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Today i'm answering another query about costume production grad school, and i am--as always--prefacing it with my disclaimer: I don't run a graduate program, nor do I speak in an official capacity on behalf of the one for which i teach. I have a more informed perspective than the average layperson, but for wholly accurate info specific to a particular program, you should definitely contact that program's director. For links to previous posts on related topics, skip to the bottom of this post.
With that disclaimer in mind, i'll address this new question (via email from a prospective future applicant):
With this answer, i can only talk about what we encourage our applicants to plan for--other programs may have different expectations or requirements in a visit. (And, i would love to hear comments from other programs' participants, how your interviews/visits are structured!) Obviously, your visit can be longer or shorter depending on your availability/interest, and can be customized to a degree, to accommodate your interests, but in general our applicants should plan to spend an entire workday (9am-5pm, M-F) on-site.
Upon arrival, after meeting with one of our faculty or staff (usually either myself or our Costume Director), applicants head off to sit in on classes with the current grad students, whichever courses are being taught the day of the visit. Usually, this winds up being two classes, a 9am class and an 11am class. Where possible the visiting students participate in the coursework--so, if it is a draping class and the students are draping a particular garment in-class, the visitor is provided with a dress form and fabric and encouraged to drape along with everybody else.
After class, we all go to lunch together. Usually, this is an opportunity for the visiting applicant to see some of our campus, and we walk to a local restaurant. (So heads-up--wear shoes you can walk in, and bring some pocket-money for lunch!) Sometimes, if an applicant visits at a particularly busy time, such as during fittings or tech week, we bring lunch in and order pizzas or subs or similar. (Another heads-up: tell us if you have special dietary needs so we can make sure to accommodate them!)
In the afternoon, the applicant has a formal interview with our costume director, and a bit more informal interviews/chats with myself and some of the other faculty and staff. They also have the opportunity to speak with the current grad students one-on-one, and peruse information like our compendium of course syllabi for all offered classes, or our department scrapbook (an informal collection of photos from special events like professional conferences, academic competitions, departmental charity work, and our yearly winter-break party). Our Costume Director takes them on a complete tour of our facility, including our theatre spaces, storage and archive stockrooms, fitting and dressing rooms, etc.
Another event that happens in the afternoon is portfolio presentation, where the applicant is given the opportunity to show her/his portfolio to the group. Unless there's some extenuating circumstance, we all attend that presentation--faculty, staff, and current graduate students. We often ask questions about the portfolio during or following the presentation, and about the candidate's goals and aspirations.
And if there's a show on our mainstage that evening, the applicant is given comp tickets to go see it, so s/he can get a look at our professional work in practice.
It's a full day, and some folks choose to do it in two days, either to see the full complement of classes (MWF/TTh), or to make certain s/he has time to fully experience the program and get to speak with all the students/faculty at length. Some are only able to come a half-day, so clearly those folks get the condensed version of this and have to skip some elements of it.
Hopefully, that provides a good overview of what to expect, and maybe a structure to go from when talking to other programs about visiting and what to plan for.
And, because pictures are worth a thousand words, some images of a recent period pattern class project:
( 1920s day dresses, half form projects for period patterning )
Costume Production MFA FAQ link-collection:
With that disclaimer in mind, i'll address this new question (via email from a prospective future applicant):
What is a typical "visit" like? How much time should I set aside and what can I expect to see/do?
With this answer, i can only talk about what we encourage our applicants to plan for--other programs may have different expectations or requirements in a visit. (And, i would love to hear comments from other programs' participants, how your interviews/visits are structured!) Obviously, your visit can be longer or shorter depending on your availability/interest, and can be customized to a degree, to accommodate your interests, but in general our applicants should plan to spend an entire workday (9am-5pm, M-F) on-site.
Upon arrival, after meeting with one of our faculty or staff (usually either myself or our Costume Director), applicants head off to sit in on classes with the current grad students, whichever courses are being taught the day of the visit. Usually, this winds up being two classes, a 9am class and an 11am class. Where possible the visiting students participate in the coursework--so, if it is a draping class and the students are draping a particular garment in-class, the visitor is provided with a dress form and fabric and encouraged to drape along with everybody else.
After class, we all go to lunch together. Usually, this is an opportunity for the visiting applicant to see some of our campus, and we walk to a local restaurant. (So heads-up--wear shoes you can walk in, and bring some pocket-money for lunch!) Sometimes, if an applicant visits at a particularly busy time, such as during fittings or tech week, we bring lunch in and order pizzas or subs or similar. (Another heads-up: tell us if you have special dietary needs so we can make sure to accommodate them!)
In the afternoon, the applicant has a formal interview with our costume director, and a bit more informal interviews/chats with myself and some of the other faculty and staff. They also have the opportunity to speak with the current grad students one-on-one, and peruse information like our compendium of course syllabi for all offered classes, or our department scrapbook (an informal collection of photos from special events like professional conferences, academic competitions, departmental charity work, and our yearly winter-break party). Our Costume Director takes them on a complete tour of our facility, including our theatre spaces, storage and archive stockrooms, fitting and dressing rooms, etc.
Another event that happens in the afternoon is portfolio presentation, where the applicant is given the opportunity to show her/his portfolio to the group. Unless there's some extenuating circumstance, we all attend that presentation--faculty, staff, and current graduate students. We often ask questions about the portfolio during or following the presentation, and about the candidate's goals and aspirations.
And if there's a show on our mainstage that evening, the applicant is given comp tickets to go see it, so s/he can get a look at our professional work in practice.
It's a full day, and some folks choose to do it in two days, either to see the full complement of classes (MWF/TTh), or to make certain s/he has time to fully experience the program and get to speak with all the students/faculty at length. Some are only able to come a half-day, so clearly those folks get the condensed version of this and have to skip some elements of it.
Hopefully, that provides a good overview of what to expect, and maybe a structure to go from when talking to other programs about visiting and what to plan for.
And, because pictures are worth a thousand words, some images of a recent period pattern class project:
( 1920s day dresses, half form projects for period patterning )
Costume Production MFA FAQ link-collection:
