Graduate Endeavors 9:01 PM

Lamarre April 2008

So I thought I would post a little about the graduate schools and programs that I have applied to. I hope that maybe the information and links that I post here will help some undergraduate students who are unsure of applying for graduate school to just do it.

Over this past school year I have been encouraged by my mentors telling me to "keep my aperture open" or to "pick what you love in your heart, and to live with it for awhile to see how it feels", and my mom telling me "life is long, you have plenty of time to mess it up and to fix it"

Listed below are the schools that I have applied to for my Masters of Fine Arts with a concentration in Photography.

School:                                                  Application Due dates (for Fall 2010)
California College of the Arts                                       1/5
International Center of Photography-Bard                    1/8
UCLA                                                                           1/8
The School of Visual Arts                                             1/15
Bard College                                                                1/15
Columbia College                                                         1/15
Tufts University                                                           1/15
California Institute of the Arts                                      1/30
Rutgers                                                                         2/1
USC                                                                               2/1
CSU Long Beach                                                           1/30
CSU Fullerton                                                              1/30

All of these programs vary in how much the application fee is. I was able to get waivers from all but two schools, ICP-Bard, and Columbia College. My best advice to anyone is that if you are eligible for aid try to be good friends with your aid councilor.  Also if you are worried about tuition, some of the best schools out there pay entirely for your MFA, for example USC, they have an amazing program and also pay almost fully for their students.

I have also found that the best way to really understand how a program works is to call them and ask questions. You absolutely do not want to call and ask questions about information that is posted to their websites, but perhaps more conceptual questions that give you a better idea of how the program really functions, keeping in mind if you think it will be a good fit for you.

So everyone keep your fingers crossed for me, I should start finding out my fate the in the next few weeks.

Love and Kisses,
Terri