2016 MFA Interview Thread

[gtakaoka]

Hi All,

I thought I would start a thread specifically for interview concerns, since many of us are now beginning to navigate the "OMG INTERVIEW" portion of the application process. It might be nice for anyone who has already completed the interview process with any of their schools to share info that might be helpful to other applicants (if you're willing), such as what questions were asked, format of the interview, length of the interview, etc. Additionally, it might be helpful to share what we are doing to prepare for upcoming interviews. Or we can all just post about how we're freaking out.

Also, here's a list of interview questions that has been floating around this forum (not sure who originally posted this but bless you)

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

Why do you want to go to XXXXX?

Why do you want to go to grad school? Why now?

What resources of this program will be the biggest benefit to your development as an artist?

What is your work about?

What are your influences?

What for you constitutes a good work of art?

What draws you to a piece of work?

What motivates your work?

Who are your main influences?

Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

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

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?

How will you contribute to this program?

What do you do for fun?

 

What artists do you like? (you can have a list prepared)

What artists who are no longer living influence you?

What book are you reading right now? What do you think about it?

What are you working on right now?

Please explain this work (xxxx03.jpg)

What is your favorite piece of art? Why? (Title, artist,year)

Can you describe yourself, such as personal habit, etc.

Do you get along well with others ?

What would you bring to a group dynamic ?

 

What can you offer this program? Any special skills?

What do you think is a good way of criting ? a bad way?

What other aspects of culture influence your work besidesart/art history?

How do you see yourself taking advantage of this school’s enviroment/program?

What exhibition have you been to in the last year?

What have you done since you’ve graduated?

What contemporary artists are you into, and why?

Tell us about the conceptual underpinnings of your work?

Talk about your process.

What do you think about *this essay*? (related to your work)

How is your work related to *this movement*?

Do you have any questions for us?

What do you think about (artist, movement, subject/topic)

What can't you stand? Why?

What do you think about your own work?

How do you want your work to develop?

Why are you making the work you're making, and why do you want to keep doing it?

Meaning behind your subject matter?

influences

 

Also, here's a link to the interview thread from last year:

I've done a couple of short interview thus far and I'll add info about them in a bit.

[Relm]

I've been asked by a couple of schools what kinds of classes I'd be willing/comfortable/etc. teaching. Tripped me up the first time -- so, especially for those of you who don't have BFAs (like me!), give it some thought.

[Barber]

Man I'm really glad this thread popped up because I didn't want to clog the freak out thread with this (even though I am freaking out about it).

Okay, this question may be mildly stupid, but I have a burning need to know, WHAT DO I WEAR TO THE INTERVIEW??? Please don't think I'm some sort of special for asking, but I have no professional art world background and honest to god wear a suit everyday (I'm a FED), but that somehow seems kinda inappropriate to wear to an MFA interview? Since so far both of my interviews are in person, I don't want to look like either the Men in Black nor ridiculously under dressed.

So basically, full suit or no? 

[onetwothreefour]

3 minutes ago, Barber said:

Man I'm really glad this thread popped up because I didn't want to clog the freak out thread with this (even though I am freaking out about it).

Okay, this question may be mildly stupid, but I have a burning need to know, WHAT DO I WEAR TO THE INTERVIEW??? Please don't think I'm some sort of special for asking, but I have no professional art world background and honest to god wear a suit everyday (I'm a FED), but that somehow seems kinda inappropriate to wear to an MFA interview? Since so far both of my interviews are in person, I don't want to look like either the Men in Black nor ridiculously under dressed.

So basically, full suit or no? 

You can wear whatever you want, but you'll definitely be the only one there wearing a suit.  I'd be shocked if you saw anyone wearing so much as a necktie.  I'm guessing business casual is the way to go - slacks and a sweater?

[Relm]

22 minutes ago, Barber said:

Man I'm really glad this thread popped up because I didn't want to clog the freak out thread with this (even though I am freaking out about it).

