MFA 2026 Freak out Forum

[artluv]

Also received a BU painting invite! in case this info is helpful to anyone! Send me a DM if anyone has thoughts ideas or questions! I am kind of going nuts refreshing my email 100 times a day lol and here if anyone needs comradery. 

[No-Evidence8843]

6 minutes ago, artluv said:

Also received a BU painting invite! in case this info is helpful to anyone! Send me a DM if anyone has thoughts ideas or questions! I am kind of going nuts refreshing my email 100 times a day lol and here if anyone needs comradery. 

Sometimes this application cycle feels like we're on the sinking ship of the Titanic, and this forum is the band, and we're playing our instruments in solidarity.

[artluv]

2 minutes ago, No-Evidence8843 said:

Sometimes this application cycle feels like we're on the sinking ship of the Titanic, and this forum is the band, and we're playing our instruments in solidarity.

I'm here with you! playing the trumpet! and I have been on this ship a few times before already lol

[artandwar]

1 hour ago, No-Evidence8843 said:

Sometimes this application cycle feels like we're on the sinking ship of the Titanic, and this forum is the band, and we're playing our instruments in solidarity.

I totally agree in feeling, but I’m wondering for what reasons you say this. If it’s about federal funding in the U.S. and general crisis in academia, then I definitely agree.

[artandwar]

Received an interview request from UCLA Interdisciplinary Studio!

[No-Evidence8843]

6 minutes ago, artandwar said:

I totally agree in feeling, but I’m wondering for what reasons you say this. If it’s about federal funding in the U.S. and general crisis in academia, then I definitely agree.

It's just the negative things like the anxiety and overthinking due to the long process and silence. Getting into grad school is now on my mind everyday. This forum has been a blessing because it gives us a place to channel our thoughts with others in the same boat (pun intended). I just thought the Titanic analogy was a funny comparison. Also, the federal funding thing is super abnormal to the process of going to school. It does make things harder on all of us, and increases the need to get an mfa degree before they become even more unattainable. 

[Moodyapplier]

I also received an invite from BU today… if you don’t mind sharing, did you change your app this cycle a lot?

[SocialKonstruct]

Don't be discouraged folks. I applied to many visual art programs and got rejected from all but two. I ended up going to my backup school and haven't regretted it since.

Here is my spreadsheet from 2023.

MFA PROGRAM Fall 2023

CONCENTRATION

STATUS

Yale University

Sculpture

Rejected

Yale University

Painting and Printmaking

Rejected

UCLA

New Genres

Rejected

Columbia University

Printmaking

Rejected

School of the Art Institute of Chicago

Painting/Drawing

Rejected

School of the Art Institute of Chicago

Photography

Accepted

School of the Art Institute of Chicago

Sculpture

Rejected

Calarts (California Institute of the Arts)

Art (Integrated Media)

Rejected

Calarts (California Institute of the Arts)

Art + Technology (Integrated Media)

Rejected

Calarts (California Institute of the Arts)

Photography and Media (Integrated Media)

Rejected

ArtCenter College of Design

Art

Accepted and will commit

[ferretpalace]

1 hour ago, Moodyapplier said:

I also received an invite from BU today… if you don’t mind sharing, did you change your app this cycle a lot?

About half of the work was new (I think much stronger), and I rewrote my essay to be simpler and more probably ultimately more genuine. 

[NanBan]

Is anyone applying to SAIC Low Res Program? If yes, have you heard about an interview yet? I’m also wondering if anyone is applying to SVA Art Practice (mostly remote) and if you have heard anything from them? What about Bard (I think they don’t let us know about interviews until mid Feb, right?)? The waiting is the hardest part (I’m singing this like Tom Petty). 

[Emolibra97]

1 hour ago, artandwar said:

Received an interview request from UCLA Interdisciplinary Studio!

Congrats! Apologies for my ignorance, is the interdisciplinary studio the same as the MFA program or is it a separate branch/admission? 

[NanBan]

Also, I’m prepping for a MassArt Low Res interview. Any ideas for questions to be thinking about?

