OK so its interview time!!

[julieopp]

OMG OMG OMG so now that we have some interview offers rolling in the next question is what to say and not say in the interviews.

Questions that I am anticipating:

what motivates your work?

who are your main influences?

why do you want to go to graduate school?

where do you see yourself in 10 years?

why do you want to attend *this* school?

and the big one:

how does your work fit in with the contemporary art world/scene?

or describe your work in the context of contemporary art movements?

i'm not sure i'm wording it right, but you get the idea.

so i know there were some posts last year about interview questions, but I was hoping we could start another forum.

i'm particularly interested in what everyone thinks the current trends are in contemporary painting, so maybe if we throw out some ideas i can start thinking of ways to contrast my work to it (and you can do the same) this can be a brainstorming exercise so that when we all get to that interview we have eloquent answers ready to roll off our tongues. don't have to limit it to painting either, just saying.

so yeah, there was modernism and postmodernism and now post-post modernism?? what does that even mean? i've seen a lot of neo-figurative art out there, and i think there seems to be a movement away from "irony" in general. i do think that a lot of artists are incorporating new types of media, different types of paint, and bringing together disparate styles into their work. what else can you all think of?

[brosenth1984]

i think the most important thing is to make sure you know their school well, the faculty's work, and the philosophy. I did not know much about CCA when they called me, and i doubt they will let me in after that...oops!

I got asked questions about what artist's i like, but I find that that is a really easy trap to fall into, and it can verge on namedropping. I would divert into what things interest you in general, culturally, politically, etc.

The person from CCA did ask me a very good question: "What for you constitutes a good work of art, what draws you to a piece of work?" sounds easy, but it can be sooo confusing to define.

[ljo]

I live in Montreal, Canada.

I just had my interview with SFU (Simon Fraser University) in Vancouver.

Two professor were on the phone (one from Culture and Visual studies and the other from Dance).

They asked me the followings.

Tell me about ### in your portfolio.

What is the theme behind XXX in your portfolio?

Do you have anybody specifically want to work with in the faculty members.

What will be your theoretical aspect in your MFA study?

How will you benefit yourself in the program?

Why do you want to study here?

Do you have an example project for interdisciplinary approach?

Which schools have you applied?

Do you have any questions?

And few more...but I do not remember them right now.

I am not a native English speaker, I couldn't answer so some questions properly.

But, at the end of the interview one of the professor told me that if other schools offer funding, she wants me to let her know.

So, she could find out some resources. She said the final result will be in two weeks.

(Is this a good sign or just a casual saying?)

Just FYI, I applied to RISD, Calarts, SFAI, SAIC, and SFU, but haven't heard anything from the states.

[cool90068]

I had some additional questions:

What do you think is a good critique of your work / bad critique?

Why/ how did you choose the people who wrote letters for you?

[dryeyes]

Ive got an interview this weekend what should i wear?

[mtung]

Ive got an interview this weekend what should i wear?

I've been wondering the same, trivial though it may be. I get the impression that there is no need to dress up, and that a decent pair of everyday cloths ought to be sufficient.

[RKSim]

I veered on safety and wore my nicest suit : D

So far I've had two interviews; CCA and Portland State University.

CCA turned into much more of a conversation/discussion than an interview, which I think was a good thing. My interviewer wasn't reading questions off of any kind of list, and as a matter of fact, I asked the first question..!

PSU didn't go as well.. Sunday Morning/middle of moving out of my house/mind was definitely not in articulate art talk mode.. showed up and interviewed in front of two faculty members along with the 12-15 students in the program! (Very intimidating)

The two questions that I wasn't prepared for were:

How will you contribute to this program?

What do you do for fun? (I stopped in my tracks, like a deer in headlights. Told them that I hadn't been doing ANYTHING except working on my MFA apps for the past two months.. and then told them about my plans for the following month as an example)

[mtung]

My interview at SAIC was similar in that it was much more of a conversation/discussion, than them grilling me with questions. They had my portfolio projected, and I also brought some smaller work and laid it out on the tables between us, then they asked me to discuss my work as we clicked through the portfolio. The discussion ranged from me talking in general terms about my work and approach, to them asking me some very specific questions, and clarifying certain points. Towards the end we had moved into a broader conversation relating to things we had discussed in the work. The 30 minutes blazed by, and we actually went over, which felt good in that there was no time to fret or fumble, but there were a few questions I would have liked to ask, but didn't get time to. I'll be curious to see how the next interview goes and what it's like in comparison.

Attire was definitely a null point to dwell on, once I was there: other interviewees were mostly in their everyday, jeans, etc. clothing, and only a few people were dressed in their fancier garb. I was somewhere in between and felt perfectly comfortable.

[leblanc]

A few more:

What artists who are no longer living influence you?