Okay, this question may be mildly stupid, but I have a burning need to know, WHAT DO I WEAR TO THE INTERVIEW??? Please don't think I'm some sort of special for asking, but I have no professional art world background and honest to god wear a suit everyday (I'm a FED), but that somehow seems kinda inappropriate to wear to an MFA interview? Since so far both of my interviews are in person, I don't want to look like either the Men in Black nor ridiculously under dressed.

So basically, full suit or no? 

Keep in mind that I'm making this up as I go along, but. Wear whatever you feel comfortable wearing. Basically, I'd wear whatever makes you not pay attention to your clothes (which extends to body jewelry, exposing tattoos, and the like), because otherwise you'll fidget with them or be distracted about how you look.

I personally may wear a suit to my in-person interview, but that's because it ties in with the concept of my work and past life experience. Otherwise, it might look silly. If your work reflects your life experience, go for it. I personally feel a bit more "on" when I wear a blazer. You gotta do what works for you. (:

Edited February 11, 2016 by Relm

[PhotoFun]

I am about 1,000 miles away from the school that requested an interview with me. Do you think it reasonable to do a Skype interview, or should I pay between $240 and $300 to fly there and back, and miss a few work commitments? I do not want to be at a disadvantage to candidates who do in-person interviews, and I fear I may if I interview on Skype. Any thoughts on this would be appreciated.

[<><><><><>]

7 minutes ago, PhotoFun said:

I am about 1,000 miles away from the school that requested an interview with me. Do you think it reasonable to do a Skype interview, or should I pay between $240 and $300 to fly there and back, and miss a few work commitments? I do not want to be at a disadvantage to candidates who do in-person interviews, and I fear I may if I interview on Skype. Any thoughts on this would be appreciated.

i think it depends on the program...what school is it for?

[costumetheatre]

14 minutes ago, PhotoFun said:

I am about 1,000 miles away from the school that requested an interview with me. Do you think it reasonable to do a Skype interview, or should I pay between $240 and $300 to fly there and back, and miss a few work commitments? I do not want to be at a disadvantage to candidates who do in-person interviews, and I fear I may if I interview on Skype. Any thoughts on this would be appreciated.

Ask them if they can help with travel expenses. That will help a lot if they do. 

[cpw0021]

10 minutes ago, PhotoFun said:

I am about 1,000 miles away from the school that requested an interview with me. Do you think it reasonable to do a Skype interview, or should I pay between $240 and $300 to fly there and back, and miss a few work commitments? I do not want to be at a disadvantage to candidates who do in-person interviews, and I fear I may if I interview on Skype. Any thoughts on this would be appreciated.

I'm doing three of my interviews by skype because it would be too expensive to fly out ($400+) from a residency I'm doing (if I was at home during the time, I would've gone because flights are cheap). So, I asked the schools if that would affect my chances--all said no. For the most part schools really do understand if you can't make it. 

[costumetheatre]

55 minutes ago, Barber said:

Man I'm really glad this thread popped up because I didn't want to clog the freak out thread with this (even though I am freaking out about it).

Okay, this question may be mildly stupid, but I have a burning need to know, WHAT DO I WEAR TO THE INTERVIEW??? Please don't think I'm some sort of special for asking, but I have no professional art world background and honest to god wear a suit everyday (I'm a FED), but that somehow seems kinda inappropriate to wear to an MFA interview? Since so far both of my interviews are in person, I don't want to look like either the Men in Black nor ridiculously under dressed.

So basically, full suit or no? 

Dress nicely. your wardrobe choices are important and it talks about you. In one of my grad interviews my outfit was even part of a conversation. I wore a dress shirt, pants, tie and wing tips for shoes. also within the nicely dress, be you. The clothes should represent you and you should feel comfortable in them. It shows when you are not. Confidence is key!!! Good luck!!