[SocialKonstruct]

4 minutes ago, Emolibra97 said:

Congrats! Apologies for my ignorance, is the interdisciplinary studio the same as the MFA program or is it a separate branch/admission? 

https://www.art.ucla.edu/areas-of-study/interdisciplinary-studio/ (part of the School of Art at UCLA).

[spider16]

I also got a BU interview after being rejected with no interview last year! 

Edited February 3 by spider16
meant to quote oops

[lrnpntng]

Friday I was notified I got rejected from OSU, UW-Madison just posted their decision as well, rejected 😕 
UW was one of my top choices rip

Trying really hard not to get discouraged but I'm just so dang nervous that I won't get into anything...I really need a win!!

(both for painting btw)

[Emolibra97]

Has anyone heard back from UCLA MFA or Yale? I know UCI should be reaching out anytime soon given their announcements last week. We're almost in the middle of this week AHH!

[jobahza]

41 minutes ago, lrntlmn said:

Friday I was notified I got rejected from OSU, UW-Madison just posted their decision as well, rejected 😕 
UW was one of my top choices rip

Trying really hard not to get discouraged but I'm just so dang nervous that I won't get into anything...I really need a win!!

(both for painting btw)

Keep on trucking. It's so hard! It's a very competitive atmosphere. Don't let it get you down. 

[spider16]

35 minutes ago, Emolibra97 said:

Has anyone heard back from UCLA MFA or Yale? I know UCI should be reaching out anytime soon given their announcements last week. We're almost in the middle of this week AHH!

I think there's a very good chance we hear back from Yale this week or next. If I remember correctly, in past years they have released finalist notifications outside of typical work hours (which I imagine helps them avoid a barrage of phone calls/emails the second they send them out). I'm also pretty sure they will send out rejections and interview invites simultaneously, unlike some others

[sloan]

10 minutes ago, spider16 said:

I think there's a very good chance we hear back from Yale this week or next. If I remember correctly, in past years they have released finalist notifications outside of typical work hours (which I imagine helps them avoid a barrage of phone calls/emails the second they send them out). I'm also pretty sure they will send out rejections and interview invites simultaneously, unlike some others

Obsessed with how little Yale wants to interact with applicants. This plus the giant thing on their website saying dont contact any of us...hilarious. And yeah, from my research into the past, they like Tuesdays so I'm guessing it'll be sometime today. We've passed noon, so probs this evening or right at midnight. And for the record, if we hear nothing today, I will be having an aneurysm. 🫡

Reposting my data points from earlier:

YALE:

Rejections/Invite for Interview: Usually send invites first week of February.

• Invite Tuesday Evening, Feb 1, 2022

• Invite Monday, Feb 5 2023 

• Invite/rejections @ Noon(ish) in application portal Tuesday Feb 6, 2024

• Invite/Update Posted Wednesday, Feb 5, 2025 (2/5/2025 at 12:27am first gradcafe post -- several more followed shortly after → update assumed to have been released at midnight)

Interview on:

• Feb 21, 2023

Decisions:

• March 4 2023

[spider16]

8 minutes ago, sloan said:

Obsessed with how little Yale wants to interact with applicants. This plus the giant thing on their website saying dont contact any of us...hilarious. And yeah, from my research into the past, they like Tuesdays so I'm guessing it'll be sometime today. We've passed noon, so probs this evening or right at midnight. And for the record, if we hear nothing today, I will be having an aneurysm. 🫡

Reposting my data points from earlier:

YALE:

Rejections/Invite for Interview: Usually send invites first week of February.

