MFA 2026 Freak out Forum

[sculptor5711]

On 2/21/2026 at 3:53 PM, Pommekites said:

Has anyone gotten interview Invites from VCU Sculpture specifically? I heard a few who got rejections. The silence is killlllllling me🫥 I was encourage to apply by their faculty, should I email and ask about it? 

I have yet to hear for VCU sculpture as well!

[gs5117]

20 minutes ago, sculptor5711 said:

Hiii!! I really hope someone can help and give me some insight. I applied to 9 programs: VCU, UMich, CMU, ASU, UW, UW Madison, UT Austin, UTK, and Temple for Sculpture. I have only received rejections from 2 (CMU and UMadison) and have yet to receive any interview offers from the other 7. Is hope lost? My recommenders seem confident I'll hear good news, but I am not so confident. My recommenders are also Alum of some of these programs, so I'm not really sure what to think. Any insight would be very appreciated! 

I’m in the same place waiting on VCU painting

[noooooooot]

has anyone heard from tyler school of art printmaking????

[sculptor5711]

do the following schools do interviews for EVERYONE accepted in sculpture???? My mentor said not every school interviews everyone, is this true?:

ASU

UW

VCU

UTK

Temple

UT

[Pommekites]

On 2/21/2026 at 8:41 PM, marxista said:

interview invitations were sent last week

Ahh, good to know. I was hoping that they send it out in multiple batches?

Edited February 24 by Pommekites

[Headlessowl]

10 hours ago, waiting2026 said:

anyone heard from saic fvnma post interview?

Not yet, still waiting on it! Very stressed haha

[sillypersimmon.21]

3 hours ago, sculptor5711 said:

Hiii!! I really hope someone can help and give me some insight. I applied to 9 programs: VCU, UMich, CMU, ASU, UW, UW Madison, UT Austin, UTK, and Temple for Sculpture. I have only received rejections from 2 (CMU and UMadison) and have yet to receive any interview offers from the other 7. Is hope lost? My recommenders seem confident I'll hear good news, but I am not so confident. My recommenders are also Alum of some of these programs, so I'm not really sure what to think. Any insight would be very appreciated! 

I am applying for painting or interdisciplinary programs (but I also have a friend who applied for many of the same programs in sculpture)- we both had interviews for Michigan at the beginning of February.  I interviewed with UTK in January and was accepted in early February. Assuming UW is Seattle, I interviewed with them last week and was told that I should hear back this week. I wouldn't say hope is lost for all the programs you haven't heard from, except maybe UTK which seems to mostly be done with selections, as well as Michigan which finished interviews a couple of weeks ago- though it may be worth reaching out with an email to check? Important to note that different disciplines seem to notify at different times too, and waitlists can affect things a lot! 

[sculptor5711]

2 minutes ago, sillypersimmon.21 said:

I am applying for painting or interdisciplinary programs (but I also have a friend who applied for many of the same programs in sculpture)- we both had interviews for Michigan at the beginning of February.  I interviewed with UTK in January and was accepted in early February. Assuming UW is Seattle, I interviewed with them last week and was told that I should hear back this week. I wouldn't say hope is lost for all the programs you haven't heard from, except maybe UTK which seems to mostly be done with selections, as well as Michigan which finished interviews a couple of weeks ago- though it may be worth reaching out with an email to check? Important to note that different disciplines seem to notify at different times too, and waitlists can affect things a lot! 

Thank you! Ive heard the same thing about UTK. I applied to Michigan but knew it was a no because of definite interviews! Fingers crossed for the rest! Good luck!!!

[sillypersimmon.21]

4 minutes ago, sculptor5711 said:

Thank you! Ive heard the same thing about UTK. I applied to Michigan but knew it was a no because of definite interviews! Fingers crossed for the rest! Good luck!!!

Thanks mate! I keep hearing how difficult this round of applications has been for everyone going into graduate programs across the board due to so much funding loss. So many factors are outside of our control. But you've already had interviews with a couple of amazing programs which is definitely a good sign! Wishing you the best on the rest! 

[artschoolfrenzy]

Hi ! Did anyone apply to Concordia / know if they are still accepting applications for Painting? 

Edited February 24 by artschoolfrenzy

[Silliestgoose]

Guys this stuff is low key taking such a toll on me rn 😭 I am checking this forum and Reddit and my status everyday multiple times a day. I have only had one interview and I’m just freaking out so bad. Does anyone have any tips to just CHILL OUT??? Cause this is just starting to get ridiculous 💀
if anyone is wondering I had an interview with Indiana (Bloomington). 

