prufrock_

historically, a bad economy results in more competition for grad school spots; people postpone getting a job because there are no jobs, so they continue education. And right now the economy is very very bad.

last year i got an iowa tiered rejection and this year i got the standard! I'm backsliding! i took a big swing this cycle and used chapters out of a novel i'm working on, which i knew was a gamble, especially cause the work is slipstream voice driven chaos. it clearly didn't work out, i hit only rejections. The advice of applying with 'one killer short story' holds true. Anyway, that's it for my mfa journey. (I don't want to ask my recommenders to submit for me a fourth time, so I'll no longer be applying; I still want an MFA, but, alas!) Best of luck to all this season and going forward!!!!

thanks for letting us know about the status of uci! (and dang it!!) now that you're almost done with your mfa, what are your thoughts on the whole MFA thing as a whole? If you don't wanna say publicly, no worries, but i am curious.

i've convinced myself a dozen times today that i can feel premonitions, looking at my phone, thinking, 'it will ring with an iowa number... right... now!' but alas, i cannot tell the future.

I approach it with a stoic philosophy: "Do not seek to have events happen as you want them to, but instead want them to happen as they do happen, and your life will go well" - Epictetus. It's silly but sometimes i remember that like a thousand people are living their mfa dreams right now and it makes me happy to think about, even if i don't know them, and even if it's not me doing it. so if i get in, i'll be happy, and if i don't get in, i'll be happy that someone else did.

i know it's nearing late feb when i find myself sending text messages and emails to myself just to make sure they work -- these inboxes they're being awfully & suspiciously QUIET...

most programs specifically say on their website 'we'll tell you by x date. don't reach out before then.' -- so i would be hesitant to ask them, especially if their website says something like this. but that's just me! I treat all of our crowd sourced data as an unreliable and unofficial channel, not a source of truth. I don't consider it as giving insight into what is actually happening to my application or what's going on inside the programs.

i just stalked the last few years worth of responses and added a column in my spreadsheet for expected response time frames for each program... nearly all of them are late feb, early march! I think last year i applied to uiuc just because i wanted the early response; this year i have no coalmine canaries.

Grats! I was waitlisted last year for UIUC as well, so to give my experience: I sent a thanks, and then didn't hear anything back from them at all -- either that a spot opened or that they filled up (but i also never emailed them any further questions).

I recommend against re-reading what you've sent out at this point. It's out there! there's no takesy-backsies! its a good fit for the program or it's not; either way, the answer is subjective and on the way.

CONGRATS!!!! love to see an early acceptance here.

basically money reasons. i'm not willing to go into debt for the mfa, but i did math wrong re: cost of living for a few programs my first time, so even though i got into a fully funded program (Arkansas), i decided to try again rather than do side gigs the entire time or use loans for rent. last year I got into rutgers-camden, which pays 40k a year (very good! livable in philly!), but their cohort was canceled. i also got into a few other programs that i thought were fully funded but turned out not to be (cu boulder, wku). So here i am!

I'll try not to sound like a cynic... but I believe anyone applying to mfa programs should realize it's basically like buying a lottery ticket, and the prize is debt. So if you're aware of these two things, then: enjoy the process! Take it easy! The idea that you'll end up where you belong is true; this implies that you should submit work you want to write, not what you think they want you to write. Don't fret over SOPs, but also don't give them a reason to toss your packet -- so, strictly follow to their rules. Have fun. Be cool. Post neurotically in February and march here, as our collective conscious goes insane. If you get in somewhere, don't do anything drastic until contracts are signed. write thank you letters to nice people!

YEAR THREE AND I'M BACK. (apparently my favorite hobby is applying to mfa programs.) anywho this place wont become a party for a few months yet, but i just want to say an early: good luck! don't SWEAT. have fun! alright now back to work.

definitely not silly! speaking as someone who had their offer completely rescinded from rutgers-camden this round -- until a contract is signed, nothing is promised! Maybe ark changed, but last year when i got in off the waitlist they sent a TA contract to sign the day of the offer, and told me to complete a full application on their grad site. Again, maybe things changed between years though.

Congrats! definitely feel free to vent more. these are massive decisions and it gets overwhelming fast! if it's any help, I got off Ark's waitlist last round, but declined. Teaching 2/2 for four years is A LOT... especially for their pay; yes Fayetteville has a lower COL than flag, but from my research last year the COL raised dramatically in fay over the last five years, but the stipened hasn't. i'm rather risk averse to any debt though.

rutgers-camden lost all funding for (at least) the incoming cohort. we mourn. we cry. we mourn. we cry. we ball. looks like this year will be a bust for me, but still i feel good. i'm really proud of the writing for my portfolio, and over the next year i can do better. Next year i wont apply to many schools. maybe just three. iowa, uc irvine. But i wont build my life around getting in or not any longer. anyway, I'm so happy for everyone here; it's been a wonderful ride. i'll be day dreaming of yall in all your schools, hoping your having a wonderful time. i'm also wishing everyone some good waitlist luck in the next few weeks!!!

i think michener is a bit more 'prestigious' than NWP for two reasons: 1) you don't teach when doing michener - you get paid/tution covered just to write and go to class, no other obligations. 2) michener pays a tad more than NWP. (but not much) Otherwise, i'm pretty sure they all share faculty, so the level of education is the same. fun fact: you do need to submit two separate apps to be considered, but they share an app fee. so if you apply to one, make sure to apply to both!

No, i had no other funded offers. I would have had to pay the full app fee for ark, and then sign a contract if i accepted. I don't have much insight into accepting an offer and then backing out. I know it's very frowned upon, and I would be hesitant to do it, but it's not unheard of or impossible.

my one data point is that last year I got into arkansas from the waitlist on 4/18, so it definitely happens. I ended up turning it down after thinking for a few days, so someone else got that spot around 4/23ish. Ark didn't give me a specific deadline to accept or decline, but it's going to vary widely program to program.

i believe it only has to do with scholarships and funding. Those who apply earlier get priority on scholarship offers, but not acceptance. So your chances of going aren't shot, but your chances of funding might be.

"We were pleased to consider your application..." what a brutal way to start a rejection letter lol, for a split second my mind autocompleted it to 'we are pleased to offer you...' anyway, officially got ND's decline.

grats to boith of you!!!! Flagstaff (and sedona) are such cool places, i'm excited for yall!

Exactly what I was thinking! if financially it's all the same, i'd go to oregon (i lived there before and loved it, it's so greeeeeeeen). It's a progressive state politically, while Idaho looks rather red. but yeah oregon's kinda pricey. as for two vs three years, i've been debating that with myself lately. while having an extra year of guaranteed funding makes taking the mfa leap less scary, i think i can write a good thesis in two years anyway. (plus my savings spaced out over two years makes life prettier than vs three years.)

welcome! you can see me and everything bagel talking a bit ago about Wyoming and our general love for it; i don't know how much more I have to offer other than: it seems rad. I love the fact you can minor in various things and you can work with the radio station, which makes wyoming unique. you can vibe in a tiny town with some really great faculty. it's windy up there though. actually i'm waitlisted there so let me rephrase: RUN FROM WYOMING, DON'T GO! jk jk jk, it's great. idk how much prestige factors into anything unless you're talking top 5 or 10 -- is there a difference between WashU and wyoming? mayyyybe. is there a difference between UNM and Wyoming? probably not. for placement that's def a good conversation to have with the directors or your point of contact but placement is more of a phd thing i think, the MFA isn't really a key to a job. i'm a big fan of following vibes. read the work of the faculty, do the new student visits, decide mountains vs desert, follow your heart more than your head (only if all things are equal with funding).