Ydrl

Nice, another Syracuse applicant. Good luck to you too!

@feralgrad we’ve basically been here for the past hour and a half answering questions XD. Is it time to stop? Or is there even a point to stopping?

@polkadotpoet Go to the drop down menu (the three horizontal lines on the top right of the page) and go to results (or the results search) you can use the search bar that just above the results to search for “poetry”, or “creative writing” (caution, it’s a lot of results under creative writing) And I’m not on Facebook (plus I hear Draft is a lot to deal with), so I’ll defer that question to anyone else.

@feralgrad two of my programs deadlines are tomorrow and I’ve had them done for about three weeks now. The wait is already killing me. I’m trying to hype myself up for Syracuse and WashU ‘cause I can’t imagine February or March currently. It’s just too far away for me to maintain my nervous/excited state without crashing hard. Also omg there’s another acceptance.

So, after some digging, it might be the weather that decides when Syracuse sends out acceptance notifications (which they send out first). Syracuse has notoriously bad snow storms around this time of year. It better not heckin’ snow until February. (I curse like a sailor, so censoring myself has gotten a giggle out of me today.)

Nice! I was gonna apply to Irvine but I’d already applied to Cornell and I couldn’t commit to paying that amount of money again. Dont get me wrong, Iowa is the school I would choose if I got in (haha what a pipe dream), but Cornell and Syracuse are so exciting due to factors outside the program. Speaking of Syracuse, when do you suppose they’ll accept people? The earliest I can imagine is Friday, but that might just me being too hopeful.

Hey, at least you submitted something at all. And that's how I feel about Iowa if I can be frank here. I'll go on the off chance I get in, but it's not the one I'm the most enthused about. That is a tie between Cornell and Syracuse.

Have I found another poet? I have a feeling I found another poet. Just a feeling though. Also, welcome @polkadotpoet! And wow, it's cool to see all the different programs you're applying to, good luck!

@anarchisttiger I should probably go back to crocheting, drawing, and painting because those were pretty welcome distractions. I’m not really writing anything I like at the moment and I really don’t want to go back to past works and be disappointed by myself. The anxiety is killing me too. Anyone else having dreams about this stuff now? I literally had a dream last night where the whole US had a massive snowstorm so the notifications all got pushed back to March.

@rbr542 I wish I was productive like you. I’m no good under stress. @feralgrad podcasts sound like a nice way to relax. I’m personally a YouTube binge watcher. @anarchisttiger I thought of something else. If you can’t stand the wait and you want instant gratification without the worry, I recommend watching undergrad college acceptance videos on YouTube. I binge watch them, it’s very satisfying to see people get into Ivy League colleges while crying tears of joy. In unrelated news, I seem to have leveled up in gradcafe. I’m now “caffeinated” lol.

@anarchisttiger currently working a part time job that pretty physically demanding. It leaves me pretty tired so I can sleep longer to kill time. Also I do a lot of research for my poetry, even if I’m not really writing any due to the stress of waiting. It gives me things to write about for either grad school or round two of applications. I’m also a worrier, so when I’m not doing either of those things, I’m worrying in some capacity. I’m either eating my feelings away, spending a bit too much money, or doing random things related to worrying about grad school. I’m not good at this whole waiting thing.

This is important. Like, very important. If you want full funding and you can’t tell if they require a FAFSA, just fill it out, it’s free. It’s gonna be real bad if your dream program accepts you but can’t give you the funding you need to go there because you didn’t fill out a thirty minute form.

Update, first blood has officially been drawn. There’s a new addition to the creative writing results and it’s from Ohio state. Someone’s gotten accepted. You know, I thought I was ready to hear the results, but I’m quickly realizing how much I don’t want to be rejected.

I was waiting until first blood was drawn on the creative writing results, but I suppose it begins early this year. How’d you find out? Were you called? Also, of course it’s a school I cut off my list that notifies first. TT_TT

I know for Cornell it’s not much of an issue if the recommendation comes a little bit late, but they advise you on the website to get it in as soon as humanly possible. As for Syracuse, I have no idea what their policy is. You shouldn’t be afraid to talk to your professor, he’s the one who wasn’t being responsible. Email him and let him know the deadline passed, but in a not rude way since you need his recommendation. You might want to also email the programs you’re applying to in order to let them know one of your recommendations is late, probably while apologizing endlessly.

