TheStranger Posted October 16, 2011 Posted October 16, 2011 If anyone has any specific advise or recommendations for Southern California MFA programs, please share! This is a list which I am currently thinking about applying to. If you feel strongly that I should add to this list or if you have more info on these schools, please share! I will be doing personal research as well. UCLA USC Cal Arts in Valencia UCI Claremont Cal State Fullerton OTIS (Good reputation but I didn't find anything remarkable about their program...plus it's over 70K) Art Center Pasadena (Good reputation but I didn't find anything remarkable about their program, plus it's 3 years long and over 100K) Anyone have more info on Cal Arts, UCI, and Fullerton? Also, anyone have big things to say for OTIS and Art Center?
losemygrip Posted October 17, 2011 Posted October 17, 2011 Can you go as far south as San Diego? As far north as UCSB?
TheStranger Posted October 17, 2011 Author Posted October 17, 2011 I have several reasons for staying near Los Angeles and it is a sort of fundamental idea behind my school choices, but would you say San Diego State and UC Santa Barbara have stronger art programs than some of the ones I listed above, or comparable (and to which)? I don't really hear anything about either one you mention which is why I ask. Would those be good backup schools or just good schools overall? When one wants to apply to an art mfa, I always hear people mention Art Center and OTIS but both (to me) seem way overpriced and I'd apply only with the intention of going if I got some sort of compensation. SD and SB are in nice geographical locations (not in the art scene sort of way...) but I feel like LA is the epicenter of where I am choosing schools for both art scene reasons and practical living reasons in which I plan on settling down in the area with the network I will have amassed.
losemygrip Posted October 18, 2011 Posted October 18, 2011 UCSB is at LEAST as good as UCI, which tends to be heavily into theory from what I can tell. SDSU would be comparable to CSU-F. It's a HUGE program. UCSD is better than many of the programs you listed. UCLA is the best in the country in my opinion, and along with USC, extremely selective in admissions. Art Center is great in design--less so in other areas. Cal Arts' best days are past, and it's pricey--I'd skip it. What is your goal in getting an MFA?
TheStranger Posted October 19, 2011 Author Posted October 19, 2011 My dream schools at the moment are the most selective as you mentioned. I like the professors at UCLA a lot. I feel like I would benefit best from the faculty there based on my own artwork. I also like USC and one of their professors teaching. I will have a strong letter of recommendation from a USC alumni when the time comes to apply who is active in the contemporary art scene and who has personally seen my artistic growth for the past two years. He really likes my work and would write a good letter. I will also have a good letter of rec from a LA-Based figurative artist who has been well known since the 80s. This fact makes me feel good because I know the work and the letters of rec are the most important thing. A resume and artist statement, I've gathered, is only there to weed out those who have no purpose in the MFA program. Which brings me to your question of my intentions of an MFA. I see the degree as everything I want and need. I want to push my artwork and network with the faculty and students at the school. Practically, I do have the want and passion for teaching (it's not just because it's the only rational steady income end to an art major). Students often come to me during class for help or instruction and I was a tutor for two years a while ago and enjoyed that as well. I know it's not mandatory, as I've seen several non-MFA artists teach, but it is rare or hard to come by. I don't think I will apply to non-LA-based schools. I think I am willing to go as far as Claremont, Irvine, Pasadena and Fullerton (in terms of applying) but would love to be in LA where USC, UCLA and OTIS are. I agree about Cal Arts. I also don't think I can do Valencia...it's just too far from LA. I have my heart set on teaching and ambitiously working on my artwork. I will message you a link to a piece from my portfolio so you know what kind of art I am doing.
TheStranger Posted October 20, 2011 Author Posted October 20, 2011 ...I also understand even though I would like to teach, this should never be mentioned in the interview or statement. They're looking for artists, not teachers. Even though one may want to do both...
stofo Posted November 14, 2011 Posted November 14, 2011 most cal state fullerton mfa students do NOT have studios or are part time students, this is insane. cal state long beach is one of the biggest art schools on the west coast and is comparable to cal state fullerton and you will probably get a studio. i go to claremont and i think it is amazing. the problem is that it is expensive and there is no funding. the government's income based program takes care of that, look up income based repayment or IBR online, because it sounds too good to be true and people don't believe me when i write about it in these forums. claremont has some of the best mfa studios in the country in my opinion. 14 ft. ceilings, 3 kinds of lighting, lots of space. cal arts and art center are not a good match if you have a studio practice.
brown06 Posted November 15, 2011 Posted November 15, 2011 hey there stofo, I'm applying to claremont. Can you elaborate on the funding situation? Is there any offered at all? Thanks!
stofo Posted November 20, 2011 Posted November 20, 2011 hey there stofo, I'm applying to claremont. Can you elaborate on the funding situation? Is there any offered at all? Thanks! they give around 7,000 to 10,000 dollars to 2nd year students, all 2nd year students get the same amount, it depends on how much money they have each year i think. this is a very small amount of money considering tuition is 20k a semester, being a ta pays $700 a semester which makes it not worth the time. mfa programs exist to make money, there is no promise or even an assumption that graduates of these kinds of programs will do anything after school that they did not do before school in terms of having a job. use an online student loan calculator to see how many years it takes to pay off a loan at $1,000 a month, its a lot.
gouache Posted November 22, 2011 Posted November 22, 2011 is this the general climate at claremont? that there is no assumption you will do anything worthwhile with your degree?
