Boomer not Ok

Dang, Banquo’s ghost haunting the MFA 22 thread already? Oh well, I’ll be looking out for it probably and hope all goes well in NH. 

Nope, I’m probably the oldest. Got two kids in college. Congrats on ASU. Sounds like a great program. We did a fam trip to AZ two summer’s ago (Sedona, Grand C.) and it rocked (bad pun attempt). 

Thanks. Appreciate the kind words. Hope your pending and Mcneese work out. Happy to share link when published. 

Oh boy, I was sucked into a project so didn’t have email access, but also got the “BU bust” late in the pm. Commiserations to those who got the ‘no’ too. For the life of me I cannot understand why BU did that drip-water torture style of rejection. But happy to have closure. So final tally: 2a/1w/9r.
Anyways, I got a story accepted for a reprint, and some other good stuff been happening, so it helps put all this MFA thing in perspective.
Probs gonna apply again next year. Hope some of the folk here stick around. Just wondering if a new thread MFA 22 has to get started? 
 

Thanks for thinking of me. Can totally relate with that poster though. Finally.....

Nothing yet. Really weird. Yeah, I saw a lot of poetry decisions released. Only one fiction. Also, no word from McNeese either. 

In a weird way, carefully gleaned excerpts of all the exchanges between the troll and posters on this thread could make for an interesting MFA submission portfolio. There's drama and conflict here, a lot of posturing and "delusion killing" veiled as "public service" but really a sad combo of schadenfreude and sour-grapes. It's a bit like a 'performance piece' blurring the line between fiction and reality. Maybe, I'll use this for my second round...a kind of author-less metafiction dialogue/pastiche.

In a weird way, carefully gleaned excerpts of all the exchanges between the troll and posters on this thread could make for an interesting MFA submission portfolio. There's drama and conflict here, a lot of posturing and "delusion killing" veiled as "public service" but really a sad combo of schadenfreude and sour-grapes. It's a bit like a 'performance piece' blurring the line between fiction and reality. Maybe, I'll use this for my second round...a kind of author-less metafiction dialogue/pastiche.

In a weird way, carefully gleaned excerpts of all the exchanges between the troll and posters on this thread could make for an interesting MFA submission portfolio. There's drama and conflict here, a lot of posturing and "delusion killing" veiled as "public service" but really a sad combo of schadenfreude and sour-grapes. It's a bit like a 'performance piece' blurring the line between fiction and reality. Maybe, I'll use this for my second round...a kind of author-less metafiction dialogue/pastiche.

In a weird way, carefully gleaned excerpts of all the exchanges between the troll and posters on this thread could make for an interesting MFA submission portfolio. There's drama and conflict here, a lot of posturing and "delusion killing" veiled as "public service" but really a sad combo of schadenfreude and sour-grapes. It's a bit like a 'performance piece' blurring the line between fiction and reality. Maybe, I'll use this for my second round...a kind of author-less metafiction dialogue/pastiche.

Somehow you got there when all I could think of was purgatory. Yeah, there's a reason I don't have a knack for telling stories.

In a weird way, carefully gleaned excerpts of all the exchanges between the troll and posters on this thread could make for an interesting MFA submission portfolio. There's drama and conflict here, a lot of posturing and "delusion killing" veiled as "public service" but really a sad combo of schadenfreude and sour-grapes. It's a bit like a 'performance piece' blurring the line between fiction and reality. Maybe, I'll use this for my second round...a kind of author-less metafiction dialogue/pastiche.

Of course you should be able to ask about your sample if you get called by a rep from the program. If the person is not familiar with your sample and is just calling you to inform you about the adcom's decision and tell you more about the program, then they should say "they'll get back to you about your question." If they don't offer to do that, then it may not be a good sign about the program. Also, I truly don't get this obsession over CU and NYU. It seems from this thread plenty of people got rejected or waitlisted from CU and/or NYU but got into fully-funded or other very competitive programs. Be proud of your acceptance at CU.  

To all the peeps out there applying again next year or considering it, this was my second go-round, and I'm glad I didn't get in last year. Everything about my life is more settled, my writing and reading range continue to get honed and grow, and I'm better able to push forward in the path I want. So maybe that will be the same for you. 

Also Covid. Things prolly still won't be quite close to normal this fall, there will still be anxiety and things not really falling into place well, so you may be dodging it all to have a much more full three years than the rest.

Hope everything works out. Cheers

in a range way, I get what you are saying. I am actually looking forward to applying again now that I know what it is about and how I messed up and how everyone here has been so helpful and so sweet. of course we have all heard that failures teach us a lot and I guess, it is a cliche. But I did learn from this "failed attempt" and in fact, the acceptance at one university didn't make me jump in joy. 

