Waiting to hear back - MFA in Photography

[faech]

Hi all,

I'm sure a lot of us have completed our applications and now don't know what to do with ourselves. 6 to 8 weeks feels like an eternity to wait to hear back on anything. I figured we could wait it out together.

What was everyone's app process like? School visits, emails to current students, etc.?

I applied to only three schools - Yale, Columbia College and UGA. I visited the last two and really wish I had visited Yale. Does anyone have any experience at or visiting Yale?

Wishing you all the best possible luck!!!

Any feedback from veteran applicants or current grad students appreciated!

[hdsl]

Congrats on being done with the application process! I just finished last night.

I admittedly haven't done the research for the schools that I applied to since I decided to apply late last year. Now that it's time to wait, I am looking for more information especially from current students and recent grads. If selected for an interview or accepted I would then go visit before making a decision. Right now money's too tight for trips.

I applied to Yale, SAIC, and UMN, and this is my first year applying to MFA programs.

Best of luck to everyone!

[Fool4nine]

I applied to Yale, SAIC, and UMN, and this is my first year applying to MFA programs.

You must be very confident! Those are all top flight schools with less than 5% acceptance rates.

I also applied to those schools, but also many others with a higher chance of getting in.

Good luck to you too and everyone else.

[cxxxxxx]

Hiya! I'm applying from the UK and have just about finished my last application, just putting the finishing touches on my artists statement for SFAI. Soo excited, anyone know roughly when we can expect to start hearing back?

cx

[imbeingdead]

Hiya! I'm applying from the UK and have just about finished my last application, just putting the finishing touches on my artists statement for SFAI. Soo excited, anyone know roughly when we can expect to start hearing back?

cx

Hey Clarita, enjoyed your work from the other thread. I think March is when most programs start sending out results.

[Fool4nine]

Results begin to trickle in mid-February. The majority come the first two weeks of March.

[nimda]

The thing is, i heard that while the timing of admissions may vary, the financial aid info comes in pretty much all around the same time. That said, i'm still editing my statement a bit for the PennDesign deadline, its killing me..

[kyurious]

Does anyone know how quickly you are expected to accept or decline admission if you're offered? I'm assuming schools expect you to wait to hear from everywhere you applied and financial aid before making a decision. Has anyone heard anything about this?

Thanks!

[phale]

Congrats on being done with the application process! I just finished last night.

I admittedly haven't done the research for the schools that I applied to since I decided to apply late last year. Now that it's time to wait, I am looking for more information especially from current students and recent grads. If selected for an interview or accepted I would then go visit before making a decision. Right now money's too tight for trips.

I applied to Yale, SAIC, and UMN, and this is my first year applying to MFA programs.

Best of luck to everyone!

good luck.

when i was applying to graduate programs, i applied to these schools too. UMN was my fallback school. if you get into Yale, I would attend Yale. :-)

[phale]

Hi all,

I'm sure a lot of us have completed our applications and now don't know what to do with ourselves. 6 to 8 weeks feels like an eternity to wait to hear back on anything. I figured we could wait it out together.

What was everyone's app process like? School visits, emails to current students, etc.?

I applied to only three schools - Yale, Columbia College and UGA. I visited the last two and really wish I had visited Yale. Does anyone have any experience at or visiting Yale?

Wishing you all the best possible luck!!!

Any feedback from veteran applicants or current grad students appreciated!

what would you like to know about yale? i visited there when i was lookog at schools and although i wasn't impress with "studio spaces" i was really impress with the program; the crits, the visiting artists, and the work that was coming out of there.

[michaelwebster]

Does anyone know how quickly you are expected to accept or decline admission if you're offered? I'm assuming schools expect you to wait to hear from everywhere you applied and financial aid before making a decision. Has anyone heard anything about this?

Thanks!

April 15 is the typical deadline for acceptance set by the Council of Graduate Schools. Some schools don't follow that date, the list is available as a PDF here http://www.cgsnet.org/?tabid=201.

[cxxxxxx]

Good luck everyone! I'm really excited about the future!

[frez83]

Hi all,

I'm sure a lot of us have completed our applications and now don't know what to do with ourselves. 6 to 8 weeks feels like an eternity to wait to hear back on anything. I figured we could wait it out together.

