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JPReinhold

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Posts posted by JPReinhold

    2021 Applicants Forum

    in Literary

    Posted

    12 hours ago, zest said:

    I also just got rejected from vandy, and I can't understand why you care about the wording. If you are not marked to write, the earlier the notice the better. And if marked to write, the more early rejection, the greater share of honor.

    Not this response at ALL -

    But I also agree with the sentiment that form letters are form letters. It actually really annoys me to get form letters from lit magazines that are absurdly long and pretend to be genuine.

    Giving specific feedback would be useful, but I write corporate drivel for a living. I know how to write sappy, well-meaning form communication. It does not mean I, or the corporations I write for, care a single bit. 

    I can’t stand disingenuous rejection. I do not need a 3 page email about how difficult everything is for everyone and how lovely you find the moon in Autumn (that you’ve sent to 500 other people). Just say “no thanks”. Much more honest. 

    Alternatively, I’ve had “we love your work so much” conversations in recent days with people who can’t get my name right and clearly don’t remember my writing sample. I don’t like having any kind of smoke blown into my nethers.
     

     

    2021 Applicants Forum

    in Literary

    Posted

    20 minutes ago, aa2427 said:

    I am a little too obsessed with two of my schools - It's gotten to the point where I'll imagine what it feels like to get in, what I would tell my friends and family etc. and then I have to bring myself down to reality because I know that kind of thinking would make a rejection hurt more. Conversely, does anyone have any schools that they for some reason cannot picture themselves getting into at all? For me that's Brown. It just feels....too prestigious. Plus asking for 15 pages vs 10 like the others really threw me

    I also applied to Brown and assume I have no chance whatsoever of getting in. In my mind, it just seems implausible. 

    2021 Applicants Forum

    in Literary

    Posted · Edited by JPReinhold

    1 hour ago, anna23 said:

    hi! just wondering if anyone can provide more info on the stereotypical "Bukowski mfa bro"? Bukowski is one of my favorite authors and it's interesting to see people mention those who read him as pretentious? just wanted to see more about that and why he falls into the stereotype? I guess I just honestly I haven't really heard that from anyone. I mostly hear about 'infinite jest' and others shitting on people who love it. I guess it's all really dumb in a way, but, now I'm wondering if people view me negatively when I mention my love for Bukowski. 

    also I love Nikolai Gogol! I'm a Russian speaker myself so I find Russian authors to be extraordinary and pretty dark to be honest (which I like). Reading Gogol's and Tolstoy and Dostovesky's works in Russian is particularly meaningful and the English translation doesn't really hold up as much but those works are remarkable for sure in any language. anyways! just my two cents! :) hope everyone is hanging in there. 

    I have a really beautiful, yellowed, paperback translation of TALES OF GOOD AND EVIL that is absolute poetry in places. 

    2021 Applicants Forum

    in Literary

    Posted

    6 hours ago, mrvisser said:

    I get what you mean. I wasn't saying specifically that someone could tell that an applicant is narrowly influenced.

    What is “narrowly influenced” anyway? In the age of film, television, and the internet - we’re surrounded by (art? Literature?) media constantly. Even if you made a concerted effort to read nothing but Nabokov, you still see the writing of 100 different people on the daily. You look at different art, engage in different kind of conversations about politics, science, history... all of these influence your writing. This all happens after you’ve been influenced by your studies, socioeconomic background, religious texts, regional education and dialect, etc etc etc. 

    I’d argue no one is truly narrowly influenced.

    2021 Applicants Forum

    in Literary

    Posted

    7 hours ago, cecsav said:

    How realistic is it to expect responses from Oklahoma State University and FSU, if my portals still say pending/under review, but there are (multiple) results posted from both programs?

    I can’t speak to the process for all universities, but I know that FSU has historically sent out acceptances and waitlists and then ghosted everyone else until the 11th hour (only to send out rejections). I have considered my FSU application dead in the water for that reason.
     

    If you want that kind of gas for Oklahoma State, I would look at last year’s data.

    2021 Applicants Forum

    in Literary

    Posted

    3 hours ago, Boomer not Ok said:

    Wondering whether any fellow fiction applicants here submitted any flash pieces? I submitted a couple flash stories in my portfolio and now I think it may have been a mistake. Do programs "frown" on this compressed form of fiction? The only program I've seen that explicitly references flash fiction as acceptable is Brooklyn College, although none say you cannot either. I've been writing flash for a few years and the pieces I submitted had all appeared in decent online and print pubs. But after I submitted all my apps, I read it's bad MFA etiquette to indicate publication credits (is this true?), so now that may be 2 strikes...

