vagueblue

Not sure if it’s per cohort or overall program—but it’s a lot of people. For context, I’m a poetry candidate and this is what a professor told me when I asked about workshop size. Happy to share more details over DM/connect you with a Columbia fiction grad if you want more details.

Can’t speak to UMass but I have friends who’ve gone through the Columbia program and it’s been life-changing for them. Fiction cohort is huge (60-70) whereas poetry is under 10, so the experience is very much what you make of it. There’s apparently a… cultural disparity between people who can afford the program and those on scholarship. Professors are top-notch; interdisciplinary study is encouraged and they have a translation track. Teaching isn’t built into the program but (I’ve been told) Columbia has a good reputation if you’re looking to teach after. Students can apply to TA in their second year; a friend of mine did that and then went on to adjunct.

Joining the delulu train because I have heard nothing from Iowa. I have USPS Informed Delivery and am obsessively checking it every day. Stupidly convinced that no news is good news. Am also in NYC, fwiw. I had not learned of this forum until yesterday and am locked out of my FB (probably for the better), so I’m glad to be in anxious solidarity here with you all, esp my fellow Brown hopefuls!