I second this. Those posts are very helpful, especially the one with Rachel Heng. Throwing myself into a project might help with the wait. Not so much a new writing project, but maybe something non writing related. Something that didn’t help the anxiety today was finding out that UNLV is already reviewing my application before the app deadline. The status went from “submitted”, to ”complete”, to ”under departmental review”. AHHHHHHHHHHH (And yes I know this could be for everyone that’s applied before the deadline, but it’s still nerve wracking.)

I’ll have just reached my mid 20’s if I start in fall 2020. I would say it’s more about experience and individuality which typically come with age, but not necessarily.

@Dochinka96 I felt the same way about forums last year. As I watched all the rejections pouring into the results feed I felt so defeated even though I never applied. I haven’t looked back at my things, I figured there wasn’t a point in worrying about it, especially since I submitted most of my applications in December. I also was worried I would feel ashamed about what I’d written, so I’m just going to navigate around all those bullshit feelings by not looking. It’s always hard to figure out what to keep and what to cut. I got super lucky with my 10 page poetry manuscript that it fit the six places I wanted to apply to the most. I wasn’t comfortable adding my older/weaker pieces so I left them out and cut some schools (Ohio State, Brown) which required more pieces from me. Also, this is going to be scary until notification season is over. But we’re all here for each other, through our victories and defeats. (Also where are you applying?)

Happy New Year everybody! 2020 is the year we find out who is going to an MFA program this fall, and who is gonna be reapplying. So take a deep breath, maybe two. If you don’t have faith in a higher power, then trust yourself to get through this time of waiting and decision making. It’s out of our hands, but I believe everyone’s hard work will pay off at some point. And you, don't let your doubt eat you alive. Even if you don’t get in, I’m proud of you for being brave enough to try. Some of you are trying again, and I’m so proud of you too. Being rejected or waitlisted is not an indication of your worth, and being accepted doesn’t mean your hard work is done. Do your best, and make sure to take care of yourself (because you’re enough), okay? -Ydrl

I usually perform well under stress too, in fact it’s a bit of a problem because poetry becomes the focus when other things should be. I suppose my brain realized the gravity of the situation and was like: FINISH THOSE APPS.

Question, did anyone get major writer’s block while applying? I was too stressed to write anything besides sappy garbage. Half a day after finishing my application to VCU (my last application this season!) I was struck with inspiration and the words just flowed out. I really need to learn to breathe during the stressful times haha.

@litty I wish I could relax with a nice book but I'm at work atm. And absolutely, we're pretty privileged to be able to afford this. Grad school is super expensive to apply to, even if ours are pretty much free once we get in.

Welcome @Brother Panda! Question for you: poetry or fiction? (I’m assuming it’s one of these two since you’re applying to Cornell). Also, heck yeah! Another person applying to Cornell, Iowa, and Syracuse! I hope I get to meet whoever gets into the same program that I end up in (whether this be this round of applications or a different year). I also hope we can be friends if we make it in the same program. But if none of us get into the same program I won’t forget that we all were here for each other. Last minute update: not applying to Oregon State, applied to UNLV today, and VCU is on the fence but I’ll probably apply.

My god yes! I knew someone who got into a program in early December immediately after she applied and I was so so bitter and salty. I feel bad that I didn’t give her a heartfelt congratulations, but I couldn’t because of my nerves and frustration that it was still very early in the application season, like, December 3rd levels of early.

I agree with this. Also I have to mention the elephant in the room which has been mentioned by quite a few adcoms after I did some mare research. An alarmingly large chunk of applicants aren’t even on the same figurative planet, let alone the same ballpark, as those who are accepted. Whether this means what you mentioned about being forced to write, or not having enough life experience, or perhaps not having developed a consistent voice, etc.