Bucky Waters

Only to keep waiting. It's not like I'm obsessively checking both my phone and mailbox every five minutes or anything. Got waitlisted at LAMDA though.

I'm only seeing rejections from 2019?

I'm only seeing rejections from 2019?

I hope everyone is doing as well as possible under the circumstances. With the April 15th date past, I wanted to share a brief description of the application/interview process for anyone who might be looking at this thread for information while applying next year. 
I applied to the MA at NYU, and the PhDs at Tufts, Brown, and Stanford. Ultimately, I decided on Stanford (so excited!), but ALL of the programs I interviewed with/visited were incredible and I could not recommend them more highly. I will include the dates that everything happened for me, as well as some info on the process, and some of the interview questions that were asked, below. 
Tufts, PhD (Theatre and Performance Studies)
The invitation to interview (Skype) was sent via email on January 11. The interviews took place January 16-22. Questions were sent out beforehand and included: “How do you see a PhD in Theatre and Performance Studies as part of your personal trajectory?”, “What are major topics or themes in Theatre and Performance Studies that you are excited to explore and why?”, “Can you tell us about a cultural object, event, text that you are really excited by or interested in?”, and “Describe a collaborative exercise you worked on (theatre could be one) and how you saw your role in that collaboration.” Acceptances came out January 27th. Admitted students (4 of us) were invited to visit campus in early March to attend classes, meet with faculty, and tour the campus.

Brown, PhD (Theatre and Performance Studies) 
The invitation to interview (Skype) was sent via email on January 22. The interviews took place January 27. Questions ranged from the general (Why Performance Studies? Why Brown?) to very specific and in-depth questions about my research. An invite to visit campus for a final interview was sent out January 31st, and the visit took place mid-February. The visit (6 candidates invited) included student and faculty panels, tours, the opportunity to attend a class and speak with faculty one-on-one, and a longer interview. Results came out around 10 days after the visit with some accepted and some offered waitlist. 
Stanford, PhD (Theatre and Performance Studies) 
The invitation to interview (Skype) was sent via email on January 17. The interviews took place in late February, and questions included: “If you were given a small budget to create a performance, what would you do?”, “What is the best and worst performance you've seen recently?”, as well as more general questions such as “Why TAPS?”, “What period is your research grounded in?” etc. Invites to visit campus at the end of February were sent out February 7th. The visit (5 candidates invited) included tours, student panels, and the opportunity to speak with faculty, including 5-6 one-on-one interviews/info sessions. Results came out on March 10th, with some offered spots and some waitlisted. 
NYU, MA (Performance Studies)
No interview, acceptances came out March 16.

Best of luck to everyone in this and future application seasons!!! 

Hi guys,
Hope everyone is well and safe.
Now that I'm committed to CMU, just want to send a big huge giant Thank You to you all for being here, discussing things, sharing information and in general being ultra supportive. I've learnt so much for this forum it practically prepped me for grad school ?
I'd like to contribute by sharing a bit of my experience as a foreign student applicant, hopefully it'd help a future candidate who also look to study in such a locatity-specific field, in a language not their native. Before mid 2019 I've been much more a visual art creative producer than a writer in any sense, though I did produce a few of my stage plays. My scripts thus have not been written in a traditional, formal way but more visually and conceptually informed. I wrote to a few programs before application season began to ask them if what I looked for in an MFA (cross-disciplinary playwriting) matched what they offered. It was BU's Kate Snodgrass who kindly provided such attentive feedback that helped me craft a more focused application afterwards (thanks Kate and big cheers to whom studying there this year ? )
So when it came to applying, my first choice was Brown for the fact that they promoted writing for the bath tub or a hallway. Me likey. My second choice was UCSD, erhm... not sure if sharing this info would make me look too idiotic but oh well, it was because they'd provide candidates with a summer stipend to go see shows around the world. Gee me likey that too. Of course those were top programs, I have no doubt of the program quality, just sayin' when you look at them from afar these seemingly smaller things mattered quite a bit. CMU was more than perfect for their visual art/scientific flair but did not offer as much financial support and it was a huge factor for me, so I sent in my work praying that the universe saw how compatible my aspiration was with CMU's and would nod on it somehow. Then I had a talk with a revered figure in experimental theatre in Southeast Asia, who did his PhD at NYU, and he said I should go to New York because not only theatre but also visual art were abundant there (beside whatever else) and he had the impression I'd thrive in that environment. I took his sensible advice and ego-boosting compliment to apply at Columbia. My 5th option was Iowa as I valued ultra vigorous writing training and also fantasized a writing get-away of sort, but I'll admit that I might not be a good fit for them, nor they for me.
As it went, out of the fancylord institutions above, I only got an interview with CMU and was put in waitlist afterwards. However much I was ecstatic about the possibility of admission, I was also dead scare of not getting in any school, which in my eyes signified that my writing in specific and capacity as a playwright in general were not "good enough". The convos in this forum and Draft slowly reaffirmed that 1) a mutual fit was more likely a factor than individual capacity, especially in contemporary playwriting, and 2) this is a practice, not a competition, meaning your continuous work would count much more than the entrance to a particular (fancy) school, and 3) there's next year, which might be a better option for many aspiring writers. Strategizing the applications will earn you a much better chance of a great fit (academic, funding, logistic, professional opportunities etc...) than applying widely out of wishful thoughts and angonizing over half a year like I just did. These things helped me greatly in thinking about the growth of a playwright, and I hope it'd help some future applicants in choosing a sensible path.
Then came Covid that draped everything in a mist of uncertainty.... But that might be worth another convo.
Again, I'm grateful for this forum and you guys for being weirdly open and encouraging. Maybe we're a weird bunch. No other thread is as long and as friendly as this one. Maybe we'll help our peer weird writers/thinkers/doers (you helped me so so so much y'all ? ?). Maybe by us doing our own theatre things we'll help the world out a bit. Maybe we'll feel good doing so. I hope you do, cuz we need to feel good to retain on this long and difficult path ?
So that's my two cents today. Cheers folks! ??????❤️
 
PS: I should also send a love note to the folks at Draft after I get over my sort of  fear for non-anomity… ??
 

