glowingbrightly

yeah anyone who thinks life experience can be judged by age or “years out of undergrad” must not have been through much themselves or know many nontraditional students im 32, just finishing undergrad, and im only a decent poet because i also have a trunk full of baggage that anyone could have at any age

admitting to ageism on the phone is crazy but programs don’t usually say you have a good chance unless they mean it… the writing may be coming from a combination of aspiration and uncertainty so make use of this fertile period while you can!

im about to decline my spot. i bet there is a lot of movement. its a good program, but gets a bad rep for being unfunded. still i bet waitlist means you dont get much funding which makes it mighty expensive. its not big on mentorship, and tends to pick favorites and engender competition. but that works for some people. its more focused on in department coursework than most other programs. depends on genre but poetry isn’t as massive as fiction cohorts and has dorothea lasky and timothy donnelly

boulder is the only school still yet to communicate for me… however, don’t consider anything a rejection just yet—someone on draft just got a waitlist call from UCI 6 weeks after mine. you never know when they’ll have to pull from the reserves!

Yeah these are all great questions. I think the biggest thing to keep in mind is that no amount of prestige or agents or publishers can write for you and isn’t it all about the writing end of day? Even if Cornell (or Michigan or Brown or Iowa) could get you a fellowship or agent or teaching appointment, it’s still about your work and your ability to sustain your practice over time. I’ve heard Brown grads say their program is too short and stuffy to get much done, even though it can result in better job opportunities. My primary mentor is a former Brown grad who told me that your first book can open more doors than any name on your degree. Think about who/what will help you best accomplish that.

Yeah this made me regret not applying to UIUC but it also reminded me of how Columbia acted when they really wanted me. These programs are far from desperate but may act this way because they know we have better options and this is what they can provide above and beyond others. If you really trust it then yeah, why go to Cornell? I think the answer is obviously that the perception of prestige influences trust. And this all speaks to my choice to go to Irvine. The vibes are wonderful but I’ve also worried about what could happen in such a small cohort with only 2 faculty. However, I’d rather have 2 mentors whose work I love than a larger department with less mentorship or more poets whose work speaks to me less, which goes back to why I didn’t apply to UIUC in the first place.

ahhh so sorry to hear you are still waiting! hoping your spot opens up soon!

twas me. i thought it was nice that the coordinator sent out early Rs but i did not need a second one to make it official/rub it in 😪

Northwestern, Pitt, Iowa International Writer’s Program, and Hamline make 4. I also know Irvine and Brown took 1 less student per genre this year. As it stands, we are lucky to be relatively unscathed but fields like biomed are having PhD offers rescinded left and right. And making—or not making—decisions based on imagined waitlist movement is silly—if you are on a waitlist with an open offer this late in the game then that’s just the way it is and you shouldn’t blame yourself or others for taking the offers available to you.

I think it’s clearly a pattern and as @beet_root posted above, accepting an offer has no consequences other than personal security and maybe having to send an extra email. Word on the street is Northwestern profs had no idea this was coming and had 3 hours to decide on one student to keep before deferring other offers. Pitt profs are also said to be completely in the dark. I also committed to a school because I was 100% certain but not everyone has the luxury of certainty. I think calling anyone crazy for protecting themselves in this environment is in itself crazy.

Can I ask why you think this? I’m not calling for widespread contagion but with pitt and now northwestern, in addition to various others, I think there is good reason to act cautiously. This isn’t about fear or panic, it’s about being realistic in a terrible climate for pursuing graduate studies. And I see multiple people talking about the tragedy of a small cohort but this is just the reality. Most programs aren’t taking as many students, whether it’s publicized or not, and while that’s sad, it shouldn’t be devastating or a reason not to follow your dreams of being a writer, working with faculty who can push your work forward.

Yeah, the system exists to protect students and allow them to make decisions without pressure. It’s a rough climate we are in because of trump but I think it’s even more important than ever to be grateful for what we have and not put additional pressure on those trying to decide right now.

Yeah, I’d take it if I were you. That’s a good offer so secure it and you won’t have much to lose in case you do need to pivot. I think everyone has to weigh it for themselves but it’s better to be safe than sorry in this climate. Moments like these remind us who the most vulnerable truly are among us and to be grateful for what we have. Wishing all the best for your students and their families ❤️

Northwestern/Litowitz Program student on draft just shared an hour ago that all outstanding acceptances for their program have been deferred until 2026. This was a privately funded top program that I also applied to and I am shocked. I don’t want to cause panic but if you have an attractive outstanding offer, this may be the time to accept instead of waiting for something better. I just hope this is the end of news like this not the beginning.

I’d say all of the pros are going to be highly idiosyncratic—age, family, funding, goals, etc.—or related to prestige—Brown is 2 years, for example

“the pull” should be the number 1 reason to commit to any program. also douglas kearney!

If you actually made it official with paperwork then yes, it’s a contract. If you are unsure and would rather attend a waitlist program, then it’s best to wait until you know for sure or have to decide. While any program of course appreciates enthusiastic acceptances, they will look at you more favorably if you just keep them waiting than if you commit and drop them last minute.

yeah, there was a post claiming someone got the call weeks before other acceptances were reported

OP never followed up so no way to know—entirely possible they made an early call to a priority candidate but it seemed increasingly like a hoax

it looks like a few on draft got it—says will update by may 1st. hard to know if everyone did but this seems different from the vague pitt email that everyone got.

Yeah it’s focused towards the poetry side and mostly considering things like faculty and program vibes. While we all need to survive, I don’t really think stipend amount should be relevant to deciding where best to practice, and teaching load also shouldn’t be overlooked. It isn’t that IU or UIUC doesn’t welcome experimentalism or translation work—the question is what program is best to grow the kind of work that Magnolia is making. Personally, I considered applying to all of these schools but I just didn’t see myself in the faculty’s work so I don’t think it would have been the right fit, whereas the program I ended up at has two amazing faculty that I see myself in deeply and who are also compelled by my work—I wouldn’t trade that for almost anything, especially a few thousand dollars or a guaranteed third year.

oh no I hadn’t heard about poetry issues at WashU. I’m a poet too so I could offer a bit more direct advice if I knew what your own poetry was like and what your goals for it are. I think, because you have such great potential options, this really comes down to vibes more than anything else. Broadly, ND is going to be weirder and more into translation, IU is more supportive/craft-focused, and UIUC will be more interdisciplinary/socially conscious.

I think you have four amazing waitlists and you’d be lucky to get off any one. WashU is up there a bit more in prestige but Notre Dame and Indiana have really solid reputations, and UIUC also looks lovely. You are probably right about Indiana being a bit more known than ND but ND has more reach in experimental circles (Action Books) while IU leans more traditional. I think they all have similarities in terms of LCOL but still decent midwest locations, funding, prestige so I’d choose solely based on how you vibe with faculty work.

2:2 is a lot but if you think the program seems great and love the faculty then that’s all you should need to know imo

acceptances came out a few weeks ago. I got one but am going to turn it down. I haven’t seen any rejections or waitlists and it’s a big, expensive program so you’d think there’d be a lot.