    Any clarification on this appreciated

    I have a fully-funded fiction offer and included a flash piece between two short stories. I felt very strongly about that piece of flash, though I’d heard flash is not generally looked upon in a kind light. I wanted to show I could sustain a longer story, but I also felt that bit of flash was particularly moving. It was my only fiction app and it was accepted, so I can’t speak to a pattern. 

    If you have impressive flash publications, I’ve heard that mentioning them in your CV is a good way to extend your portfolio without directly including flash. Something to consider if you apply next cycle. 

    2021 Applicants Forum

    in Literary

    Posted

    I realized yesterday that all of this is really just pre-draft discussions. It seems the people who are getting acceptances are getting multiple right now, so a lot of waitlist seats will get freed up once those people make final decisions. A LOT of people are going to wait until the last day to make the call because the pandemic creates so much uncertainty.

    The odds are skewed because the same top candidates get selected in multiple programs, meaning a lot of people in the middle ground may get seats once all the dust settles. 

    The real deal is April 15. That day's going to be a bumpy ride. 

    2021 Applicants Forum

    in Literary

    Posted

    2 hours ago, Boomer not Ok said:

    I also got the 2 am email but no decision letter. I’m sure it’s a “thanks for playing but sorry...” Weird system UMass has of rejection where they make you wait a day or two for the official rejection. Bummer. Doesn’t bode well for my other apps. 1 down, 9 to go. 

    I'm still waiting to hear from FSU and University of Oregon. I'm assuming it's a "shove off into the mist" response as well since other responses and waitlists have gone out. I'd like the closure though. 

    Really waiting to hear from Michigan, Cornell, Iowa, and Brown. I know those are long shots, but I'm glad I threw my hat in the ring. The anxiety of waiting to be rejected from those is murder. If I end up on a waitlist and it gets drawn out until April 15, I may lose my mind. 

    2021 Applicants Forum

    in Literary

    Posted · Edited by JPReinhold

    18 minutes ago, Ydrl said:

    Uh, so this is awkward. Remember when I got mad at M*rshall for calling me he? Welp, turns out I’m a trans guy. I’d feel weird if I didn’t come out after angrily insisting I have she/they pronouns. Sorry y’all.

    Don't apologize for anything like this. Society sucks for trans people... *edited to delete vulnerable stuff that is now giving me anxiety* ...You're brave in your honesty. You chose your pronouns today for how you'd like to be referred to and what feels right for you - that's nothing to apologize for. Be kind to yourself. ❤️

    2021 Applicants Forum

    in Literary

    Posted

    On 2/5/2021 at 4:25 PM, tippybug said:

    This is a long rant but I really want to say this to someone: I feel like I am at such a crossroads in life right now. What I want more than anything is to get into a good MFA program and be a writer, but since I got such a good offer from a top program in CS, I feel like I can't turn that down. I've put so much time into programming and have met so many peers/mentors who seem to expect so much from me and who I want to make proud. Like, my research mentor is so amazing, and the school I got into is where she got her PhD, and oh my gosh I just want to make her proud! But I just can't believe such a good program saw something they liked in my application even though I feel like I haven't put my heart into programming at all

    It honestly makes me feel so guilty because CS has always been plan b in my mind, and I haven't shown it any passion, even though it is something i care about. I really care about being a good computer scientist because I think that it can make the world a better place, but I just feel so resentful of my place in CS because it is what I'm doing instead of writing. I always feel so distracted and disengaged with CS because I want to be an author. But I feel like I'm about to waste an amazing opportunity if I turn this offer down, and I don't know what to do.

    And this is all super assumptive anyway, there is still a really good chance I won't get into any good MFA programs in which case I will totally take the offer. I just don't know what to make of things! I have so much impostor's syndrome right now. I feel totally unprepared to be a graduate student in CS, ESPECIALLY A TA, and I feel guilty both taking the offer and NOT taking the offer. ARGH!!! Sorry if this sounds braggy about getting into a program. I know I am really lucky to have gotten this offer, and I really don't want to take it for granted.

    Anyone have any words of wisdom? Sorry for this sloppy vent post... I'm a little fried rn, hehe.

    My grandmother would say you are borrowing worry. That’s tomorrow’s trouble; wait until all the chips fall to worry yourself sick ❤️

    2021 Applicants Forum

    in Literary

    Posted

    1 hour ago, orangeslice said:

    I had a similar experience. I was planning on medical school until a month before I finished my undergrad. I took A LOT of science classes and had really convinced myself that I wasn't going to be financially successful if I didn't become a doctor. Maybe that's true, and some days I still have doubts. But I think it's also true that you regret more the things you don't do than the things you do, and in @tippybug's case this could be a good time to think how he/she will feel a few decades from now if they don't give their writing a fair chance at success.

