nauseated

I've kind of mentally prepared myself for a blanket of rejections because a) I applied to too few programs and b) they're all deathly selective, and I already have one soft + one full rejection out of 4. surely that would mean that this would feel less icky, but no!

CONGRATULATIONS EVERYONEEEEE ❤️ hope the logistics/funding/all the annoying admin stuff falls into place just like your decisions did!!!

bro I didn't have a full time job when I was doing the UT austin app and $90 in my currency felt like I was vomiting out money without eating any

biiiiig big congrats to everyone getting good news! got my first rejection (Michener) and I have to say knowing that feels marginally better than the JHU soft rejection - I suppose clarity is always welcome. good luck to everyone else, hope you all stay sufficiently afloat, cows included

hi friend. I get you. I'm in the middle of a really complicated life/overbearing family situation and a possible acceptance at one of these programs was meant to be my way out (though I fumbled it by applying to the selective ones. but the less selective ones have less funding, which might have been worse - knowing I got in, but couldn't go). but please remember there was SOMETHING that compelled you to apply, and if that subconscious part of your brain believed in you, your conscious emotionally-charged-by-rejection brain has to simply follow suit I'm afraid!! Just never stop writing

Hi guys. Wanted to pop in and share an experience I had today, which I have since dubbed God's practical joke on me. After the JHU acceptances on draft, I had assumed mine to be a soft rejection, which is most likely what will happen. But still, because universities presumably notify during working hours, which is during the night for me (because timezones), I keep my Wi-Fi on and keep my ringtones up to the full volume while I'm asleep - not because I'm particularly hopeful, but because in the off chance I do get a call, I wouldn't want to miss it. Plus, the call would be from an American phone number, so if an American number called me out of the blue in the middle of the night or early morning, I'd have reasonable reason to be hopeful. Earlier today (now yesterday, I suppose), Saturday morning at around 11, I get a call. It's an American phone number. I have never gotten a call from an American number unless it is a family member calling, but that's almost always on Whatsapp. I stare at the screen for a second. I pick it up. Beat. I say hello. Beat. I feel like I could throw up and shit myself and die, all at once. Beat. Someone speaks from the other end. They say hello. Beat. It is a random man asking me how I am. In my native language. I have never heard his voice in my life. As he keeps mumbling hellos and how are yous, this man with an American number whom I've never heard of or spoken to in my life, my heart sinks again, this really icky acidic deflated feeling - which is insane! I knew at the time it would have been impossible to get a notification, as it would have been anywhere between 8-11 PM in the US. But it still didn't stop my heart from coming out through my throat. What are the odds that I would get a scam call during these days, and it would be a number with a +1 phone code. I can just imagine the universe laughing at me. Anyway, once I got over the initial shock and deflation, I laughed about it quite a bit. Sorry for the unnaturally long post - just feels like the sort of incredulous insane thing that would happen to one of us during this crazy heated time, lol. As always, good luck everyone, I hope everyone gets good news soon. If not MFA-related, then something better or redemptive. And if you want to, please send a prayer my way. Love ❤️

personally I would like it if all my schools changed their ways for me specifically and sent out rejections first so i wouldn't be stuck in purgatory. I'd been mentally preparing myself for a JHU rejection (which is what I'm assuming at the moment) but the dread about my other schools is hitting much worse. Oh well.

what does decisions being "staggered" mean? I'm assuming it means that decisions for multiple genres and acceptances/rejections are spread out and interspersed and not everything all at once, but I could be wrong

the JHU poetry waitlist in the draft has made me want to throw up even though I'm a fiction applicant and now I am going to assume a soft rejection and go to bed. it's 1 am where I am from and if I have to wake up to any news, I will. Otherwise it' will be okay. I SUPPOSE. also, big congrats to 'best of luck!' if you're here!!

I feel you. I didn't apply to Cornell (and limited myself to only 3-4 apps) bec I'm based in South Asia and in the past year alone, I've taken the GRE (to apply for a fulbright scholarship), a Duolingo English Test, of all things (that they made us take once they released the fulbright interview shortlist) AND an IELTS exam (to apply everywhere else because everyone seemed to have their particular ways of being annoying about the language requirement). The whole app season drained the life AND money out of me and sometimes I sit here stewing in regret that I'm doing all this for highly competitive programs that almost guarantee rejection - I could have applied to some with higher acceptance rates but I wouldn't be able to fund them and I didn't want the heartbreak of saying no to any potential offers I got. Sorry for this sob story. All of this to say that the nitty gritties of applications (like proving you know a language you've been studying your whole life) are INSANELY annoying and it damages a lot of my faith!!!

not really the schools we are talking about these days but when are results for NWP/Michener commonly announced?

nothing much or useful to say except that I WANT TO THROW UP

I genuinely have no clue - this is my first round and I live in a timezone around 10 hours ahead 😭 That being said this is one call I wouldn't mind receiving at 3 am

my entire thought process last 2 days has been this > if i didnt get an email then its a no > maybe i should check gradcafe before losing hope > ok they might not be out yet > forget > hmm I wonder if JHU sent out results > if i didnt get an email then its a no... (rinse and repeat)

That actually made me feel incredibly better, thank you!!! and good luck, hope you hear good news soon if you are waiting on it

One of my recommendations for an app (JHU) went in way after the deadline, and the website never specified if there was a grace period (e.g. Brown said they can be sent in by jan 15 for a Dec 15 deadline) and it has been driving me INSANEEEE! I think when I get my probable rejection I'd be inclined to blame it on the late letter lol

When can we expect results for JHU fiction? hoping and praying for an acceptance/waitlist though I'm trying to be realistic about it, but would like to know when to expect nonetheless. The other programs I applied to are Brown and UT Austin (both NWP and Michener) - kind of regret directly dipping my feet into the really selective ones but this was my first round so hopefully will tweak as I learn. Good luck and congrats to everyone receiving/expecting results!

hello again - as someone on the clueless end, what is the Draft? 😭 I'm waiting on 4 MFAs - my first time applying and I can't help but feel I should have applied to more, and I have no clue when to expect notifications except for those that say say on the websites so suffice to say that I'm going insane!!!!

congratulations!!!!

Hey everyone! Intl. applicant here, finished my undergrad last summer. Haven't applied to a lot of places - just 3 universities/4 programs for fiction. Highly unlikely I get in anywhere and the whole process has left me generally queasy bec the application process is quite taxing and expensive where I'm from, but hoping something works out. This is a really cool community and I feel slightly better knowing most are as neurotic as me lol