LovelyPainter Posted January 7, 2012 Posted January 7, 2012 how did you apply "at the last minute" did you call up your recs and ask "hey would you mind submitting another letter why your at it?" I felt I wanted/needed to apply to some more programs but at this point its just out of desperation. You've got nothing to loose! Why not? The worst they can do is say no and at this point i'm sure they have a pre-done draft so it would be easy to submit a few more. Doooo it! I narrowed my list down to 9 but am thinking about throwing in two+ more... sitting on it for a few weeks. (feb deadlines) we'll see if the panic makes me throw out a few more. ha!
michaelwebster Posted January 7, 2012 Posted January 7, 2012 oh and I just last minute applied to SAIC sculpture, so that will add another chance in the lottery Well I will probably see you in March then.
lamouchemorte Posted January 7, 2012 Posted January 7, 2012 Anybody have a clue how long the UCLA and Stanford Statement of Purpose have to be? This is for the MFA Painting program. I'm up to 500. I asked a friend who is doing her curatorial MFA and she said between 800-1000 words. I think this is excessive. Any answers would be greatly appreciated.
forestine Posted January 7, 2012 Posted January 7, 2012 (edited) Did you ever figure anything out, Starling? Have you looked into your schools' application fee waivers? None of the schools I'm applying to do waivers. But I counted the business days on a calendar and realized it was just under a week, plus holidays since I'd deposited the money (in a town I usually don't bank in, but was just there for the holidays). So hopefully I can do it on Monday. Random question I didn't see in the forums but maybe didn't look hard enough: What do you do when the school doesn't want an artist statement, just a statement of purpose? Should I combine my artist statement that I've been labouring over with the statement of purpose in some way? Edited January 7, 2012 by forestine
michaelwebster Posted January 7, 2012 Posted January 7, 2012 Yeah I hope so. I starting looking at the faculty and student work and it seemed like a good choice. How many students are in the grad sculpture program? There are 10 each year, so 20 total.
michaelwebster Posted January 7, 2012 Posted January 7, 2012 Random question I didn't see in the forums but maybe didn't look hard enough: What do you do when the school doesn't want an artist statement, just a statement of purpose? Should I combine my artist statement that I've been labouring over with the statement of purpose in some way? Yes, they need to know some about your practice and then why it makes since to go to that particular program based on your work. I would definitely include key words or phrases from your artist statement in your SOP when describing your practice.
sympatico Posted January 8, 2012 Posted January 8, 2012 Some realizations I had while writing one of my SOPs At the last minute I decided against applying to SAIC. I realized I had no interest in living in Chicago. This process has been completely overwhelming and I probably worked harder on my apps then almost anything else in my life. I have realized that, at this point, I am not even really worried about getting in. I feel good about the effort I put in, and there is no way I could have done better. If it's not good enough, it's not necessarily my fault. I'll see if I want to try again later. I am now realizing more opportunities. I never felt any doubt about the desire to continue making art, and I am more certain of that goal than ever. I did 20 large scale paintings since October and these paintings have taught me more about my ideas about art and I have learned more about painting than I did throughout undergrad. The process has made me realize that I need to get the heck out of the town I am currently living in, regardless of what I do with school. That is the only thing that matters - location. I suddenly don't feel like I'm in such a rush with my life - I am broadening my horizons in terms of things I want to accomplish, places I want to go. The selectivity of these schools is illusionistic, they often accept work that I would not regard as strong or interesting or full of potential so I can't bash myself for not getting in if I don't. All in all, I still hope to get in, but I feel much better about myself and about my work purely for the effort of having applied. Best of luck to us all!
nimda Posted January 8, 2012 Posted January 8, 2012 Chicago is a great place to live; I'm not basing too much on location though. I'm looking for the program; location doesn't matter.
