Applicable only to students admitted during the 2012-2013 academic year.

Design | Media Arts

School of the Arts and Architecture

Graduate Degrees

The Department of Design | Media Arts offers the Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A.) degree in Design | Media Arts.

Admission

Program Name

Design | Media Arts

Address

Broad Art Center, Rm. 2275
Box 951456
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1456 

Phone

(310) 267-4907 

Email

dmainfo@arts.ucla.edu  

Leading to the degree of

M.F.A. 

Admission Limited to

Fall 

Deadline to apply

December 15th 

GRE (General and/or Subject)

GRE: Not required 

Letters of Recommendation 

Not required 

Other Requirements

In addition to the University's minimum requirements and those listed above, all applicants are expected to submit a statement of purpose.

The applicant's bachelor's degree need not be in Design | Media Arts; applicants with degrees in interdisciplinary programs that emphasize design and media arts are preferred.

Applicants are required to submit the departmental supplemental application and portfolio (visit the department's website for instructions), and to have working knowledge of graphics software. Additional experience with video, interactive media, or 3D modeling and animation is expected.

Applicants are required to submit a portfolio of no more than ten (10) pieces of the applicant's original work in digital form on a CD-R by January 15. The portfolio should contain the best current work representing the applicant's media emphasis and potential for advanced specialized study . Still images must be submitted in either JPEG or TIFF and must be 1024 x 768 pixels at 72 dpi in RGB. Video may be submitted as excerpts on CD-Rom as .avi or .mov files; the total length should be no more than a maximum of two minutes. Web sites or other interactive projects should be submitted on the same CD-Rom or as a link. Directions should be included. Special programs or extras will not be downloaded. Sound files may be submitted on the same CD-Rom using such standard formats as AIF, WAV or MP3.

Faculty review of applications takes place in Winter quarter. Applicant finalists should be available for a telephone or in-person interview.

For applicants whose native language is not English, certification of proficiency in English is required and may be satisfied through one of the following examination options:
a) a minimum score of 620 (paper and pencil test) or 260 (computer-based test) on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL);
b) for the internet-based TOEFL (TOEFL iBT), achieving the recommended minimum passing scores for each section and the minimum total required passing score:
Writing: 25
Speaking: 24
Reading:21
Listening: 17
Total minimum passing score required: 87
or c) an overall band score of 7.0 on the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) examination. 

Master of Fine Arts

Advising

Upon admission, an Initial Advisory Committee is formed for the student by the chair and the graduate counselor of the department. This committee is composed of the student's faculty adviser, and at least one other member of the Design|Media Arts faculty. It is the adviser's responsibility, along with other members of the committee, to monitor the student's progress and provide advice until the student is considered ready to select an M.F.A. Graduate Guidance Committee for the graduate degree. Members of the Initial Advisory Committee may or may not eventually become members of the Graduate Guidance Committee.

The Graduate Guidance Committee must be established no later than the fourth quarter of full-time residency. The Graduate Guidance Committee, which is made up from members of the Design|Media Arts faculty appointed by the chair of the department, is charged with the responsibility of reviewing the student's progress toward the comprehensive examination project at least once every quarter of enrollment. A record of these reviews is placed in the student's file, which is available for the student's inspection.

Areas of Study

Media Art: interactive media, time-based work, virtual environments, and information spaces.

Foreign Language Requirement

None.

Course Requirements

A minimum of 80 quarter units of upper division and graduate Design | Media Arts courses is required. 68 of the 80 units require letter grades; 12 units require S/U grades. Required courses: Design | Media Arts 200, 252A, and 252B must be taken during the first two quarters in residence; Design | Media Arts 269 is to be taken twice (eight units) once each year while in residence; 12 units of Design | Media Arts 403 (S/U grading) and 36 units of Design | Media Arts 404 are to be taken during the first two years in residence; and 16 units of electives, of which eight units of Design | Media Arts 596 may be applied toward the requirements for the degree.

Teaching Experience

While graduate students have the opportunity to work with the faculty as teaching assistants for undergraduate courses, this is not a requirement for the degree program.

Field Experience

Not Required.

Comprehensive Examination Plan

The comprehensive examination consists of an oral examination and a concentrated body of work which is presented as the master's statement. Also required is an accompanying record of the project, consisting of documentation in the form of images of physical work, research material, and other visual material; this includes a written statement as determined by the graduate guidance committee.

Thesis Plan

None.

Time-to-Degree

From graduate admission to award of the degree: six quarters is the normal time-to-degree.

Termination of Graduate Study and Appeal of Termination

University Policy

A student who fails to meet the above requirements may be recommended for termination of graduate study. A graduate student may be disqualified from continuing in the graduate program for a variety of reasons. The most common is failure to maintain the minimum cumulative grade point average (3.00) required by the Academic Senate to remain in good standing (some programs require a higher grade point average). Other examples include failure of examinations, lack of timely progress toward the degree and poor performance in core courses. Probationary students (those with cumulative grade point averages below 3.00) are subject to immediate dismissal upon the recommendation of their department. University guidelines governing termination of graduate students, including the appeal procedure, are outlined in Standards and Procedures for Graduate Study at UCLA.

Special Departmental or Program Policy

The Graduate Guidance Committee may recommend termination of graduate study if the committee deems that the student's creative work and progress towards the completion of the degree is inadequate in quality or quantity. This determination must be made in a formal meeting of the committee. The student may appeal a recommendation of termination by petition to the whole faculty through the department chair. An ad hoc committee of Design | Media Arts faculty may be assigned by the Chair to review the decision of the Guidance Committee and make a report to the entire Design|Media Arts faculty. They then make a final determination to uphold or reverse the recommendation of the Guidance Committee.