triciadawn

That’s a good plan! But you still have time for pubs and maybe you’ll get accepted somewhere this cycle! I’m 31 and just finished my bachelor’s degree last year (life stuff had me in and out of school). I just landed a remote internship at one of the ~fancy literary agencies, so that’s been keeping my mind off mfa apps! My backup plan is to get an entry-level publishing job afterwards.

Any day now, Arkansas! 😩

What if we don’t know our recommenders well? Will a handwritten thank you note suffice? I also thought about visiting their offices personally, but I’ve been out of that college for about 6 years now.

Did anyone hear from Ole Miss? Someone on the spreadsheet reports a rejection from the department website, but I don’t see where all round 2 notifications went out.

I let my work speak for itself for the most part. But curious why you think this. The sample SOPs I’ve seen discuss influences and the experiences that shaped the work. I do agree any context should be kept brief, and that space can be used better to show why you’re a good candidate. So true! Guess I have to wait until March to see if it made any difference. My thought was if they loved my writing enough to read my SOP, there wouldn’t be much I could say to change their minds.

I’m really worried about my SOP, especially after learning about the “kisses of death” to an application from r/gradadmissions on Reddit. Re: mentioning mental illness. I didn’t mention mental health explicitly in my sop, but I did say something like I bounced around around a lot due to hurricanes and I Iived in a psych ward and a shelter after I got out of a bad relationship. Now I’m worried I sound so emotionally unstable. 🤦🏾‍♀️ I wrote that an MFA will give me the stability I need to really immerse myself in writing. I’m afraid it just makes me sound so weak, like I won’t be ale to write no matter the a circumstances. However, I tried tying my experiences with displacement into how I write about themes of displacement and loss. My sample is a very short excerpt of chapter one of a novel that doesn’t stand on its own as a short story, and my short story is a 17-page surrealist story with heavy SA themes that I never workshopped. 🫠🫠🫠 I think my work is “strong” or I wouldn’t be applying, but I just think adcoms won’t “get it.” I’m not sure how well I pull off experimental stuff, but I want to show some range alongside my realist novel. I’m also curating my list for next cycle. It’s really helping me pass the time. Kicking myself I didn’t apply to Michener! Now I’m wondering “what if” that was the school that would get my weird stuff.

Congrats!!!! Working with Claire Stanford would be awesome!! I wish I knew about this program. Def feeling post-deadline regret now. 😂

To kill time, I’ve been reading the 2020 thread on GradCafe and how the earlier posts aged terribly. 😭

No worries! I guess what I meant is that maybe we give these institutions too much power when the power dynamic of this process is skewed enough as it is. This idea of being “chosen,” when many of us, the other, are continuously counted out of the industry in the first place. Maybe someone more intelligent than me can back me up here 😂

Where are the current literary fiction writers that don’t hold MFAs or PhDs, have non Ivy education, no connections, no residencies/conferences/workshops, no journalistic or writing/publishing background of any kind, and don’t live in NYC? Respectfully, depending on what sort of circles you want to be in, you may need an MFA. But for genre fiction, and even upmarket fiction, by all means you don’t “need” an MFA. In my rural area, getting plucked from the slush seems unlikely. I know we like to think the game is fair, but an overwhelming majority of literary fiction authors publishing today, especially debut authors, have some sort of fancy credential. Even the bios I read of current MFA students reek of privilege. I’m not sure if it’s because those are in a position to pursue an MFA or even know what it is in the first place already have some degree of privilege (ie. Able to stop work, relocate, etc). I do wonder how much of it is playing the game versus talent/hard work and getting plucked from the slush.

Hoping you receive better news in February! The radio silence has been brutal! I’ll even take rejections at this point.

It’s so nerve wracking! I told myself I’d apply again if I don’t get in anywhere this year, but I don’t know if I can go through this again.

CONGRATS!! 🎉🎉🎉 The Pitt interview invites were updated on the spreadsheet, not posted in the group.

The AND in all caps is theirs. The funding application is due on Feb 1, and it says a requirement for a graduate assistantship is a bachelors in English or related field, which I don’t have. Kind of disappointed to say the least. Oh well, that was $45 down the drain!

It doesn’t seem like everyone is automatically considered for funding. The website says, “For funding opportunities, we strongly recommend filing an application for a Graduate Student Assistantship in addition to your application to the MFA program. Students who are selected for admission into the program AND a graduate assistantship are awarded a stipend and full tuition remission for up to 18 credits per academic year.

I'm struggling to finish my cover letter for Minnesota State. I wasn't aware that funding applications were separately, or I wouldn't have applied. I thought everyone accepted received funding. Should I even bother at this point if it's not my first choice?

Not yet. Arkansas started notifying of round 2 around this time last year, so should be any day now. I’ve been constantly refreshing my email.

I know, right! Why are they playing with our emotions like this? I wonder why the email is being sent out at different times, though.

I got that same email a couple of weeks ago for fiction! Did you just receive yours?

Work 😭 And Masters of the Air just came out on Apple TV. That’ll give me something to look forward to besides MFA results. 😂

Are you poetry or fiction?

Applied to Ole Miss too! Their website says round 2 notifications should be out by Feb 15.

Good point. In this economy, the last thing on anyone’s mind might be going to grad school for an art degree. 😅 Unless they really want to delay life for a couple of years, in which case, they probably haven’t done enough research on programs. It DOES seem really quiet this year. I’ve been on draft for 8 years, and this is the quietest cycle by far. I wonder if this indicates less applications overall.

Aww, bummer! That's strange though because I thought acceptances go out first. I applied there for fiction. Super nervous now! My portal just says Complete.

Also applying to 12 😬 It took about a week, almost 2, for me to get approved. Good luck to you too!