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@teasel Minnesota is still gonna take people (and they extended the deadline to Dec. 15th)! They’re only taking six though, and all six have to have to be eligible for the CIC Program (a diversity based program) because there’s no other funding. I meet the criteria, so I’m gonna apply... even though the odds of me getting in are laughably small.

Yeah, I’m currently living on a fixed income so it’s really rough right now. I’m not sure if they recently hiked up the price, but U Minnesota is now 75 dollars to apply...I’m holding off on Minnesota until the next update comes, whatever that update is. It’s quite annoying that they don’t have an answer while the deadline is less than a month away. They could extend the deadline but I’m not sure why they haven’t. I’m hyper aware of December 1st, Michener’s also due then. I still need to arrange the poems, review one last poem with a recommender, and customize every SOP as soon as possible because the deadlines are very close to each other. I’ve paid the app fee for Michener, and started every other application. I’m still in limbo with Texas because I need to get my writing sample finalized. It’s truly maddening. It’s feeling real for me too. Hope you stay healthy and sane during this chaotic application season.

Things aren’t looking great for U. Minnesota, they gave an update about how they’re still fighting to have the creative writing program bring in a new cohort. And, if they manage to get the green light, they’re taking less than 12 people. Every time I try to finalize the list of schools I’m applying to, something happens and I die a little on the inside. All these schools are Schrödinger’s cat. I need to stop looking, but I also need to know what’s going on.

10/14/20 Update: The application system is temporarily unavailable while the Creative Writing Program requests an exception to the College of Liberal Arts admissions pause for 2021. If you have started your application, your file will remain active and you will be able to access it again after October 31, 2020. Update for University of Minnesota. Hopefully everything goes okay.

@soproperlybasic Welcome to the party! And yeah, the ones with a GRE requirement aren’t on my list. And I just took a look at the Columbia essay, it’s very vague. Do you know anyone else applying to Columbia? It might be helpful to bounce some ideas off each other.

Ah geez, I took it off my list, but this is a troubling sign...

Oh wow, @Graceful Entropy that’s interesting. It would probably be beneficial to send in what I have (that fits within the overall theme of the poems). Also for those wondering, my poems have a common theme...that was a total accident. I didn’t realize until I wrote the subjects and themes down that there was a pattern. And I’m a lousy judge of my own work, and my professors know that haha. I’m getting a professor to help me arrange my manuscript for that reason.

So I need advice. The schools I’m applying to require as little as 6 poems up to a max of 15 poems. I currently have 9 that I’m totally on board with sending, and 3 extra that I could send if I really really need to. Is it wise if I only send the poems I’m comfortable with even though it comes slightly under most of the directions? Or should I pad my manuscript with one poem or two so they see how far I’ve come? I’m going to ask my recommenders what to do, but I’m curious what y’all think.

@Graceful Entropy Sorry I’m late to the party, nice to meet you! I’m sorry about the lack of funding, and thanks for the heads up that some programs are cutting funding.

It’s been a pretty awful year, for both personal and global reasons. And oh dear, I hope that professor isn’t the one I’m excited to work with...That would suck so bad. Misogyny is unacceptable in every context and I’m not sitting down and taking that bullshit from anyone, regardless of how highly regarded they are. And I was stuck between fiction and playwriting, but now I’m leaning towards playwriting and screenwriting. I can’t say the chances of getting into Michener are great, so more than likely I won’t have to deal with that professor. And thanks, I’m glad someone finds it interesting (besides my professors who’ve read it) because my friends don’t really care about poetry haha. I really like the way it came out. And it’s super hard to talk to anyone who doesn’t care about poetry, I know it’s in one ear and out the other. I have to remind myself that my hard work and me as a person are separate. I put so much effort and care into each poem and when no one close to me reads it, it hurts.

