MFA 2014 All Art ADMISSIONS freak-out forum!!!!!!!!

[soapeater]

Welp. Heard back from Tennessee tonight. I've been wait-listed. But the good news is that i'm their 3rd choice for 2 spots. So if either of those two who were accepted decline the offer, then I'm in. The wait continues. 

[Mr.X]

PS: Did anyone's Columbia Slideroom status change from 2014 Painting to 2014 Painting MFA? I feel like that wasn't there before... Or maybe it was... I can't remember.

 

Ha, I think the stress is getting to you. Mine says Painting MFA, but if they changed it does it reeeeally matter? They might have done that so not to confuse themselves with undergrad Painting?

[bbqriblets]

when I had my interview there (quite a bit ago, things may have changed) they divided everyone up by majors. my interview was in a seminar room with two professors (neither of them were high up on the SAIC faculty hierarchy). they projected my slides and we talked about them.

 

Thanks! If you don't mind me asking, do you know approximately how many people they interview for each department?

[mlk]

possibly- just checking as, per previous forums, they change the name when they make some sort of application decision
I'll put it out of my mind 

[mlk]

Thanks! If you don't mind me asking, do you know approximately how many people they interview for each department?

 

I don't remember, sorry. But I know they interview a lot of people as the departments are all pretty big (compared to other art schools)...

If I remember correctly they had about a 12% acceptance rate for painting the year I applied.

[01010101010101101010101010]

possibly- just checking as, per previous forums, they change the name when they make some sort of application decision

I'll put it out of my mind 

 

mlk, I posted earlier wanting to see your work but it is probably now lost in the maelstrom of stress-chat. Do you have a site?

[mlk]

check your pm's

[PrettyPrettyPrincess]

Hi all,

I am applying to Ceramic MFA programs.

I had an interview with OSU last week, and since then my online Application Status switched to 'Accepted'. YAY!

But - it's been almost a week and I still haven't heard anything from the program directly. I'm weary to believe i've been accepted until i hear it from the program. Any thoughts? Anyone in a similiar situation?

Thanks & good luck!

Where all did you apply? I have applied to/am in the process of applying to MFA Ceramics programs. Have you heard back from any other schools besides OSU?

[rosey888]

Where all did you apply? I have applied to/am in the process of applying to MFA Ceramics programs. Have you heard back from any other schools besides OSU?

 

I applied to Ohio State, Nebraska@Lincoln, Boulder, and Minnesota-Twin Cities.  But OSU is definitely my first choice, so I'm quite happy.

I haven't heard back from anyone else - but it's still really early.  From what I understand alot of schools don't notify until March.

 

Where are you applying? 

[kafralal]

I applied to Ohio State, Nebraska@Lincoln, Boulder, and Minnesota-Twin Cities.  But OSU is definitely my first choice, so I'm quite happy.

I haven't heard back from anyone else - but it's still really early.  From what I understand alot of schools don't notify until March.

 

Where are you applying? 

 

That's great, congrats on the OSU acceptance! To answer your previous question, it seems like a pretty clear acceptance to me...maybe with some disorganization or confusion over who is supposed to contact you...or some such thing.

[herki]

Hey everyone! I'm applying for photography. I got a phone call from SAIC earlier today for the March 1st interview. Does anyone know if they group everyone together, or divide you up by majors? See you guys there!

Last year they divided us up by department, the interviews were held in each department's area.

When I did it with SAIC sculpture, there were maybe 30 of us? Enough for essentially 4 or so simultaneous interviews happening all day.

[tomberry]

Does anybody have much of an idea of how many people apply to programs? I'm particularly curious about tiny programs like Tyler Sculpture, which as I was told accepts 4 - 6 people every year.

[seeingeyeduck]

anyone who has sat on an admissions committee have any idea how long each portfolio is looked at during the first pre-interview round of admissions? 

 

Unfortunately, not that long. I asked when I met with people from each school I'm applying to and it seems like it differs a little from school to school, but the main gist is that they first sit together and all look at pretty much only the slides and just bust through them. One prof said that you should always start off with strong images because often they don't get through all 20 before they move onto the next app. Pack the beginning of the portfolio, because she says at that stage all it takes is one prof who's interested to mark your app for a second glance. Once they bust through all of them, then they start looking more carefully at the ones they marked, looking at all the images, reading the descriptions, weeding some out and looking at the rest of the app info. They don't necessarily read the descriptions on the first go round and I don't know that ultimately it matters for some type of work, because when I submitted my Davis portfolio, I didn't realize you were supposed to really utilize the description boxes. Still got in!

 

It's really true that you should never even put ONE SINGLE WEAK image in the mix because she says they've eliminated people on that basis - one guy had a super strong photo portfolio and they were leaning towards interviewing him, but there was one random drawing that wasn't so great. Outliers like that make them wonder about the applicant's judgment and at that point, there are so many other strong apps that it's enough to get you canned. That said, I threw a video onto the end of my photo portfolio but it was important because I do think it's strong and I have a lot to say about it. It was important to me to show something that indicated I could make something other than photos. That hasn't seemed to count against me. I think it's all about staying with the really strong stuff.

