Accepted & Rejected: The Ongoing Saga of College Admissions

Sat, 4 Apr 2009 09:04:00 -0400

I was chatting with my old pal on April Fools Day about decision letters. She informed me about news headline about UC San Diego and their e-mail snafu. We've both spent the entire month of March talking about decision letters, because I'm one of the many young folks applying for college. More precisely, graduate school (but hey it's all gravy higher ed for me at this point).

Anyhow, my pal told me about UCSD and I thought it was an interesting because UCSD was the first university to get back to me with a decision. UCSD was one of the few universities I applied to that e-mailed decision letters. Which in my opinion, is of very poor taste.

You must understand, I am a graphic designer. Presentation and image are paramount. I understand the importance of paper. Paper is a wonderful technology. It expresses class, tradition, care, love...well, anything you print you on it. Paper is a real medium. You can argue about this with me, but would you rather receive a letter on paper, or an email in your virtual mailbox?

A decision letter on paper means all the difference in the world for college applicants... seriously!

When I was 18 years old, freshly graduated from high school, college meant a lot at that tender age. It meant to be accepted or rejected. I remember applying to two schools and the experience of waiting for letters in the mailbox was exhiliarating. It was fantastic. When CalPoly sent me that oversized envelope with CONGRATULATIONS printed in green on it... I nearly screamed bloody murder.

So now at the tender age of 28 and 1/2 years, I have applied to ten MFA studio art graduate programs throughout the United States. Ten applications is not unheard of. I know a friend who plans on applying to 25 law schools. Another friend of mine who in medical school spent thousands of dollars in applications fees alone just to apply to school she wanted. The more competitive your major or program is, the more you have to give yourself the chance to get in, which means spending extra cash for application fees.

Art schools have their own set of competitivess. Not crazy like law or medicine, but the art world is a gamble. It's risky. Artists have balls and they like risks, and art school is a crapshoot...you'll soon realize after finishing this blog.

Nonetheless, this application season is competitive. According to my pal, Stanford accepted only 8% of applicants. Although, those figures are for undergrads, this is indicative of the sorry state of college admissions.

For one thing, the economy is getting people back to school (public ones especially). It's certainly a reason why I'm going. Suze Orman and a bunch of advice columnists are saying don't go to grad school unless you have specific goals since it's expensive.

But what are young folks supposed to do? Flip burgers as a career? Peddle garments? Hawk department store credit cards at the cashwrap? A job is a job, but school is worth every damn life-sucking 30-year loan because it means doing what I want to do. So keep your retail job Orman, because Wal-Mart can kiss my uninsured booty!

In light of the 2009 college and university admission season (and the UCSD adminstrative f-up) the following are actual photographs of the letters I received from each of the ten programs I applied to. I'd thought we take a look at each one and critique them like I would any work of art and design, shall we?

Each letter is critiqued on three basic criteria: language (or syntax), graphic design (presentation), and paper stock (if any). Additional sarcasm, commentary, and "admissions director signature critique" are included as well. Extra donuts for handwritten sigs.

(Ordered in no particular order of preference or chronology as each are dated).

1) CalArts (California Institute of the Arts) ♥

Accepted. Competitiveness unknown (but rumored to be highly selective), one of the top six photography grad programs in the United States according to US News & World Report.

Fabulous enclosure and custom letterhead (obviously paid for a graphic designer and 2-color printing). A courteous, handwritten signature. "Please know that the acceptance decision comes after close consultation with the Dean [...] " A warm congrats! I get the feeling this decision is exclusive. Clearly, the unstructured structure of CalArts and its eclectic, unique, artistic-ness is expressed in this letter, right down to the eccentric signature of the admissions director. This letter embodies the best kind of decision letter to get in the mail. The kind that spreads a stupid cheshire cat smile across your pate. I ♥ CalArts.

2) Columbia University, School of the Arts

Rejected. 1000+ applicants (1600 rumored), 26 spots. 13th overall in US News & World Report.

"A" Clean design. "One of the few handwritten signatures, but obvously a tired hand (only Yale probably has more rejects than Columbia to deal with). Choosing [...] is a difficult and imperfect process in any discipline." As if committee work is hard labor...pfffttt! Excellent paper stock. With over 1,600 applications this year at $100 a pop, Columbia School of the Arts can absolutely afford 25% cotton Strathmore writing. Thanks for the memories Columbia, your SoA tour was the highlight of my trip to NYC!

