quesofresco

I recommend that your relative takes the Stegner Fellowship. Here's my reasoning: Both are prestigious, and it's an real honor that they got accepted to Iowa. But Stegner is so much more competitive, and I would argue more prestigious. They only admit 5 in each genre, and applicants are competing against 1500-2000 other people who often already have MFAs and PhDs and sometimes already have books. The Stegner is something that people often strive for *after* getting a degree (often from Iowa, or Michener, or Michigan, or other strong programs) and sometimes even after they complete other prestigious fellowships (like the Wisconsin fellowship or the Fine Arts Work Center). So while it seems more chronologically logical to first go to an MFA, then go on to a fellowship... if your relative is already strong enough writer to receive a Stegner (which doesn't require a degree), then they will likely still be a strong enough writer to get into an MFA/PhD program of their choice two years in the future if they want to pursue that path. And the fact that they already had the Stegner I feel would make them a shoo-in for most programs (and helpful for negotiating more money to fund them). People turning down offers to MFA programs, even to Iowa, is common when people get into other programs, or for life situations; I can't see a situation in which turning down an MFA to accept this fellowship would be frowned upon by admissions committees in the future (post-fellowship, the person may not even benefit from an MFA anymore, unless they want a teaching credential/graduate degree, or more time and space to write). In reverse, it doesn't seem likely that they would be offered another Stegner fellowship in the future, not because of any lack of talent, but just because of the odds and sheer luck that also go into being chosen against such a large pool of talented applicants in any year. It's very hard to get *any* fellowship, and there are so few of them. I don't have any first-hand experience of Stegner, so I may be off the mark. But I would imagine that the group of writers accepted as fellows are potentially more mature and focused than many people in an MFA program-- often because they have already been through MFAs or other graduate education, and have been seriously writing and pursuing publication for significant amount of time. To me, these seem like positives, because it seems then the workshop would operate at a more advanced level, and would just overall be more helpful to share work and give/get feedback from this group of people. But I could also see how this could also be overwhelming, depending on someone's personal experience and what they want out of a workshop environment. I also don't have first-hand experience of Iowa, but a real positive seems to be the social community and friendships that people make there, and it is a large program (about 50 new people each year). And depending on the age and experiences of your relative, they may be seeking a more social and academic environment (I don't know how Stanford would compare). But friends who have been through the program have also described it as competitive to a sometimes negative extent, and that the program itself can seem to encourage this. (If anyone has direct experience of Iowa and wants to contradict this, please do.) Of course that could also just depend on the personalities of people admitted each year. Financially, $75k is not a lot for the Bay Area, but it is livable. But there are opportunities to teach to supplement funding. And your only responsibilities in the program are to show up once a week for a writing workshop, go to official literary events, and just spend the rest of your time writing. They're basically paying you to write. Iowa, I'm not sure of the stipend amount, but I think you have to teach to earn the stipend (but I think they give different amounts of funding to different students-- your relative may have been offered good money to attend Iowa, or be able to negotiate their financial offer if they tell them they've been offered this fellowship). Anyway, just my two cents, as someone who went to strong MFA and PhD programs and has good publications and who has applied to Stegner every year for the past 4 years and been kindly rejected, as have been every one of my very talented and deserving writer friends. If someone told me that they turned down the Stegner to attend Iowa, that would seem backwards to me... but if someone strongly disagrees with any of the above, I'm curious. Sincere congrats to your relative! Pretty great choice to have.

Yes, offers are made on the 15th. I was offered a spot into an MFA from the waitlist on the afternoon of April 15 a few years back. Other friends have been admitted to programs later than that date. Being waitlisted at a dream program while accepted to a maybe program is kind of a crap situation to be in-- but at the same time, schools are aware of this and the domino effect that can happen, and will hopefully try to keep you informed. If you haven't reached out to your waitlisted school, maybe do that to get an idea of where you are on the list, how many people haven't said yes yet, and to tell them that if they offer you a spot you will definitely accept. Hope it works out for you!

Thanks for this! I didn't know about the UVA fellowship. Also I have a spreadsheet of different opportunities; I'll DM you if you're interested.

I have a friend who did this-- an MFA in one genre at a lesser-known school, then an MFA in another genre at a top program a few years later. They were seriously working in the second genre before they applied for the second MFA-- got a couple pieces published, and won a contest. Now they're doing a PhD in the second genre. So it's definitely possible! I think you probably just need to clearly show in your application that you're serious about poetry and are actively writing, and not just applying for more school out of feeling lost for what to do next...

Hope you hear good news soon! I know that James Jones doesn't notify until September. Wisconsin said they'll notify by mid/late April (I got my rejection last week of April last year). I agree it's frustratingly difficult to find info on post-mfa fellowships/opportunities... like info that they even exist, much less when they notify. Your post is the first time I've heard of the Mellon fellowship, and I just learned about the UT Early Career fellowship (is that what you're referencing here?) right after the deadline had passed....

Congrats on your interview! Which program was it for? I've had rejections from Stegner and Colgate, waiting to hear from Wisconsin and Bucknell (Roth).

Hey all! I don't have Facebook so can't access Draft, curious if there are additional acceptances being reported there that haven't been posted on the gradcafe acceptance board? I applied to PhDs including FSU, just here casually waiting for my Mark Winegardner text message lol...