What books are your reading right now?

What are you working on right now?

and don't forget:

Do you have any questions for us?

Be sure to name names. Remember not just artists but names of specific works, series, etc... plus quotes from artists/authors: you should have them ready.

Good luck everyone.

[brosenth1984]

i have done a few interviews so far, and to some success it seems, but the main thing i keep thinking is DON"T BE NERVOUS!!! I think all this overpreparing and thinking of questions psyched me out for my first one (which rejected me), whereas, now i am more confident and relaxed, and have a good time with them. Generally, they are all nice people, and they like you.

Yale on the other hand is vicious, but don't play into it. Its all a gimmick...

also, dress should depend on the type of work you make and your life experience. I didn't wear a suit, because i have a full-time job which seems to be a turnoff for grad school. I wore nice dark jeans, a silver blazer (people like shiny things) and normal shirt. I think as long as you looked both relaxed and put together they will get you. I LOVE suits (wall street is my favorite movie) but I think it looks to some of these places like you are trying too hard, or that you are not approachable. Then again, if you do commercial animation or photography, maybe this is what they are looking for?

[mtung]

After having gone through a couple now, all I can say is that it is a total crapshoot...a lot of it depends on who you end up interviewing you. I expected my interview at SAIC to be really tough, because it is (supposedly) the number 2 program in the country, and extremely competence. It ended up being a nice extended conversation, and while it wasn't a perfect interview (there are always a million things you wish you had said afterwards), I felt really good coming out of it. Hunter, on the other hand, I was expecting to be more relaxed, based on what I had heard from people who interviewed in the past, but I ended up with someone really tough in my interview who kept grilling me on photography related questions (my application was for drawing...), and seemed to get off on trapping me in corners. I got so many questions straight out of left field that I was so out of sorts I couldn't even give good answers to the ones that should have been a breeze. I'm not writing off my chances, as I still had good things to say, but that interview is haunting my thoughts!

My best advice would be to not get hung up on tough "gotcha" questions like I did, and just slow down and think about your own work and knowledge and try to tie the answer back into that, otherwise you'll just start drowning.

Oh, and don't run up four flights of stairs to get to your interview, either! Even if the elevator is being a finicky bitch. Trying to answer why you want to go to their school while catching your breath is not so fun...

[manugonza]

what team did you interview with at Hunter? were you morning or afternoon?

[cd3]

After having gone through a couple now, all I can say is that it is a total crapshoot...a lot of it depends on who you end up interviewing you. I expected my interview at SAIC to be really tough, because it is (supposedly) the number 2 program in the country, and extremely competence. It ended up being a nice extended conversation, and while it wasn't a perfect interview (there are always a million things you wish you had said afterwards), I felt really good coming out of it. Hunter, on the other hand, I was expecting to be more relaxed, based on what I had heard from people who interviewed in the past, but I ended up with someone really tough in my interview who kept grilling me on photography related questions (my application was for drawing...), and seemed to get off on trapping me in corners. I got so many questions straight out of left field that I was so out of sorts I couldn't even give good answers to the ones that should have been a breeze. I'm not writing off my chances, as I still had good things to say, but that interview is haunting my thoughts!

My best advice would be to not get hung up on tough "gotcha" questions like I did, and just slow down and think about your own work and knowledge and try to tie the answer back into that, otherwise you'll just start drowning.

Oh, and don't run up four flights of stairs to get to your interview, either! Even if the elevator is being a finicky bitch. Trying to answer why you want to go to their school while catching your breath is not so fun...

mtung, I had the same experience with Hunter! I was interviewing for photography, and they asked me many questions about influences from other disciplines, and many questions just felt like traps. It did not feel like a conversation, but more like a gun to my head. I don't think I bombed any of the questions, but who knows what they thought.

[aimelie]

I just got interview via cranbrook,

before the interview, I am pretty nervous about it because I never have an interview before.

Overall, it is pretty good than I think. the prof ask mostly ask about my portfolio like 'can you tell me about this xxxxx03.jpg'

it seem that he interest about my attitude toward work.

and here is the list of question I can think of :

- please explain this work (xxxx03.jpg)

- Have you done research about cranbrook, how much do you know about cranbrook teaching method

- can you describe yourself, beside the graphic design world. such as personal habit etc.

- Do you have any question?? (I think this is important part since I think they want to know your interest about attending this school)

Best of wish to everyone who going to get interview. I think the best shot you can do is being yourself and trying not to get nervous of it much. Don't try to think of which answer is the best or which answer can get you to be most interesting, I think they interview many people and they face a lot of this kind of cliche answer. Just tell them, honestly, I think xxxxxxxx, to tell you the truth, I am really bad at this xxxxx. This is what they interest in you.