manandcamel

@Mina82 congrats!! It's such a lovely feeling to be accepted and recognized for your talent at multiple programs. You have such a good problem! Here's my two cents as someone who's teaching now for the first time.... I'm a first year at a 2-year MFA program that teaches 1/1 rhet. comp, then 1 rhet. comp / 1 creative writing. Teaching rhet. comp or introductory, 100 level required writing is pretty exhausting, especially in your first year. Last semester, I taught and took a pedagogy course at the same time, so I learned as I went. Rhet. comp. isn't really my thing, so I had a curriculum to learn and stuff to brush up on, and preselected readings to read and then teach. This semester has gone by much more quickly, because I have a better handle on things, and I've done all the prep work. But I would have killed for a free first year to devote to figuring out my own writing. Here's why: It is easy to get sucked into teaching, and so many grad students have somewhat forgotten why they came. It's easy to pour a lot of time into teaching (even at a 1/1) because it's immediate gratification. You see your students improve and recognize the worth of the stuff you're teaching. You get to care about them (a lot) and if you're not careful, most of your time is spent grading and lesson planning and not focusing on your OWN writing. If I were you, I would choose the program that gives you the freedom of time. IMO that means UVA, ESPECIALLY because you teach creative writing alone. If you're like me and rhet. comp. isn't your passion, you'll have to consider the time and energy you'll be putting into lesson planning and teaching basic genres of writing (for me, that's the research essay, a cultural analysis, argumentation, etc.). At UVA you'll have a full free year to nail down why you're getting an MFA, how ambitious you want to be, and what your voice is and what you want it to do. Then you get to teach creative writing, which is your strength. I'm assuming you already know readings you'd love to incorporate and what makes fiction writing successful, so you've already got that background knowledge. (Another thing to consider is the passion of your students. Everybody at my program loves their one semester of teaching their genre, because their students want to be there. All of the intro-level rhet. comp. sections are full of students looking to glide past required credits, so their energy levels and their efforts are completely different beasts.) I also agree with @Sallyj that 2 courses is enough of a foundation for teaching. I'm only 1.5 semesters into teaching and would kind of dread teaching all the rhet. comp. that UMass wrings out of you. TL;DR go with UVA because they are giving you the gift of time. Good luck making your decision!

Thanks, @Sleam. Just heard word that the wait list closed. Bummed

I know there's a few spots still open on my first choice's wait list. I'm dying to hear anything. Does anyone have advice on how to bear the next few days?

@aridari I talked with the admin, too. She mentioned that if you have offers and you want closure / absolutely need to know where you stand before accepting another offer, you can ask and she'll put you in touch with a faculty member, who will then finalize your position. I'm not going to bother with it, though.

Congrats! At the very least, this is an affirmation that your work is on the right path. Re wait lists, I am on three currently, and just talked to my letter writer / mentor about etiquette. He told me the following: if you reach out (and you should), send a brief, polite email to your contact asking if they have an idea how their cohort is shaping up, and whether or not they think they'll have a need for the wait list. You don't need to state your interest--they know you're still interested because you're emailing them. Sending additional materials won't help you. At this point, the faculty / directors / whomever is overseeing the potential cohort has shown interest in you, and an extra this or that won't nudge you into a spot. My letter writer doesn't disclose rank at his program, and chooses people off the wait list based on the hole the declining candidate has just made--he looks at the waitlist candidates' styles, compares them to the confirmed cohort, and makes a decision from the pool based on their written work. That's not the style at every program, but it may give you insight. Trust your sample, and stay in touch with your contact. Good luck!

@Character Zero Bloomington is actually a pretty slice of Indiana. It's quirky, fun, and has a good mix of restaurants and bars. It's close to Brown County, which is a beautiful state park. Good for hiking and biking. Rent is more expensive than other parts of Indiana. Hoosiers consider the school to be a party school (beware the little five) but there is a lot of town and gown pride. It's most popular for the Kelley school of business. It pulls good music gigs. The campus is mostly limestone, and has lots of greenery. Get pizza at Mother Bears, curry at Siam. Parking is tight all around.

@Character Zero I don't have any direct knowledge of the program but I can talk about the university or the city of Bloomington, if you have questions.

Then I'd go for OD. It gives you three years to write and a secure fellowship. More money, more time.

I just looked up each program without knowing anything about them - from what I saw, I think that UNCG and Old Dominion are the better programs. OD is three years, but it also has lit requirements. UNCG is 2 years, but calls itself a studio program. How do you feel about lit courses? Do any of the OD courses listed interest you?

@momorenae I agree with @aridari in that waiting another year for the MFA seems to be your best option. I'm not a vet, but every vet post I've seen re: rounds 2, 3, etc. carries the general message that an extra year (or even a longer gap) will always improve your writing, and therefore your chances of securing a more supportive and financially secure offer. I looked at your post history and I am amazed at how you have persevered through some very serious medical issues. Whatever you decide to do, keep on taking care of yourself financially, emotionally, and physically.

@slouching I'm sorry this year hasn't panned out so far. Glad you have things to look forward to, though! Things have gone better than expected for me, but I'm facing a lot of ambiguity from being wait listed. TBH I'm tired of refreshing my gmail and checking my phone all the time. I will be a happier person once April 15 comes and goes.

Sorry to hear. Me too. Who are you waiting on?

P sure they notified all acceptances and wait lists early this morning. It seems like a dream program... I wish we'd heard good news.

Any other UVA poetry applicants???

@sayantika email Alex Walsh (contact info available if you Google). He is the grad program coordinator for their MFA. He's responded to me fairly quickly.