babypoet2k

in all my obsessive searches, i seem to vaguely remember people being surprised at being accepted through an app update, but don't quote me on it. a more helpful way to see would be to search for results for the schools you've applied to and see what the general method of communication for each of the outcomes has been. you'll know what to expect that way

is the results page down for everyone or has gradcafe decided that i've hit refresh one too many times and blocked all my devices?

oh wow that's honestly a relief to hear! humid is where i'm most comfortable (an anomaly, i'm aware). i added places that i applied to on my weather app to keep a track of the time zone and general climate, and it has been nothing short of terrifying! why humans settled in these insane climates is beyond me. i'm a tropical child and your response has made me hopeful that the US has warm (ish?) climate that might suit me. thank you ❤️

oh wow! i'm from india too!!! if you don't mind sharing, where all did you apply? i saw your post about syracuse, and i applied there as well

a huge welcome to everyone who just recently posted! i took an involuntary break for a couple days and just caught up on like 4 pages on here. i'm sorry for everyone who did not hear good news. it reflects NOTHING on you as a writer, and there are SOOO many more decisions to come. i'm a first time applicant as well, and a young one at that (also an international student). so my chances are as bleak as they get, but we're here so might as well throw some long-term anxiety in the bowl until i hear back from all 6 places. in any case, just wanted to ask if there are any other international applicants on here (i'm south-asian) and how they are responding to conversations about all these places to live and climate and culture, never actually having experienced these things or knowing all that much about it. i'm afraid that my 23degreecelcius-is-cold ass will not deal well with the fact that all 6 places i've applied to go down to -3degrees on the regular. just some thoughts haha. all my love and the best of luck to everyone ❤️

oof this HURT

so glad to know i'm not the only one with 20+ schools on the list for next year haha. will shorten for sure, i cannot afford these many apps especially after currency rates etc but the world totally seems like it's yours to conquer when you have a list of all these places you could be and things you could do there!

I just created a big boi list of places I want to apply to whenever I do next time. Almost double the number of places I applied to this time around. Just to remind myself that this is not the end. Planning is strangely therapeutic and because i am so terrified of planning for if/when i get in like looking at apartments or visa things, I planned my next app season. No risk, hopeful optimist behaviour. 12/10 recommend.

ohhhh big time! i've honestly felt like ad comms are just going to laugh at my sample and at how silly i was for applying. but then i find some peace in the fact that this is something that has brought me so much joy, and even if the world is lying to me and i actually really suckand dont stand a chance, it still makes me happy. PLUS we're all allowed to suck at things. thats human honestly i've been finding ways to keep my hands occupied. that means basically anything that doesnt need me to sit in one place. its like physically running away from even the thought of this process. it's probably not going to work long term but i just need it to work until i hear back. i could not tell you how you can deal with imposter syndrome except to show your work to strangers. i put it up on instagram and people whose work i really admired also liked mine. its easier to believe that you're good at what you do when strangers who have no agenda and nothing you can give them in return enjoy your work. but also do something tangible that you can see and hold in your hands instead of just writing on a screen. it helps, i promise. also i feel like if im about to get all rejections, it would be so much easier to deal if i got them all at once, like RIGHT NOW. why make us wait four months to tell us. but the world is the way it is so we must, must, must remember to breathe. it sucks rn but it'll be over so soon. 4 months may feel like a lifetime but its such a smol time. u got this! ❤️

and now i'm freaking out because i have no recent communication from syracuse about anything. fml time to have a pity party EDIT: was this to create a myslice account? could i not have received it because i already created it when they sent the application received email saying create this account??? (im rly trying to hold on to ANYTHING here)

I see that we've applied to three programs in common. Hoping things work out this way!!! more adventurous, i would say. without me even realizing it, i've ended up with multiple pieces with similar themes. might make a series out of it. it's been so different, to be honest. almost like my mind feels and thinks in poems and now i'm kind of rerouting it to remember to finish sentences and stick to the things at hand. it's liberating and also challenging! your life seems pretty cool, not gonna lie. a wonderful internship, an amazing job AND you're working on a music video? SO LOVELY!!!!!!!

