eternalwhitenights

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?

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?

I like to fantasize about the massive houses with yards and barns I could buy in Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan and spend my anxiety hours on Zillow. My son is a toddler. Every night he says, "Talk. Talk with mommy." And we talk about playing catch in our new yard and our new garage with a basketball hoop. He'd also like a slide.

For me it's pretty straightforward. I go into all submissions with the understanding that everything's subjective, and my stories are sometimes kind of strange, so I understand that they aren't the right fit for everyone. With this understanding, I can believe that I might not necessarily suck. I still could suck, but I won't know for sure because of the subjectivity.
If I decide to think that I do suck, then I just think of how old some of my favorite writers were when they published their first novels. I'm only 28, so I have some years to work with if I want to stay on track with them.

Thank you so much. I couldn't have done it without Jesus, tbh. Also, I've spent so long just getting to a place where I allowed myself to be happy and go after what I want, that this process was more of a "Why not?" instead of a "Why do you think you can actually do this?" That vulnerability and self-love was monumental for me, in and of itself.
Good luck to you on all of your apps, too!
Cool cool. And yes--I so relate to that feeling of just wanting to make it in. I bet you'll make it into tons of the programs you applied to--I believe in you!!  
What kind of writing do you do (like do you gravitate towards a certain genre, time period, style, etc.)?

I'm just so excited for everybody here, and I can't wait to see everyone's results. ❤️ We're going to rock this, y'all!

OMG another Notre Dame applicant!  Did you apply for prose or poetry, or both? My name is Mary--nice to meet you!

Hi all!! I'm Mary--so nice to meet everybody! :D I'm so glad this little corner of Grad Cafe exists--I randomly found Grad Cafe through an article I read online about when to expect an answer to grad program applications, and I'm so glad it directed me here. This website is absolutely bomb. :D

I ended up making a last-minute decision to apply to an MFA for Creative Writing via a whole lot of Jesus and prayer and finally having the courage to go after making my novel that I've been working on since I was 14 my MFA. I only applied to one program, Notre Dame's MFA for their prose track, and I applied there because my novel takes place during the Great Potato Famine in Ireland, and they have an absolutely fantastic Irish Studies program, as well as a service component to their program, which is also really important to me as both a writer and human. (I really want to get involved with their outreach track that deals with the Literatures of Annihilation and Exile (I can't remember the exact name of the track off the top of my head) because I want to use my words to help amplify the voices of marginalized communities and to write about issues in the education and social justice spaces; BIPOC issues and immigrant/refugee issues are very, very close to my heart.)
Between making the decision to apply and the deadline for the program, I had a ten-day turnaround period, and I still can't believe I actually applied to the program. That's kind of wild to me. I wish I'd had a better writing sample, but I'm just really proud of myself for applying in the first place, and for the fact that I wrote the first four pages of my novel in a creative whirlwind on the day of submission, and it was pretty much the best feeling ever to give voice to my main character, who has been in my heart and grown and matured with me through the past 15 years (I'm 29 now), and know that I have something special there.
I just wanted to wish everybody the best of luck with their applications and the decisions, and I look forward to getting to know everyone!! I think I'm going to cry and dance at the same time if I get in to this program--I want it more with each passing day.

God bless, everybody! So so glad I found this place!

~Mary

I'm sorry that you're experiencing frustration with the process, but I'm not sure that expressing that as hostility toward the folx in this thread is going to help, by which I mean: it won't. I don't know who on the thread is going to get into this program or that program, and who is going to get into no programs at all, but I do know that everyone here 1. cares about their applications and 2. knows they're going through a harrowing process, and 3. probably has enough self-criticism going on in their heads already. 
Also for what it's worth, no one on this thread can be accountable for how you made your decisions on applications and such, so while I know it's heartbreaking to hear about acceptance statistics and frustrating to learn about them after submitting, it's also not their fault that they acknowledged this. I come from a background where absolutely no one has an advanced degree, so I understand how weird and confusing and sometimes counter-intuitive the process and specifics of MFA apps can be, and how different the process is from undergrad (which itself was a confusing process too!) That said, many of the folx on this thread have put a lot of work into understanding it (and months into their applications), and most of the information we're sharing is stuff that can be found out just by doing some searching online. The opportunity to get an advanced degree which is fully paid for and funded is an incredibly lucky one; none of us are entitled to this type of education and we're just trying to do everything we can do to get there!

