Note: If you’re interested in the acceptance rates at the schools
you’re applying to, just google “What is the acceptance rate for MICA” or
whatever the school is. A lot of times you can find it on the school’s website,
but try google for a quick reference.
The first school to respond to my application was UArts. I
had automatically been accepted since I had gotten in last year. They conducted
another interview though. They awarded me a scholarship that would pay for
about 40% of tuition and offered a teaching fellowship if I wanted to stick
around for the fall. They were willing to transfer 9 of my credits, which would
save me even more money.
SFAI extended me an interview via skype. At the last minute,
my program director had an emergency so the painting chair conducted my
interview. That made me nervous, but she was very friendly and put me at ease
immediately. A few weeks later they called with a full housing award. (SFAI is one of the few low res programs to offer housing awards.) I already
had a friend out there who would let me crash, but the free housing near campus was much
more convenient. They also awarded me a partial scholarship totaling around
$15,000. With the $80,000 price tag, I was hoping for more. They would not
transfer any of my credits in either.
I got a call from a core faculty member from MICA’s program.
He said he loved the work and didn’t even have to think about whether he wanted
to work with me. He knew I was a perfect fit. (Very flattering.) He said that I
needed to set up an interview via skype, but that it was just a formality; I
had already been selected. The interview was with him, another faculty member, and the low res director. It went smoothly except for when my mind went
completely blank when asked what I was reading. I made a joke about it, they
laughed and we moved on. I got their scholarship award, a bit higher than SFAI,
closer to $28,000, but there tuition was higher too. They would take 6 transfer
credits.
I got a rejection letter from Bard. Again.
Tyler set up an interview. I was looking for an excuse to go
to Philly, so I went in person. I presented my work to three faculty member and
a room full of grad students with a Q and A at the end. Despite some technical
difficulties, it was an awesome experience. I showed some images of a big
project I had done in Philly. The students had gone to the show and remembered
the work. One even said that it had been her favorite in the show. (!) I talked
a lot about the collaborative work I had been doing. They wanted to know why I
wanted to go to grad school when I had such a good thing going. I emailed with
the director a bit after that. Then I didn’t hear from them for months, I
assumed this was because they were a full time program and had a late
notification deadline. When I finally did hear, it was rejection number 2. I
was a little surprised because I thought everything went so well, but they were only accepting 4
students into their department. Those have never been good odds for me.
I hadn’t heard from SAIC and knew they were planning to
conduct interviews at the end of January. January came and went so I assumed I
didn’t get in. When I saw a letter in the mail, I braced myself for another
rejection; I was really bummed about this one. But I got in! I was given a scholarship similar to my other offers, slightly more and later offered a writing fellowship as well. I received a
friendly phone call a few days later from Michal Lynn (the go-to woman for low
res) congratulating me on my acceptance and explaining the next steps.
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