Do MFA degrees take your undergrad grades into account in admissions?

I'm sure they do

MFA, MBA, whatever; I would think all grad school programs use undergrad grades to weed out undesirable/undeserving students.

It depends on the program and school. The better your undergraduate GPA the better school you get into. Great letters of recommendation help too!

I ask because my friend auditioned for MFA acting programs. He got the idea it was all based on auditions.

BUT one school called and said he'd been admitted. He was like I haven't even auditioned yet. They said oh you got into the university as a whole thereby making him think auditions weren't the only criteria like he was led to believe.

just curious

While it does vary many post graduate programs have two separate entry requirement. One first must be formally admitted to college/university, then also apply to whatever graduate program.

Some colleges/universities have things working in tandem; one applies to said college/university for admission to graduate school, and they in turn work in tandem with whatever department is necessary.

In any event at some point everything must go through formal admission to college/university since they are ones who issue degrees. Requirements for post graduate degrees often are laid down by state laws/rules just as they are for undergraduate. Things like credit distribution and so forth.

To answer OP's query regarding undergrad GPA, yes it can affect chances of being admitted to a graduate program, but things do vary. Fine arts maybe different than MBA, or a Masters of Science.

Columbia in common with many other colleges and universities wants to see a cumulative GPA of at least 3.0 from all undergraduate work. However also in common with some other schools Colombia does offer conditional admissions for those who fall short.

Better news for those seeking admission to grad school nowadays is many colleges/universities are dropping GMAT and GRE scores as required part of application process.

OP is asking if there is any MFA programs that will admit them with a 1.8 GPA