You've got this, dear! Congrats on just applying in the first place from across the ocean. That takes so much courage in and of itself to be willing to chase your dreams away from your comfort zone of home, so major props to you on that. Where did you apply to for your MFA, if you don't mind me asking?  
P.S. I hope you get some decent sleep before all the results go out, at least for a few nights during the interim! ? 

Thank you so much. I couldn't have done it without Jesus, tbh. Also, I've spent so long just getting to a place where I allowed myself to be happy and go after what I want, that this process was more of a "Why not?" instead of a "Why do you think you can actually do this?" That vulnerability and self-love was monumental for me, in and of itself.
Good luck to you on all of your apps, too!
Cool cool. And yes--I so relate to that feeling of just wanting to make it in. I bet you'll make it into tons of the programs you applied to--I believe in you!!  
What kind of writing do you do (like do you gravitate towards a certain genre, time period, style, etc.)?

I'm just so excited for everybody here, and I can't wait to see everyone's results. ❤️ We're going to rock this, y'all!

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 ❤️

Sounds like you put a lot of thought into your choice of school. I'm super impressed that you completed your application on such a short timeline, too. Welcome to the forum and best of luck!

Hi all!! I'm Mary--so nice to meet everybody! :D I'm so glad this little corner of Grad Cafe exists--I randomly found Grad Cafe through an article I read online about when to expect an answer to grad program applications, and I'm so glad it directed me here. This website is absolutely bomb. :D

I ended up making a last-minute decision to apply to an MFA for Creative Writing via a whole lot of Jesus and prayer and finally having the courage to go after making my novel that I've been working on since I was 14 my MFA. I only applied to one program, Notre Dame's MFA for their prose track, and I applied there because my novel takes place during the Great Potato Famine in Ireland, and they have an absolutely fantastic Irish Studies program, as well as a service component to their program, which is also really important to me as both a writer and human. (I really want to get involved with their outreach track that deals with the Literatures of Annihilation and Exile (I can't remember the exact name of the track off the top of my head) because I want to use my words to help amplify the voices of marginalized communities and to write about issues in the education and social justice spaces; BIPOC issues and immigrant/refugee issues are very, very close to my heart.)
Between making the decision to apply and the deadline for the program, I had a ten-day turnaround period, and I still can't believe I actually applied to the program. That's kind of wild to me. I wish I'd had a better writing sample, but I'm just really proud of myself for applying in the first place, and for the fact that I wrote the first four pages of my novel in a creative whirlwind on the day of submission, and it was pretty much the best feeling ever to give voice to my main character, who has been in my heart and grown and matured with me through the past 15 years (I'm 29 now), and know that I have something special there.
I just wanted to wish everybody the best of luck with their applications and the decisions, and I look forward to getting to know everyone!! I think I'm going to cry and dance at the same time if I get in to this program--I want it more with each passing day.

God bless, everybody! So so glad I found this place!

~Mary

Hi all!! I'm Mary--so nice to meet everybody! :D I'm so glad this little corner of Grad Cafe exists--I randomly found Grad Cafe through an article I read online about when to expect an answer to grad program applications, and I'm so glad it directed me here. This website is absolutely bomb. :D

I ended up making a last-minute decision to apply to an MFA for Creative Writing via a whole lot of Jesus and prayer and finally having the courage to go after making my novel that I've been working on since I was 14 my MFA. I only applied to one program, Notre Dame's MFA for their prose track, and I applied there because my novel takes place during the Great Potato Famine in Ireland, and they have an absolutely fantastic Irish Studies program, as well as a service component to their program, which is also really important to me as both a writer and human. (I really want to get involved with their outreach track that deals with the Literatures of Annihilation and Exile (I can't remember the exact name of the track off the top of my head) because I want to use my words to help amplify the voices of marginalized communities and to write about issues in the education and social justice spaces; BIPOC issues and immigrant/refugee issues are very, very close to my heart.)
Between making the decision to apply and the deadline for the program, I had a ten-day turnaround period, and I still can't believe I actually applied to the program. That's kind of wild to me. I wish I'd had a better writing sample, but I'm just really proud of myself for applying in the first place, and for the fact that I wrote the first four pages of my novel in a creative whirlwind on the day of submission, and it was pretty much the best feeling ever to give voice to my main character, who has been in my heart and grown and matured with me through the past 15 years (I'm 29 now), and know that I have something special there.
I just wanted to wish everybody the best of luck with their applications and the decisions, and I look forward to getting to know everyone!! I think I'm going to cry and dance at the same time if I get in to this program--I want it more with each passing day.

