School of Critical Studies application requirements

Writing Program (MFA only)

A portfolio is required in addition to a statement discussing your writing/artistic practice and referencing your creative and/or critical influences.

The portfolio should include up to 40 double-spaced typed pages. There is no minimum length. Applicants are invited to submit work in multiple genres. The MFA Writing Program encourages interdisciplinary work, which can be submitted on slides, video- or audiotape, disk or CD-ROM. Please include a completed Portfolio Information Form with each mailed portfolio package. Address your portfolio to the Office of Admissions at CalArts using the attached printable Portfolio Mailing Label. Do not send your portfolio directly to the School of Critical Studies. Doing so will cause a delay in the review of your work.

Students who would like to apply for a first-year graduate or teaching assistantship should enclose a résumé and request in the application package. Teaching assistantships are more likely given during the second year of residency.

Aesthetics and Politics Program (MA only)

A portfolio is required in addition to a statement addressing your academic and artistic interests, the ways in which they relate to aesthetic and political concerns, and your goals in enrolling in the program.

The portfolio should include a writing sample with a theoretical or political focus and be up to 20 pages long. An optional portfolio of visual works may be submitted in the form of slides, video or DVD. Please include a completed Portfolio Information Form with each mailed portfolio package. Address your portfolio to the Office of Admissions at CalArts using the printable Portfolio Mailing Label. Do not send your portfolio directly to the School of Critical Studies. Doing so will cause a delay in the review of your work.

MFA Interschool Degrees

To pursue an interschool course of study in writing and another arts discipline, students must be fully accepted by both the MFA Writing Program and a second CalArts program. Prospective students interested in such a curriculum are required to submit separate applications to the MFA Writing Program and the CalArts school offering the second program. Applicants should clearly state any interschool plans in their statement of intent.