YALE SCHOOL OF ART ­ADMISSION

ENTRANCE REQUIREMENTS

Admission to The School of Art requires preparation and lead time. Admission committees are made up of faculty members and facilitated by our admission team. A bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university or a diploma from a four-year accredited art school is standard for admission. In exceptional cases, the admissions committee may waive a degree prerequisite if deemed sufficient equivalents have been achieved by the applicant. The acceptance rate for Fall 2024 admission was 6%.

ADMISSION GUIDELINES

Admission to Yale’s MFA program is for the fall semester only, annually. Preliminary admission decisions and finalist notification will be sent in early February. Offers of admission are sent in early March.

To apply for more than one area of concentration, separate applications and supporting documentation must be submitted. Applying to more than one program does not increase an applicant’s chances of selection.

Please note: An offer of admission to Yale is valid only for enrollment the year the application is made. Applicants who are offered admission but choose not to enroll are welcome to reapply to the school in a future cycle.

DEADLINE: The application for academic year 2025-2026 will open in October 2024. Take time to prepare, review, and revise application materials, get familiar with the system, and request letters and transcripts with lead time. The application will be due January 8, 2025 at 11:59PM.

Instructions for All Applicants

An application to the School of Art requires forethought and planning. Follow all instructions carefully to ensure that your application is viewed to your best advantage.

For an explanation of specific requirements for each area of study, please refer to the departmental sections that follow.

Submit the following materials to complete your application:

• Application form: Open from early October until the January 8, 2025 deadline. Please note that the School of Art is NOT part of the Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and it is not possible to apply by using application materials found on the Graduate School’s Web site.

• Fee: Follow payment instructions at https://apply.art.yale.edu/apply/ to submit your $100 non-refundable fee. Yale School of Art practices “need blind admission” (candidate financial need or ability is never disclosed to the admission committee during review of MFA applications), as such fee waivers are not available. The only exception is applicants whose primary citizenship is a nation with cost-prohibitive US exchange rates. The 2025 list is: Venezuela, Iran, Vietnam, Indonesia, Uzbekistan, Sierra Leone, Laos, Guinea, Paraguay, and Cambodia.

• Statement: A one-page statement addressing your current practice, interests, influences, and/or lived experiences relative to the subject matter of your work and research, and goals for graduate study. Applicants to the Painting/Printmaking program should make reference in their statements to the “representative work” in the portfolio; this is not critical for the other programs.

• Recommendations: Letters from three references, ideally practicing or teaching in your area of interest. It is recommended to seek letters of support from those familiar with your practice, community values, and potential for growth in Yale’s MFA program. NOTE: Ask recommenders for letters with plenty of lead time. The admissions committee reviews applications shortly after the deadline. Though the submission portal for references will remain open, late submissions risk possible exclusion from the first round of reviews. Applicants can view the receipt status of reference letters and send reminders on the application status page.

• Transcripts: An undergraduate academic transcript showing dates of attendance, coursework, and grades from your degree-issuing institution. Junior or community college transcripts are not necessary to include when submitting transcripts. A student/unofficial copy of your transcript may be submitted to the application for the preliminary review. Yale only requires official transcripts from applicants selected as finalists invited to interview. The Graduate Record Examination (GRE) scores are NOT required.

• Portfolio of work: Select work that you are most excited about; that indicates the current direction and ideas you’re exploring and demonstrates technical/formal skills you’ve achieved. Be sure to include work done within the last year; we recommend at least half the works you include to be recent. Image order will default chronologically by year; you will not be able to override this. The application system will require the designation of one “representative work within your portfolio, which is simply the default image for the cover page of each applicant’s file, so choose a piece that most represents ideas central to their current body of work. Do not include composite images (where multiple images, views, or works are grouped into one image file or layout). Do not include detail photos of work in your portfolio unless you consider them absolutely necessary (such as for three-dimensional pieces). Portfolio requirements differ depending upon area of concentration; follow the instructions for the area to which you are applying.

Next Steps After Applying

Once an application has been submitted, you should familiarize yourself with the admission status page within our application portal. Here you will be able to track the receipt of required supporting materials (such as recommendations).

Applicants are encouraged to check the status of their application materials and follow up as necessary. Submitted items are updated in real time on the application status checklist page. Our office is unable to provide application status checks or confirm the receipt of items by phone or by email due to the high volume of incoming applications.

Applicants who have passed the Preliminary Selection Jury will be notified in early February. At this time, applicants invited to interview are required to submit official transcripts to the School. Candidates are asked to prepare supplemental portfolio materials to be presented digitally during the interview. Detailed instructions will be included in the invitation to interview. Individual interviews will be scheduled for mid-late February, depending on the program. The interview is an important component of the final selection process.

ADMISSION

Final notification of admission will be sent in early March. Offers of admission are good only for the year in which they are made; Yale does not practice deferred admission. Financial Aid Award notification will be sent shortly after notification of admission for those who meet the filing deadline. Offers of admission include an official reply form. Declare your enrollment decision by submission of the form by April 15.

YALE UNIVERSITY’S NONDISCRIMINATION/TITLE IX STATEMENTS

The University is committed to basing judgments concerning the admission, education, and employment of individuals upon their qualifications and abilities and affirmatively seeks to attract to its faculty, staff, and student body qualified persons of diverse backgrounds. In accordance with this policy and as delineated by federal and Connecticut law, Yale does not discriminate in admissions, educational programs, or employment against any individual on account of that individual’s sex, race, color, religion, age, disability, status as a protected veteran, or national or ethnic origin; nor does Yale discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity or expression. University policy is committed to affirmative action under law in employment of women, minority group members, individuals with disabilities, and protected veterans. Inquiries concerning these policies may be referred to Valarie Stanley, Director of the Office for Equal Opportunity Programs, 221 Whitney Avenue, 3rd Floor, 203.432.0849. For additional information, see www.yale.edu/equalopportunity. Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 protects people from sex discrimination in educational programs and activities at institutions that receive federal financial assistance. Questions regarding Title IX may be referred to the University’s Title IX Coordinator, Stephanie Spangler, at 203.432.4446 or at titleix@yale.edu, or to the U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights, 8th Floor, Five Post Office Square, Boston MA 02109-3921. Telephone: 617.289.0111, Fax: 617.289.0150, TDD: 800.877.8339, or Email: ocr.boston@ed.gov.