Zebras4Ever

Just got an email from Arkansas, Iʻm first on the wait list. @Writer787 hope you get better news : )

Hey @Writer787 have you heard anything from Arkansas?

The standard deadline at a lot of MFAs is accept by April 15th or potentially lose your spot, but it’s not uniform. I’ve also heard that sometimes people accepted off the waitlist don’t get much time to decide.

In case anyone is wondering about Northwestern or may apply there in the future: I called them because I was interviewed back in February and heard nothing since. They were really helpful and explained Northwestern does rolling admissions (post-interviews I guess?) until they have their class of 12 Dramatic Writing students. They told me that sometimes the last decisions/acceptances happen as late as June! It seems like a weird system, I havenʻt heard of other schools doing it this way. One hypothesis, pure conjecture from me: maybe they try to get their top choices early by offering them better scholarships, etc. and then fill in the remaining spaces slowly as they find people willing to pay the money for the program. Thanks @Writer787 for the update! Hopefully weʻll hear something soon.

@Writer787 did you email Arkansas to ask? I was gonna check in but guess I’ll wait if they’re meeting tomorrow

Is it just me, or does it seem like things are going a lot slower this year? I still havenʻt gotten notifications or rejections from 4 schools.

Got my rejection from Iowa today. It seems they always do April 1st rejections, except if April 1st is on the weekend.

@Writer787 I reached out to them to check on the status. @terrarium3528 I havenʻt heard anything from Iowa yet either. I think I remember reading from past years that people got rejections around April 1st.

Ohio update: I was told via email that final decisions might not be made for another 2-3 weeks.

@MFAInDissaray Me too, just got my rejection letter! I'm guessing they started to send them out on Friday, went away for the weekend, and finished the rest today.

@TBA1982 Is this the portal website? On there my application status is "submitted."

@MFAInDissaray I'm in the same boat. If they don't reject anyone until their top candidates accept, that's annoying. Or if we're on a wait list, I wish they'd just tell us that Also, I just discovered emoticons on gradcafe are extremely limited! Update: I just checked the grad cafe results page and someone received notice of rejection from Hunter today. So if we are rejected, I assume we will also hear shortly.

Iowa does interviews, right? Or does it just offer spots? Sorry to hear that @M96Writ : ( Fingers crossed for other programs!

Thanks @terrarium3528!

Hi @MFAInDissaray 2 years ago I applied to the more famous programs and didn't have too much success, so this past fall I did deep dive research to figure out where to apply that has funding but is not as competitive. I started from this master list of programs - https://pwcenter.org/playwriting-toolkit/graduate-programs-playwriting-dramaturgy I looked at every single school on that list (some of the info is a little out of date, but it's mostly accurate) - it's a mixture of full-time residential and part-time non-residential programs. I think it's basically every playwriting MFA program in the country, plus some screenwriting. from that, I created a list of basic info on every single school, like who requires GRE scores (couldn't apply to any of those), approximate cost of application, etc. so I could easily see where I should and shouldn't apply. I'll try to spruce up my list in the next month or so and post it here as a resource for people applying next year. Arkansas seems to be a sleeper hit - it's got good funding and seems to have a lot of really cool opportunities and an up-and-coming theater community. It only accepts 3 people a year (or every other year? their website says every other year, but they also say they're taking applications for Fall 2019, so something must have changed). It's not as well known and prestigious, but it seems like a good place to do good work. I have an interview this week where I'll learn more and can report back.

Got a request for interview from U. of Arkansas. Anyone heard from Ohio, Iowa, or Temple?