3) NYU Steinhardt

Rejected. Competitiveness unknown, but only 24 grad students in residence. 33rd overall in US News & World Report.

"Dear Mr. Pun" (Always a good sign to use a salutation...the New York Times does it, so why not everybody else?). Excellent design, but signature is clearly printed with a laser printer. NYU, like most admissions offices during the season, has many letters to print and cannot risk sore-ing the hand of the admissions director. "We realize that the committee's decision may come at a dissapointment to you and are sincerely sorry [...] " I'm sorry you have to be so wordy. At least NYU uses recycled 25% cotton bond and a fee waiver to boot. Damnit! And I had dreams of Greenwich Village like Keri Russell in Felicity.

4) Rhode Island School of Design

Rejected. Something like 8 or 10 available spots. Extremely exclusivo. The Numero Uno MFA Grad School according to US News & World Report (#3 for Photography).

Beautifully designed letterhead. Nothing says prestige and "#1 art school in America" than a circular, calligraphic logotype on Classic Crest paper. Unfortunately, RISD screws it all up by using a screen typeface (Lucida Grande) for print and a clearly digitized signature (bitmaps are visible). Nonetheless, a hearty signature. I mean c'mon, they're a "school of design" for goodness sakes, couldn't they use Adobe Garamond or Bembo? The choice of words was also strange: "We did not find it possible to approve [...]" No possiblity, none whatsoever? Harsh, indeeed. And I heard they had nice student housing, damnit.

5) School of the Art Institute of Chicago

Rejected. The #2 photo grad program in the nation (#1 is Yale). Ranked third overall. Something like 8 spots, too.

Classic Crest paper stock seems to be popular. The director of graduate admissions at SAIC has the best signature of the entire group. John Hancock would probably want more action...but I personally dig it. Big and Swishy...Look how it lifts up into an angle, fills the space and slightly crosses past the text axis into the left hand margin. I can visually see in my mind André S. van de Putte's hand flipping over hundreds of decision letters like it's his business. Now that admissions directors is Professionalism. (In addition, with a name like André S. van de Putte you'd better have a damn good signature). I also liked how the SAIC is "keeping their programs small". Hmm... this strangely somehow makes me feel alright about spending $90 on an application fee when I'm eating garbanzo beans for lunch and dinner for months on end.

6) USC Roski School of Fine Arts

Rejected. TINY: 8 spots according to the letter. Ranked 42nd overall in US News & World Report.

USC's letter is different from the others. Not CalArts different. Uptight, Anal Retentive different. But this is good design wise, as all graphic design is anal retentive. A very linear signature, too. An intersting typeface...looks like Stone serif. Clean and classic. It complements that thick and thin USC logotype. Concise. "To the point" was what my English profs always told me. "This was a very competive year [...]" Indeed. Sadly, no more dreamy dreams of downtown LA :(

7) University of Washington, School of Art

Rejected, competitive (but not on the big apple scale of Columbia nor Yale). Ranked 44th overall.

Classic Crest! U-Dub's letterhead design uses one of my all time favorite typefaces: Rotis. The typographer Otl Aicher created Rotis. Clean, versatile, and readable at small point sizes...oooh Rotis is sexy and german like a Bimmer. Unfortunately, somebody at U-Dub used compressed Helvetica in the body text of the letter. Bad idea. The signature is not impressive (and printed). The letter was also returned to me in a SASE for my portfolio. Couldn't they have have sent the letter in a separate envelope? Furthermore, invitations to apply the next year are not conciliatory. As if I'm going to wait an entire year to apply again?

8) The Museum School, otherwise known as SMFA or more precisely the School of the Museum of the Fine Arts, Boston (a joint MFA studio art program with Tufts University) ♥

Accepted, highly selective, but a good sized program of students and lots of possibilities. Ranked 38th overall.

SMFA's logo is red, square and classy. Traditional white spaced graphic design, as if Massimo Vignelli had a shit-fit with Bodoni and POW! SMFA logo. Additional Props for a personal phone call from one of the graduate faculty. Who cares about office paper and a handwritten signature? I am in sweetie darlings!

