tate12

I got the same thing! seems like a form letter ...

Hi All! Graduated from Michener so if anyone has questions, DM me! My questions: Does anyone have information about Juilliard? When do the start sending out request for interviews? How many people get in each year? What is the amount of the stipend? I know that in the past they had a list of current and past fellows and it was around 5-6 a year. Any info would help!

Tough choice, @annabananna! Owlwhale1- You never know what could happen! The waiting is the worst part. Well, for me. BUT BUT BUT- I received a phone call at my job yesterday morning. I work at UT Austin. She asked to speak with me. She introduced herself. And told me I had moved up the waitlist and am now in Michener! Im overjoyed and shocked. I'm thrilled to begin this journey!

Seconded! And how many do they accept at Brooklyn?

Oh, that's good to know, iamnonightbird! I'm still waiting for Michener...... BUT I will be attending UT in the Fall, either way. I need to start looking for an apartment....

Well congrats anyway! The lack of funding at NYU is so baffling to me. Has anyone heard from Brooklyn College?

I think @annabananna said that they don't give you productions at NYU. Which for me would be a big red flag. Yes, the rep is nice. But if you're not going to get experience with productions, it would be hard for me to justify going there. Secondly, the funding and the cost of tuition would be a huge deterrent for me. USC is up and coming. But it is a good school with, I'm sure, resources to boot. Also, I like the idea of a smaller cohort. More one on one mentoring, more resources, time and energy being put into bettering you as a writer. How much is the funding at USC?

I've been waitlisted at my top choice school. It only accepts two student with a very generous stipend. I was 2nd on the waitlist and just moved up to 1st this past week. One student declined, presumably moving to other choice. But is is it likely for another to decline an offer. I'm so close. It's driving me crazy. Staying positive though!

Yes, it was a great honor to be considered. Really! All the faculty sent me really good notes. Yeah, I think that someone went to UCSD. I heard about the wait list yesterday. The day decisions were to be made for UCSD. Apparently 3 people that got an offer from UT and/or Michener also were interviewing with UCSD. So I hope that the other goes to UCSD. It really is a good program with AMAZING funding. Or they go to another offer. UCSD is a good reason to leave Michener. And I was asked that speficially from a faculty member at UCSD. I told them I would have to think about it before I make a decision. I assume UCSD and UT/Michener steal people from each other. At this point, I think UT is the best for me. Things happen for a reason! And I'm hoping for Michener. I'm so close. Lol. But what will happen will happen. I'm in a good place now.

Finally got an email from Naomi in the middle of the night. Saw it on my phone and couldn't resist reading it at 3:40am. I'm the second alternative. Not gonna lie, a little disappointed. BUT, I moved up to 1st on the Michener wait list. So one more person down and I'll be in! lol. Not that UT is an amazing program and great school and city. AND I don't want to sound ungrateful. I just DO NOT want anymore debt. I went here for undergrad and got an exceedingly high amount of debt from the same department I'm returning to. Either way, I'll be going to grad school next year! Very excited!!! Who knows what can happen in the coming weeks! Light candles, saying prayers and the lot for Michener.

Is it appropriate to email about admission decisions yet? Yeah, at Michener, you aren't required to teach. Just lay around in all your money.

As far as funding, UCSD. You'll leave with no debt. You have a good stipend for all three years. And I have a possibility of more funding with the diversity scholarship. UT, not Michener, will give you a stipend but starting in the second year, I believe, so you have to get loans if you don't have cash saved up. The stipend also isn't very much. They do try to give you scholarshis, fellowships, TA-ships, and work study. And you don't have to pay tuition, which is a large chunk- but pretty inexpensive at UT. But it just doesn't add up to the same as UCSD. Either way, I'm in good hands. So we'll see tomorrow...lol..