LovelyPainter Posted January 8, 2012 Posted January 8, 2012 Chicago is a great place to live; I'm not basing too much on location though. I'm looking for the program; location doesn't matter. Preach!
kazoo Posted January 8, 2012 Posted January 8, 2012 Anyone else feel like they are uploading all their apps at the last moment? So far I've been getting each in a few days before the deadline. I'm so impressed by those who submitted them all in one block/really early!
forestine Posted January 8, 2012 Posted January 8, 2012 Almost all mine have to be mailed instead of uploaded. I'm going to be spending a lot on expresspost.
sympatico Posted January 8, 2012 Posted January 8, 2012 Chicago is a great place to live; I'm not basing too much on location though. I'm looking for the program; location doesn't matter. I like Chicago quite a lot but I have no intention of living their long term and I have heard it is quite a faculty mill + more expensive than places like Yale and less selective. No thanks. Anyone else feel like they are uploading all their apps at the last moment? So far I've been getting each in a few days before the deadline. I'm so impressed by those who submitted them all in one block/really early! I would have been so paranoid submitting early. The people here who did have spent the last few weeks just freaking out and wishing they had worked on their apps longer.
berto Posted January 8, 2012 Posted January 8, 2012 Chicago is a great place to live; I'm not basing too much on location though. I'm looking for the program; location doesn't matter. I feel location is sorta important because all your connections that will be made at grad school will be more than likely local. nimda 1
OutWest Posted January 8, 2012 Posted January 8, 2012 Anybody have a clue how long the UCLA and Stanford Statement of Purpose have to be? This is for the MFA Painting program. I'm up to 500. I asked a friend who is doing her curatorial MFA and she said between 800-1000 words. I think this is excessive. Any answers would be greatly appreciated. 1-2 pages max (300-600 words total). I wouldn't tax your potential readers with anything more than that. Remember, they have hundreds of these things to read, so keep them short and to-the-point.
OutWest Posted January 8, 2012 Posted January 8, 2012 (edited) In response to SYMPATICO: "I like Chicago quite a lot but I have no intention of living their long term and I have heard it is quite a faculty mill + more expensive than places like Yale and less selective. No thanks." SAIC is an awesome place and Chicago is an awesome town...as far as provincial-seeming and having a hermetically-sealed like "faculty mill", Yale is easily just as notorious (i.e., esp. the photo peeps). Plus, your chances of getting into a top-flight art school like SAIC are much better than Yale, so why not apply? Such judgement as what you've heard elsewhere seems ill-advised...judging from a purely probabilistic standpoint (admissions), I'd blow off Yale long before SAIC in a heart beat...I mean, SAIC is second only to Yale in certain rankings for painting anyway! It'd be foolish to not apply (if you are looking at highly ranked programs that aren't well funded)... Also, the location is really more important for where you'd like to live for 2-3 years for your program. Professionally, it is a misconception that you'll get stuck in this or that place. There are artists from all schools in all big metro areas working/making art. Edited January 8, 2012 by gph012
jldstudio Posted January 8, 2012 Posted January 8, 2012 Nice to see the board picking up! Can't wait until everyone starts having some news to report. I'm done, just waiting on UCSD so I'll probably have to call on that after the weekend. Now that apps are in I've been getting way ahead of myself and thinking about the next step... packing it up and moving.
OutWest Posted January 8, 2012 Posted January 8, 2012 (edited) Nice to see the board picking up! Can't wait until everyone starts having some news to report. I'm done, just waiting on UCSD so I'll probably have to call on that after the weekend. Now that apps are in I've been getting way ahead of myself and thinking about the next step... packing it up and moving. Good luck on UCSD. I'm there as an UG right now, but , being older, I have a bunch of MFA friends in the program. Hit me up if you'd like to chat offline about the program. It's a terrific dept. Edited January 8, 2012 by gph012
Appli-can Posted January 9, 2012 Posted January 9, 2012 Some realizations I had while writing one of my SOPs At the last minute I decided against applying to SAIC. I realized I had no interest in living in Chicago. This process has been completely overwhelming and I probably worked harder on my apps then almost anything else in my life. I have realized that, at this point, I am not even really worried about getting in. I feel good about the effort I put in, and there is no way I could have done better. If it's not good enough, it's not necessarily my fault. I'll see if I want to try again later. I am now realizing more opportunities. I never felt any doubt about the desire to continue making art, and I am more certain of that goal than ever. I did 20 large scale paintings since October and these paintings have taught me more about my ideas about art and I have learned more about painting than I did throughout undergrad. The process has made me realize that I need to get the heck out of the town I am currently living in, regardless of what I do with school. That is the only thing that matters - location. I suddenly don't feel like I'm in such a rush with my life - I am broadening my horizons in terms of things I want to accomplish, places I want to go. The selectivity of these schools is illusionistic, they often accept work that I would not regard as strong or interesting or full of potential so I can't bash myself for not getting in if I don't. All in all, I still hope to get in, but I feel much better about myself and about my work purely for the effort of having applied. Best of luck to us all! I love what you wrote. I feel almost the exact same way. Also, I'm from the South and I went to undergrad at SAIC...it's really cold there. It was much colder than NYC or Boston, which are other places I've lived through winters. And I had serious culture shock in Chicago but I was 18 then and don't want to put those limitations on you or anyone else. Really, I love what you wrote. Thanks.