    That's my thought process, at least, and most of the time I'm comforted knowing that medical school isn't going anywhere even if I wait for another five years to pack up and go. In the meantime I'm throwing myself into my writing with full force, because if there's even a small chance I could be the 'one in a million' who lives off of their writing, I want that life most. Sorry about the length, but you're not alone!

    I had the same experience with law school. That being said, life is long, and here I am at 34. Writing will not leave you if you take time to do something else. Writers will always write, and if it's what you love, you'll continue to improve until you're ready to go do an MFA. I feel very prepared to go do this MFA (with a master's in another field and a law school drop out) - a lot more so than I would have been 15 years ago. I'm financially also in a position where I won't be stressed about the small stipend. I'll be able to eat fruits and vegetables while I write :)

    2021 Applicants Forum

    in Literary

    Posted

    1 minute ago, gustavman said:

    Since you're curious, I'll give my two minute analysis. 

    If you are going to have equal justice for all, then you have to have a list of crimes that make you unpublishable. Immigration has a ridiculously complicated system for which crimes will get you deported. If murder is the only crime with capital punishment, it has to be assumed to be the worst crime. So if you are banning for child porn crimes, you have to ban for murder. Then you’ll have to look at crime after crime and pick an arbitrary line. All sex crimes, domestic violence, all assaults, drunk driving insider trading. I can see someone saying Bernie Madoff should be unpublishable. There is no great system, other than that people shouldn't do crime, and then everyone will be happy. One answer is to say no prison issue altogether. There is some governor I can’t remember who wants prisoners to be the last ones to get COVID vaccines even if they are most risk. It’s odd because liberals are often pro prisoner rights, while liberals flip with particular crimes like child porn.

     

     

     

    I don’t know if this makes any difference to your “devil’s advocate” approach, but this person also used their position as a poet to commit these crimes. I don’t want to elaborate as you have google, but giving a platform back to someone who once used it to prey upon children is wrong under every moral code, I would have to think. 

    2021 Applicants Forum

    in Literary

    Posted

    1 hour ago, gustav3 said:

     Then how do you explain that this Creative Writing professor at Ashland University offering:

    Literary Life Tarot Readings

    For $55, I’ll pull tarot cards on your literary quandary or crossroads and send you a write up exploring what this moment is really about— what spiritual invitations you’re receiving, what energies exist in the options you’re facing, and how you might think about the path forward. 

    narrative alchemy — katherine e. standefer (katherinestandefer.com) 

     

    Oh my.

    2021 Applicants Forum

    in Literary

    Posted · Edited by JPReinhold

    2 minutes ago, Yellow62 said:

    This actually stresses me out more lol. I want my rejection already. Give it to me straight, doc!

    I hit the REJECT ME ALREADY, YOU COWARDS wall about a month ago. I've been living on dread and Little Debbie oatmeal snack cakes. 

    I feel so lucky that I got an acceptance a week ago because the SPIRAL, people. THE SPIRAL. 

    2021 Applicants Forum

    in Literary

    Posted

    2 hours ago, pattycat said:

    Ha! I grew up in Indiana and most of my writing is set there. And yes, it is full of mostly corn, soybeans, and despair. 

    I lived in Bloomington for three years, though, and it is actually quite a lovely town. There's a Burmese restaurant there that I always stop at when I'm in the area and IU campus is gorgeous.

    I also grew up in the Midwest and most of MY writing is full of corn, soybeans, and despair! *extends hands to shake* 

    2021 Applicants Forum

    in Literary

    Posted

    1 hour ago, Graceful Entropy said:

    Following another lit mag form rejection letter, I'm thinking that I'm gonna take a version of @JPReinhold's advice and stock up on a bunch of sparkling Welches, except for my rejections. 

    Because even tho it will suck, at least I'll have clarification and can get fancy juice drunk. Small victories!

    YAAS. Celebrate. Elevate the experience - drink it from a champagne flute. 

    2021 Applicants Forum

    in Literary

    Posted

    42 minutes ago, pattycat said:

    Anyone here apply to UMich (Helen Zell)? My Applyweb portal has a new option on it to submit an official transcript via Certifile. I'm sure everyone else has this as well, but just wanted to make sure.

    I just checked - I have that option as well. 

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