Congrats Cardinal and Iamnonightbird! Sorry to hear that Zissou. I got back from San Diego Last night. I was there from Wednesday to Saturday. I was jam packed with meetings, lunches, rehearsals, sitting in on classes, productions meetings, etc. I was exhausted. Still a little tired. Everyone was lovely. The campus is beautiful It's a little isolated for my taste, but perfect for 3 years of focus and writing. Naomi is a lovely human as well as Allan. I didn't meet Deborah Stein, the newer faculty, she was out of town. The playwrights were mostly from New York or Chicago. One from San Fran. They were all very informative and nice. Two of the graduating playwrights won Kennedy awards. And one of them won the Paula Vogel Award. The program is centered around the time to write. You take two courses and teach one or two classes, or work in the office for your stipend around 2000 a month. Though they tell me the summers are hard financially. They give you travel money every summer. AND a 1000 to 15,000 dollars for your transition from grad school to the "real world". So you accrue no debt from this program. Great subsidized graduate housing. Each year you get a production in the Wagner New Play Festival. I saw some rehearsals. A great diversity of material and as the department in general is very diverse culturally and racially, the playwrights are all white. Which I thought was odd. But from Naomi, it is something that is very important to them in creating. They also have a great diversity scholarship. It's a great place and program and would love to go there. Since I was the last applicant of 5 out to visit, decisions will be made by this Monday. EKK!!! So I'l be very anxious tomorrow. Also, I was told that 3 people that have been offered spots at UT/Michener have also been interviewed by UCSD. So I may or may move up that Michener waitlist........though I'm doubtful and won't get my hopes up. I know I'm forgetting some stuff, so if anyone has anymore questions, let me know!

Got in at UT T&D. 2nd on the wait list for Michener. Off to UCSD tomorrow! Yay for today!

Loved reading your post about Yale. It seems like an awesome program. Hope you get a call soon, Zissou! Where a lot of students finalists at other programs? Any other news?

Haha, yeah I get the whole money thing. It seems odd, they aren't offering more financial stability. I liked the diversity part and that you could send a play, not just a tv spec script. Glad you got through, Princess! @singsalot- Sorry! I haven't heard any thing about The New School or Brooklyn College. I know that on the MFA Draft, there were a acceptances for both schools, but in other creative writing genres. I would maybe ask over there. Someone might can get some info. Have you looked on their website? Sometimes they update info about decisions. Are those the two schools you're waiting to hear back from?

ALSO, idk if anyone applied to this: http://www.hbo.com/hboaccess/ I woke up to go to work and started it at 8am. But it wasnt open. By 1pm that day, it was closed. They close at a 1000 submissions. I'm pissed. lol.

@lavendercloud- If I get into Austin spots, I'll definitely go visit and check it out. Weigh my options depending on where I get in. I have a tiered system for where I'll go if I get into X, Y, or Z. lol. I think they'll give me a little time to decide, but I' not sure. UCSD has a big diversity scholarship due on the 19th and I can only apply if I'm admitted and accept. So everything should happen pretty quickly in the next two weeks. I've never been to Ohio. I'm so happy for you. How many years have you applied? Ohio sounds so good and like a good fit,I'm assuming you're leaning towards yes??? BREAK A LEG ZISSOU!! We want all the details when you get back!!! Also, got rejected from UMass Play Lab. Idk if any of y'all applied.

@singsalot- Not much difference at all. Michener doesn't have teach. T&D students TA and teach courses for undergrads, assist professors, work in the office, etc for their stipends. The Michener students don't have to take two classes that the T&D students take. They have to take 2 classes for their secondary. They explicitly state on the website that they don't guarantee productions. They have tons of opportunities and most students get workshops, readings, fully realized productions by the end of their time. UT New Theatre, New Works Festival. Tons of spaces on campus you can "check out" and perform in. A LOT of students self-produce in the city as well. The way it was explained to me was that it could be beneficial to work on your plays, craft, etc. rather than putting up a production when it's not ready. And having three productions of plays that needs more work is not going to get you fellowships, commissions, etc. I think this may be a good thing. @lavender- There were five of us there. One person they need to Skype in with. So they said a week and half for decisions. That was the 27th. And Michener has this on their webpage: "Our final admissions decisions will be made on March 10th, and all admitted or wait-listed students will be contacted directly over the next day or two. This is somewhat later than our usual decision date, and we appreciate your patience in awaiting results. If you are not called or emailed by March 13, you have not been admitted or wait-listed, even though you may not have yet received a "deny" decision from Graduate Admissions (these can be delayed by glitches in your paperwork even though we have denied admission)." So I should know by next week. But I feel like I'll have a freaking heart attack before then. Lol. Then I'm off to UCSD on March 11th to the 14th. And I believe I should know about that the following week. Since it's getting close to the middle of March and they usually make their decisions by then. Yeah so for the app, it shows that you owe for one application fee. You just call Graduate Admissions and tell them. They will wipe it off your What I Owe page. @genericincongnito- I was under the impression that they were doing it Yale style, having the group of finalists come down. And they were the only ones being considered at that point. I was up for Michener and T&D, but I'm not sure if everyone was. It was kinda hush-hush or they honestly didn't know. It was a tad confusing. But I think out of the 5 of us maybe 2 others were for both. I remember some of them saying that they didn't even apply to Michener. Thinking of the odds- say if one person is just a T&D finalist versus someone that is a finalist for both. Does a rejection from Michener mean automatic acceptance for T&D or a rejection across the board if the T&D finalist is better equipped?????? Are we all each others alternates/wait list? LOL...thinking far too much into it. I just really want to stay in Austin.