[gtakaoka]

Some random thoughts from the couple of little interviews I did (one on the phone with OSU, one on Skype with Penn, both around 10-12 minutes each):

They both asked "hard" questions first; like, the kind of questions that I was unprepared to answer right off the bat due to just having met these people and still being nervous. I feel like this may have been a strategy on their part...or maybe I'm reading too much into it. The questions were along the lines of "so you've written a good amount about your practice in your statement...can you expand a little more, and also tell us about some contemporary artists you're looking at lately who influence you?" and "so where do you see yourself heading artistically during your time at (school name), and who are some artists who interest you?". They're not such difficult questions but I wish they'd started with something like "how are you today?".

Then there were ones like "why do you want to go to _____?", "what electives or other departments in the school are you interested in studying?", "how does (insert current job from resume) relate to/inform your art practice?".

Both places asked if I had questions for them, and I am reeeally glad that I had some ready, because it kept the interview from feeling one-sided (and I think it might be kind of bad to say "no" to that question). Things like "what's the degree of permeability between the department's different studio areas?", "what do the teaching assistantship duties generally consist of? Will I be assisting a professor, or will I be teaching my own class?" yielded some informative answers.

Reviewing the grad handbook (from the place that had one available) was helpful. So was looking up the faculty from the departments I applied to. 

I don't know if any of this is useful...and I know that an in-person interview has some additional facets that I fortunately did not have to deal with. But hey, if this helps one person, cool. Wishing all of you the best of luck on your interviews!

 

 

 

[PhotoFun]

18 hours ago, <><><><><> said:

i think it depends on the program...what school is it for?

MassArt

Edited February 11, 2016 by PhotoFun

[<><><><><>]

i would just do Skype for Massart 

[Cowadungo]

i did a skype interview with massart last year and got in. also it was a very chill interview, i was not expecting them to be so nice, it was more like they were trying to convince me to go there. but they did ask basic questions like, why do you want to do an mfa now, and at mass art, describe a piece from my portfolio, how does my past experience (other degrees or interests) influence my art work, what are some artists that you like (they didnt ask why)....that's all i can remember right now, i dont think there was much more and nothing super hard.  definately have questions to ask them though. 

oh and there was a lot of interviewers, like 5 faculty and 2 grad students. since it was skype i couldnt see two people but i didnt want to ask them to move the camera so i just had to try to figure out where the voices were coming from hahah. they was a bit of a bad connection too

Edited February 12, 2016 by Cowadungo

[helloimhere]

21 hours ago, Relm said:

Keep in mind that I'm making this up as I go along, but. Wear whatever you feel comfortable wearing. Basically, I'd wear whatever makes you not pay attention to your clothes (which extends to body jewelry, exposing tattoos, and the like), because otherwise you'll fidget with them or be distracted about how you look.

I personally may wear a suit to my in-person interview, but that's because it ties in with the concept of my work and past life experience. Otherwise, it might look silly. If your work reflects your life experience, go for it. I personally feel a bit more "on" when I wear a blazer. You gotta do what works for you. (:

 

22 hours ago, Barber said:

Man I'm really glad this thread popped up because I didn't want to clog the freak out thread with this (even though I am freaking out about it).

Okay, this question may be mildly stupid, but I have a burning need to know, WHAT DO I WEAR TO THE INTERVIEW??? Please don't think I'm some sort of special for asking, but I have no professional art world background and honest to god wear a suit everyday (I'm a FED), but that somehow seems kinda inappropriate to wear to an MFA interview? Since so far both of my interviews are in person, I don't want to look like either the Men in Black nor ridiculously under dressed.

So basically, full suit or no? 

I'm wearing jeans, boots, nice sweater, some make-up... pretty much what I wear all the time. I plan on looking nice but not business casual. When I visited the schools they were all wearing jeans. I agree with the folks above. Wear what feels comfortable and what defines you as an artist (i.e. what would you wear to the opening reception of your solo show?)

[helloimhere]

Random tip I got was learn about the professors and what artwork they are doing so you can talk about it comfortably in the interview and discuss how your work will contribute to or be influenced by theirs. If it's a small program I would learn about all their professors (and maybe even students). If it's a large program I would pick 3-4 professors. Good luck all! 

