MFA 2024 Freak Out Forum

[Miso]

2 hours ago, aluminumfried said:

Update: got an acceptance from UMass Amherst!

This is super exciting and I am super grateful. 90% sure I will be going there, but I do want to see if I get an answer from UNM, RISD and UConn. I feel bad waiting to reply though, because in all likelihood I will be choosing UMass. The funding amount is insane and I have family in the area. Thoughts?

 

Congrats! I wouldn't feel bad for waiting if I were you, schools should understand that you most likely applied to several schools and won't have all your decisions until around March. Did they give you a deadline to accept their offer? What was the funding amount? 

[Sweetie123]

On 12/16/2023 at 1:00 PM, aluminumfried said:

Hi everyone!

New here, last year I only applied to two schools (UofA and UNM), waitlisted at U of A. My portfolio is in a much better place this year and I am also not restricting myself as much location wise. So far I have submitted my applications to UMass Amherst and UConn. I am planning on applying to UNM (sculpture), RISD (sculpture), SMFA, Rutgers, UCLA, UC Davis, Hunter and MICA (Mt Royal). 

I had an interview at UMass (zoom) on Wednesday already so I am currently waiting on results. Did anyone else interview with UMass yet? Thoughts?

Good luck everyone!

Isn't it quite early to be having interviews and getting accepted? I feel like most deadlines aren't for another month or so... When was the UMass deadline? 

[aluminumfried]

On 12/19/2023 at 8:41 PM, Sweetie123 said:

Isn't it quite early to be having interviews and getting accepted? I feel like most deadlines aren't for another month or so... When was the UMass deadline? 

Hey! Yes their deadline was quite early, it was Dec. 1st. Most of the other deadlines are around early January. 

[murmur]

Hi and good luck to everyone on their applications!!

I am just about to finish my Yale application and was wondering if I got the whole "representative image" thing right. Do we need to explicitly name that work in our statements or is it ok if our statement is about the kind of work we are doing in the representative image and the likes of it anyway. I am a bit puzzled by the whole thing. 

[Miso]

6 hours ago, mirmir said:

Hi and good luck to everyone on their applications!!

I am just about to finish my Yale application and was wondering if I got the whole "representative image" thing right. Do we need to explicitly name that work in our statements or is it ok if our statement is about the kind of work we are doing in the representative image and the likes of it anyway. I am a bit puzzled by the whole thing. 

 

 

 

 

They say "Applicants to the Painting/Printmaking program should make reference in their statements to the “representative work” in the portfolio; this is not critical for the other programs."

I understand your confusion because saying "make reference in" can be interpreted in different ways. It could mean allude to something in your statement or mention the work specifically referencing the name. I applied to Yale painting/printmaking too, and I think the safe option is to just specifically reference the name of the work and talk about it in detail. Hope this helps, best of luck!! 

[Moses09]

Hey Guys! this is my first year applying to an MFA program and I was wondering if there were any resources that could help me edit my personal statement, right now my main options are Yale, Columbia, UCLA, and the Royal College of Art all in painting 

[murmur]

How do you guys go about writing an artist statement on top of a SOP? I utilized my artist statement to explain my work in my SOP anyway. It feels redundant to find different ways to say the same thing basically. 

[murmur]

21 hours ago, Moses09 said:

Hey Guys! this is my first year applying to an MFA program and I was wondering if there were any resources that could help me edit my personal statement, right now my main options are Yale, Columbia, UCLA, and the Royal College of Art all in painting 

hi good luck! I personally don't know any resources but having your friends/profs read it should do the trick?

[geminilibraaquarius]

anyone on here know anything about cornell's MFA program?

thank you

[Miso]

10 hours ago, scraps said:

anyone on here know anything about cornell's MFA program?

thank you

 

 

 

 

These are apparently from someone who visited Cornell in Sept. 2022. I am cautious about what I believe on forums but I don't see why someone would lie about these things. 

From past forums, people have said the cons are: 

• isolated in Ithaca
• small studio spaces
• sculpture department is a mess because a tenured professor takes up all the space
• some professors make sexist and inappropriate comments about women's artwork

Biggest pro:

• they have a lot of academic resources (books, essays, journals, etc.)  

On 12/25/2023 at 8:01 AM, Moses09 said:

Hey Guys! this is my first year applying to an MFA program and I was wondering if there were any resources that could help me edit my personal statement, right now my main options are Yale, Columbia, UCLA, and the Royal College of Art all in painting 

 

 

A former art professor at RISD has a discord where you can ask about something like this. She will tell you about her resources that you can pay for. Her team does portfolio reviews, and I believe they may review papers too. Personally, I wouldn't pay when you can just ask the professors doing your recommendation letters to review your paper. But if you have the money, you should ask on the discord.

[geminilibraaquarius]

thank you, yes i have heard the studios are not great. 

[aluminumfried]

On 12/19/2023 at 12:12 PM, Gaara said:

Congrats! I wouldn't feel bad for waiting if I were you, schools should understand that you most likely applied to several schools and won't have all your decisions until around March. Did they give you a deadline to accept their offer? What was the funding amount? 

Hi there! Yes, that's what I've been hearing from mentors etc. I received an offer of full tuition plus GA and ability to apply for an additional fellowship. 