Pace is still accepting applications through April 5th! Just got an email from them today about it (thought about applying, but didn't apply). Maybe they're holding out for that reason?

I know how it feels having been an alternate to what I thought was my dream school .. two years in a row. Auditioning for grad school made me a much stronger artist / person. I finally got accepted to a program this year — one I never imagined I would be accepted to 2 years ago. After spending the weekend there I knew it was the place for me. I felt ready and I had something unique to contribute. We all cope with this in different ways but please keep focusing on the work, on yourself and what makes you unique; the unique perspective you bring into the world. If you approach this grueling process with a growth mindset.. it will happen! 

Just made my decision: I'm #BerkeleyBound!
I'm informing UCLA and the other schools right now -- Best of luck to you and others on the waitlist. I'm pretty sure UCLA is taking people off the waitlist, but again, I'm not too sure of how they pick. Hope you get in!!!!

out of all the posts about waitlist and rejections yours stuck out the most to me. Idk why really. 
 
I applied to nine schools: Northwestern, USC, UCLA, CMU, Columbia, Brown, UCSD, Yale, and NYU. This was my first year applying. 
 
I was rejected by CMU first—no interview. Then I heard back from Northwestern—interview and then a Yale rejection. I was so discouraged because Yale was my number one. I had just had an interview with Northwestern the same day. 
 
A few weeks later I hear back from Columbia and it took me by surprise they wanted an interview and a few days later they are granting me acceptance into their program and the day before that I was rejected from Brown, UCSD, and waitlisted at Northwestern. And this week I found out I was waitlisted at NYU. I haven’t heard back from UCLA and USC. 
Through the whole process I told myself I had a better shot at getting into CMU than any Ivy League. I am learning that life is full of surprises and we should be proud of trying. There are so many people who will say I can do that but don’t do it or have anything to show for it. And all these programs are looking for something different.
I’m saying this as a message of hope that the universe will surprise you. This is all a long journey. You took that shot and it made it in the hoop—you didn’t lose the game or win the game because it’s all about getting better and recovering from the shots that you didn’t try. if that makes sense.
 
Sorry for the long post. I just wanted to put my story and journey out there for any of you who are losing hope or wanna give up. I think we all go through that especially in this career path. 

Thanks! You too! Finding the patience is the hardest part.

Waiting on a positive response from Indiana University - Acting MFA. Hopefully we all hear something soon. Best of luck to everyone!! To all the people shooting for Brown, sounds intense!! Best of luck and patience during this time!

Thank you, @Bucky Waters ! I am cutting and pasting this and sending to my friend.... 
I really appreciate the response. This hits close to home since my other friend is on the wait list for a top choice. They don't want to wait until April 16th to find out if they got in!
 

Hi friends!
got an email from Angela Brazil at Brown saying basically bc COVID-19, everything has been delayed for schools across the board, therefore there havent been a lot of acceptance calls made! 
 
Just wanted to update

There's a little Covid-19 playwriting contest floating around the internet that's based on Paula Vogel's Bake-Offs. They send you five "ingredients," and you have 32 hours to write a 10 minute play. Starts Monday. Email is QuarantineBakeOff@gmail.com if you want to participate. It might feel good to be productive in these bizarro times.

There's a little Covid-19 playwriting contest floating around the internet that's based on Paula Vogel's Bake-Offs. They send you five "ingredients," and you have 32 hours to write a 10 minute play. Starts Monday. Email is QuarantineBakeOff@gmail.com if you want to participate. It might feel good to be productive in these bizarro times.

There's a little Covid-19 playwriting contest floating around the internet that's based on Paula Vogel's Bake-Offs. They send you five "ingredients," and you have 32 hours to write a 10 minute play. Starts Monday. Email is QuarantineBakeOff@gmail.com if you want to participate. It might feel good to be productive in these bizarro times.

There's a little Covid-19 playwriting contest floating around the internet that's based on Paula Vogel's Bake-Offs. They send you five "ingredients," and you have 32 hours to write a 10 minute play. Starts Monday. Email is QuarantineBakeOff@gmail.com if you want to participate. It might feel good to be productive in these bizarro times.

Kate's a wonderful human, and that's a phenomenal program. Fingers crossed for you!

Hey y'all! Got into Northwestern yesterday from a call from David T. Got half funding so definitely can't afford it, but it was very reassuring. 
If anyone is on DRAFT, Jess made a great post about fighting for funding. Don't let the thrill of getting accepted stop you from fighting for what you deserve.

Me too i feel like i am in a constant state of “i hope i didnt miss the call”

Waiting on LAMDA and USD (plus waitlisted at DePaul). I swear, I jump every time the phone rings. But nope! It's always spam. ? 

I hear that. I have apartments saved on Zillow in five different cities. Haaaaa...

Brooklyn College acceptances have been sent.

Hahaha! Totally with you on that one. I check this forum every day, like, multiple times. I can't wait to get on with my life!

Holy smokes! You met Anne Bogart!?!?!? I am totally fangirling out by association right now.