spacedumpster

Hey everybody. I accepted an offer from University of Florida yesterday. I fucking did it, and I'm gonna fuckin' do it, and I still can't believe it's real. I was fully expecting rejections across the board as this was my first year applying and applicant numbers are up seemingly everywhere. Anyway, best of luck to everyone still waiting on results, waitlists, etc! If you don't get in this round and plan to try again, I will say that I have been blown away by the warm welcome, positivity, and transparency about difficulties from the MFA community at UF-- grads and faculty alike. If you're looking for an aggressively friendly environment, it sure seems like you can find it in Gainesville. Much love, my fellow neurotic internet pals.

Ughhhh gross, I didn't know about this situation at UT Austin. Cue me being unbothered when the rejection comes.

Hey pals! I am having a conversation this afternoon with the director of a program to which I was accepted. I'm stunned that I was actually selected by one of my top choices, so I'm having a hard time coming up with questions to ask! Any suggestions from folks who have gone through the process before, or are currently making decisions?

Not sure how applicable this is to writing programs, but I know at least in fine arts, having a couple of offers on the table, and making your prospective schools aware of this can help you advocate for a better funding offer.

Blahhh, also waiting on this! Driving me wild.

You guys, gals, and nonbinary pals! I had a story accepted to a magazine and they're going to pay me for it! I get to work with an editor on revisions! It's a real thing! Someone values my work! ? This was a much needed boost to my self-esteem with all the uncertainty surrounding MFA apps. Anyway, I just want to let you all know that YOU. CAN. DO. THIS. No matter what happens this MFA cycle, please keep writing, and please keep submitting. Your work matters to someone.

This. Is. The. Vibe.

Couldn't agree more on the benefits of studying poetry. I tend to think about a lot of things in terms of their musicality, and having that layer of razzle-dazzle makes good fiction truly shine, in my opinion. Marketability of the skill has definitely informed my interest in screenwriting, but let's be honest, if any one of us is pursuing an MFA with money in mind, that person is deeply misguided on several levels.

I used to write poetry quite a lot, and a lot of my prose tends toward the poetic (rhythm, internal rhyme, metaphor, etc.) but it has been a few years since I set out to "write a poem". Lately, I've been doing 30 minute "free writes", just putting down words as they come into (out of? sometimes it's hard to tell which way it's going) my head. That process has given me a lot of raw material that might be better suited for poetry. I dunno! I definitely like to get around with my writing. A couple months ago I started writing a script for an animated series, which has been really enjoyable! Screen/Teleplay is an awesome format to work in. I'm really aching to get into Michener, as screenwriting would be my secondary focus.

Hoorayyyyyy I'm on a wait list!!! (University of South Florida) Glad to know I have not been immediately rejected from everywhere, but I'm still going to resent them just a little bit for not considering me a first choice. ?

I would think they would be larger across genres, though hearsay and speculation on the impacts of COVID are the main things guiding these presumptions.

For my fellow fiction applicants, I present a slightly baseless theory that might give you some hope if you have not heard back from programs which have already accepted folks in poetry/CNF. Fiction programs generally have much larger applicant pools, and this cycle was almost certainly exceptionally large. Perhaps acceptance decisions for fiction are just taking longer due to an influx of applicants?

Oof, another ASU acceptance posted on Draft, this time in fiction, and now I am fairly certain that I can anticipate my first rejection. I knew this was going to suck big time, but damn. The first one really stings.

I definitely share your sentiments on sample length! The story I was most looking forward to including in my applications was either too long by itself, or would have been the only thing I submitted, which did not seem like the right choice to make. Seeing that Iowa wants a minimum of thirty pages is almost reason enough for me to apply there next year, if I don't make it in somewhere this round.

Oh for the love of... What are the odds??

HOO-WHEE, these relentless journal rejections sure are making me nervous about the quality of my writing sample. Hang in there, everybody. (mostly talking to myself)

One of us! One of us!

USF and UF were each $30 or $35 if I remember correctly, so yes that does seem to be a commonality.

Haha, nah I don't know anything about the program--just a longtime denizen of the void of corn and soy who loves to trash the motherland. I'm sure it's a fine school! There's a professor of photography in their fine art department of whom I'm particularly fond, in fact. I'm just ready to GTFO out of Ohio. ?

You didn't miss out on anything by not applying to Indiana. Trust me. Where about are you on the coast? If it's bringing you back to writing, go look at that big dumb rock from The Goonies, get some taffy, and write a dang masterpiece! Interesting observation that I should definitely work into my writing-- every beach town I've been to has a particularly weird uniformity and, like, sterility at the surface. Great Lakes, Northeast, West Coast, doesn't matter. There's something spooky there.

I only applied to five programs this cycle, but if I don't get in anywhere I think I'm going to pare that down to three apps next time. I really would love to do an MFA, but I just can't justify gambling so much money on application fees when I might be better served putting that towards workshops, residencies, or perhaps even self-publishing. I've also had the urge to start a weirdo alternative magazine for a few years. I think I would find it a lot more rewarding to spend my own money building a space for writers and artists that I appreciate to share their work. In the meantime, my backup plan is to continue working at the job I actually enjoy and keep writing/submitting. Academia be damned!

So you're telling me I shouldn't have used Jokerman font for my SOP and Wingdings for my work sample?! It's experimental, I thought they'd like it. ?

Recently joined after hearing about it here, but I haven't engaged... Aside from lurking on anyone with prospective schools in common. ?

Birbs are fantastic weirdos. There was a peahen on the property where I lived in Hawaii. She was a total psycho, would strut past my sliding door and just stare in at me and make the weirdest honk/gobble sound I have ever heard.

Anybody else just get that email for a survey from University of Texas Admissions and have their heart stop momentarily? ?