[Moses09]

Thank you for the advice! lol sometimes I feel weird asking professors for help over winter break and stuff like that, could i ask what programs you applied for/discipline? 

Edited December 28, 2023 by Moses09

[Moses09]

Thank you for the advice! lol sometimes I feel weird asking professors for help over winter break and stuff like that, could i ask what programs you applied for/discipline?

On 12/26/2023 at 4:11 PM, Gaara said:

These are apparently from someone who visited Cornell in Sept. 2022. I am cautious about what I believe on forums but I don't see why someone would lie about these things. 

From past forums, people have said the cons are: 

• isolated in Ithaca
• small studio spaces
• sculpture department is a mess because a tenured professor takes up all the space
• some professors make sexist and inappropriate comments about women's artwork

Biggest pro:

• they have a lot of academic resources (books, essays, journals, etc.)  

A former art professor at RISD has a discord where you can ask about something like this. She will tell you about her resources that you can pay for. Her team does portfolio reviews, and I believe they may review papers too. Personally, I wouldn't pay when you can just ask the professors doing your recommendation letters to review your paper. But if you have the money, you should ask on the discord.

sorry forgot to quote Thank you for the advice! lol sometimes I feel weird asking professors for help over winter break and stuff like that, could I ask what programs you applied for/discipline?

[Miso]

47 minutes ago, Moses09 said:

sorry forgot to quote Thank you for the advice! lol sometimes I feel weird asking professors for help over winter break and stuff like that, could I ask what programs you applied for/discipline?

 

 

 

No problem, Grad Cafe didn't allow me to include the link but if you google "prof lieu discord", her service called "Artist doc Editing" is the first thing that pops up. (warning: it is pricey) 

I feel you, the timing of the holidays and application deadlines makes things complicated. I would advise people to ask for help at least 2-3 months in advance. 

My discipline is painting/drawing, and I applied to 15 programs. These were my final choices: 

Yale

UCLA

Stanford

Rutgers

UCSD

UC Santa Barbara

Northwestern University

University of Illinois—Chicago

University of Texas—Austin

UC Irvine

UC Riverside

CSULB

GSU

Uconn

University of Illinois—Urbana-Champaign

[lysol]

Is anyone getting a single sign on error from salesforce for their rutgers application? (the community ID portion). I've cleared all of the cookies and site data, tried using my phone, private browsers, three different browsers and two different emails, and nothing seems to be working its really frustrating me since that portion is due in a couple of days. i found someone else online with the same issue applying to a different program, was going to try to get it resolved tomorrow but I'm guessing I'll have to wait since everyone is on break. hopefully It's not too much of a issue since the program specific portion is due in a couple weeks.

[lysol]

15 hours ago, lysol said:

Is anyone getting a single sign on error from salesforce for their rutgers application? (the community ID portion). I've cleared all of the cookies and site data, tried using my phone, private browsers, three different browsers and two different emails, and nothing seems to be working its really frustrating me since that portion is due in a couple of days. i found someone else online with the same issue applying to a different program, was going to try to get it resolved tomorrow but I'm guessing I'll have to wait since everyone is on break. hopefully It's not too much of a issue since the program specific portion is due in a couple weeks.

called the IT desk and its a sitewide issue, if anyone else is having it just stay updated on it but they said they should be resolving it in the next week or so. 

[Guest]

Hello y’all,

did anyone fill in the work history part of the Yale application?

 

I don’t want to. 

[Miso]

3 hours ago, Gkrenz said:

Hello y’all,

did anyone fill in the work history part of the Yale application?

 

I don’t want to. 

 

 

I've already submitted my application, so I can't check the work history section. If it's not required, I typically leave it blank since the information is already in my CV/Resume. 

[Griselda]

Hey folks, just found this forum before Xmas (right after I sent off my single MFA application for the 24 admission).

I'm only applying to one school right now for various boring adult life reasons and that is UW-Madison for painting. The grad program manager there said they get about 300+ applications a year for 17 places, and I have no idea how many they interview and whether I have a shot at all but I figured I'd come check in here.

Looks like they can be pretty quick at contacting people once applications closed based on last year's thread so fingers crossed I hear something soon.

Best of luck to everyone applying this cycle!

[sad face]

Freakout forum seems so quiet this year... are less people applying or those who are applying don't use forums anymore 😢

[ohoh]

Hi everyone! I'm applying to a bunch of programs this year for the first time--anyone who has applied in the past know when schools first reach out about interviews or first round rejections? (I know most say mid-feb/march?)

[Griselda]

Just now, ohoh said:

Hi everyone! I'm applying to a bunch of programs this year for the first time--anyone who has applied in the past know when schools first reach out about interviews or first round rejections? (I know most say mid-feb/march?)

I actually went through the last couple of years worth of Freak Out threads and searched for the institution(s) I'm applying to in order to get a sense of when they start sending out.

[ohoh]

Ok thanks, yes, I'm doing that now!! Not sure why I'm already deciding to get neurotic about specific days I should be watching for, but here I go

[kjsdhl212]

All of my applications are complete and officially in.  Terrified of not getting into any so fighting the temptation to apply to one or two more schools just to increase my odds.