MFA 2025 Freak Out Forum

[paintstress]

 

6 minutes ago, freshman2024 said:

ah, do you know for what concentration? not sure if that makes a difference lol 

theyre a ceramicist and sculptor, they applied to ceramics programs if the school offers it and sculpture if the school only has sculpture, i didnt apply to tyler so im not sure if theyre separate. 

[freshman2024]

5 minutes ago, paintstress said:

 

theyre a ceramicist and sculptor, they applied to ceramics programs if the school offers it and sculpture if the school only has sculpture, i didnt apply to tyler so im not sure if theyre separate. 

okay cool cool, they do have seperate programs and the ceramics facilities and community in phili is awesome so good luck to your friend! I applied for sculpture. 

[sarinnn]

Hi everyone, feeling quite antsy so here I am! This is my first time applying, I'm going for programs in art+tech/digital media. The schools I applied to are UCLA, RISD, Parsons, SAIC and ASU. I'm from a design background so I really don't know what to expect, anyone else applying to these types of programs?

[manti]

Has anyone else been feeling down about their art now that applications are in? I thought I'd feel relieved but now I'm second guessing everything. 

[Jwack]

Yes 👆🏻💯😬

[prosthetic_head]

Definitely had a minor meltdown once I submitted all my apps lol, but I'm trying not to think too much about the work I submitted until I (hopefully) get interviews.

I'm just spending as much time in the studio as I can without putting too much pressure on myself to make anything. and making Valentine's Day prints for friends so I have something else to focus on!

[paintstress]

Just got a rejection email from Northwestern : ( 

[aLittleMonster]

1 hour ago, paintstress said:

Just got a rejection email from Northwestern : ( 

why they send out rejections so fast？

[aLittleMonster]

So silly 😂 I mean I can’t believe they sent out rejections so fast. I guess many schools haven’t started reviewing yet 

[boltcutter]

On 1/10/2025 at 11:09 PM, april9991 said:

Hi! I'm curious: how many people have applied/are planning to apply for sculpture?

Sculpture for me! 

I do a lot of deliberately-inefficient projects with mold-making. 

[boltcutter]

23 hours ago, manti said:

Has anyone else been feeling down about their art now that applications are in? I thought I'd feel relieved but now I'm second guessing everything. 

oh yes but I think that's normal. the waiting is pretty terrible. 

[prosthetic_head]

I had a dream that I got an interview request from Tyler 😩 

[freshman2024]

3 hours ago, prosthetic_head said:

I had a dream that I got an interview request from Tyler 😩 

Hold tight ! I got an email today from them for sculpture saying thanks for my application and if they need anything they'll let me know ... which feels like a soft rejection lol. Im hoping I hear back from some other schools in a positive way so I stop mentally spiraling myself.  I also saw you applied to SVA, im an SVA alum and a big fan of their facilities so if you have any questions let me know! I worked a lot in their printmaking studios the past two years for continuing ed and in undergrad. 

[boltcutter]

4 hours ago, prosthetic_head said:

I had a dream that I got an interview request from Tyler 😩 

Oh my goodness I wake up every day after dreaming that I got in to RISD...or didn't....or that I declined an interview request because I was confused...it's all so stressful! 

[Kalonde]

Anybody applying for Painting or applying to interdisciplinary programs as painters?

[prosthetic_head]

1 hour ago, freshman2024 said:

Hold tight ! I got an email today from them for sculpture saying thanks for my application and if they need anything they'll let me know ... which feels like a soft rejection lol. Im hoping I hear back from some other schools in a positive way so I stop mentally spiraling myself.  I also saw you applied to SVA, im an SVA alum and a big fan of their facilities so if you have any questions let me know! I worked a lot in their printmaking studios the past two years for continuing ed and in undergrad. 

 

Crossing my fingers you get good news! I actually ended up not sending in my SVA app 😪  I was so burnt out by the time I did the other 6, I probably should've, but oh well. thank you though!

[sweet dreams]

On 1/15/2025 at 7:36 PM, paintstress said:

Just got a rejection email from Northwestern : ( 

also got a rejection, ate some cheezies though and felt a little better

[aLittleMonster]

1 hour ago, sweet dreams said:

also got a rejection, ate some cheezies though and felt a little better

Did you have an interview with them?

[CATCAFE]

This is my first time apply to graduate degree! Applied Yale and MIT. I'm curious if anyone has taken over the Yale Sculpture or Painting/Printmaking interview? How did it feel?

[sillygooseart]

14 hours ago, Kalonde said:

Anybody applying for Painting or applying to interdisciplinary programs as painters?

