PlayWitch

Just got an email from Ohio saying that they are not taking a class this year...And that "The program is on pause until we have a clearer understanding of the path forward."
Strange. I wonder if we can ask for our application fees back? I plan to try...

Just accepted my spot at NYU yesterday, and just got accepted off the waitlist at The New School. Would have been nice to have had that other acceptance to help boost my scholarship offer, but oh well! Hope someone else is looking for a spot at The New School, because it's about to open up!

Just accepted my spot at NYU yesterday, and just got accepted off the waitlist at The New School. Would have been nice to have had that other acceptance to help boost my scholarship offer, but oh well! Hope someone else is looking for a spot at The New School, because it's about to open up!

Just accepted my spot at NYU yesterday, and just got accepted off the waitlist at The New School. Would have been nice to have had that other acceptance to help boost my scholarship offer, but oh well! Hope someone else is looking for a spot at The New School, because it's about to open up!

Just accepted my spot at NYU yesterday, and just got accepted off the waitlist at The New School. Would have been nice to have had that other acceptance to help boost my scholarship offer, but oh well! Hope someone else is looking for a spot at The New School, because it's about to open up!

Just accepted my spot at NYU yesterday, and just got accepted off the waitlist at The New School. Would have been nice to have had that other acceptance to help boost my scholarship offer, but oh well! Hope someone else is looking for a spot at The New School, because it's about to open up!

Just got the kindest, most supportive email from Lisa at Iowa releasing me from the waitlist, as the offers made were accepted. Oh well...looks likely I'll be here next year as well (barring any plot twists from NYU), so, gearing up soon for 2022!
She did let me know (just wanted to share the info/details): Iowa accepts 3 students each year, fully funded/stipended, and you get full productions of your work throughout your time there.
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Thank you everyone for all the information/advice throughout my first application cycle! I learned a lot through this process, and will be much better equipped and focused next Fall, with a revised list of schools. I've decided I'm moving back to NY anyway in about two months, and would love to connect with other NYC based playwrights.
Every program I have corresponded with has indicated that they had a record number of competitive applications this year, so we should all feel proud to have gotten this far. Plus, it's an extraordinary feat to have workshopped, written, or revised plays during a year when theatre is closed and we are basically doing our work in a vacuum (or on a ZOOM screen). Congrats all!
 

Hey! I also just got in off the waitlist and was offered a small(ish) scholarship. I've been following the conversation on the drafts FB group about other schools, and from what I understand you should absolutely ask. I plan on asking as well, so you won't be the only one, if that helps! The worst they can do is tell us no!  

Wow, I am in at NYU off the waitlist....I am extremely confused! I had totally given up, and started planning my life without grad school this year and now suddenly it's a possibility again. I did receive a scholarship, but I would probably still go into a little bit of debt. I'm assuming I'm not in a position to ask for more money. Is anyone else in a similar situation? Do you think I'm able to reach out to current students and see if they're able to work/etc?? I was not prepared for this so I have no idea what to do!!!

And...just finally heard from Lisa S at Iowa, after reaching out to admissions about my status. I’m a finalist/alternate candidate, which I assume is like a short waitlist. I thought for sure that I had been rejected, so I’m very pleasantly surprised. Now Ohio is my last to hear from. Waitlist count is now just about half of my total applications (the rest were rejections) so I feel mildly encouraged, generally speaking, but still antsy and wondering what I could have done differently to have gotten acceptances. 

Final R just rolled in for me (UCLA at 2:08 AM for some goddamn reason; interviewed about a month ago). Was removed from the CMU waitlist a couple weeks ago, and everything else was Rs across the board, so that ends my season: no acceptances this time.
Disappointed of course, but grateful to have gotten this far since I'm only one year post-undergrad. Honestly, this may have worked out for the best (which is NOT something I could have seen myself saying back in December lol). About to officially commit to living in a house with some queer friends (and an adorable polydactyl cat), and, assuming COVID keeps declining, I'm excited to do local theatre again next year. 
See you all when I inevitably apply for 2022, and keep writing! Have really appreciated the camaraderie and community this board brings.

Ugh right??!! I don’t like thinking about going through it all over again ? Fingers crossed for both of us ?. This year the timing was finally right for grad school for me. Alas. Not giving up yet, but I’m just finding that throwing myself into a new project and getting excited about it is helping with the waiting.
I’m also doing the DG #endofplay thing happening this month...Anyone else? Just trying to hold myself accountable to stick to deadlines and challenge myself to connect more with other playwrights. It’s helping to distract from the pain of the waiting list ? (and to reconnect to the love of writing again). 