9) UCLA

Rejected, extremely competitive...like Yale competitive. Everbody and Kim Kardashian's mom wants to get into UCLA. And who doesn't? Fabulous around-the-clock weather, student housing, shopping, Westwood, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, West Hollywood, and... Catherine Opie! Professor Opie didn't you see my application!? Ranked 9th overall.

A polite letter. I actually enjoy the UC letterhead. It's very conservative and prestigious in its own right. However, E-MAILING and electronic reproduction was never the intention of the design of this letterhead. (see next letter for a full explanation) This letter is more bitmapped and pixelated than your Atari video game. But the signature is interesting... I don't know how I feel about felt tip markers. They remind me of Ray Johnson, or Keith Haring. Slightly nutty, but in a good way. No paper? No more to say!

10) UCSD (UC San Diego)

Rejected. Ranked 18th in US News & World Report.

I wasn't one of the lucky kids on April Fools to get an accepted letter from UCSD. However, emailing decision letters IS THE WORST POSSIBLE WAY TO COMMUNICATE SUCH INFORMATION. I understand that money is scarce, privacy is important, and lots of trees are at stake. But seriously, is it necessary to add injury to insult by sending an email stating that the university has come to a decision, and then directing applicant to a web link, where applicant signs into an online account and then clicks on more hyperlinks to finally get a form letter that isn't even formatted in a PDF file? (not that I would download a PDF and print it out, but UCSD has had to thought of this). So you're telling me I'm rejected on a virtual letterhead? I'm really glad I got rejected from this institution.

***Best wishes to you college applicants everywhere, far and away*** Competitive the process might be, I got into two programs out of ten, which is remarkable considering that I've been going to undergraduate school for 10 years. It's a scary world out there, but dreams really do come true if you're a qualified smart ass.

Equal Rights Amendment

Fri, 9 Jan 2009 10:01:54 -0500

The passage of Proposition 8 in California, as well as the bans on gay marriage in Arizona and Florida, only reinforce my thinking that the US Constitution needs to be amended to protect equal rights for all Americans.

True progress will not be made for gays, lesbians, transgendered nor intersex people without protection from the US constitution. LGBT folks are protected by the constitution, but until an amendment appears stating explicitly that all people should be equal, then bigoted legistlation like Proposition 8 will continue to work its way into the books.

Constitutional history demstronstrates that amendments in the constitution enshrined civil rights for black Americans and voting rights for women.

13th Amendment: Outlawed slavery.

14th Amendment: Equal protection under the law. Due Process. Citizenship clause.

15th Amendment: Voting rights cannot be abridged based on race.

19th Amendment: Voting right cannot be abridged based on sex.

24th Amendment: Eliminated poll taxes.

With civil rights specifically protected by the Amendment, the US Supreme Court would have to make decisions that protect civil rights. Brown vs. Board of Education is an example of how the Supreme Court interpreted "Separate, but Equal" arguments as unconstitutional.

An Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) would raise doubt in Federal laws like the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). Specific language stating that sex discrimination is illegal would recognize same-sex marriage as a right that has to be protected under the US Constitution, and therefore superceding state laws banning gay marriage.

The Equal Rights Amendment would also being greater equality not only for women or LGBT persons, but for all people. Is that such a bad thing?

In our recent history when we have finally elected a mixed race man to the White House, is it not time to bring about greater equality in the United States?

If I had one hour with President-Elect Obama:

I would tell him my experience as a gay, Asian American. I would tell him how proud I am to be such a person. I would tell him, I would not be able to serve openly gay in the military. I would explain to him how I would not be able to share in Federal benefits that come with marriage should I decided to marry my lover one day. I would tell him that even in 2009, with all the progress the US has made within the last 40 years, most Americans are afraid of LGBT people.

Race and sex are still challenges that must be confronted with this new administration. I'm not arguing that health care and economics are not important, but we often neglect civil rights. Just examine the past eight years and you'll understand how civil rights often are ignored.

Vampire Bill

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 10:11:51 -0500

Dave Matthews is indeed getting hotter. However, I must say that the actor Stephen Moyer, who plays Vampire Bill in the HBO series True Blood, has changed my perception about blood sucking beasts. I've already seen his nude body and backside more times than Hugh Jackman's (although Jackman's is not bad as well).

Moyer is certainly the stuff of manhood. Sexy bloody manhood.

cliffotografia's Open Salon Blog

Accepted & Rejected: The Ongoing Saga of College Admissions

Equal Rights Amendment

Vampire Bill