<p>I'm going through the admission process for a MFA in graphic design. I really just want to go to the best school possible. I was already accepted by School of the Art Institute of Chicago and California College of Art. Which one would you choose? </p>
<p>SAIC- a pretty large school in Chicago's Inner Loop. Its Graphic Design MFA is ranked 11th, but the overall fine arts department is ranked 3rd.* The design program is very interdisciplinary. </p>
<p>CCA- is a smaller school in a city I quite like, San Francisco. Its Design MFA is ranked 10th.* It is also VERY interdisciplinary, maybe too much so. </p>
<p>*US News Graduate School Ranking</p>
<p>Other pending schools:
Yale- Interviewed, decision pending(1st choice)
Cranbrook- Interviewed, decision pending
MICA- Interviewed, decision pending
Pratt- Wait listed
RISD- No rejection, but no interview or any sort of contact since applying</p>
<p>Also has anyone had any experience wit Yale Art and their admission process? If so, please share.</p>
<p>I know it is a wrong thing to ask at the moment but can you please walk us (UG and UG wannabe parents) thru what entail in design MFA admissions?
what did you submit? I mean not just “portfolio” but what and how much is in it? and rec letters, resume, whatelse?
what do you talk about in interview?
why are you accepted/wait listed/ did not get call back?
have you worked some years prior to this?
what is your goal, if you are to earn masters in design, what’s next?</p>
<p>from what I know, CCA loft is amazing but (fine art) works I saw made me wonder if they are really “at it” don’t know how they do design.
If you want to go any brain route, I’d pick SAIC if you can pay.
thou I don’t believe rankings of conventional magazines.</p>
<p>I have no problem briefly sharing my experiences:</p>
<p>Portfolio: 20-25 images of design work + other artwork</p>
<p>Resume & 3 Rec letters (All of mine were from my undergrad professors & faculty</p>
<p>Interviews: Discuss your work (what? why?), your relationship w/ design (or w/e your medium is), why grad school?, why THIS grad school?, personal history, passions & interests, etc…</p>
<p>I am from an unrelated field. I did not study design in undergrad. Also I am going straight from undergrad to grad, so no real work experience (some schools want it, some don’t)</p>
<p>My goal is to become a practicing designer and a professor in the field of design.</p>
<p>& Thanks for the brief insight. Another info please feel free to share. </p>
<p>Addressing rankings, of course there’s no real way to assess an art program, at least not quantitatively, but I think its ridiculous to completely ignore rankings. If anything they are a small indication of the quality of a program. Everyone says they don’t pay attention to rankings, but everyone in these forums are coincidently talking about all the same schools featured on these rankings, so they most know what they are talking about to some extent. Don’t get me wrong I did not rely solely on rankings, I did my own research to supplement their claims. I repeat, I did not solely rely on rankings.</p>
<p>Hey, congrats! Two offers for MFA programs already with more to go!</p>
<p>Regarding SAIC vs. CCA: two good choices here. Some questions I’d ask… did either come with any funding? Do you feel like you connected with any of the professors at either school?</p>
<p>Regarding all of your pendings: that’s a really good list and I’d love to hear how they all come in, particularly Cranbrook and Yale. Yale because it’s Yale, and Cranbrook because I feel like it’s this really interesting wildcard type program. Not an ideal location for an artist but such an interesting school and I like the work from students and professors. Please update us when you hear.</p>
<p>Regarding rankings: the USNWR art rankings are based on art school profs and admins voting for who they think is best. USNWR just tabulates the popularity contest. As you say, that’s somewhat dicey from an analytical standpoint but still meaningful in a way. Hard to totally ignore when weighing your options.</p>
<p>IMO, you can’t make a wrong choice with any of these programs as they will all put you in a good position to achieve your stated goals. Nice work!</p>
<p>jchouston:
Which school and what is your major of your undergrad ?
It is amazing you can get in such good programs without a graphic design or art related degree.
Share what I learn from a art professor about MFA:
focus on choosing the faculty members you admire to study from, It will be ideal this person (or more than one person) has a international stand, and you love his/her work. I am thinking all the top program will have strong faculty… though, it may not help a lot.
Just what I was told.</p>
<p>Wheaty & Loveblue:
Thanks. And I just got an acceptance email letter from PRATT! Not wait-listed after all. I haven’t received anything from SAIC or CCA concerning financial aid packages, but Pratt did give me a 10k scholarship!</p>
<p>Yale and Cranbrook are both major interest of mine. Yale because it’s Yale of course, but I also think they have the most appealing faculty. I’m a HUGE fan of at least two of their professors and I’m a even bigger fan of the history of the program and past professors. Also I will be able to take courses outside of art and design, the benefits of attending a traditional university. And the Elliot Earls led Cranbrook design progarm just produces such interesting work, the new day avant garde of the design world.</p>
<p>Pratt: I like the history of the program and the idea of being in New York.
CCA: I think the program maybe be too losely structured/ interdisciplinary for me, a student with a unrelated ungrad degree, but I love San Francisco.
