I'm not familiar with the interview process. I have 3 questions:

1. Is the interview more like a presentation in front of a panel rather than an actual interview?

2. In regards to the work that they request you bring, how are they presented or displayed? Specifically, are they hung up on a wall, or do you just show them?

3. Which program did you apply to?

Thanks!

I just wanted to mention a few things that I learned last year while preparing and then giving my presentation at the Yale interview. After talking with other students who had already been accepted into the school it seemed clear that they had all experienced high levels of nervousness while being interviewed, I had two tell me that they blacked out and don't even remember what they said, they got in so it couldn't have been that bad. I made to the waitlist (which at Yale has a 99.5% percent chance of not getting in).but thought I'd give it another go this year. The interviews will probably be in mid March and last year they announced their decisions on February 8th for who they would interview, they interviewed around 30 people and choose 10. One thing they will b e looking for is the amount of work you have made between the initial application and the interview, I didn't learn this until I was asked to fly there for an interview so I had lost a month of preparation time. Toastmasters was very helpfull in getting over my public speaking nervousness.

I hope this helps

[waiter]

Answer

1. it was 40 minutes, 20 for the presentation and 20 for the questions, all the 1st year students were there and three instructors, basically they just sat and listened and then a few students asked questions and the instructors asked a couple questions. It was really relaxed and was just like being in a class at art school. I've heard other stories of there being just two instructors in the room asking very direct grilling questions about artists that the student found inspiring and then asking the student to describe the point of departure in which that artist uses before starting a work.

2. I didn't bring any work, at first they asked for some and then they said it wasn't important. I think they would like to see some drawings. I just took digital photos of my studio and drawings and then talked about it all while it was on the screen. time went really fast.

3. I'd rather not get to much into it.

good luck, all I can say is brush up on your vocabulary and be well read if you feel it is important to your persona. I like to use these opportunities to build new work and feel it to be inspiring when I don't have any shows to work towards.

Thank you for posting this, waiter! I'm a first time applicant, so I'm not familiar with the interview process. I have 3 questions:

1. Is the interview more like a presentation in front of a panel rather than an actual interview?

2. In regards to the work that they request you bring, how are they presented or displayed? Specifically, are they hung up on a wall, or do you just show them?

3. Which program did you apply to?

Thanks!

[Curious12345]

It seems kind of weird for them to expect a significant amount of work made in a month...I guess to see if you are working all of the time or something.

[waiter]

Ya, I think a friend who had made it into the school said that is what they wanted to see to see that your serious about being an artist. I just ended up making a bunch of new work which wasn't that good but looked impressive in a photograph, I'm currently throwing a bunch of the work away to clear up space in the studio. I think this year I'll just make one or two really good works instead of twenty ok ones.

It seems kind of weird for them to expect a significant amount of work made in a month...I guess to see if you are working all of the time or something.

[lapainter123]

Thanks, this is all very helpful. No worries about not answering #3. The reason why I asked which program you applied to was because I was wondering about the 30 interviewees and 10 selected. I read in another post that they interview about 70 candidates; that is probably the total number of candidates from all the programs. Do you have anymore interview experiences to share from other schools? Good luck to you this year!

Answer

1. it was 40 minutes, 20 for the presentation and 20 for the questions, all the 1st year students were there and three instructors, basically they just sat and listened and then a few students asked questions and the instructors asked a couple questions. It was really relaxed and was just like being in a class at art school. I've heard other stories of there being just two instructors in the room asking very direct grilling questions about artists that the student found inspiring and then asking the student to describe the point of departure in which that artist uses before starting a work.

2. I didn't bring any work, at first they asked for some and then they said it wasn't important. I think they would like to see some drawings. I just took digital photos of my studio and drawings and then talked about it all while it was on the screen. time went really fast.

3. I'd rather not get to much into it.

good luck, all I can say is brush up on your vocabulary and be well read if you feel it is important to your persona. I like to use these opportunities to build new work and feel it to be inspiring when I don't have any shows to work towards.

[waiter]

I just had the one interview in regards to grad schools, I think they thought I was too far along to fit in with the class. I only applied to one school this year. I just had another interview a few weeks ago for a huge city commission and won, I couldn't believe it. It had about ten people in the room and was similar in that I arrived with some images on a memory stick and talked about each one for 40 minutes, time goes really fast. I went to toast masters the night before to check in with my nervous level and all seemed good so I wasn't nervous for the interview and had everyone laughing, thinking and having fun. it felt good to ace it the interviewand then win the commission, I was up against some heavyweight artists.

Thanks, this is all very helpful. No worries about not answering #3. The reason why I asked which program you applied to was because I was wondering about the 30 interviewees and 10 selected. I read in another post that they interview about 70 candidates; that is probably the total number of candidates from all the programs. Do you have anymore interview experiences to share from other schools? Good luck to you this year!

[lapainter123]

Wow! Congratulations! Well, thanks for your advice; it was really nice of you to give everyone a heads up on the interview process.

I just had the one interview in regards to grad schools, I think they thought I was too far along to fit in with the class. I only applied to one school this year. I just had another interview a few weeks ago for a huge city commission and won, I couldn't believe it. It had about ten people in the room and was similar in that I arrived with some images on a memory stick and talked about each one for 40 minutes, time goes really fast. I went to toast masters the night before to check in with my nervous level and all seemed good so I wasn't nervous for the interview and had everyone laughing, thinking and having fun. it felt good to ace it the interviewand then win the commission, I was up against some heavyweight artists.

[I Paint Faces]

I find this interview information very helpful, even though it is for Yale from which I got rejected, but I'm curious if others who have already interviewed/phone interviewed this year might have advice on what particular questions to prepare for in any interview. I'm assuming that the dicussion is mostly around your work, but were there any particularly difficult questions? Also, did they quesiton you about either your influences or contemporary art/artists? I'm just nervous because a lot of schools seem to ask for interviews and I feel like I can struggle in interviews, but at the same time they are so valuable because they allow you to verbalize why you feel you fit into their particular program. I just want to be able to eloquently state why I belong without sounding scared, lost, like I'm begging, or, on the other hand, pompous.

[michaelwebster]

These weren't from Yale but nevertheless, some questions from interviews:

why do you want to go to this school?

why do you want to go to grad school? and Why now? (especially important if your in your low 20s and soon out of undergrad)

How do you think your work will change when you move to this location?

What resources of this program will be the biggest benefit to your development as an artist?

What are your influences?

Do you have any questions for us? (They will almost always ask you this, always have a few good questions that are smart but don't point out gaping flaws in the program)

More specific questions may be about artists, movements, writers, books that interest you.

I recommend taking notes about anything that you don't know about during the interview, look up the info asap, so later in the day if you see the professors you can comment on how that info was helpful and relates to your practice. This shows you have the capacity to listen and take advice. The most specific you can be to show you have done your research into the program the better.

Bring material to show new work or additional images on your computer or printed if need be.

Also, I recommend taking some control over the interviews and making sure you get to say what is important to your work, whether they specifically ask about it or not. If I remember some more questions I will post later. There should be some in last years posts too.

Edited February 16, 2011 by michaelwebster