[2021 Applicants Forum]

hey people! i've officially committed to the university of alabama, so if anyone else that's going there wants to connect, hit me up! 

[2021 Applicants Forum]

1 minute ago, Downtozero said:

On their webpage, UTK says that getting in to phase 2 means you "rank among admitted and waitlisted students". I take this to mean that phase 2 is a waitlist and I sort of suspect the only people who got rejected past that point may have had transcript issues (UTK has strict English credit requirements). I only saw a few people on Draft drop off after phase 2. 

Has anyone tried contacting them to ask about rank? Might be worth reiterating your interest, if you really want to go to UTK. I bet a lot of waitlisted students applied because round 1 was free, and once they got through they figured they may as well pay the $60 to see if they could hit a home run. Probably will have a decent amount of movement if any of their admitted students decline.

I've asked about rank, and they stonewalled me, so not sure. Then again, I think I was talking to a grad student and not a program head. So I may send another email soon. Regardless, i think you're right about the waitlist 

[2021 Applicants Forum]

5 minutes ago, scully7584 said:

Where did you see they are taking two?

Oof, I don't really remember. draft, I think.

[2021 Applicants Forum]

Just found out I'm going to get a Truman Capote Literary Trust scholarship from the university of alabama!! ahhh!!!

[2021 Applicants Forum]

5 minutes ago, Starbuck420 said:

First, I think you're right to feel good. Take the compliment

After that, I think you're also right to be thinking about the length of that waitlist. Most of my experience with admissions is in another discipline, but imo 7 waitlists for 2 spots is a lot. Did they let you know how high you are on the list? 

No, I have no idea. they just mentioned the two spots thing. Kinda weird. 

[2021 Applicants Forum]

Still psyched about Tennessee, don't get me wrong -- but does it seem like there's a really large fiction waitlist to anyone else? i count seven on draft alone... And given the fact that they're only taking *two* fiction applicants for this cycle, i don't know... What do you guys think? Am I overthinking this?

[2021 Applicants Forum]

I was waitlisted at Tennessee! I can't fucking believe it. Didn't think i was going to get anything this year, so this feels like a big win 

[2021 Applicants Forum]

3 minutes ago, Starbuck420 said:

I think you're right that the best thing to do in these scenarios is just to be honest, which is what you seem to have done, so, good work. IMO, in addition to just being a bad idea, it's also actually very hard to convincingly lie to these people (either directly or by omission) about what you like to read and what inspires you.

It's also true that the tenured professors who read these applications tend to be (unfortunately) much more conservative than most applicants, so I think your average tenured prof is probably going to have, honestly, a slightly less unfavorable view of DFW than many of us have. Obviously there are exceptions to this rule, but ask anyone in any sort humanities or arts discipline: the tenured profs belong to a different class than the rest of us, and as a result tend to have different priorities

also, can I ask: what do you mean by this? I think we're all familiar with the guy in your mfa type (already mentioned quite recently in the thread I think) but I'm sure if this is something distinct from that or what

 

 

Yeah, honestly i think I'm just overthinking everything. Besides, it's not like i can change it now. I think I can live with what I put down.

And I didn't really mean anything by it, I was just joking around mainly. "Guy in your MFA" etc. etc.

[2021 Applicants Forum]

I did mention influential authors in my SOP, and now I'm kind of starting to regret it: DFW, Jennifer Egan, Zadie Smith, Pynchon and Denis Johnson. With DFW especially, (seeing as he is quite understandably going out of vogue atm) I think it becomes easier to dismiss someone's writing if their influences smell of lit crit guy (and for the record, I'm doing my best to expand my reading). Then again, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to just lie to the adcom folks. I was in a bit of a bind, to be honest. Hopefully it works out for me

[2021 Applicants Forum]

2 hours ago, bb hamster said:

Hi folks, Been a long time lurker but wanted to post that yesterday, I received acceptances from both Rutgers-Camden (partial funding-- not financially feasible) and NC State (full funding)! So humbling. I am waiting on my applications at UNC Greensboro (I've been receiving positive emails from them) and Iowa (top choice). 

I am interested in hearing your general impressions about UNCG and NC State. Does either have a stronger reputation/name reputability? Also curious about the racial diversity at each schools -- it's pretty difficult to tell from the students' pages on the school sites. (As a writer of color, I'm a bit wary of all-white-ish programs.)

this isn't related to what you're asking about, but out of curiosity--when did you submit your app to NC State?