M-Lin

They had some weird glitch in their system. Did you check your portal?

omg so sorry to hear that. lots of fluids and maybe you'll manage some reading as well. I hope you feel better soon! COVID is definitely still around... and damnit they need to get their shit together. NYU and Columbia (I don't mean to single them out for any other reason) both have such a weird process of notifying the applicants. A call today, another call tomorrow; some e-mails, some portal changes. Like, why? At least NYU only had one person calling. Columbia's process seems even more nebulous. not a helpful rant and not my first rant about this... fingers crossed for you!

I, too, wonder what other sadistic schools have not notified other than BU and Columbia ?

Thank you for relaying the message over here So i take there are no updates in Draft either? srsly what's going on with this school....

Quiet day here! Just checked Results, there was a waitlist yesterday? Waitlists are already out? Is that the end of acceptances then?

My e-mail was not addressed to me in particular so I think we probably just got exactly the same e-mail. Mine had "We hope this helps!" at the end. I didn't write back but I really wanted to write back - NO, YOUR FORM ANSWER DOES NOT HELP. AT ALL. ?‍♀️

I think it’s - fake news. ?

Thank you!!! Same to you!!!

I really hope this troll person is okay. I hope they satisfy their needs of hurting/bickering with strangers online (hopefully gradcafe is their only platform) and not IRL. Please seek help (not sure if therapy or drugs are affordable to you?) if not, meditation is a great gateway to understanding your own fear, anger and confusion. The insight timer mediation app is free if you have a smartphone, and it’s a good starting place. Sending you positive thoughts.

Don’t say no yet until you try negotiating with them! They probably won’t budge but definitely worth trying.

Hope you have a fruitful year of writing ahead! best of luck in the next round!

I think that’s a reasonable reading! ? tbh I’m already sensing the bureaucracy intrinsic to a larger program and institution... which I sensed from the start, even from their online info session. (sorry for the rant)

Btw. Heard back from Columbia regarding my inquiry. I emailed the Writing department but was redirected to the general Admissions Office of SOA. Very form answer - probably not helpful to anybody! Here it is - Thank you for applying to the School of the Arts. Applicants will receive an email from the selection committee about their status, including interviews, during the selection process. Final results will be emailed between mid March and April. Applications will remain open until final decisions are emailed out.

Congrats!!! Fiction??

Yeah, per their history, they seem to send out acceptances in late March and rejections in early April. Not even sure if they have a waitlist??

I remember now! I totally read your post. Thanks for emailing them lol

also did anyone happen to have the guts/impatience to e-mail BU? It's not unusually late for them to not notify at this point but just wondering (out of boredom and anxiety) when they plan to notify this year.

Would love to know from anyone who’s been admitted to Columbia - did you get any funding? I know Columbia is notorious about funding but in past results, there’s mention of some kind of full scholarship package or at least partial funding. (I know they pick favorites and give a little more money for second year, etc.) It seemed like NYU called their fellowship acceptances first. Just wondering if Columbia is also doing this. The number of reported acceptances seems so low considering the large cohort size.

Same. But I’m going to try to occupy my mind with something else! Until the bad new comes, there’s always hope for good news ?

Neither my way yet! Thanks for the info! ????

Did Columbia fiction acceptances all go out today? So confused about their notification process... I e-mailed earlier today but didn’t hear back.

Thank you for elaborating! Definitely something to consider in two years depending on where I will be. Good luck with your PhD!

Thank you so much for taking the time to post this advice here! I feel like this should be published somewhere so someone can read this when they google "advice for MFA application". Fortunately I don't think I'll need to apply for a second round, but I'm wondering why you decided to pursue a PhD beyond your MFA. I guess I'm already thinking ahead... do you mind elaborating on that a little bit? Thanks!

You're welcome! And (good) journalists rock! One of my favorite writers is Peter Hessler and the narrative nonfiction he writes is much more compelling than most fiction out there. I imagine that there's so much you're able to explore from your unique position. I also see that you're from India! I recently read A Burning by Megha Majumdar and though I don't know how the novel came about, I wouldn't be surprised if it came from different pieces of local news. But I don't know your country, so it probably speaks to you differently. Here's to more acceptances coming your way! And everyone's way, for that matter. ?

Sorry to hear - rejection sucks. I saw that you like Leonard Cohen. Here is one more thing you could do to deal with rejections: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFl7Aex-FN4 (context: the journalist Maziar Bahari was imprisoned and being interrogated in Iran for 118 days, and, at one point, he chose to dance to the music in his head, though I think this didn't happen in real life lol)