fishfish24

I decided to cope with covid and upstate NY winter by turning the house into a jungle. Now we have fungus gnats... My housemates are losing their minds...

Thanks! Yeah, I guessed it was a form email (and totally don't fault them for it), but the wording just seemed a little odd and was different from my email last year. Just curious! Thanks for the info

Just got mine as well... Did yours say anything about the "abilities and opinions" of instructors and their feelings on "serving the development of your writing"? Kind of an odd form letter... Mine had a p.s. about reapplication, which I think was standard...

Thanks for this. Syracuse and Iowa on the back of Michigan and Minnesota... I'll take a night of hopefulness

The admissions processes are completely separate--there's no overlapping faculty between the two committees (at least this year--I asked). Also, in terms of them accepting or rejecting the same people, think about how different the programs are. Sure, they have the same faculty (with the exception of the program directors) but NWP is a teaching MFA and Michener isn't. Even without factoring in their other distinct qualities, that makes them very different programs.

Vanderbilt for me as well. You know, I genuinely don't say this with sore feelings, but I hope they revise their form letter in future to be a little more... warm/human. There are letters which acknowledge how tough/impossible this process is and I really admire programs which take the time to get that wording right. Saying "our review of your application and credentials did not lead to a recommendation of admission," is fine (if sterile), but it doesn't acknowledge the fact that space in the program often has as much to do with rejections as the quality of an applicant's work. Also, "credentials" is a poor word choice for any MFA program admissions document... Anyway... Just ruminating...

So smart... I'm thinking of a workshop for exactly that reason! I usually do morning pages, but I'm having a hard time even getting through those. I've been writing and reading a lot of poetry instead of fiction, which I'm finding helpful. I've also been assigning myself "bad" writing days, as in: "Today my goal is to write badly." Sounds weird, but does help me get out of my head sometimes. Best of luck with your process! Keep at it!

Several programs have cited having received many more apps (sometimes double) as the reason for their delayed responses to applicants this year

Hey, it's okay! I think everyone on here, including myself, is overthinking and stressing about some application detail or other. For what it's worth, I'm also guessing it was a processing delay. Mine says it was completed December 7th--there's no way they reviewed and rejected me that quickly. Hope that gives you a little piece of mind!

The Syracuse email I got was like this also. It literally says: "If you have arrived for the start of classes or are planning for the year ahead, here are helpful tips for making a smooth transition to Syracuse," and it then goes on to talk about finding housing and such.

Hey, let yourself revel in your good news!! It's wonderful! And your success in computer science has NOTHING to do with your identity and ability as a writer. Being multifaceted is a good thing And no word on MFA programs doesn't mean anything other than the fact that most of the programs haven't responded yet. Hang in there.

When I got the email this was exactly my line of thinking. Like @feralgrad, I've received these kinds of missives from other programs before, but the wording of this one was so... tempting! Hah! Syracuse would be wonderful... Honestly, I work so hard at not being hopeful about my applications I sometimes wonder if it's unhealthy. Having a day where an acceptance feels possible might be good for me, even if the source of the hope isn't worthy of producing it.

Did anyone else who applied to Syracuse get a "Happening@Syracuse" email this morning? I get it that's a generic graduate school email, but I'm confused why they sent it to me since it's geared toward current students returning for the spring semester and students joining in the fall...

Just to chime in briefly on this, I think there are a lot of other parts that go into an application that speak more to whether a person is two-faced/closed-minded/hard to work with/etc. than their writing sample. I had a program director tell me at one point that the whole purpose of the letters of recommendation (for their review process, at least) was to suss out how applicants worked with other writers and contributed to a creative community.

I know, haha, I'm using it as a reason to hope! Also, no waitlist yet...

Haha, super wise. Exactly what I've been trying to do.

There might be a disparity between concentrations? I'm a fiction applicant... Dark thought: it's also possible they've forwarded all the applicants they've decided to reject to the graduate committee and are still weighing waitlist applicants...

Hi! I'm not sure this info is helpful, but both my Michener and NWP apps are currently listed the same way. I assume it's generic. I haven't been checking my online portals (trying to stay sane), so I'm not sure when they switched...

Yep, me too. First rejection/news this round... I realize Minnesota's intake is much smaller this year, but having been waitlisted last year I was really hoping....

Would someone on Draft mind checking if there's been additional news for Minnesota? I think there's one poetry acceptance and one CNF acceptance but no fiction notices reported yet... Still hoping...

I'm so sorry for your loss. My former partner died two years ago, unexpectedly, at thirty. I'm not sure this poem ("Toadstools," by Charles Wright) is one which answers to a new, raw grief, but over time it has brought me more comfort than anything else. The idea of death and grief as something nothing touches or wants to touch strangely comforted my early sense of isolation. And the poem still helps me dismantle the belief that grief is something we're supposed to move past, something which is supposed to be logical in the times and places it arrives. When the pain hits me, brutally, at the most unexpected moments, I find myself comforted by the final lines of this poem: "Grief is a floating barge-boat, who knows where it's going to moor?" https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2010/05/10/toadstools

Honestly, I had the hardest time finding info on Brown, so I could be in the wrong....

Hey all-- I've mostly just been quietly grateful for the company since joining this group, but I thought I'd chime in briefly... A lot of people seem to be experiencing some degree of agony over the fact they haven't heard back yet and/or are expressing the expectation that they'll be hearing back really soon. (For whatever reason, I've been feeling that with each passing day my chances of being accepted are somehow declining, which I have to remember to laugh at myself for because this belief has zero ties to logic!). Anyway, I just wanted to gently remind people the same thing I'm reminding myself: it's actually too early to be hearing back from most of these programs. I'm sure the info below isn't perfect, but here's the data I put together by combing through the past 3-4 years or so of gradcafe and other forums where applicants have posted about receiving offers for programs I've applied to. (It also includes the dates I was waitlisted at Michener, Minnesota, and Madison-Wisconsin last year). Just hoping the extra info might bring some of you a little peace of mind! The programs are ordered by earliest date of earliest documented acceptance: Minnesota: Earliest acceptance: January 26* My waitlist 2019: January 29, 2020 *It seems worth mentioning that Minnesota extended their deadline this year and has had to recalibrate their entire funding program due to covid, so I suspect their responses will be late... Syracuse: Earliest acceptance: January 29 Madison-Wisconsin: Earliest acceptance: February 3 My waitlist response: February 18 Florida (Miami) : Earliest acceptance: February 12 Vanderbilt: Earliest acceptance: February 13 Michener: Earliest acceptance: Feb 14 My waitlist: Feb 18, 2020 New Writer's Project: Earliest acceptance: Feb 14 Helen Zell/ Michigan: Earliest acceptance: February 15 Florida (Gainsville): Earliest acceptance: February 15 Iowa: Earliest acceptance: February 17 Notre Dame: Earliest acceptance: February 22 Brown: Earliest acceptance: March 5 Wishing everyone good luck and peace of mind.

Hey all! You guys look great; really wish I'd gotten on here earlier to commiserate and offer some thoughts on application questions. I write poetry, fiction, and a bunch of other stuff, but I'm shooting for fiction programs. Last year I applied to Michener, Syracuse, UVA, Minnesota, Madison-Wisconsin, and Michigan. I was waitlisted at Michener, Minnesota, and Madison-Wisconsin and got into one program which then had to make covid funding cuts, so.... round two!! This year I'm waiting to hear back from: -Michener -NWP -Michigan -Vanderbilt -Iowa -Minnesota -Syracuse -Notre Dame -U of Florida (Gainsville) -U of Miami -Brown Grateful for the company.