eternalwhitenights

To whoever is willing to share, how was your acceptance communicated? Phone? Mail? E-mail (personal e-mail, form acceptance, e-mail to check application status)? Homing pigeon? Tele-pathetically, somehow? 

Western Michigan University! I was thoroughly surprised by how quick their response was as I'm pretty sure their deadline was open until mid-Jan. 

Also, you'll have to be disappointed in a form of continued anonymity that I was not the WMU acceptance in the Draft group. This announcement is here and here alone; I'm rather more fond of yall

I JUST GOT INTO UW MADISON!!! ......... for computer science, hah. I got offered full funding as TA for their PhD program. I know this is for MFAs, but I'm so excited I had to share. This is my first response out of the 12 schools I applied to, and it is really competitive in CS. I can't believe it!!

Well friends, I did not get the Welches ready quick enough. But in the back of my fridge there has been a single beer, leftover from a six pack given to me four years ago, on the day I quit my good job in insurance with not much more of a plan other than to focus on my life and writing. So upon receiving a FULLY-FUNDED OFFER last night I cracked that bish open and drained the final vestige of that life I once knew.
And it was very, very good.

Good choices! I also applied to ND.
The job market was a tough thing. I had a good reporting job at the time, but I was disillusioned with the way that a lot of it was becoming a kind of "in" club (at least in Seattle) with who got which jobs where. And I also have some questions about the direction of journalism in general. I saw a lot of unprofessionalism in some of the kids coming out of UW. 
But most of all, I just left because I always wanted to write fiction, and I figured it was time to invest in my real passion.

I'm so happy for you, congrats!! Man, this group is rolling with it!

I've been accepted to Miami University in Oxford, OH (residential MFA - poetry)! The graduate college updated my applicant status and provided a letter on Thursday, then an email with attached details came through from the department on Friday. I wasn't expecting to hear back from anyone so soon and it took me by surprise. I even sent the letter from the graduate college to one of my recommenders for verification. It was, indeed, a legitimate acceptance. 
I'm now waiting on word from five other schools. If I somehow end up with options, I've got no clue what I'll do. Until now, I hadn't thought to plan for it! 

Congratulations!!!! 

I have it too. Maybe we all got in! ??

Just accepted via email to Johns Hopkins' low-res MA in Writing program for nonfiction!

Oh my gosh!!! Congratulations!!!! I'm so happy for you and your kids!!! I'm so happy this is the first success of the season!!!!!  This is the best group ever!  

Congrats 8 billion times over, and here is how I feel for you right now: 

Oh my gosh!!! Congratulations!!!! I'm so happy for you and your kids!!! I'm so happy this is the first success of the season!!!!!  This is the best group ever!  

Congrats 8 billion times over, and here is how I feel for you right now: 

I just got accepted at Miami of Ohio (poetry)!

My little ones and I just popped open the bottle of sparkling Welch's that has been sitting in the fridge door. I told them I got into an MFA and my daughter (3) ran to the fridge. I was really worried we weren't going to get to open it this year. 
SO GLAD to have an acceptance. I only applied to fully-funded programs that I'd be proud to attend, so this is big for me. I wanted to share the good news!
(And check your email if you applied!)

Aww, my heart goes out to all the people who are having imposter syndrome. I've felt that internal merry-go-round, too, at various points throughout this process (and I'm sure I will again), but I just wanted to offer a thought about it that I hope can help.
Someone above mentioned feeling like their life revolved around these applications. One, that shows how much you care about this process, so I'd consider that aspect of it a positive, so don't be too hard on yourself, love. ❤️ However, I also wanted to posit a thought for reflection: have you thought about who/what you place your sense of worth or identity in? If you place your sense of self-worth, or sense of success, or even your sense of identity solely on whether or not you get accepted into these programs, that could be a part of why you're feeling like your life revolves around these applications. You are absolutely more than whether or not you get into an MFA program this year, or ever, and maybe remembering that you are a multi-faceted person, with so, so much to offer the world, who also happens to have other hobbies and interests and dreams and thoughts to offer the world, and that can still be offered to the world, both in and out of an MFA program--just expanding your idea of what success can look like, or even what makes you "you," might be a place to start to help assuage some of the obsessive checking.
I hope you get in, and I hope all your dreams come true in a way that helps you become the best version of yourself. God bless you, friend, and sending you hugs and encouragement over these interwebz in the interim. ❤️

Aww, my heart goes out to all the people who are having imposter syndrome. I've felt that internal merry-go-round, too, at various points throughout this process (and I'm sure I will again), but I just wanted to offer a thought about it that I hope can help.
Someone above mentioned feeling like their life revolved around these applications. One, that shows how much you care about this process, so I'd consider that aspect of it a positive, so don't be too hard on yourself, love. ❤️ However, I also wanted to posit a thought for reflection: have you thought about who/what you place your sense of worth or identity in? If you place your sense of self-worth, or sense of success, or even your sense of identity solely on whether or not you get accepted into these programs, that could be a part of why you're feeling like your life revolves around these applications. You are absolutely more than whether or not you get into an MFA program this year, or ever, and maybe remembering that you are a multi-faceted person, with so, so much to offer the world, who also happens to have other hobbies and interests and dreams and thoughts to offer the world, and that can still be offered to the world, both in and out of an MFA program--just expanding your idea of what success can look like, or even what makes you "you," might be a place to start to help assuage some of the obsessive checking.
I hope you get in, and I hope all your dreams come true in a way that helps you become the best version of yourself. God bless you, friend, and sending you hugs and encouragement over these interwebz in the interim. ❤️