Nice to meet you! And you’ve come to the right place. I’m sure that this thread will be the same as last year where everyone was super supportive! I’m hoping I can stay on the northeast coast, so I could maybe travel to see my friends once in awhile, but knowing me I’m probably gonna end up anywhere else. Have you decided what schools you’re interested in yet?

@teasel you’re still applying to Michener yeah? What’s the secondary field you’d do if you were accepted? I’m stuck between Fiction and Playwriting. I’ve written both, fiction for much longer, but I can’t say which one I’d want more.

Question for everybody: Do you ever try to explain what you’ve written, but sound like you’ve totally lost your mind? I tried explaining my most recent poem to some people (without making them read it) and all of them looked at me with blank stares. For reference, my most recent poem is about motherhood, reincarnation, and a Silkie Chicken.

Nah, I’m not gonna take the GRE. I chose programs that didn’t require it because I really don’t feel like studying for it. I studied for a month and still felt like I didn’t know anything at all. And I always get super excited when people are applying to the same school as me, if we both get into UMinn I hope we have class together! The GRE is typically used for university wide fellowships and scholarships, but if you’re applying to a fully funded program you probably won’t need those other scholarships anyway.

So I know no one asked, but I have some advice from last year’s failed application season. For reference, I made the mistake of only applying to 4 top tier, fully funded, absurdly selective programs (Iowa, Cornell, WashU, Syracuse) and 2 other highly selective, fully funded schools (UNLV, VCU). 1. Research. This is something I did extensively last year, but Poets & Writers MFA program database is a wonderful tool. It lets you search by state, degree type, and by residency. So if there’s a state or residency you want to avoid then there you go. Personally, I went way too far and looked at every school in every state I wanted to live with all my specifications and kept logistics in mind. It was brutal, but it was worth it. 2. A good mix of schools. I know this may seem dumb, but I would try to get at least one school without a full funding guarantee in the mix. Last year I was turned off by the idea that my writing wasn’t worth a guarantee of being fully funded. There are schools that fully fund a decent chunk of their students without funding everyone fully. George Mason, for example, fully funds 70% of their students. If, for some reason, you don’t get into any of your top choices, you’ll have a better shot of getting in one of these types of colleges. 3. Spreadsheet. This is so much easier than referring to websites every time you want to know about final submission dates, important notes, and materials needed. You can organize by submission dates so you don’t end up losing track of a specific school.

I hope you find the comfort you’re looking for somewhere. And thank you, I wish you the best as well.

Hi, this is the place to discuss the MFA in creative writing. I’m not sure where the PhD in Health Sciences discussion is. I looked but I can’t find it, I’m sorry.

Round two poetry applicant here, still deciding on colleges for this round, though I’m most likely applying to these: George Mason (hi @feralgrad), Virginia Tech, U Florida, Rutgers (Camden), U Maryland, U Minnesota, Minnesota State Hopefully I’ll finalize my list by the end of this month (maybe I’ll add some colleges, or take some away). Also, I’ve made the decision to not apply to any of the colleges I applied to last round. However, much like last year, I anticipate freaking out about application and notification season again haha.

I’m guessing this will be one of the last posts on this thread, but goodbye draftmemes on tumblr. We’ll all miss you. (For anyone wondering, every link to it just leads to tumblr’s “not found” page.)

Um, for anyone who’s applied to UNLV, what’s your status? I’ve somehow moved on to “Pending Decision”. What does that mean???

Other people have gotten status updates from their UNLV portals. Meanwhile, still “Under Departmental Review”

Still in limbo with UNLV and VCU. I know there are many reasons why I’m still in limbo, but the outbreak makes me wonder if the schools will even make the deadline on time (and I know they’re still expecting the students to make a decision by then...)

Iowa rejection in the mail

I haven’t gotten one today, not looking forward to it if it’s coming tomorrow.

I know there was some concern over the corona virus earlier, just found out today that my family in Malaysia have all caught the corona virus. Some are in the hospital. Please keep them in your thoughts. Thanks