ellsworthy Posted January 9, 2012 Author Posted January 9, 2012 FYI, for those interested in USC, I just posted some images of the school here: Also, here's a great blog that has images of the LA art scene including open graduate studios: http://try-har-der.blogspot.com/
LovelyPainter Posted January 9, 2012 Posted January 9, 2012 Find it a bit strange the location debate. Your location has nothing to do with your success as an artist unless you are looking to perhaps teach...and/or have no contacts, no marketing common sense and no networking skills. My two cents from experience. @Paintcutter Fantastic!! I am such a blog freak. I have about 8 blogs I obsessively read from artists/cooks
Fool4nine Posted January 9, 2012 Posted January 9, 2012 Find it a bit strange the location debate. Your location has nothing to do with your success as an artist unless you are looking to perhaps teach...and/or have no contacts, no marketing common sense and no networking skills. My two cents from experience. @Paintcutter Fantastic!! I am such a blog freak. I have about 8 blogs I obsessively read from artists/cooks I somewhat disagree. Your location CAN have an large impact on your inspiration. Being in a place with music, theater, a strong visual arts scene, and nearby cityscape/landscape areas that inspire you, can have a large impact on your growth and development as an artist. But of course, artists can be inspired internally and be successful anywhere they live. This is an individual characteristic. I personally, am inspired when I visit big cities. Being that I currently live in a rural town, getting somewhere else will likely be a good thing.
LovelyPainter Posted January 9, 2012 Posted January 9, 2012 (edited) Two completely different perspectives! I'm speaking FINANCIALLY. You're looking at success meaning as growth conceptually ect. in your work (so sure where you live can be a factor)...but to me success means being able to pay my bills doing what I love I guess I've been one of the "lucky" ones in that sense. My surroundings have consistently been irrelevant to my art and my income. Interesting though. This actually points out why I'm pursuing Grad school. I love discussion and different perspectives. I somewhat disagree. Your location CAN have an large impact on your inspiration. Being in a place with music, theater, a strong visual arts scene, and nearby cityscape/landscape areas that inspire you, can have a large impact on your growth and development as an artist. But of course, artists can be inspired internally and be successful anywhere they live. This is an individual characteristic. I personally, am inspired when I visit big cities. Being that I currently live in a rural town, getting somewhere else will likely be a good thing. LovelyPainter, on 08 January 2012 - 08:57 PM, said: Find it a bit strange the location debate. Your location has nothing to do with your success as an artist unless you are looking to perhaps teach...and/or have no contacts, no marketing common sense and no networking skills. My two cents from experience. Edited January 9, 2012 by LovelyPainter
HopeDreamPaint Posted January 9, 2012 Posted January 9, 2012 (edited) -well said Lovely painter-just reading the boards here. Anyone who has had a decent amount of success knows location is not a factor to be lucrative. Couldn't agree more. Well all done with my apps. This is my 2nd time around. I made it into two schools last year (ASU+Northwestern) but choose to reapply for several reasons. Anywho Fingers Crossed. Good luck all! Edited January 9, 2012 by HopeDreamPaint
kazoo Posted January 9, 2012 Posted January 9, 2012 Do you think location matters in terms of being part of a community of artists somewhere? I don't think this necessarily means the city or place you get your MFA, but personally I wouldn't want to be isolated from other artists. good job being all done hopedreampaint! this is also my second time around.
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