• Invite Tuesday Evening, Feb 1, 2022

• Invite Monday, Feb 5 2023 

• Invite/rejections @ Noon(ish) in application portal Tuesday Feb 6, 2024

• Invite/Update Posted Wednesday, Feb 5, 2025 (2/5/2025 at 12:27am first gradcafe post -- several more followed shortly after → update assumed to have been released at midnight)

Interview on:

• Feb 21, 2023

Decisions:

• March 4 2023

Yes last year I got the rejection at like 12:25AM! It showed up as a status update in my portal so I just...refused to open it for several days, because I knew what it was already lol. But then this year I got my SAIC invite as a status update in their portal as well so I guess everywhere is different (I was right about the Yale update being a rejection though)

[No-Evidence8843]

15 minutes ago, sloan said:

Obsessed with how little Yale wants to interact with applicants. This plus the giant thing on their website saying dont contact any of us...hilarious. And yeah, from my research into the past, they like Tuesdays so I'm guessing it'll be sometime today. We've passed noon, so probs this evening or right at midnight. And for the record, if we hear nothing today, I will be having an aneurysm. 🫡

Reposting my data points from earlier:

YALE:

Rejections/Invite for Interview: Usually send invites first week of February.

• Invite Tuesday Evening, Feb 1, 2022

• Invite Monday, Feb 5 2023 

• Invite/rejections @ Noon(ish) in application portal Tuesday Feb 6, 2024

• Invite/Update Posted Wednesday, Feb 5, 2025 (2/5/2025 at 12:27am first gradcafe post -- several more followed shortly after → update assumed to have been released at midnight)

Interview on:

• Feb 21, 2023

Decisions:

• March 4 2023

I've actually found their staff to be super receptive and friendly in emails. I'm also aware there are only two people working administration who can respond to messages, and there at least 1,200+ applicants. Only thing that is lacking is you can't do a graduate tour unless you're offered admission.

[spider16]

1 hour ago, lrntlmn said:

Friday I was notified I got rejected from OSU, UW-Madison just posted their decision as well, rejected 😕 
UW was one of my top choices rip

Trying really hard not to get discouraged but I'm just so dang nervous that I won't get into anything...I really need a win!!

(both for painting btw)

I know this is much easier said than done, but please try to remember that the rejections are not a reflection of you or the quality your work and don't let it discourage you too much! So many schools intentionally try to curate a cohort of artists that are making very different work from each other, and sometimes rejections are only because another applicant's work is too similar in genre.

I think for a lot of people (myself included, especially last year) it feels like there's this huge rush to get the MFA, and putting it off for a year to reapply feels like such a huge delay--but for me at least, the year FLEW by, and I'm already getting much better results this year than last (including an interview at a program from which I was rejected without an interview last time around.) All this to say--you have time, and sometimes reapplying is the best investment in yourself, especially if you have a dream program that you don't get into on your first (or even first few) attempts. I try to remind myself that I believe I can be good enough for my dream program, even if I'm not there yet, and believing in myself means continuing to fight for it, even if it takes longer than I hoped. 

Best of luck to you!!!

[TwhowantsanMFA]

1 hour ago, lrntlmn said:

Trying really hard not to get discouraged but I'm just so dang nervous that I won't get into anything...I really need a win!!

I can completely sympathize! Last year I applied to 6 places, got one interview and no offer. It was pretty discouraging at the time. But all of my recommenders pushed me to keep making work, and reading more books having to do with the themes in my work. And now, I can see that I'm a much better applicant this year (3 interviews so far, fingers crossed!), but more importantly, I think I'll get a lot more out of grad school if I get in somewhere this year. I'm not a big believer in "everything happens for a reason," but I think not getting in can be a really helpful nudge, even if it doesn't feel that way at the time.

Fingers crossed you do get in somewhere this year, but if not, use it as fuel to be a stronger applicant next year.

[marxista]

1 hour ago, Emolibra97 said:

Has anyone heard back from UCLA MFA or Yale? I know UCI should be reaching out anytime soon given their announcements last week. We're almost in the middle of this week AHH!

UCLA is hard to know since the 6 concentrations send interviews at different rates—I received mine on Wednesday last year for one and then 1 week later on Thursday for my second concentration even though I knew that second concentration had sent original interviews the Monday of the previous week… TLTR, no way of knowing. 

Let us know if you get the interview though!

[spider16]

Okay I'm officially crashing out about the possibility of Yale coming out today, anyone else?