everything bagel lover

Happy birthday!! I'm sorry about Syracuse tho :,( I hope you can yell about it with loved ones today ❤️ Also, @KennyK I've got my fingers crossed for you! I just learned there's a limit on new posts within a certain time frame and my enthusiasm is being curbed lol

I keep oscillating between dizzying excitement and dread, anyone else? I'm also hoping today is full of results and hopefully some positive ones at that!

Oh man I'm getting tense with anticipation and stress! UNLV, NAU, and CSU could notify at ANY moment. There's no reprieve from the anticipation, not after work hours, not the weekend, never! I'm also kicking myself just a little bit for not putting Canvas proficiency or however you would word it on my resume for applications, as apparently that's what colleges are switching to instead of Blackboard and I live in Canvas with my current job. It's such a small gripe, I'm just finding new things to be neurotic about to pass the time.

It's so dependent on the program and while there's definitely bad writing, good writing exists on such a weird spectrum that it's impossible to know. I'd err on the side of giving yourself grace, that your writing is good and that there are a bunch of factors at play like the cohort they're trying to create, whether or not the faculty feel they can mentor you as a writer, if they're looking for your type of style, and so much more. I'll also say, sometimes our writing can be stronger. My writing sample last cycle was not my strongest and this cycle, while it's stronger, I still am not sure it's strong enough to get me into somewhere highly prestigious. And that's okay. We can all grow through this process ❤️ be kind to yourself

Alright, everyone: deep breathe in, now scream

AHHHH CONGRATS!!!!!! ❤️

I saw the word "accepted" in an email notification and my heart stopped until I read the rest and it's just my state taxes getting accepted 😓 which is also good news i guess

CONGRATULATIONS OMGGGGG good news hype train!!!!! ❤️ I too am already out of reactions lol

Lets gooooooo! Every week I'm like this is the week and then it isn't but at some point it will be and I think maybe this is the week lol I'm feeling 2% less neurotic now that I've gotten my first notification, so hopefully I can catch up on all the work I've been slacking on checking the spreadsheet and forum every second of my workday lol Also an update on Naropa funding if anyone cares: they're reading applications starting today for the 3 funded fellowships and should have decisions by March 1st which makes it only feel like half of an acceptance which is scary but I'm ready for whatever comes down the pipes and thank you everyone for all your positivity and support ❤️ I hope we all get good news this week ❤️

I too am a Wyoming hopeful for fiction! Their program seems amazing!

I just got accepted in to Naropa! No word on funding but I’ve got my fingers crossed! And regardless it’s nice to kick off the season with an acceptance! ❤️

Naropa sent me an email with just "Congratulations" in the subject line to let me know that my app was complete, like come on guys read the room

Another very quiet day so far. Happy Valentine's day y'all! Also congrats @Dingdong99!!! ❤️

Congratulations!!!! ❤️

I know it's not for everyone, but this week feels quieter than I expected. I was hoping to hear from UNLV or CSU this week but I'm hoping that next week bears good news! I know that CSU already accepted one fiction person so I'll cross my fingers for a waitlist ❤️ Many of my programs notify later so idk why I'm holding my breath but what else is a girl to do? Actually be productive at work?

I think if the GPA is high enough to meet the basic requirements for the graduate school and be moved to the department itself, it's fine. I've also seen many programs say that if a GPA is below the threshold required, exceptions can be made if the writing it strong. Overall, I think it's not that big of a deal.

It's a stressful times and all of our data sets are weird, incomplete, and subject to error so it's totally understandable! I'm glad that this one lead to a more optimistic outcome tho!

I saw that too and it's a waitlist for the University of Arizona so I don't think any ASU waitlists have been logged I looked up ASU and I think it might have been for PhD? Regardless, there is still hope yet as no fiction notifs seem to have gone out or at least logged on the forum or draft!

Sorry, where do you see the ASU waitlist? An ASU poetry acceptance is in draft spreadsheet (congrats to mismanaged funds btw!) but I don't see anything for fiction in the draft or forum results page, but I could totally be missing something

The first time I applied, I didn't know about the draft or forum until I was waitlisted somewhere, which was my second to last notif and so I spent February through March in a state of ignorant bliss of all the other notifs going out. I miss that period of innocence. It's easy to feel disheartened seeing others get in and especially to multiple places, but that doesn't mean this is for nothing! As many people have said, the path of a writer is full of rejection and these are really really competitive programs. I also agree with Zaira that you should let yourself feel it. It sucks ass. But this isn't the end all be all ❤️

I agree, it's easy to be disheartened but it is early yet!!

I think honestly, my apps this round could have been better. I read work from faculty of my top choices before applying and singled out faculty that I wanted to work with which I neglected to do last time. In some SOP's I put this, in some I didn't. Idk how that choice will pan out tbh. I applied to less prestigious programs and most are not guaranteed full funding, and are less popular because of that. Almost all offer funding to most, if not some, students admitted and I'm just hoping that the applicant pool is small enough to bump my chances of funding up. I have a background in teaching so I'm hoping that I'm a strong GTA candidate if they like my work enough to admit me. I'm kind of just hedging my bets. I waited a couple of years between applying because I wasn't sure how to proceed. I rewrote my SOP entirely, as my last one was pretty bad tbh. I did reuse stories from my previous cycle but they're significantly revised. One has been published so it felt safe to keep in. I'm not sure how I feel rn about my writing sample, as I've said before. In between cycles, I worked more on longer pieces of work and weird shit that hasn't been workshopped so none of my recent work feels strong enough to put in an application. Who knows if any of this will be fruitful. I'm also feeling pessimistic but making a plan to start drafting a new novel in earnest if I don't get in anywhere. Edit: Although I applied for, on paper, less prestigious schools, I'm genuinely excited by all of the programs and would be delighted to get in to any of them. I think more so last time I applied almost exclusively based on reputation and didn't do as much research into the programs as I should have. I also applied to some prestigious ones this time that I'm not really expecting to get in to.

Same oh my god. Tyler Bender has been my go to during these times. Her youtube channel is a delight if you like girly pop internet content

Good morning my neurotic doves! Anyone else totally doubting their writing sample at this point? To a couple of last minute schools, I swapped a story for one that was a little weirder but not as polished (it hasn't been workshopped) and I'm wishing that I had both sent it out to more schools and had more time to really make it the best it could be. I know there's nothing to be done now but the silence and probable soft rejection from CSU has me feeling a lot of doubt. Also omg congratulations AyvaM!!!!!!!!! That's so amazing!!!

omg you're right, I saw someone else say they were manifesting UWY and so I tossed it back on my list for this week UNLV has a 1/15 deadline and historically has sent out noticed pretty early given that (I maybe have gone into the Wayback machine to compare previous deadlines with previous acceptance notifs)