prufrock_

ah so it kinda make sense (though still bad!). STEM grad applicants are rather objective like that.

oof. is that from the generic grad school or the actual english dept?

if last years draft accurate (and i don't think it is -- programs appear to be a week behind relatively), i should be hearing from my last 7 schools this week. I'm excited to get a definitive answer; my lease is expiring in two months and I need to either renew or not by april 1st!

I didn't apply to boulder last year because yeah from their website i did the math and it seemed like even if you got 100% everything you still walked away with 20 grand in debt by the end. I applied this year just because of that draft post saying it's secretly funded (and last year someone on the draft reported everyone was funded as well). Boulder is such a dream program for me (location and faculty), but i'm scared i'll get in and only be offered tiny funding -- or even worse, funding that's so mishmash it's a gamble year by year. I'd hate to get to year 3 and them be like 'okay pay us 60 grand for the last year, buckaroo'

i feel like it's rather subjective, but my most rewatched comfort shows are Friday Night Lights, Scrubs, Monk and Taskmaster (UK). The first two are deep and can get dark, but are generally uplifting. The last two are just fun.

a hand full of irvine rejections in fiction went out a while back, but no other news yet.

ah! yeah, I did go with a transgressive and dark piece as my lead, which probably wasn't the best of moves.

I've had quite a few moments like this, especially the last few weeks. I'm sitting on 11 rejections this round (and I am counting Iowa as a soft rejection) and it's my second round. I think the whole process has inspired me to write my best stories, and I don't regret the time / energy / MONEY of doing it all. but it's so hard to pretend that every rejection doesn't come with its own grieving process. i know the programs would never do this for many good reasons, but i really wish we had an option of getting 'brutal truth rejections' instead of these lovely rejection emails. I imagine there are three levels of rejection. I want to get a rejection that tells me which level I was, like: 1 'we received 900 applications. we read half your first story, got bored, and threw out the packet. we didn't even read your sop, let alone your second story. this isn't for you.' vs 2 'you made it through the first round of readers, but got cut in the second. you got close, but not close enough. be 10% better and you'll have a shot next round' vs 3 'you made it though all the rounds of readers. But, after reading your sop and looking at transcripts, we decided you wouldn't fit in here due to xyz (things probably not even in your control).' Again, i know it wont happen, and not everyone has thick skin and would want to know. But i'd rather know if i'm being delusional with applications and that first situation is happening to all my apps, or if i'm actually close.

grats! do respond, but don't lie. If you don't say 'youre my number 1!' then i don't think it's implied that you're an auto-accept.

one of my favorite writers (Stephen Graham Jones) got his BA from there, so i've never though of it as a 'tech' school. i don't think an mfa from anywhere is a guarantee to anything, so i'm not worrying about prestige. Sure, JHU or an ivy will get you a second look down the road, but an MFA is an MFA. If you think you would enjoy your time there, and you would grow as a writer, and you wont incur massive debt in the process, then i think it's worth going.

yup, nothing for me as well yet. I'm still assuming it's nothing but a rejection.

ah! that's very cool. And a good reminder to email all your favorite living authors fan mail!!

yes, they take a two weeks+ to reject everyone for some reason based on last years data (i also haven't picked up a rejection from them yet). I can only assume it's a non automated system and whichever admin does it all just takes their time.

Dang, between iowa and notre dame, i've picked up quite a few soft rejections lately. I started this round with a waitlist that really gave me hope, but that's been my only good news the entire time. But! I still have quite a few pending schools, and as we always say, you only need one. We march on.

Yeah, reading that article about Penn terrified me. I can't imagine quitting my job, breaking my lease, and getting ready to move just for the rug to be pulled last minute. and it might happen at any time for the duration of the program.

I agree with this. Last year it took them 3+ weeks to send out all rejections, but no waitlists/acceptances came out after that first batch (or at least they weren't reported).

I'm not international and JHU hasn't sent my rejection yet. I like Hank's idea that I offended them by even applying.

i also haven't picked up my JHU rejection yet. Which is kind of weird, since draft has 3 acceptances and 3 waitlists for fiction, so i don't think there is any room left for anything but a decline.

*hides five dollars in a copy of Battleborn by Watkins and slides it your way* why don't u admit my friend mr honest abe here.

it's gotta be soon! even the weekend is a possibility imo.

I'm in the same Irvine and JHU boat (but my Syracuse ship has sailed). It sounds like Irvine is still real possibility, but JHU is a 'maybe there's a waitlist spot still available' situation at this point.

grats! 3 acceptances in a row is amazing. Any word on when Naropa might let you know about funding?

jadedoptimist had the right move for this last year that got them into brown, imma bring it back for us: 🕯 🕯 🕯 🕯 🕯 🕯 🕯 🕯 ❤️ wyoming 🕯 🕯 fiction 🕯 🕯 summoning 🕯 🕯 circle 🕯 🕯 🕯 🕯 🕯 🕯

you must have reminded alabama to send our their rejections with this post! more are hitting.

don't give me hope, i've considered JHU a soft rejection for a week! A lot of people don't report! They've one of the oldest programs, they're definitely very competitive. Are you maybe having a bit of a Groucho Marx moment (“I don’t want to belong to any club that would accept me as one of its members.”)? I'd wanna go to alabama just for the chance to work on BWR alone! Plus their option of using a 4th year to ~vibe~ is rad as heck.