Demain Posted November 24, 2011 Posted November 24, 2011 I'm amazed no one has mentioned Cal State Long Beach. They have the largest undergrad art program (for a state school) in the country and they have many many teaching opportunities. They also have private studios for every grad, a very decent ranking (40th, last I looked) and the cost of attendance is 2/3's of a UC even. It makes sense to go for the best school for your investment when jobs are scarce.
stofo Posted November 24, 2011 Posted November 24, 2011 is this the general climate at claremont? that there is no assumption you will do anything worthwhile with your degree? its not the general climate at claremont, its the general climate for all mfa programs. do the research for yourself and you will see that student loan payments can be over a thousand dollars a month once you graduate, wether from claremont, yale, or wherever. your best chances, which are very slim, upon graduating are to be an adjunct professor and maybe sell a few paintings here and there. the only way an mfa program is financially beneficial is if you get it mostly funded or go to a cheap state school, like csulb.
TheStranger Posted September 10, 2012 Author Posted September 10, 2012 I'm amazed no one has mentioned Cal State Long Beach. They have the largest undergrad art program (for a state school) in the country and they have many many teaching opportunities. They also have private studios for every grad, a very decent ranking (40th, last I looked) and the cost of attendance is 2/3's of a UC even. It makes sense to go for the best school for your investment when jobs are scarce. I think Cal State Long Beach is good for undergrad. You learn foundation courses well here but the school lacks an open disciplinary philosophy which a master student should have. Professors force you into one of two factions: figurative or abstraction. You are mostly pushed to make traditional figurative paintings or traditional color abstraction fields usually loosely resembling landscapes or objects. Because this school is uniquely divided like this, professors try to recruit students to their faction in the department in a politically charged game that hurts students and gives the school a very narrow vision. The professors teaching upper division courses who will be mentors for your MFA are the most extreme when it comes to this divide. Right now two big names leading the MFA program are Yu Ji and Fran Siegel. Yu Ji is a great figurative professor but he is strictly figurative and very traditional and conservative (Here is his website and drawings: http://www.yujistudio.net/drawing.html). Fran Siegel ... the very notion that she made it so high in the art department makes many people sad...it's like watching George W. Bush get re-elected every semester. Don't take my word for it, look at her students comments at rateyourprefoessors.com: (http://www.ratemyprofessors.com/ShowRatings.jsp?tid=522092). These negative comments have been going on for about 8 years...she's still there. If you want to be one or the other, this school should be fine for you. As you can tell, I got my undergrad degree there. I had a hate/love relationship with that art department.
GreyMarie Posted September 19, 2012 Posted September 19, 2012 If I hadn't gone there for my BA, UCI would be at the top of my list. The facilities are . . . shall we say . . . austere, but the grads get great studio spaces from what I can remember, funding was generous, and they attract a great group of peers. Very thoughtful, well-read, and innovative. Same for the faculty, except for a few token professors, but especially for drawing, painting and sculpture, top notch. Losemygrip is right though, you better have your thinking cap on.
losemygrip Posted September 25, 2012 Posted September 25, 2012 How did this thread get revived a year later? Stranger, are you trying again?
Curious12345 Posted October 12, 2012 Posted October 12, 2012 Ima current grad at UCSB if you have any questions, I made a couple posts about the program if you wanna search my past posts. Funding is great, studios are awesome, program is pretty sweet all around.
TheStranger Posted October 12, 2012 Author Posted October 12, 2012 How did this thread get revived a year later? Stranger, are you trying again? I actually haven't applied yet and I'm not this year either. I know I've been participating on the forum for a few years with fervor to apply soon but the first year consisted of gathering more information on applying and the schools. I went through an east coast phase but it has since transitioned to a So Cal emphasis. I abandoned my once wide-eyed thoughts of going to the east coast, poor, in debt and struggling, to now embracing the rejuvenated LA Art community I already inhabit and now seek scholarship paid tuition as a top priority. Later I thought I would apply but I changed my portfolio when I was halfway done due to a different ideology on what art meant to me (an abandonment of figurative painting & drawing). You could say I had a epiphany. Since then I've been doing more research, reading more art philosophy & art history in texts and magazine articles and trying to connect with important people while rebuilding my portfolio. I'm postponing again this year so I can complete this new portfolio for next year which is currently a little over 1/3 complete.
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