Slade School of Fine Art Application Advice

Thank you!

From what I have gathered, when they are looking at portfolios they are trying to get a sense of who you are as a person. SO if you are a multi-disciplinary artist, that is who you are!! I for one, just happened to get super interested in one material at that point, and was making a huge amount of work in a short space of time with the same materials I had available to me, but what I spoke about in my interview was how interested I was in material itself. They were more interested in how interested I was, and the way I spoke about the artists I inspired me, I think, than my actual work.

Do you think it's likely they will start sending decisions tomorrow?

if anything guys.. I reckon the rejections start tomorrow. I looked up last years thread, they started on the wednesday after. Then the interviews came on the Friday...

what time of day was that if you don't mind looking?

So rejections via UCAS interviews via email, right? UCAS takes time to update their info. My Chelsea choice still shows "referred" despite the rejection almost two weeks ago.

Do they look at all personal statements or are they more likely to just look at those who are interviewed? Any inklings?

That's what I was wondering. If you PM me I will give you a theory I have

Hi guys

I'm currently in my first year at the Slade, you've probably seen my portfolio if you were as snoopy and obsessive as I was last year. Given that portfolio inspections were last week, I was reminded of how awful it was last January, but how great it was to have people to talk to on here, so I had a little look to see if people were doing the same this year.

Everyone in the school is completely and utterly different from anyone else there, so my strongest advice is to NOT try and make work to fit into what you might think the Slade is 'looking for'. They aren't looking for a set number of drawings, a certain style, a specific theme or whatever. What they want is people who are interested in what they are interested in, whatever that may be. It's so easy to see when someone is just making work in an attempt to appease them. So put the things you are proud of in your portfolio! Talk about the things you want to talk about if you get an interview. They are interested in YOU more than anything.

Everyone who got in last year is doing completely different things. There are traditional painters, there are poets, there are people who hurt themselves and film it... there are people who make RPG games, and there are people who don't make anything at all because all they want to do right now is read, and all of these things are legitimate and encouraged.

I'd say the one thing that does play a role in whether you get an interview is whether there are lots of people making similar work to you, which is often the case because we all come from similar backgrounds in terms of school and foundation. From having spoken to the tutors etc who interviewed, what they are looking for is diversity, commitment to work, self-direction, interest, passion and perhaps a little eccentricity of character (everyone here is somewhat strange).

It's stupid to worry and fret about how your work compares to the work of others, because that is exactly what will stop you producing work that is interesting to you.

I'm pretty sure at the open day they said that someone would read out your personal statement whilst looking through your work.

Hi guys do you mind telling me how is Slade different from other great art schools like goldsmiths chelsea brighton or csm and why do you want to go there so badly?

I'm feeling less confident if that's the case. I applied to other creative courses on ucas so couldn't write it solely around fine art, plus I wrote it for my oxford application in October when my artistic tastes were quite different! All my writing was on a separate sheet inside the portfolio, and that's what I hope they read more of!
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PS zooera that was so kind of you to respond , you are a godsend!

this is my worry too! Hopefully they wont take it so literally and might realize the Oxford application.

Hi guys do you mind telling me how is Slade different from other great art schools like goldsmiths chelsea brighton or csm and why do you want to go there so badly?

Well Slade is literally one of the best in the world, like top 10 for art. And UCL is probably is the top 20 for universities in the world. Slade takes a new approach it's cutting edge. They're very selective and they want you to do well. You are free to be utterly yourself. Plus they have contacts and looks very good on reference. I loved the vibe. I'm a city girl, I've been brought up in London so it would be a little weird to go somewhere else. I suppose I've just always been told it's the best and that's why I want it

Certainly Slade is contemporary and produces the most talented students but I'd say cutting edge belongs to Goldsmiths or Kingston. They gamble more with the students they take on and tend to get the edge because of that. Slade respects the past and takes a more academic approach which I prefer but Gold/ston are the most progressive (perhaps a little too much)!

These are all inklings i should point out....