What was everyone's app process like? School visits, emails to current students, etc.?

I applied to only three schools - Yale, Columbia College and UGA. I visited the last two and really wish I had visited Yale. Does anyone have any experience at or visiting Yale?

Wishing you all the best possible luck!!!

Any feedback from veteran applicants or current grad students appreciated!

I was really impressed with Yale when I visited. I enjoyed the working community they developed in the photo program. The crits are intense, for sure, but I think they have a really good program. I was a little worried about how I would feel about New Haven, after living in NYC for a while, but I actually thought it seemed nice around the Yale campus. Plus being only a 2 hour train ride to the city means you can still go and visit from time to time.

[frez83]

what would you like to know about yale? i visited there when i was lookog at schools and although i wasn't impress with "studio spaces" i was really impress with the program; the crits, the visiting artists, and the work that was coming out of there.

By the "studio spaces" do you mean the darkrooms? I thought it was great they had private darkrooms for the grad students, but it was a little sad most of the students use them for storage. I get it though, it is getting harder and harder to be a film based photographer. I think Yale has more of an approach that they are providing you with a context to create work in and it is more up to you to provide the "tools" and space to do it in. But with that said they do have darkrooms, digital labs, and printing labs.

[run photo run]

Hey everybody,

I was placed on the alternative list at University of Minnesota for an MFA in Photography. I called and they told me that 2 people were admitted and 2 are accepted onto the alternative list. Now it's just a waiting game to see if those other two aren't interested.

I'm rather excited about even being considered.

Has anyone heard back at all?

[catawampus]

still no word, also applying for photography at:

Tyler

Duke

UT Austin

Hunter.

[frez83]

Hey everybody,

I was placed on the alternative list at University of Minnesota for an MFA in Photography. I called and they told me that 2 people were admitted and 2 are accepted onto the alternative list. Now it's just a waiting game to see if those other two aren't interested.

I'm rather excited about even being considered.

Has anyone heard back at all?

Congratulations, that's a great program and getting that far is a big achievement for sure. Are you applying other places too?

[frez83]

still no word, also applying for photography at:

Tyler

Duke

UT Austin

Hunter.

Good luck! Those are all great programs. I am also applying to Hunter for photo. There are not as many of us photo people there!

[run photo run]

Congratulations, that's a great program and getting that far is a big achievement for sure. Are you applying other places too?

Thank you! I'm really excited! And yes, I applied to Wisconsin Madison, University of Illinois and Ohio University (MA in Photojournalism). What about you?

[frez83]

Thank you! I'm really excited! And yes, I applied to Wisconsin Madison, University of Illinois and Ohio University (MA in Photojournalism). What about you?

I applied to a bunch! Probably too many, lol.

Yale

Columbia

Hunter

NYU

Bard

Brooklyn College

Rutgers

UCLA

UCSD

Stanford

University of Miami

All as photo

[how_soon_is_now]

hello everyone,

am i alone in feeling as if i would die from aniticipation?

well, i am dying from aniticipation. anyone else like me?

my schools-

yale

saic

ucla

columbia univ.

cca

calarts

mica

uic

i don't even want to think about my credit card debt at this point. the air is so thick with what's coming.

i hear yale gives out letters (invitation to interview AND rejection letters) in the second week of februrary.

and that's in 5 days isn't it?

[hdsl]

the air is so thick with what's coming.

I feel you. I didn't apply to enough schools because i decided kind of late to apply. I was also influenced by where my BF was applying to MBA programs.

Sounds like U of Minnesota already made their decision (someone posted that they're 1 of 2 on the waitlist, with 2 people already admitted). And my other schools, Yale and SAIC are so incredibly competitive. I'm working on developing a plan B for the fall.

I'm also meditating on the fact that the decisions are out of my control. I've done all I can and can't beat myself up if not accepted. Just need to keep moving forward with what's important to me.

[ms.TMZ]

Hi all, been following this forum for quite sometime and today is my first post. I am so grateful to know I am not alone with this overwhelming feel of anxiety. However, I feel as though I am at a disadvantage to many of you that have posted. I only applied to 2 schools: Yale and Parsons. I recently relocated to NYC from Chicago due to my fiance getting a great job opportunity. So my only opportunity to go to grad school were to apply to schools close to his job.