How have you been keeping yourself busy these past few weeks/months? Any new hobbies that you've picked up? Experimenting with your writing?? Books you've read?? Hype yourself up, you're doing GREAT!!! i'll start: 1. I've been making little fridge magnets and bowls out of clay. keeping my hands busy so i dont feel the urge to refresh every waking moment. 2. I started writing creative nonfiction (i've strictly been a poet up until now) 3. after 3 years of a lit degree, I've finally gotten around to my personal tbr that is not for critical reading/writing purposes or essays. recent reads have been brandon taylor and ocean vuong. the dream!!!!

I relate so much to what you said. It's the distance that makes writing possible, for sure. Poetry is so different in my mother tongue vs english, sometimes i use structures of language and writing from mother tongue to write in english. It's a fun exercise, and i like to believe that it makes us better writers for it. Would love to learn more about your process with translation!!! does GC have a messaging option? i really should learn the ropes of gc for how much time i spend on it these days aa

you're super close! it's TFI (Teach for India). Thank you so much!! Hope you get a backup too! It take a lot off the whole "what will i do if i don't get in" conundrum. ❤️

a rejection wall sounds like a brave person thing, to be honest. I usually also give myself a day to feel sorry, and I try and analyse what went wrong on my end. If it's an internship or something, I go back to my application, see what I did wrong, feel sorry, and sleep on it. But for MFAs, I think I'm gonna need a full 24 hours and a few more tears haha I was accepted to a 2 year fellowship to teach low-income schools in my fav city, and yay me i did it before apps happened, so i knew in advance that i could have a lovely, full and good 2 years nonetheless. (before you wonder, i did tell my recruiter that i might leave, and i have been told that even if i do, it won't negatively impact any school or classroom so long as i do it before may.) this took off so much of the pressure because for someone straight out of undergrad, there's an expectation that you must go go go and not let there be a break. as my username suggests, i'm a baby poet, just turned 20. i think i'll live haha albeit out of a few hundred money dollars and some regrouping.

English is my second language too! Writing in my first language feels wayyyy too intense and real for me, but I'm really getting into translations after taking a class at college, which is always a fun little adventure! What are your experiences like writing in your second language?

thank you so much! this is so sweet. i applied to iowa, brown, northwestern, notre dame, syracuse and virginia, all for poetry. and i'm realising while waiting that these are top-tier programs with the smallest cohorts ;_; but i'm young and hopeful and a good amount of naive so i'm hoping things work out. hope everyone finds moments of peace in these strange and scary times ❤️

you seem to have wayyyyy more self control than I do. I get a tiny jump in my chest every time i get an email at an unusual time (i'm 12 hours ahead time-zone wise and get all application related emails in the middle of the night), and have put email alerts on the results search page so i don't keep going back. i do agree that checking obsessively does more harm than good, and until the schools you've applied to have started sending out decisions, i think it's totally fine to just keep a tab on your email and nothing else. my mentor has been telling me that every day i don't hear anything, it's not a rejection. keeping that in mind ❤️

No, but only because it's expensive and most programs waived it this year if they hadn't already removed it from their requirements. Iowa is the only school i applied to that even recommended or suggested that i could take it, but i didn't think it would matter because everything i've heard and read about IWW tells me that they do not care all that much for anything but your portfolio. However, a GRE does help (or so I've heard) when it comes to fellowships and assistantships, and especially for programs that have a literature focus (northwestern, for eg). All things considered, I think that while there's a possibility (and just that) that it may not particularly help you, it will not hurt you one bit. Especially so if you applied to non-fully funded programs. Funding there can get competitive and this will definitely give you an edge.

I would pick Iowa (for the people of the program) Syracuse (for the location and teaching opportunities Northwestern (for the MA+MFA degree option since my undergrad was in literature and i still love it to bits haha) but i only applied to six and frankly all 6 are gorgeous programs so i will gladly take any acceptance i can get.