Aww, my heart goes out to all the people who are having imposter syndrome. I've felt that internal merry-go-round, too, at various points throughout this process (and I'm sure I will again), but I just wanted to offer a thought about it that I hope can help.
Someone above mentioned feeling like their life revolved around these applications. One, that shows how much you care about this process, so I'd consider that aspect of it a positive, so don't be too hard on yourself, love. ❤️ However, I also wanted to posit a thought for reflection: have you thought about who/what you place your sense of worth or identity in? If you place your sense of self-worth, or sense of success, or even your sense of identity solely on whether or not you get accepted into these programs, that could be a part of why you're feeling like your life revolves around these applications. You are absolutely more than whether or not you get into an MFA program this year, or ever, and maybe remembering that you are a multi-faceted person, with so, so much to offer the world, who also happens to have other hobbies and interests and dreams and thoughts to offer the world, and that can still be offered to the world, both in and out of an MFA program--just expanding your idea of what success can look like, or even what makes you "you," might be a place to start to help assuage some of the obsessive checking.
I hope you get in, and I hope all your dreams come true in a way that helps you become the best version of yourself. God bless you, friend, and sending you hugs and encouragement over these interwebz in the interim. ❤️

Aww, my heart goes out to all the people who are having imposter syndrome. I've felt that internal merry-go-round, too, at various points throughout this process (and I'm sure I will again), but I just wanted to offer a thought about it that I hope can help.
Someone above mentioned feeling like their life revolved around these applications. One, that shows how much you care about this process, so I'd consider that aspect of it a positive, so don't be too hard on yourself, love. ❤️ However, I also wanted to posit a thought for reflection: have you thought about who/what you place your sense of worth or identity in? If you place your sense of self-worth, or sense of success, or even your sense of identity solely on whether or not you get accepted into these programs, that could be a part of why you're feeling like your life revolves around these applications. You are absolutely more than whether or not you get into an MFA program this year, or ever, and maybe remembering that you are a multi-faceted person, with so, so much to offer the world, who also happens to have other hobbies and interests and dreams and thoughts to offer the world, and that can still be offered to the world, both in and out of an MFA program--just expanding your idea of what success can look like, or even what makes you "you," might be a place to start to help assuage some of the obsessive checking.
I hope you get in, and I hope all your dreams come true in a way that helps you become the best version of yourself. God bless you, friend, and sending you hugs and encouragement over these interwebz in the interim. ❤️

I sure hope it does, too. Yeah, this whole grad school thing has been 10ish years in the making on my soul, so there's that as a factor in terms of my clarity, too, ha. I'm kind of glad I ended up applying last minute because I wasn't able to overthink it too much--just reading about all the prep work people put into their rounds of applications...it's like a full-time job in and of itself!
I think it'd be so flipping cool to be classmates with someone off this thread--can you imagine how awesome it would be to have a friend going into the program?
 

It'd make a big difference. I do decently well with acclimating to new places alone, but it would definitely be a relief knowing someone in a new city. Part of why Gradcafe is great is that there's always a chance that several of us end up in the same programs.

I think it's great that you have a such a solid idea of why Notre Dame is the right school for you. I so often bounce between things I like about different schools. Hoping ND follows the path of some of the other schools and gets back to us early this year!

AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH is exactly what I'm feeling too

Haha, I wouldn't worry too much about not getting a "ThinkND" email. It's just their department newsletter. ? I will say, though, it has been kind of cool to observe what some of the flow of campus offerings are, and what ideological trends are being explored through academic series, workshops, etc. It's just confirmed for me more than ever that this is the next right step for me, and that there is so much good that can come from attending here, especially in the context of my novel.
I hope you hear back from something soon! When I stalked the results page a few weeks ago, it looked like a lot of their results came in mid-late February, so I'm thinking that's a safe time to expect at least some word back. But hopefully sooner rather than later...or, in other words, AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.
 

No one should have to take out 50k in federal and private loans to attend university. It's appalling. Older generations often cite inflation but the truth is that back in the 70's, at least at the university I attended, you could easily pay for your tuition by working a summer job.  Now, you're lucky if you're able to pay the interest and additional fees (university health insurance, processing bs, etc.).  
I don't know much about university systems outside of the US, but I do agree that it's unfortunate.  It seems like there are a lot of international applicants on Draft, though, so maybe this is changing? Would love to hear about this from the perspective of an international applicant, if they're will to share. 

Yeah, I saw this video too. Nice of them to put that stuff out there
It was a little disheartening to me, honestly, to see that one person has so much power in the process. It sounds like many of the top programs do something similar, where they narrow it down to ~60 and choose from there -- Syracuse has a similar video out on the Web somewhere -- which makes sense just from a logistical perspective, because of course you can't rule by committee on over 1k applications. But still, think of the enormous impact that Iowa has on US and even world literature, and then consider the immense power of this one person as a gatekeeper for this program, and then also for all of US literature by extension. Perhaps it is as Kanye says: "No one Prof (not even the Elizabeth M. Stanley Professor in the Arts) should have all that power"

Not sure if this is going to a be a popular comment here, but I feel like there has to be a way to make our literary culture a little bit less elitist, because this process and the culture more generally are elitist in the most literal sense (small number of people with greatly outsize impact on the culture relative to their numbers and cultural authority outside of the academy). I think that maybe we as outsiders sometimes defend this culture because we hope to be absorbed into it, but the fact that we could be absorbed into it doesn't really make it more just or defensible. Not an knock on Iowa necessarily, and not a knock on the individuals who operate/maintain this system. It's just that we have to actually change the system, I think

Happy Sunday, y'all. Just wanted to drop in and see how y'all have been--no word on my application yet (no surprise there), but of course, I'm checking every couple of days.

I got an email from "ThinkND" today, and my heart skipped five beats. It was just a newsletter, but OMG my heart truly leapt. I can only imagine what it's going to be like the day I find out.
How's everybody doing? Hanging in there/anybody heard any major news back yet?