Geoffrey Barst on mon 30 apr 07
My daughter has a BFA in ceramics and has been applying to MFA programs.
So far she has not been accepted although her teachers tell her that her
body of work and her portfolio submission meet the generally accepted
standards. Whenever there is a rejection, there is never an explanation
of what may have been deficient or the deciding factors which weighed
against her. Her work already sells through a couple of galleries and at
art shows.
Is there anyone out there who would be prepared to review her portfolio
slides, artist's statement and resume and offer an independent critique?
Geoff Barst
steve graber on mon 30 apr 07
i just read the other day in the LA Times that students overall this season received more rejections from colleges then ever before.
the colleges are filled up i guess so room & competition is tight?
see ya
steve
Geoffrey Barst wrote:
My daughter has a BFA in ceramics and has been applying to MFA programs.
So far she has not been accepted although her teachers tell her that her
body of work and her portfolio submission meet the generally accepted
standards. Whenever there is a rejection, there is never an explanation
of what may have been deficient or the deciding factors which weighed
against her. Her work already sells through a couple of galleries and at
art shows.
Is there anyone out there who would be prepared to review her portfolio
slides, artist's statement and resume and offer an independent critique?
Geoff Barst
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Valerie Kidrick-Rohret on mon 30 apr 07
Geoff--
I'm a college professor, and although we don't have a graduate program at
our school, let me tell you what I'd tell a student who came to me with this
problem.
I (and probably many others) would be willing to take a look, but I think it
might not help too much. My advice probably only pertains to my school and
students. In my experiences, (both as a professor and a student) each school
looks for their own "fit" (just like in job searches), and what one school
looks for may not be the same thing for which another school would look. The
other thing to keep in mind is that there can be two or more rounds--one from
the Graduate School, and another from the Department. Any time along the
line, it has seemed, anything can scuttle an acceptance.
I'd ask this first: 1) To what schools did she apply? As I'm sure she's
aware, some schools look for certain specific skills or techniques, and if they
can't see them in the slides, she might have a hard time being accepted. If
she's a thrower, a school that focuses on handbuilding would probably not take
her, and vice versa. Take a look at the instructors' own work, and see if
she makes a good fit with them. If not, there may be an uphill climb to get
into that school 2) What was her undergraduate GPA and did she take any
graduate admissions exams (GRE or MAT)? Certain schools have an official or
unofficial benchmark numbers for those things, and if she didn't hit that, it could
be a problem. It's a typical way the Graduate School weeds applicants out.
3) Is she looking for financial aid or support (TA- or RA-ships)? Some
schools don't admit students they can't fund, so if they had applicants aplenty,
but no money, she might have the skills, the GPA, and everything else, but
they just didn't have the funding.
I might have her call the Graduate Admissions Committee chair of the
Department, and actually ask them what they saw as areas that could be improved.
Sometimes, they'll be accommodating; sometimes not. But it is better than
sitting and wondering, no?
If you would like to talk to me off list, I'd be happy to reply, but as I
said, to get the specific answers for the specific schools, she might need to
call the Art Departments themselves.
Dr. Valerie Kidrick Rohret
************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com.
Matthew Katz on mon 30 apr 07
I would agree that schools are extremely particular on the kinds of work
they want form their incoming students. It seems after assessing quality of
work and thought (and sifting out the riff-raff), that the main question is
"Does this student make work that fits into our program?"
A lot of perspective students don't throughly research the nature of the
program. I did my MFA at the University of Colorado-Boulder, where the
program is extremely conceptual, and the majority of the ceramics students
don't even use clay. That is exactly the program that the faculty wanted and
they take students that fit that mold. But Because it was Boulder, Colorado
(ie. Hippie town and Betty Woodman's old program) a lot of the students
applying assume that the program MUST be Pottery/Earthy Ceramics. But the
faculty has gone through a major overhaul in the last 10 years and the grad
student population reflects that.
Rejection hurts, but it is an unavoidable thing in the Arts. Just encourage
your daughter to preserver and keep working, and making her work the best it
can be.
On 4/30/07, Valerie Kidrick-Rohret wrote:
>
> Geoff--
>
> I'm a college professor, and although we don't have a graduate program at
> our school, let me tell you what I'd tell a student who came to me with
> this
> problem.
>
> I (and probably many others) would be willing to take a look, but I
> think it
> might not help too much. My advice probably only pertains to my school
> and
> students. In my experiences, (both as a professor and a student)
> each school
> looks for their own "fit" (just like in job searches), and what
> one school
> looks for may not be the same thing for which another school
> would look. The
> other thing to keep in mind is that there can be two or more rounds--one
> from
> the Graduate School, and another from the Department. Any time along the
> line, it has seemed, anything can scuttle an acceptance.
>
> I'd ask this first: 1) To what schools did she apply? As I'm sure she's
> aware, some schools look for certain specific skills or techniques, and
> if they
> can't see them in the slides, she might have a hard time being accepted.
> If
> she's a thrower, a school that focuses on handbuilding would probably not
> take
> her, and vice versa. Take a look at the instructors' own work, and see if
> she makes a good fit with them. If not, there may be an uphill climb to
> get
> into that school 2) What was her undergraduate GPA and did she take any
> graduate admissions exams (GRE or MAT)? Certain schools have an official
> or
> unofficial benchmark numbers for those things, and if she didn't hit that,
> it could
> be a problem. It's a typical way the Graduate School weeds applicants
> out.
> 3) Is she looking for financial aid or support (TA- or RA-ships)? Some
> schools don't admit students they can't fund, so if they had applicants
> aplenty,
> but no money, she might have the skills, the GPA, and everything else,
> but
> they just didn't have the funding.
>
> I might have her call the Graduate Admissions Committee chair of the
> Department, and actually ask them what they saw as areas that could
> be improved.
> Sometimes, they'll be accommodating; sometimes not. But it is better
> than
> sitting and wondering, no?
>
> If you would like to talk to me off list, I'd be happy to reply, but as I
> said, to get the specific answers for the specific schools, she might need
> to
> call the Art Departments themselves.
>
> Dr. Valerie Kidrick Rohret
>
>
>
>
>
> ************************************** See what's free at
> http://www.aol.com.
>
>
> ______________________________________________________________________________
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
> melpots@pclink.com.
>
--
Matthew Katz
Alfred, NY
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