lagoon91

if there are so few claimed acceptances from Iowa, is it silly to still hold out hope? 2 or 3 is not much considering they accept 50 people (~25 per genre) . im just keeping my fingers crossed, begging the ancestors/deities/etc..., im willing to sacrifice a lamb at this point. good luck this week everyone!

yea i definitely tried to make it obvious in my personal statement and writing sample that i would be coming to workshop with a particular perspective, so nobody's shocked, haha. sandy bubbles good point! i hold out to some hope about the great writers of color that MFA programs have produced (scores from Iowa like ZZ Packer, Junot Diaz at Cornell, Edwidge Danticat at Brown, etc...) i think POC at these programs definitely have a lot to offer, and a lot to gain. did anyone else have a specific faculty member(s) they wanted to work with? i was excited about Iowa because Ayana Mathis is coming in the fall. also Zadie Smith is at NYU, and that would be the best thing ever!

thanks for your comments all. for me it's certainly important that a MFA program have both a serious commitment to diverse cohorts while also being a quality program. i wouldn't want to attend a program that has a good number of folks of color if the program itself was not fantastic. at the same time, a good program knows the importance of have varied and representative voices. i have POC friends in various high tier MFA programs who lament their time there because they've been told from students AND faculty that their work is "too ethnic", "not relatable", "too multicultural", "written with an agenda", critiques that have nothing to do with standard of work. i don't want to be in workshop with people criticizing me for using "ethnic names" rather that making comments about sentence structure or grammar. i want to enjoy my MFA experience as much as any other student in the cohort. sandy bubbles, that's an interesting question. i think it would be a hard decision to make, because a better suited program would be preferential; i would just hope i would feel supported there in my work and goals. but hopefully we'll have the privilege of choosing

i meant to title this "MFA Applicants of Color", oops

hey yall, i'm just curious about other POC (as in self-identified non-white ppl, because somehow i always need to clarify) who are applying to MFA programs. i'm curious about how many of us there are (if youre willing to show yourselves!), where everyone applied/how the process is going for you, where you wanna go, what you're looking for in a program, any fears or concerns based on potentially being a POC in an MFA program, etc etc. I applied to a ton of places myself, and it's really important to me that i not be the only POC in workshop/the faculty has at least some POC on staff, because that can be really weird and difficult. that's why i so badly wanna go to Indiana, since they make serious effort to accept a diverse cohort each year. thoughts, comments?

also that being said, is anyone else interested in Indiana/heard anything back? it's kinda one of my dream schools, and they've been real hush hush so far in terms of notification.

agreed! this was such a comfort to read. i've been all down in the dumps about this process and ive only gotten one rejection. i keep forgetting that there are still 10 chances left! thanks for the perspective HeyIowa, and congrats to you! everyone, we will be okay!!

also also, in case anyone is wondering, i just saw on the MFA Years site that Michigan will begin notifications this week so be on alert and best of luck!! (here's the link. Michael Byers left a comment: http://themfayears.com/2015/01/23/where-are-you-applying/#more-1228)

speaking of Michener, looks like they've started another round of rejections. good luck to all! and yea i think Iowa's done at this point. just waiting to officially add them to the reject list :/

what?? who has access to this type of information? has anyone else heard back? my app status on ISIS still says in progress.

same! don't feel too bad, we're in it together i guess :/ im a little bummed cause it was my top choice. but it feels silly to have top choices in MFA programs, the whole thing is just so up in the air

:'( Cornell, you're breaking my heart. Waiting for a rejection now I guess...

So apparently that Cornell accept was a hoax?? Is the Iowa one a hoax too?? Who would play these types of games???? I also get the feeling that this coming week is gonna be a big one in terms of contact from programs, so fingers crossed for all!

Hi Meowlly, thanks for the encouragement. As far as I know, Cornell's is a pretty small program (only 8 acceptances a year, 4 in each genre) so I doubt it'd take them long to call just 8 people. I just so desperately wanna be one of those 8! Also to specify, I applied in fiction! I went big school-wise, so I applied to as many as I could afford. I applied to: Alabama Brown Cornell Iowa Michigan Michener NYU Purdue Syracuse UIUC WUSTL Haven't hear back from anyone, zip. No acceptances, no rejections, no waitlists. I guess with some of these schools, no new is good news for now?

hey yall, im new to this forum, but my anxiety has driven me seek commiseration. I saw on the grad cafe survey that there has been contact from Cornell? Cornell's my top choice and I am freaking out about not having received a call today. I'm not on facebook. Anyone seen anything on draft?? Has every accepted applicant been contacted?? I'm freaking out!!!