God bless, everybody! So so glad I found this place!

~Mary

Hi all!! I'm Mary--so nice to meet everybody! :D I'm so glad this little corner of Grad Cafe exists--I randomly found Grad Cafe through an article I read online about when to expect an answer to grad program applications, and I'm so glad it directed me here. This website is absolutely bomb. :D

I ended up making a last-minute decision to apply to an MFA for Creative Writing via a whole lot of Jesus and prayer and finally having the courage to go after making my novel that I've been working on since I was 14 my MFA. I only applied to one program, Notre Dame's MFA for their prose track, and I applied there because my novel takes place during the Great Potato Famine in Ireland, and they have an absolutely fantastic Irish Studies program, as well as a service component to their program, which is also really important to me as both a writer and human. (I really want to get involved with their outreach track that deals with the Literatures of Annihilation and Exile (I can't remember the exact name of the track off the top of my head) because I want to use my words to help amplify the voices of marginalized communities and to write about issues in the education and social justice spaces; BIPOC issues and immigrant/refugee issues are very, very close to my heart.)
Between making the decision to apply and the deadline for the program, I had a ten-day turnaround period, and I still can't believe I actually applied to the program. That's kind of wild to me. I wish I'd had a better writing sample, but I'm just really proud of myself for applying in the first place, and for the fact that I wrote the first four pages of my novel in a creative whirlwind on the day of submission, and it was pretty much the best feeling ever to give voice to my main character, who has been in my heart and grown and matured with me through the past 15 years (I'm 29 now), and know that I have something special there.
I just wanted to wish everybody the best of luck with their applications and the decisions, and I look forward to getting to know everyone!! I think I'm going to cry and dance at the same time if I get in to this program--I want it more with each passing day.

God bless, everybody! So so glad I found this place!

~Mary

Hello! I'm prose as well! 

Hi all!! I'm Mary--so nice to meet everybody! :D I'm so glad this little corner of Grad Cafe exists--I randomly found Grad Cafe through an article I read online about when to expect an answer to grad program applications, and I'm so glad it directed me here. This website is absolutely bomb. :D

I ended up making a last-minute decision to apply to an MFA for Creative Writing via a whole lot of Jesus and prayer and finally having the courage to go after making my novel that I've been working on since I was 14 my MFA. I only applied to one program, Notre Dame's MFA for their prose track, and I applied there because my novel takes place during the Great Potato Famine in Ireland, and they have an absolutely fantastic Irish Studies program, as well as a service component to their program, which is also really important to me as both a writer and human. (I really want to get involved with their outreach track that deals with the Literatures of Annihilation and Exile (I can't remember the exact name of the track off the top of my head) because I want to use my words to help amplify the voices of marginalized communities and to write about issues in the education and social justice spaces; BIPOC issues and immigrant/refugee issues are very, very close to my heart.)
Between making the decision to apply and the deadline for the program, I had a ten-day turnaround period, and I still can't believe I actually applied to the program. That's kind of wild to me. I wish I'd had a better writing sample, but I'm just really proud of myself for applying in the first place, and for the fact that I wrote the first four pages of my novel in a creative whirlwind on the day of submission, and it was pretty much the best feeling ever to give voice to my main character, who has been in my heart and grown and matured with me through the past 15 years (I'm 29 now), and know that I have something special there.
I just wanted to wish everybody the best of luck with their applications and the decisions, and I look forward to getting to know everyone!! I think I'm going to cry and dance at the same time if I get in to this program--I want it more with each passing day.

God bless, everybody! So so glad I found this place!

~Mary