GlowStick

I know that someone on Draft who knew the program was "99% certain" that the earliest Iowa notification was not true. But, as far as I saw, it was only the earliest claim that raised any suspicion. The rest have just been called "early." Last I checked, everyone seemed to be expecting that quite a few more will come out in quicker succession in the next few weeks. Or to quote directly, "They're the early ones. It'll come in a flood when they really get going." But I take most of what I hear on the Draft with a grain of salt, so I don't know how much that really helps.

Congrats on getting onto the waitlists! I don't know much about Minnesota, but I know Wisconsin is a great (and competitive) program! I'm excited to apply there next year if I don't get any good offers this round. Got my first rejection--Michener--and I handled it about as well as I thought I would. I went from "I expected this," to utter devastation to "I only really wanted to go to Austin to stalk internet celebrities anyway" pretty quick. Still, it stings--it was my first choice even if it was more of a dream than anything. I feel bad. Hopefully tomorrow I'll wake up with a little bit more perspective. Also, I'm rapidly learning one of my recommenders can't be trusted with ANYTHING. There was the missing letter I mentioned earlier this thread. He randomly submitted a letter about two weeks ago that was due ages ago (which makes me wonder if the program contacted him, but I shouldn't torture myself like that). And then today he emails me that he doesn't have any of the FERPA release forms that I gave him in November. Ugh.

That's so great to hear! You'll have to keep me updated in how it goes--I'm invested now! I managed to finally get into the Draft, but I wouldn't say it's that active. There's some worrying and some advice--not a whole lot different than here. But if I see anything that might be helpful, I'll definitely share over here! Also, I just got contacted by one of the programs I applied to because apparently one of my letters didn't make it in. It's all squared away now, but I'm really trying hard not to take the fact that they contacted me about it as a sign.

Both programs at the University of Texas, Austin, so Michener and New Writers Project. Both huuuuuge long shots, but they're both my top pick. Austin seems like a place I really want to be. The fiction rejections coming out for Michener are making me jittery despite my best efforts though. At least I'm not alone in my telemarketer problems! I actually have a few really amazing "writing partners" who are just old classmates of mine. We just send each other our writing--no feedback, no responses (outside of the occasional "Oh, I really liked that one"), no pressure, first drafts only for the most part. It's just sending it out so you feel like your doing something with your work. Plus you get the inspiration of seeing other people write and the reassurance that, yes, even really talented people (and my poetry partner is TALENTED) don't write masterpieces every single draft. We slowed down a lot to focus more on revision than pure creation for application time, but we should really get back into it! Fiction is a whole different story though. I did a couple of "intensive weeks" with my fiction partners, bless their enthusiastic souls, where we did 500 words a day every day. It was like pulling teeth.

I got a phone call from a Texas number I didn't recognize today and had a very brief minor heart attack. It turned out to be an automated telemarketer. Went from 0 to 100 to 0 real fast. This whole thing is going to kill me. I finished up past spring as well. But I'm glad I took the year. I didn't even start thinking about getting an MFA until January last year though--writing was my fun side activity for most of my college career until my final semester workshops--so I might have been a little different. I think the time off was good for me though. My final poetry workshop sort of displaced me as a writer for a bit, and it was nice to just work on stuff for me for a bit. I think I wrote something like 116 poems over the summer--of which like five were any good, but it gave me a good chance to do some work and develop my portfolio a bit more than just the best of my workshop poems. My only concern was and is getting stuck in a job were it wouldn't make sense to leave. I already have one of my supervisors asking me when I should know about getting in so he knows when to start pushing me towards some of the more permanent open positions. Also: HEDGEHOGS! And good luck with Michigan you two! It's a bit too close to home for me, but I've heard it's a fantastic program!

As I seem to be unable to join the Draft (seriously though, am I just that Facebook illiterate or what?), I'm hoping there are a few more people around here. I've applied to: Michener New Writers Project WUSTL Iowa Montana Irvine Riverside Alabama I was only going to go with four, but I got talked into bumping it up to "at least eight." Not feeling great about any of them.