@Mel Rose thank you sooo much for this info!! It’s so helpful knowing this.
and I totally feel you about how it’s hard to move on just yet...applying to grad school was HARD and it would be so so ideal if we didn’t have to do it again OH BOY. I guess since mid-April is the most common shuffling time, I’ll wait until then to start thinking about my 2022 application....fingers crossed we won’t have to ?

can I ask who you nudged?! Was it the office of finances or directly the faculty? Also, I would say a friendly reminder email would do no harm. 

popping in here to say, if you have a more competitive offer from another school, always always use that as leverage in getting more funding. i spoke directly with the head of the dramatic writing program and he was able to bring up my funding significantly, but i decided to go with UT as the offer worked better for my situation. financial aid can't really do much since the school itself is large, i'd go directly to the faculty if you can!
best of luck!

annnnd thats a wrap for me as well! i've officially declined my offer at NYU, so hopefully that offers another one of y'all a spot. 
my 20-21 recap:
UT Austin: interviewed and accepted 
NYU: interviewed and accepted
Juilliard: ? (will likely withdraw)
thankful for this group and am a good ol mixture of scared/happy to be leaving NY for TX! i'm so grateful to all of you, please don't be a stranger and hmu in my inbox if you ever want to link / chat beyond this crazy forum. all the best to you!! 

Thank you so much for your kind words! It has been super saddening to feel so rejected, but I hold out hope to keep trucking along on my own. 
And CONGRATS to everyone with the good news this year!!

Yay!! Congrats!!

Thanks @miltoniagable16 for the heads-up! That’s it for me this round. My summary:
UCSD: rejected
UT Austin: rejected
Hunter: interviewed and accepted
Columbia: interviewed and waitlisted
NYU Musical Theatre: interviewed and accepted
Brooklyn: rejected
Juilliard: ???
I’m really excited to be heading to Hunter College! Have loved everyone I talked to there and the program’s a great fit for what I need right now.
 
Thanks all for being on this journey together, really such a comfort through these stressful few months. Looking forward to meeting more of you NYC playwrights in person. Sending good wishes to everyone on waitlists/waiting for news!!!

I'm piping in because i've been lurking. It was - and sort of still is? - my plan to apply for 2022. But I am meeting with the University of Manchester tomorrow to find out their timeline and more details (UK schools accept applications into the summer, so... maybe this year after all?) I am an older student returning after a 20 year gap and I sort of feel, of a sudden, like anything might be possible. 
Or, after reading 119 pages of this forum, like it might take me multiple years to get this right. One or the other. Who can say? 
Fingers firmly crossed.

This was my third year of applying. Zilch the first year, waitlisted at NYU the second year, and now I'm finally in at NYU. It's rough, for sure, but it's a process!

congrats!

As someone who graduated a few years ago with my MFA, I just wanted to pop in here to say not to despair with waiting lists. The wait lists are typically small and you have a great chance of either getting a spot that opens up, or getting an offer of admission the following year.
Source: I was waitlisted to my MFA program along with 3 other people. Myself and one other person got in and the other two joined the program the following year.
Best of luck and congratulations everyone!

Hey guys! 

I don't know if this will be helpful or frightening for some people, but I think I should just say that this was actually my third cycle, as well. In fact, it was my third time applying to some of these same schools. I was waitlisted at both USC and NYU this year, and because this is my third cycle I am obviously frustrated, exhausted, and probably a little wounded. The ultimate irony is to wait for so long (literally three years) to hear back in a positive manner from a single program only to be placed on a list literally titled "waitlist." As though I haven't been? But honestly, while I know graduate school is something I want to do for myself at some point, when I think about my life over the last few years, I've gotten a lot of opportunities I wouldn't have otherwise had. For example: between submitting my last application hearing back about the first interview, I was selected for a really cool residency for the exact play I submitted to all these schools. Last year while I was waiting, I got a request from a theatre company to produce the play for which I didn't get a single interview. And this is just writing-related stuff. I've had an amazing few years even without the validation of getting into a program. 

I don't know, I guess my point is that it really sucks to get rejected and/or not get in on first offer, but "career" has developed itself outside the incubator of graduate school. I still want to go (see some of you next year for round four) but I guess I'm just saying that life is crazy and your career doesn't stop--or end--when you enter graduate school. 
That's not to take away from anyone else who did get into a program this year. Congrats! It's a big achievement!

This is the sad part of the year where we all slowly disperse from this site, but if anyone wants to link up outside the forum, feel free to DM me and I'll give you my Facebook/NPX/whatever. Otherwise, best of luck with everything to everyone! 

hey, I completely empathize with this. I came out of my interviews feeling on top of the world. I literally said to my family, "that went so well, there's no way I won't get in!" and then...well...UGH. It's so easy to feel like shit after not getting the news you were hoping for, or to feel like your interviewers were playing you (trust me, I FEEL THIS). But I think if your interviewer expressed interest in you, it's 10000% genuine. They have absolutely no reason to lie. But yeah, like @jeepersjinkiessaid, there are so many factors that go into this. I felt such a wonderful bond with my NYU interviewer, I like to think she fought for me in the decision room. I bet DHH fought for you as well ❤️ 
Full disclosure, I went into a deep despair when I didn't get in. I stayed in bed for two straight days and told myself I was a complete loser (hahahaha honestly DON'T DO THIS). It's crazy because, I would never say that to anyone, especially not to you wonderful people who I only know through internet screen names...so why am I beating myself up so bad? We have done something so beautiful and incredible. Sharing writing that we believe in to a group of strangers, leaving ourselves open for rejection and vulnerability, I just think that is so brave of all of us. And I deeply admire this group's efforts and perseverance. I think that the people who make it as artists in this world are the people that never give up. ❤️ (trust me, I still feel sad! And I, myself, am trying to believe in my own  words. It's hard and I be strugglin')