I'll be here too. I'm not taking it as a failure that I didn't get in anywhere this year (that's the assumption, I'm happy to be proven wrong by my 2 remaining schools, but I feel that rejection is a safe bet), and I hope you don't either. I haven't "failed" as a writer. All my experience, my practice, my study, and my work is not, and will never be, a failure. I have come so far, and all that this shows me is that I need to go even farther to hit my goal next year. 
I could be crazy, but that prospect excites me!  That I need to go even further to get in is a testament to the fact that when I do, I will be surrounded by people who are amazing. I am so thrilled to see how much better I will be and what lengths I will have taken my writing to in one year's time. 

Wanted to thank everyone for going through this together for the past months, it felt like forever! I'll be attending Brooklyn College in the fall. To those who are going to apply again next year, hats off to you -- you are some strong minds! To share another anecdote - I learned today that a writer was rejected by every school she applied but Iowa (not this year, a while ago). Just want to remind everyone again how subjective this application process can be. After all, what is good writing anyway? I will be on my way to figure that out, hope everyone here will, too, inside or outside the university system. Good luck to all of us!!! 

I cringe when I look at everything of mine. my sample has a million typos and hanging sentences and no plot. and my recommenders were people I love and they are great but I don't know if they know my writing. I learned a lot and I guess I can put together a better app next time. :)))))

I hear ya. I wince when I look at my SOP and my recommenders were fine and intelligent but really didn’t know my writing. I went with this, bc from most of what I’d read, SOP and recs don’t really matter to adcoms, only the writing sample. But I’m not sure. I would think in close cases recs and SOP do matter. I hate the idea of going through this again and I have some programs now I could attend, but I feel I’ve learned so much from this cycle that I could put together a stronger app next time and also expand my geographic range of the programs, which I kept quite limited this time. 

Thank you so much. such a difficult decision to make though. I am also thinking of applying again next year although I am tempted to go this year and figure out things. Deferrals were there and also, a record number of applications. I had a crap SOP, I chose the wrong program and also, my recommendation letters were by such random people because it was all so last minute that the adcoms must be wondering who is she or who are they
I hope, I hope. And I hope you get a good program neat year and write the book you should.
I am also an international student so it means I need to figure out opportunities, etc. This also means I say bye to my career and take a plunge and maybe I will land on the moon or straight into the black hole. who knows

Sorry about Iowa. Hard to give advice about CU. But getting in there is a great accomplishment, so well done. It’s a lot of money for an MFA and I’m not sure how the CU MFA translates post-MFA into job opportunities, if that’s what you’re looking for, but I imagine it carries some cachet and is helpful. I don’t think I would have attended CU, if I’d gotten in, bc of the money and the cohort size. But that’s a personal thing. I am now considering applying again to other programs next year. I got waitlisted so far at a full funded program, so that tells me my portfolio had some merit, but I think I could submit a stronger one for next time, get better recs from people who know my writing (which I didn’t do this round), and craft a ‘smarter’ SOP. Also, pandemic deferrals may have made this round particularly hard. The fact that you got into CU means you must have a good portfolio already and maybe if other full-funded schools don’t work out this round for you, your chances of getting into one next year would seem to be strong. 

I’m not on Draft, so I don’t know what’s happening there. On this thread, as far as I know, and reported on Results, there’s been 1 acceptance for poetry and fiction. I haven’t had a response from BU yet, so perhaps they’re still deciding. Looks like we’re in the same boat. 

Nope. Rejected. The email I got said I just had to submit a new cover letter. No fee and they would use my MFA submission to evaluate. I’m not interested but found this bizarre. Does NYU have some kind of algo or AI going through rejected apps to try to fill spaces in undersubscribed programs? Like an airline seat allocator? That’s kind of the vibe I get from this. 

Anyone still waiting to hear back from BU? I've had no news. I saw there's been 1 acceptance for poetry and fiction (from folk on this thread!!! congrats).
Other news: I got a weird email from NYU suggesting I should apply to some humanities program based on my MFA application. Like I'm a good fit for it. Seems they're desperate to fill seats but wondering how many other people here got the same email.
Same thing happened with Rutgers Camden. Got an email to apply to their MA program, which actually seemed like a good alternative to their MFA but after looking into it more I kinda got turned off. Wonder how many people here also got that invite.

Most likely yes - pretty typical admissions tactic. At the school I worked at for example, we'd run a query to pull names of anyone who got rejected from one of our more exclusive tech programs and invite them to reuse their application to be considered for a more general degree. I got a similar referral from one of the MFAs that rejected me this year.