HeyIowa

It honestly sounds like you were already accepted and they're just holding their cards close EDIT: This happened to me at both Iowa and Sarah Lawrence and I ended up getting offers from both

I'd go with Notre Dame —a four year program is ridiculously long for an MFA, and you get better funding at Notre Dame + actual time to write. Plus I assume poetry's more fun than translating text.

All very valid points. I also know a lot of people who commute to school —I take the subway to class everyday despite living in Manhattan, but I find that living far off-campus requires too much discipline for me (I lived in East Elmhurst, Queens for the summer and the 1 hour 30 minute commute (3 hours both ways) killed me / my productivity —despite the $350 a month rent). A 30 minute commute is a reality for me even though I live like 2 miles away from campus, and if I lived any farther, even 8AMs would be nigh impossible for all but the most bright and bushy-tailed. I also find it harder to go out with friends / invite people over when I lived in the outer boroughs. Oftentimes you'll go for drinks / throw a dinner party after classes, and nobody wants to go all the way to Williamsburg or even Astoria, much less Jersey City / Long Island. Personally I feel like a long commute saps my energy and really restricts my social life. I guess it really depends on the person whether you could stomach a long commute every day. It's not so bad during Fall / Spring but the hot humid summers and frigid winters can make you really wish you lived closer to campus.

First of all, congratulations —that's a big accomplishment! Things you should know: The New School is expensive. Prohibitively so. A 25% funding offer will still put you 40k+ / year in loans. So is any MFA worth 80-100k? New York is also insanely expensive. I'm finishing my undergrad in Manhattan and I spend around 3k a month in expenses (including rent, food, entertainment, etc) and I feel like I'm living rather frugally. Luckily, I got a full scholarship and didn't have to pay for tuition on top of that. So you need to budget another 36k / year (give or take) just to do anything in NYC. Trust me, you don't want to cheap out and commute from the outer boroughs in Queens or Brooklyn —most of the New School buildings are concentrated around Union Square and Greenwich Village, and a 1+ hour commute will really take time away (from your writing, job, personal interests, etc.). You can split a large (for NY standards —9x12') room for about ~$1000 / month in the East Village —I'd much rather have a roommate and live in Manhattan than live by myself in Jackson Heights or even Williamsburg. If you're independently wealthy, I'd say go for it. If you're not, and have to take out loans, I would strongly discourage you from going to The New School. Great things about the school: Your New School ID will give you access to NYU buildings such as Bobst Library (one of the biggest libraries in New York), dining halls, and more. The New School justifies its sticker price with an advantageous location (perfect if you're going to work / do an internship), top notch facilities (seriously, I've NEVER seen better facilities in any school. The newer buildings are simply incredible. It feels like you're taking classes in a clandestine psy-ops / artistic military facility. Seriously cool), great student body (full of artists and creatives). I'm friends with several undergrads at the New School and could ask them for more information if you have any specific questions about the school. I don't know much about the MFA program there but I know it's selective and prestigious. Also consider applying to scholarships if paying for school is going to be a burden. (And seriously. Don't. Take. 80k+ plus. In loans. You will be paying that off until the day you die).

Woo!!!!! Congrats Ovalwriter!!

Congratulations Emburst! I sincerely hope you get in!

NYU called me yesterday, they seem to be doling out acceptances right about now.

I applied to Sarah Lawrence because of their amazing A+ list faculty and involved program. Top 50 is not the end all be all of good MFA programs. I think the SLC program is truly great, and only suffers in the rankings because of their stingy aid packages.

@quentinc No news certain does not mean a rejection is in the mail! 1. They don't call everybody. 2. I was told that my letter would come in mid-March, so they may be sending things out in batches.

It is snail mail —they send out final decisions by snail mail

@emburst I contacted the folks at my program —that way they can schedule you into a workshop and maybe give you some pointers on where to stay / best time to visit. @bobkat Welcome! I applied in 2 genres as well —fiction and creative nonfiction. I think it's fine and won't put you in a disadvantage at all.

I know I was one of the earliest to get contacted —without going into too much detail, I omitted something from my application by accident and received a call from Iowa asking me to upload the document (an inconsequential financial document). The next day I received THE call from Samantha Chang. I left out a lot of details but basically that's what happened. I'm under the impression that they haven't given out the bulk of this year's acceptances. EDIT: @theretheirthey're I'll see you next semester at the Dey House! —the kid from NYU

Cheers!

I can show proof if you want to PM me

Sarah Lawrence just sent off their acceptances

I hope that Iowa isn't too cutthroat. I'm doing my undergrad at NYU and the creative writing program has a very nurturing / supportive environment.

Thanks Samson36 —how's UVA?

Do you guys know roughly when Syracuse or UVA will announce results?

@ovalwriter Ethically, it's not good form to renege on a done deal, but I don't think there is any financial penalty. Some programs (read: not fully funded ones) will make you pay a deposit when you accept, and you will lose your deposit if you withdraw. I don't really see a scenario in which you would accept an offer and then decide not to attend, barring extraordinary circumstances, seeing how you should only accept an offer once you get results from every school you're interested in.

Oh wow I completely forgot about Brown —that will be interesting. I doubt that waitlists for Iowa will hear results this early —the deadline for accepting offers to Iowa is April 15th, and I feel like accepted applicants will at least wait for the other schools to report back before they accept / reject Iowa's offer.

I'm a POC who got into Iowa (as you've gathered from the other thread). No real concerns about being a POC in an MFA program. I went to school in New York and I've only encountered a great amount of support throughout my life from pretty much everybody. Don't worry, you won't be the only POC in the workshop. Schools want diversity just as much as you do!

Thanks guys! Sending my love to each of you

Despite the Iowa acceptance, I've gotten rejects so far from Washington University in St. Louis,U Minnesota, Cornell, and Michener. You never know how things shake out. Still have 7 more decisions to wait for, including UCI, Syracuse, Brown, Virginia, and Vanderbilt. Only really interested in Vanderbilt, UVA, and Syracuse at this point, more for the external validation than any real desire to go. But honestly I wouldn't be surprised if I got rejections from 10-12 of the 14 I applied to

@jforms They haven't informed everybody yet. You still have a chance! Good luck!

I'm afraid the Iowa one wasn't a hoax!! Got a call a couple days ago and I'm still in shock! EDIT: I got in for fiction. Good luck to all of you and I hope you're going to be rolling in acceptances!