MFA graduate portfolio days -- worth it?

[kxxx]

Anyone gone to a graduate portfolio day for MFA visual arts programs recently? I saw the thread from 2011, but wondering if there are any updated opinions on them. Are they actually critical of work, or do they just tell everyone that their portfolio is fascinating to drum up admissions? What sort of work did you bring, and did you pre-prepare anything to say about your work?

 

Thanks!

[Sseu]

Anyone gone to a graduate portfolio day for MFA visual arts programs recently? I saw the thread from 2011, but wondering if there are any updated opinions on them. Are they actually critical of work, or do they just tell everyone that their portfolio is fascinating to drum up admissions? What sort of work did you bring, and did you pre-prepare anything to say about your work?

 

Thanks!

I went to the graduate Portfolio day in Chicago. I thought it was a really helpful experience because a lot of the schools I was interested in were there. In many instances I was able to talk with either faculty members or former students about the program. They were not really critical of my actual work per se, but were helpful in telling me which works they thought I should include in my final portfolio (I think this could be helpful if you work in a lot of mediums and are trying to figure out what would work best for a grad application). It is also good to go with questions for them. I saw that some people even brought their statements along with them to get a look over. So yeah, I thought it was a really good experience overall. 

[Kelly Anna Yllek]

Would it be worth it to attend more than one of them? Or is it all the same people at each event?