[Yoasianguy]

I just got accepted from University at Buffalo ❤️ sending good luck to all of us in this waiting game!

[szarh15]

1 hour ago, artschoolfrenzy said:

Hi ! Did anyone apply to Concordia / know if they are still accepting applications for Painting? 

I applied and got rejected in late January.

[artschoolfrenzy]

Thanks for your reply ! Sorry to hear -- good luck in the process!!

[noooooooot]

had my interview with pratt... i feel like i was rambling because it felt informal. im not sure if i gave good answers. anyone also had their interview for pratt and want to share their experience?

[ReamsOfPaper]

Anyone know when we will hear back from Hunter post interview?

[Meepmorpmoop]

9 hours ago, Headlessowl said:

Not yet, still waiting on it! Very stressed haha

I’m still waiting too!!

[dislekzo]

5 hours ago, ReamsOfPaper said:

Anyone know when we will hear back from Hunter post interview?

wondering the same. i interviewed on sat wbu?

[dislekzo]

7 hours ago, noooooooot said:

had my interview with pratt... i feel like i was rambling because it felt informal. im not sure if i gave good answers. anyone also had their interview for pratt and want to share their experience?

how’d it go? what were the questions and what program? mine is next week for integrated practices 

[Moodyapplier]

6 hours ago, ReamsOfPaper said:

Anyone know when we will hear back from Hunter post interview?

Hopefully this week but I know they had city closures this week bc of the blizzard and now today they are facing a scandal with one of their teachers in another department. It may have no effect but who knows.

[GregOG]

Still haven’t heard anything from RISD, and before losing hope on it for the year, do they have a history of ever accepting anyone to their painting program without an interview? I saw an older post where someone said they were waitlisted without one

Edited February 25 by GregOG
Forgot to add a note

[ReamsOfPaper]

1 hour ago, Moodyapplier said:

Hopefully this week but I know they had city closures this week bc of the blizzard and now today they are facing a scandal with one of their teachers in another department. It may have no effect but who knows.

I interviewed on Saturday! And yes, the blizzard had my flight home delayed. Hopefully this week!

[5280stwu]

On 2/13/2026 at 11:05 PM, Meepmorpmoop said:

Yes sure! It was really chill—the interviewers seemed relaxed and engaged with my work. They only asked 3 questions and pasted them individually into the video chat, which was v helpful. (If I remember correctly, they asked about why grad school now, what my influences are, and what I hope to make in their program.) I interviewed w CalArts last year, and their interview was much more abstract and intense lol (it was like 5-6 people). Feel free to share your risd exprience—I didn’t apply but might next year!

Sorry for the late reply!
For anyone interested, I just wrapped up my interview with SAIC on 2/17. Here’s a quick breakdown of my current status

Pratt - Interactive Art: silence
SAIC - MFA in Studio DET (AIADO): interviewed, pending result
RISD - D+M: interviewed, pending result

SAIC Interview (MFA DET):
emailed them beforehand to ask about the format, they confirmed it would be an open-ended 20-min session with two faculty members. Mine actually ran a bit long (around 30 mins).
Questions asked:
a. introduce yourself, long-term ambitions as a designer, and why SAIC?
b. talk about a piece of work in your portfolio
c. what specifically attracted you to this program?

RISD D+M Interview:
this one was shorter (strictly 15 mins), also with two faculty members
a. why RISD and D+M?
b. what are your research interests?
c. talk about a piece of work in your portfolio (one professor asked a follow-up question)

Both interviews felt pretty chill and conversational, though I don’t have other schools to compare them to lol. The SAIC faculty mentioned they are moving fast and planned to send results within that week, but I still haven't heard back from them as of today.

Hope this info helps! Good luck to everyone getting their results (including me 🤞)!
 

[sloan]

ok so just to confirm for my fellow saic interviewees—-as far as we can tell only photo and painting have heard back?

im wondering if they r gonna wait till the end of their new deadline to send out acceptances…

[sculptor5711]

22 hours ago, sculptor5711 said:

Hiii!! I really hope someone can help and give me some insight. I applied to 9 programs: VCU, UMich, CMU, ASU, UW, UW Madison, UT Austin, UTK, and Temple for Sculpture. I have only received rejections from 2 (CMU and UMadison) and have yet to receive any interview offers from the other 7. Is hope lost? My recommenders seem confident I'll hear good news, but I am not so confident. My recommenders are also Alum of some of these programs, so I'm not really sure what to think. Any insight would be very appreciated! 

Update: got a rejection from VCU yesterday. Im really banking on ASU, anyone have any info?