In addition, I have no actual photography training (self taught) and my style of photography is more photojournalistic then artistic. I applied a few years back to 2 schools and was accepted into both: the University of Montana's (back when they had a more focused Master's in photojournalism--the program has since changed) as well as the Westminster University in London. Sadly, I declined both because I wanted to spend my $ on travelling then on school, but it shaped my photography much more. I have only seen really 2 photojournalistic styles come out of Yale, so I am not sure how well I am comparing to the rest of the applicants and not sure if it was a great decision.

I have not found any great photo internships in NY ( most of them make you do slave labor than actually TEACH ). I have no clue what to do if I am rejected!

Anyone else apply to Yale or Parsons with a style that is more photojournalistic? Any recommendations for some great programs in NYC ( I have only been here 3 months and I am still learning the city).

A big part of me chosing Yale ( besides the moving portion) was because I wanted to really branch out and learn other styles of photography, make my education in lighting stronger, and consistentley be under critique to make me a sharper shooter.

Crossing my fingers every minute! Good luck to everyone

[frez83]

Hi all, been following this forum for quite sometime and today is my first post. I am so grateful to know I am not alone with this overwhelming feel of anxiety. However, I feel as though I am at a disadvantage to many of you that have posted. I only applied to 2 schools: Yale and Parsons. I recently relocated to NYC from Chicago due to my fiance getting a great job opportunity. So my only opportunity to go to grad school were to apply to schools close to his job.

In addition, I have no actual photography training (self taught) and my style of photography is more photojournalistic then artistic. I applied a few years back to 2 schools and was accepted into both: the University of Montana's (back when they had a more focused Master's in photojournalism--the program has since changed) as well as the Westminster University in London. Sadly, I declined both because I wanted to spend my $ on travelling then on school, but it shaped my photography much more. I have only seen really 2 photojournalistic styles come out of Yale, so I am not sure how well I am comparing to the rest of the applicants and not sure if it was a great decision.

I have not found any great photo internships in NY ( most of them make you do slave labor than actually TEACH ). I have no clue what to do if I am rejected!

Anyone else apply to Yale or Parsons with a style that is more photojournalistic? Any recommendations for some great programs in NYC ( I have only been here 3 months and I am still learning the city).

A big part of me chosing Yale ( besides the moving portion) was because I wanted to really branch out and learn other styles of photography, make my education in lighting stronger, and consistentley be under critique to make me a sharper shooter.

Crossing my fingers every minute! Good luck to everyone

Welcome to the forum and welcome to NY as well. I think that you do not have to worry about applying to only two schools. Even though applying to as many as you can is always a good idea, I know plenty of people who have only applied to one or two schools and still get in. Yale and Parsons are two good choices.

As far as other programs in the city, I would say for photojournalism you cannot beat what is going on at ICP. I interned at ICP for a while and worked as a TA there and I really support their program. You have a few options with them the first of which is their MFA through Bard. That program is not photojournalistic in nature, and is ran by Nayland Blake, who although is amazing, is not a photojournalist. However you would have access to great classes and photojournalists.

If you don't have a specific reason to get an MFA, you could go for their certificate program in photojournalism. This could be a good option for you if the MFA itself is not necessary to you.

I would recommend looking into SVA as well. Again, I am not into photojournalism myself so I don't know much about how programs stack up in that category, but from what I see they are a good place to be for that.

I feel Yale could work well because their pedagogy cares much more about making good images than falling into a specific category of photography. I could see a photojournalist fitting in there. As long as you realize New Haven is actually about 2 hours from NYC though.

Good luck!

[run photo run]

ms.TMZ -

Why didn't you look into Ohio University's photojournalism program? It's the best, by far, for anyone who is interested in photojournalism. Most College Photographers of the Year are alums from that program, Terry Eiler is amazing. Everyone is amazing. I can only say the absolute best things about that place.

Also, has anyone ever had experience with professors contacting you via phone and asking if you're still interested in the program, before acceptance?