Apply: MFA

Click here to start the Rackham Graduate Admission Application Form.

The Application Form will require the following:

• Creative Work Statement: We are eager to learn more about you and your creative practice. Provide a statement that addresses these three topics (600 words maximum):
  Creative Work: describe the form that your work takes and the motivations and influences that drive your work.
  MFA Expectations and Aspirations: explain why you are pursuing an MFA and what you hope to achieve during your MFA experience.
  Stamps School: describe the features of the Stamps MFA program that most interest you; name three Stamps faculty you would like to work with and why; identify what field(s) of inquiry outside of the Stamps School you want to engage while at Michigan, what faculty in those areas you would like to work with and why.
• Personal Statement: This should be a discussion of the journey that has led to your decision to seek a graduate degree, in 500 words or less. How have your background and life experiences, including cultural, geographical, financial, educational or other opportunities or challenges, motivated your decision to pursue a graduate degree at the University of Michigan’s Stamps School?
• Official Transcript:
  - All applicants must upload a scanned copy, front and back, of their official transcript/academic record issued by the Registrar or Records Office, to ApplyWeb for each bachelor’s, master’s, professional, or doctoral degree earned or in progress. The scanned copy of the official transcript is used for initial review by the graduate program faculty.
  - A downloaded transcript from your school portal or system is an unofficial transcript and not acceptable for review.
  - If you are attending or have graduated from a Non-U.S. institution, review the Required Academic Credentials from Non-U.S. Institutions for requirements by country.
  - We will require an official transcript be sent to Rackham only after an offer of admission is made.
• Curriculum Vitae or Résumé.
• Three Letters of Recommendation: Electronic submission is the highly preferred method to submit letters of recommendation. If your recommenders would prefer to use a paper recommendation instead, download a paper recommendation form here. This form and the accompanying letter should both be emailed to Stamps Graduate Admissions staff.
• Evidence of English proficiency for students whose first language is not English.
• Required academic credentials from non-U.S. institutions.
• Nonrefundable application fee.

• A primary criterion for admission to the MFA program at the Stamps School of Art & Design is the assessment of your portfolio by our faculty. Graduate applicants will submit a portfolio of no more than 20 examples of recent work using SlideRoom.
• Your portfolio should represent your best work, consist of work done within the last five years, and demonstrate the current direction of your studio practice.
• Each slide on Slideroom should be used for one image or one time-based work; do not upload files (jpgs or pdfs) with multiple pages or images.
• Time-based samples should be no longer than five-minutes with web links to full-length versions if appropriate.
• Please order your work chronologically with the newest work first, and provide complete descriptions that will help us understand the image.
• Click here to start your SlideRoom portfolio.
• As a general policy, due to the number of applications we receive, we do not provide individual online feedback or critiques of application portfolios.