Congratulations @TBA1982! That’s awesome. I’ve been waitlisted at Boston, no other new news to report this week. @M96Writ a lot of people take time off between the BA/bfa and MFA - in fact a bunch of programs I’ve researched openly say their average student age is late 20s - mid 30s. That’s not to say that you won’t get in right out of college but from what I’ve seen, looking at current mfa writing students’ bios, etc. I would say less than a 1/3 seem like they’re coming straight from undergrad. There’re no hard and fast rules for any of this stuff so if you dont get in this year but want to go, keep trying. This is my 2nd time applying to 10 programs and I’ve been interviewed/waitlisted a bunch but only accepted at 1. I come from a non-traditional background so my work resume is extensive but my theater resume is sparse. If you don’t get in this year, I suggest making sure you continue to beef up you theater resume. This past year I wrote a new full length play and took a writing class, then arranged a reading of one of my plays - I think all this stuff helped demonstrate that even though my day job wasn’t theater, I’m still very motivated and working on my writing. It would be great to get a job in a theater or something to do with writing, but if you can’t manage that, make sure to keep plugging away. I stepped away from theater for about 5 years, so if you do take time away and come back, you can still get into a program. Also make sure to stay in contact with theater professors so they know what you’re up to, what you’ve been adding to your resume, etc. and through whatever you’re doing, find new people who might write you letters of recommendation too. I highly recommend taking a writing course or joining a writers group if that kind of thing motivates you. if you end up taking time off from school, it’s not a bad thing. it’s definitely a bit scary going from school to something else. But you also learn a lot about yourself and the world and what you want to write about by not being in a classroom. @LordQuas I’ve heard all sorts of things about brown and Yale, like to get in there you need to have had a pretty prestigious production of your work done, like at a regional theater, and you need a letter of recommendation from someone who’s very prestigious. I’ve also heard that if they like your writing enough you can still get in without that stuff. I assume the truth is somewhere in the middle - they’re looking for serious/distinguished candidates but different things can show that. I don’t know about grades - but they are ivy leagues and they are looking for people who can handle the program so I’m assuming if someone has like a C average, it’s not gonna help their chances, unless they went to school a long time ago in which case it matters less.

Hi @M96Writ according to the results page at least 1 person was interviewed and accepted to UCLA back in late February https://www.thegradcafe.com/survey/index.php?q=ucla+playwriting

@asimpleton Oops, never mind, hilariously I've never checked the results page before! just found what you were talking about. I guess there's someone out there who was accepted but who doesn't post here! oh well, that's BU crossed off my list of possibilities

@asimpleton BU is Boston, right? Could you send the link with the results you mentioned? I haven't heard anything from Boston yet : /

@emmadlemma got my UCSD rejection email today too : ) @LordQuas Most of the schools considered most prestigious offer full funding (some/most require you to TA for it). Yale, Iowa, Indiana, and Brown are fully funded but extremely hard to get into. Juillard's graduate certificate program I believe comes with a stipend? but is also near impossible to get into. Boston is fully funded as is I believe Arkansas. I've learned through my conversations with a student as ASU that it's not fully funded for everyone - it depends on what's offered and how well the student hustles for opportunities. I think UT-Austin, UT-Michener, and UCSD are all or mostly funded, but I'm not sure. Columbia, NYU, Northwestern, and the New School are nowhere close to it - at those programs most people accumulate a very large amount of debt. I'm not sure about Brooklyn College, Carnegie Mellon, Hunter, Ohio, Rutgers, Temple, USC. All state schools will at least have cheaper tuition. Programs that admit a lot of people, like NYU, Columbia, and Northwestern, tend to offer a lot fewer financial resources.

For anyone curious or for future reference, CSU-LA notified applicants today.

@LordQuas No worries, I know the feeling. So far itʻs where Iʻve been accepted, so Iʻm pretty sure Iʻll go (gotta figure out funding, etc.). If I get in someplace else, Iʻll have to decide which program is best for me. Iʻm still waiting to hear from some schools, so itʻs up in the air for the next few weeks. I donʻt know how many students ASU accepted this year, but I talked to a current student who said itʻs usually 1-3, so there might be someone else accepted who doesnʻt end up going.

@LordQuas Hmm...I really can't tell either way. It was a personal email from a professor telling me I'd been accepted and some next steps for me, no info on anyone else accepted. I don't know how many people get accepted into the program - do you know if they have a big yearly cohort or is it small? Sorry I can't help more. @TBA1982 Were you in the ASU theater department as an undergrad? If so, what was your experience like? Did you interact with grad students much? Do you have an idea of how many dramatic writing grad students there are?

I got an email from Arizona State today saying I was accepted. I didn't get interviewed or anything beforehand! They said I'll hear about potential TA-ship/funding by the end of the month. No word from Northwestern since my interview, so I'm guessing I wasn't accepted there.