SAIC: I like the interdisciplinary nature of the program and it has a great reputation.</p>
<p>For undergrad I went to Prairie View A&M University, a small HBCU outside of Houston. You probably have never heard of it, but it’s part of the Texas A&M system. I majored in Business Marketing.</p>
<p>& I am too really surprised I have been considered by such renowned program w/o a related undergrad degree. Hopefully my luck doesn’t run out anytime soon.</p>
<p>there you have it.
art / design is half business and half marketing for how far you’d get to go. only the rest is so called everything else that people who don’t have them led to believe one could earn/polish by going to top rated UG schools spending pile of money: such as talent, luck, spirit, connection, (gasp) skill</p>
<p>what did you wear for the interview? have you done facial or fixed teeth?
or you are born with all one of those poster good looks?
^it is not condescending nor mean questions, in case anyone would be offended.
I really would like to know how you pitched your stuff. did you feel that they are biting,
were there any oops! moment? if you did, how did you recover?</p>
<p>is MFA really matter?
I mean BFA already taught our kids so much. Put teaching position aside, don’t feel MFA is a big gain to build up them as a person.
feel better to get some kind of humanity Ph.D. like art history or political to help the kids to be more knowledgeable and sensitive to art creation. During the Ph.D time, it will not be that busy, they can start create their art and market themselves.
Ph.D is a nice fall back of their artist dream.
Sorry jchouston, i am lazy to open another thread.</p>
<p>jhouston - bears and dogs always throws one off with the first few posts - grand sense of humor (albeit unique) but some solid information as well!
“done facial, fixed teeth” I love it! Keep it coming, you are a hoot.</p>
<p>hey thanx kid
it’s Ok if OP doesn’t want to get personal with me (who would!?)
I bet s/he got peal-y white smile smooth flawless skin with minty breath.
my office was used to be the next to boss’s corner office before downsizing.
I never spied (trust me!!!) just overheard (Ok, eavesdropped) how
teeth
shoes
facial hair
visible earwax
B.O or (wrong) cologne
could affect your call-back s
and yes
portfolio is in somewhere around there…</p>
<p>Drae:
Mica does have a really good program with Ellen Lupton & Jennifer Cole Phillips, but they wait listed me. I’m sure I won’t hear from them until after some people turned them down.(If that happens)</p>
<p>Loveblue:
MFA does really matter if you’re trying to teach on the collegiate level. I don’t know how much it matters to someone with a BFA, but you should definitely ask. I’m guessing the BFA maybe more about technical art making, but the MFA is solely about conceptual art making. I’m sure it has some effect on the way individuals approach their work. I actually don’t have a BFA. I studied business for undergrad.</p>
<p>But I think a PHD in humanities or social studies or philosophy etc would do amazing things for an artist and their work. One of the reasons I wanted to go to Yale is I would have access to classes in all those departments along with my art courses. It was my dream. Art schools do offer these types of courses of study, but no where close to the extent of a liberal arts college. </p>
<p>Bearsanddogs:
I have pretty good hygiene, at least good enough for a 22 yr old male. And I clean up pretty nice, I think. Honestly, its Yale Art not Yale Law. They probably would have love me if I showed up looking like a panhandler.</p>
<p>soooo you are a young man wagwagwag (tail)
describe yourself</p>
<ol>
<li><p>hair
A.wavy
B. straight
C. curly
D. riglet/cork screw </p></li>
<li><p>^in which color
A. blonde
B. red
C. brown
D. dark brown
E. jet black </p></li>
<li><p>eye
A. blue
B. green
C. dacing brown
D. thoughful brown
E. hazel
F. violet
G. anything dark</p></li>
<li><p>height
A. basketball starter tall
B. bang my head at grandma’s tall
C. never shorter than my date tall
D. so so OK
E. short but so what</p></li>
<li><p>body mass
A. toned
B. macho-ed
C. tawny scrawny
D. saggy baggy</p></li>
<li><p>favorite color
A. blue
B. green
C. gray
D. red
E. black
F. other ( pick as many as you want)</p></li>
<li><p>I think I am
A. very good looking
B. fairly good looking
C. rather good looking
D. better than avarage</p></li>
<li><p>I talk to my mom
A. always, without initiation
B. as often as she wants me
C. when I feel like it
D. once in the blue moom
E. never</p></li>
</ol>
<p>now I sit on my paws and wait your reply thump thump thump (tail)</p>
<p>lemme just add that Matthew Barney ( yale BFA) was so good-o-looking his modeling $ paid his education, let alone being hang out and used all Yale art’s resources being still UG. so is Peter Eleey ( yale BA straight to big-shot who needs grad degree)
so IT does do you favor, yale or no yale, you lucky kid!!</p>
<p>Okay had to look up Peter Eleey, didn’t know who he was. Bears is right, total cuteness factor. Probably does help since the field is so into the visual, so hopeful this is not a discriminatory comment.</p>
<p>OK I change question now
are you (bit younger) Peter cute = wet puppy eyes cute,
or (lot younger) matthew hot? =chiseled eagle hot ?
I’d take either/both as long as you do talk to moms, yours and other’s</p>