 

At another school, all the profs look individually on their computers and then they all come together to present who they thought was strong. It sounds like everywhere they pretty much fight for applicants they think are good. It was good to hear someone say that they don't always expect perfection - sometimes they have to remind themselves that these are students who will be taught. They are not judging us by "real art world" standards necessarily. Eventually they come to some sort of consensus on who to shortlist or interview. I have no idea how they decide after interviews, though Berkeley said they have their grad students involved since they will be classmates in close quarters for a year.

 

As for portfolios, I was told by people I met that they wanted to see about 4-5 projects/pieces with 4-5 photos from each series (or for large scale sculpture, different angles and details). They want to see that you can do different things, but that you have some sort of coherent overall look or style or vision. They don't want 20 of the same things, and they don't want things that seem so unrelated that they seem like random school assignments. She said you can usually tell when someone's portfolio is just all school assignments.

 

Anyway, I would really suggest that if anyone is going to apply again that you try to make some sort of contact with a person at each school you are interested in. Sometimes they don't tell you anything, but 2 out of the 3 people I talked to gave me some concrete guidelines about what they think is a good balance for a portfolio. It differs of course, but then you can cater the portfolio in each app to what they said specifically. Don't forget you can also ask your recommenders what they think if they are profs. They have to go through this process all the time too.

 

Maybe all that was more appropriate for three months ago!?

Edited February 5, 2014 by iomarch

[seeingeyeduck]

Does anybody have much of an idea of how many people apply to programs? I'm particularly curious about tiny programs like Tyler Sculpture, which as I was told accepts 4 - 6 people every year.

 

Over here they usually get 100+ apps for 7-9 spots. Maybe 125 or so?

[tomberry]

Where Is "here" iomarch? Wherever it is, I guess I imagined there would be a few more. Then again, most people crazy enough to have gotten a BFA aren't quite ecstatic about digging themselves a deeper whole for an MFA.

 

We're high rollers I guess. Like lil' Weezy.

[ismewilde]

Where Is "here" iomarch? Wherever it is, I guess I imagined there would be a few more. Then again, most people crazy enough to have gotten a BFA aren't quite ecstatic about digging themselves a deeper whole for an MFA.

 

We're high rollers I guess. Like lil' Weezy.

 

Well, the majority of people who get a BFA in visual arts also do not become a professional visual artist. Most decide to pursue different jobs or have realized that being an artist is a full time commitment- one they don't really want to make. Probably a good number move into related fields where they can use their creativity.

 

Its a hard knock life!

[Lee00]

Thank you guys for all of the useful information.

Today, I asked an interview from UCL(SLADE) MFA fine art.

I read someone who applied saic painting  get an interview request yesterday.

But, I did not receive an e-mail from SAIC. 

Edited February 5, 2014 by Lee00

[Loric]

In my old program, two people were accepted into my emphasis. I interviewed because I asked to visit. The other student was all on portfolio.

[tabbykiki]

Welp. Heard back from Tennessee tonight. I've been wait-listed. But the good news is that i'm their 3rd choice for 2 spots. So if either of those two who were accepted decline the offer, then I'm in. The wait continues. 

 

Crossing my fingers for you. This has got to be the longest wait in history. Anyone else notice in the Results area how just about every other genre or subject (besides Art) has result submissions? What is it with the Art programs taking so much longer? I get the review of the portfolio perhaps being more time consuming, but think about all the written materials the other applicants have to submit as well. *sigh*

[Czarina]

I got my first rejection today which feels like total garbage. It's hard to keep my head up and believe that the rest of the apps have a chance at turning out positively.

[bbqriblets]

I don't remember, sorry. But I know they interview a lot of people as the departments are all pretty big (compared to other art schools)...

If I remember correctly they had about a 12% acceptance rate for painting the year I applied.

 

Thanks mlk!

[kafralal]

Sorry to hear that. It was just one combination of possibilities that didn't work out—it has little to no bearing on other outcomes.

 

What school was that for and what other places have you applied to?

 

Edit: this is directed to czarina

Edited February 5, 2014 by kafralal

[drusillatheteenagewitch]

I got my first rejection today which feels like total garbage. It's hard to keep my head up and believe that the rest of the apps have a chance at turning out positively.

 

 

Me too!  From Madison

[Czarina]

from UMich.

other schools I applied to: USC, UCIrvine, MIT, and VCU

[soapeater]

Crossing my fingers for you. This has got to be the longest wait in history. Anyone else notice in the Results area how just about every other genre or subject (besides Art) has result submissions? What is it with the Art programs taking so much longer? I get the review of the portfolio perhaps being more time consuming, but think about all the written materials the other applicants have to submit as well. *sigh*

 

Thank you. In the email they said that the end of the application season is April 15th (per usual). But they said that they hope to have "closure" before then. That makes me feel like it's a funeral.