I am! It’s rough out here bc that’s the most common discipline

[Kalonde]

53 minutes ago, sillygooseart said:

I am! It’s rough out here bc that’s the most common discipline

I so feel that! This is my first time applying and I'm realizing I'm more nervous after submitting than I was before

[sillygooseart]

1 minute ago, Kalonde said:

I so feel that! This is my first time applying and I'm realizing I'm more nervous after submitting than I was before

This is my second time applying! I got into one program last year and couldn’t afford it so I didn’t attend. The best thing you can do is remind yourself it’s out of your hands now and all you can do is just wait. You’ve done everything you can! Congrats on submitting everything! Things work out how they’re supposed to : )

I know it’s easier said than done to just relax and pat yourself on the back right now..but you got this!

[Kalonde]

1 hour ago, sillygooseart said:

This is my second time applying! I got into one program last year and couldn’t afford it so I didn’t attend. The best thing you can do is remind yourself it’s out of your hands now and all you can do is just wait. You’ve done everything you can! Congrats on submitting everything! Things work out how they’re supposed to : )

I know it’s easier said than done to just relax and pat yourself on the back right now..but you got this!

Thank you! Did you end up having interviews for the others? I feel comfortable answering questions about my work if I get an interview but I've heard it's good to ask them questions as well. I'm kind of blanking on what I could ask though 

[sillygooseart]

3 minutes ago, Kalonde said:

Thank you! Did you end up having interviews for the others? I feel comfortable answering questions about my work if I get an interview but I've heard it's good to ask them questions as well. I'm kind of blanking on what I could ask though 

Last year I didn’t have any interviews and this year I had one for visual arts and one for art history (dual degree program, but these two weren’t for the same school). I usually ask about what’s important for me like facilities, funding, teaching opportunities, and jobs post-grad, like what are their alumni doing. It’s always good to ask questions! You can even ask them to be more specific on something they mentioned during the interview. 
Also, just because you don’t get requested for an interview, doesn’t mean you’re not getting in! Unless they specifically say on their website they do interviews, some programs just do not interview! The one I got into last year didn’t do interviews. 

[Frank0000000]

Hi everyone! 

This is my third application cycle 😓 and I might as well give the full history for those interested because I really didn't know what I was doing the first time and the advice I found on this forum was super helpful. 

 

First round (Fall 2022) all painting programs except MICA which I applied for the interdisciplinary program

• The University of Colorado, Fort Collins: Interviewed, offered a great spot with a good scholarship and a teaching assistantship, only problem was they wanted my response sooo early—like in Feb. before I'd heard back from anyone else so I ended up turning it down. Also because I was hesitant to move somewhere I knew there wasn't much of an arts culture (should have done more research). 
• The University of Montana, Missoula: Interviewed, offered a spot, pretty small scholarship, wasn't thrilled by their response to me asking how it was for trans students at the school, and needed a bigger scholarship to make it work. 
• VCU: straight up rejected, took them a really long time to get back to me, that was the last school I heard from I think in April. they sent their rejection via mail. 
• SFSU: interviewed, waitlisted then rejected, didn't do well in the interview (I bungled the question "how do you see yourself using your time in this program" they wanted specific research interests and details about what projects I'd be pursuing)
• MICA: interviewed, offered a spot with a big scholarship but still not enough to make it financially feasible. MICA is realllllly expensive. 
• UC Irvine: no interview, rejected

Second round (Fall 2023) all painting programs (some were just "MFA" programs without any specification)

• SFSU: applied again, interviewed and offered a spot with no scholarship and no teaching assistantship, ended up having to turn it down when I couldn't find any housing in SF that would make it financially feasible. 
• The University of Michigan: no interview, rejected 
• Northwestern: no interview, rejected 
• UCLA: no interview, rejected 
• UC Irvine: totally forgot and missed the deadline, thank u adhd 🤦‍♂️
• Stanford: no interview, rejected

Pretty disappointing second round, but I think I was overly ambitious and didn't apply to enough of a range of schools, just ones that are really competitive. and I was exhausted after having just finished my undergrad, it honestly didn't feel like the right time. After that, I decided to take a year off of applying and develop my portfolio and research interests a bit more and find programs that were fully funded and offered teaching assistantships. It was definitely the right move, I feel so much more confident in my portfolio and the direction of my art practice, and much more ready for the challenge of grad school. 

So, TLDR: It's been a mixed bag, but I've learned a lot.

This round (Fall 2025) here's where applied, all painting.

• Yale
•  Rutgers 
• Carnegie Mellon
• Herron (Indianapolis)
• The University of Michigan
• The University of New Mexico 
• Utah Tech  
• The University of Nevada, Reno 
• UC Irvine 

Good luck, everyone!! Hang in there 🫡