What if you don't have major research as an undergrad?
I have a bunch of questions, but a major one is about the lack of research experience in my background.
I'm applying for a MFA in design after a very long time out of school. I took a liberal arts program, so there weren't necessarily labs, studios or the chance to work with professors. I've written some undergrad papers that are directly related to my topic that I'm applying to in grad school, but worry that that lack of formal research in a lab or with a professor can affect my candidancy, and don't have a way to really include those papers in my application. I did 2 professional certicates as well, but again, not really research oriented per se - or only specific to one very practice 'how you do usability testing' type topic, so the 'research' was more 'I created this project for an exercise' and not in depth papers.
I've mentioned one of the longer papers I wrote in undergrad in my Statement of Purpose, but probably silly to include it in my porfolio. I've written reports as a professional in my field for clients, but don't know of a way to include those in a portfolio to demonstrate that I've synthesized my 'research' (i.e. user research) and created analysis out of it - just not in an academic setting. The program I'm applying to seems to do a mix - lots of research, but students are evaluated on shorter projects, and the written thesis is not a lengthy one.
Any ideas? How did you address the lack of research as an undergrad? I hear that you're not supposed to address gaps, but other people also say you need to mention what you'll do to address an area where you haven't done something.
I'm applying for a MFA in design after a very long time out of school. I took a liberal arts program, so there weren't necessarily labs, studios or the chance to work with professors. I've written some undergrad papers that are directly related to my topic that I'm applying to in grad school, but worry that that lack of formal research in a lab or with a professor can affect my candidancy, and don't have a way to really include those papers in my application. I did 2 professional certicates as well, but again, not really research oriented per se - or only specific to one very practice 'how you do usability testing' type topic, so the 'research' was more 'I created this project for an exercise' and not in depth papers.
I've mentioned one of the longer papers I wrote in undergrad in my Statement of Purpose, but probably silly to include it in my porfolio. I've written reports as a professional in my field for clients, but don't know of a way to include those in a portfolio to demonstrate that I've synthesized my 'research' (i.e. user research) and created analysis out of it - just not in an academic setting. The program I'm applying to seems to do a mix - lots of research, but students are evaluated on shorter projects, and the written thesis is not a lengthy one.
Any ideas? How did you address the lack of research as an undergrad? I hear that you're not supposed to address gaps, but other people also say you need to mention what you'll do to address an area where you haven't done something.