[gtakaoka]

What's the deal with "thank you" emails after the interview? That's something I hadn't given any thought to until coming across it in last year's MFA thread. Great, more crap to worry about.

[hypoart]

22 minutes ago, gtakaoka said:

What's the deal with "thank you" emails after the interview? That's something I hadn't given any thought to until coming across it in last year's MFA thread. Great, more crap to worry about.

I'm curious about this too.  I've been sending thank you emails after every interview but have tried to keep them pretty brief.  Normally, for a job interview, I usually write about key points touched during the conversation and reiterate how I'd be a good candidate.  For some reason, I feel like that may be too much for this context.  Thoughts?

[gtakaoka]

1 hour ago, hypoart said:

I'm curious about this too.  I've been sending thank you emails after every interview but have tried to keep them pretty brief.  Normally, for a job interview, I usually write about key points touched during the conversation and reiterate how I'd be a good candidate.  For some reason, I feel like that may be too much for this context.  Thoughts?

Oh, lord. I haven't sent any. What is an appropriate length of time to wait before sending a thank you email (and how long it too long to wait, haha)? I was not sure of whether to initiate any contact afterward since I was unsure of whom to email in one case, and the interviews were just the short ten-minuters, so I am still fairly convinced that if I am at "nobody" status still. Gawd I hope they don't expect to hear thank you emails and put a big red circle around the eff-ups who didn't.

 

[hypoart]

7 hours ago, gtakaoka said:

Oh, lord. I haven't sent any. What is an appropriate length of time to wait before sending a thank you email (and how long it too long to wait, haha)? I was not sure of whether to initiate any contact afterward since I was unsure of whom to email in one case, and the interviews were just the short ten-minuters, so I am still fairly convinced that if I am at "nobody" status still. Gawd I hope they don't expect to hear thank you emails and put a big red circle around the eff-ups who didn't.

 

I think the rule of thumb is to send one within 48 hours. I think you'll be fine though! This is a different situation. 

[ashleighxcult]

My interview with MICA is in six hours and my nerves have officially kicked in.  This is my first time ever interviewing for any MFA program so I've tried preparing as best I could, but I just feel like I'm the WORST at interviews.  

[gtakaoka]

4 hours ago, ashleighxcult said:

My interview with MICA is in six hours and my nerves have officially kicked in.  This is my first time ever interviewing for any MFA program so I've tried preparing as best I could, but I just feel like I'm the WORST at interviews.  

Sending good vibes your way!! Remember that you've already made a good impression on them, since they asked you to interview in the first place :).

[hypoart]

What's the general consensus on portfolio types, is a book or box preferred? 

[altiplano]

My issue is, I'm from south Texas and I've never been around snow. There might be snow in New England the first week of March. And this is making me far more nervous than the interview itself. I don't know exactly what to wear, I'll have to go buy the proper attire. Do people wear long underwear for this sort of weather? I think I saw that on tv once. I'm truly lost. 

[2222222]

59 minutes ago, altiplano said:

My issue is, I'm from south Texas and I've never been around snow. There might be snow in New England the first week of March. And this is making me far more nervous than the interview itself. I don't know exactly what to wear, I'll have to go buy the proper attire. Do people wear long underwear for this sort of weather? I think I saw that on tv once. I'm truly lost. 

It's possible, but unlikely that there will be snow in the first week of March, unless you're talking about going up to Vermont or Maine.  Usually the weather in NYC/Boston is in the low 40s around that time, though you won't know what you're in for until a few days before.

Don't bother buying gear.  At most, make sure you have wool socks and warmish footwear (as in, no Converse).  Go ahead and buy long underwear if you're planning on wearing jeans or slacks all weekend.  You might not even need them, so don't spend money just because you're freaked out!  Bringing a good sweater will let you get away with whatever jacket/coat you have.  In general, layering is your friend, so as long as you have long sleeve tshirts to wear under your clothes, you should be fine!