Congrats genericincongnito and lavendercloud! Thanks for all the details lavender. Sounds like a good conversation! This group is wonderful and supportive. It's helping me get through all this STRESS. lol. @singsalot- They accept four students a year. 2 at UT and 2 at Michener. So they have a cohort size of 12. That seems rather large, but from what the students said, they appreciate the diversity in aesthetic. The classes are offered either in the Fall or Spring and there are a few classes that everyone takes or specific for whatever year they are in. I sat in on a Collaboration class. They had grad writers, designers, directors. It was fun, well thought out and managed. There are three theatre spaces in the department. A thrust stage- that's pretty flexible, a giant proscenium, and a black box theatre. There are a bunch of spaces around campus that are frequently used as the ones in the theatre building. I think the department is well-rounded in theatrical style, approaches, and teaching methods. Lots of resources at the University- for research with PHD students, the museums, libraries, and the Harry Ransom Center. The faculty are warm, loving, challenging mentors to their students. The students really like the mentorship of the program. They have different styles, approaches, they really CARE about the students and their progress. They balance that level of mentorship with twelve students a year. Which is impressive. One thing I thought was interesting that was mentioned by the graduate students was that since there are only three directors at any given time, there's sometimes a clamor for the directors. Which is understandable for such a large cohort, but does make me worry about the dynamics. Though, I guess competition is a good thing. AND, they don't have MFA Acting Students. They have BFA program and the students are really good! But if you're looking at older roles, it's trickier. You get tuition remission from T&D but there is some debt you would accrue from the T&D department- though it's really important to the faculty that they keep that low with TA-ships, assistant jobs, etc. I would highly recommend apply. Austin is a beautiful, relaxing, adventurous city. Also, I would apply to T&D and Michener. It's one application fee for both! If you have any other questions, let me know!

CONGRATS LAVENDER!

Go, Princess! @lavender- The UT interview was great. This was the first year they had all the MFA candidates visit (or those who could attended. I think one MFA playwright couldn't.) We had a morning breakfast meet and greet Then tours of the building and campus. After we had a taco lunch and interviews. I thought the interview went well. Some basic questions and some more kooky questions-which were kinda hard to ask. But I thought I gave them a piece of my personality. Then we (the playwrights and directors) went to a bar near campus. And then headed to a second year playwright's show in the community. It was very fun and exhausting. ALSO, I got a rejection from Last Frontier. So acceptances should be out soon. I applied to Yale, Brown, UT/Michener, and UCSD. I got interviews at UT and UCSD. And rejections from Yale and Brown. I wish I would of spread out my chances a little more.

Got my Yale rejection during my UT interview. UCSD in a few weeks. Wishing I would have applied to more schools.

@lavender- Thanks for sharing! One of the reasons I got a full time office job was my fear of being a working artist. But you definitely made it work! The office job is killer on your artistic spirit..... @cardinal- Yeah that's a hard decision. You're schedule sounds perfect for low-res. And financially, it sounds doable. As I have a lot of undergraduate debt already, I can't imagine adding anymore to that. There are lots of good funded programs. @Sealou- I live in Austin. Austin doesn't have many internships They do have a lot of teaching artist positions through Creative Action, Zach Scott Theatre, and Paramount If you like working with students, you should check them out. Also I think Rude Mechs calls for interns each semester. But they give preference to UT students.

@Cardinal- I've heard great things about Hollins. But for me, I wouldn't take out loans. Unless you have the means to pay them while going to school? I would just work hard and try and get into on the many fully (or mostly funded programs. Is there a reason your looking at low-res programs? @lavender- How long have you been out of college? Have you been paid as an intern or for your writing to support yourself otherwise? I've been out of college for a few years. Not many. But I just work in an office. I sit in front of the computer all day. But I have LOADS of time to write at work. I have nights and weekends to rehearse, create, write, film, and see shows. I agree with SeaLou, going with something that is creative and could potentially help enhance your writing. I think it's a good way to go. It keeps your brain stimulated and creative. Working a job that's not stimulating is more exhausting, I think.