P i e r r o t

You are most definitely overthinking it! Understandable, though. Email the specific admissions specialist they mentioned and CC the admin and director. Keep it brief and no one will be bothered, I promise.

The last "tier" includes a hand-written message from Sam Chang beneath the letter you quoted. Mine this year said "Thanks for a strong application". The generic letter is short and without any particular encouragement, I believe.

LET'S GOOOOOO THIS SOME WITCHY SHIT Y'ALL! So stoked for you. Please poke your head back in a few more times before you leave us for good! Do me a solid and send them elite vibes back my way: waiting on Davis ahhhhhhh.

Oh, good to know, thanks! Glad I mentioned it.

Congrats to them—and also wish they would cut Davis loose already, god damn!

Yeahhhhh. Cruel business, waitlists. Major bridesmaid-never-bride vibes. Getting the personal treatment, too, was so appreciated but does make it real bitch in the end.

It was from a comment on the big "waitlist movement" thread.

I saw that post on Draft and also immediately thought of you! Rooting for you from the sidelines, saying little witchy prayers, etc. Keep us posted!

Minor detail, but just for the record: Irvine first went from six to five fiction acceptances last cycle, not this cycle (though yes, they are only taking five again this year—annoyingly, because I happen to be first on their waitlist ahhhhhhhh). Point being whatever their funding issue is, it seems to be unrelated to the current chaos.

This isn't unlikely at all! It's exactly this people are worried about and cautioning against, it seems—and I agree. I'm firmly in the "all info is good info" camp, but that Draft post got people a bit unnecessarily freaked, I think. Just my two cents.

**walks slowly back from ledge** Yes yes yes yes yes, patience is a virtue or whatever. Congrats on the acceptance! Thrilled for you!

Re: Irvine... Oh man, if you have the inside scoop, prey tell: I happen to know I'm first in line and quietly going crazy over here. The waitlist game is the more brutal, IMO. I did let Michelle know today I would likely accept an offer quickly. This is my second cycle; definitely not doing this a third time. Thanks for keeping us informed!

This! Real life blows Also, turns out a Harvard PhD isn't that useful if you march right off that stage, diploma in hand, and then immediately quit your field lol

I see the Irvine rejections are going out, so this may be too-little-too-late to be of any help, but a few details about the situation for anyone lurking who needs to know. I talked to the program director on the phone today: extremely generous conversation, really grateful to hear from her, not least because most places don't reach out so intimately to waitlisters. 230ish applications, 5 fiction acceptances. 3 have accepted the offer, 2 have not yet and both have other offers. Not sure how long the waitlist is, but it is ranked. They used to accept 6 in fiction (website still says as much) but funding cuts mean 5 these days: she seemed genuinely upset about this. My impression is that they rarely pull from the waitlist, though obviously not impossible. Unfortunately it does seem nearly impossible, however, that multiples on the fiction waitlist will get off it this year, given the particulars. Would love to be wrong, of course. Good vibes all around—will make the (inevitable?) letdown all the worse. Brutal!

I feel you. I had the same confused feeling about reapplying last year at this time. My advice (others' may differ) would be to focus only on your writing for a while and don't think for a second about the MFAs until at least September. There's no need: you'll be able to assemble everything much faster the second time, in my experience, assuming you've got polished writing in the desk drawer. Also—and this is the more important point—you can do this at any time. I am 37 and have a Harvard PhD in another field and lived an entire life, it seemed, before ever applying to MFAs. You'll find this story actually isn't that uncommon. All you can do is what's right for you now. The future will work itself out—because you will do then what is right for you then.