2020 Applicants Forum

[Dochinka96]

@Ydrl I felt the same. Congrats to that person!

But it’s irrational to lose hope so soon. First of all, one phone call isn’t all phone calls and it’s no waiting lists. 

Second, it’s only one school, and one of the most competitive. 

This is only my first year applying, so I just keep telling myself...”maybe you just haven’t paid your dues yet.” We have to take everything as opportunity for growth as painful as potential rejection is. Sending you and all a big hug!

[Perszona]

Current Hollins MFA student here. I love the program, and the campus is gorgeous. 

Edited January 12, 2020 by Perszona

[feralgrad]

1 hour ago, Perszona said:

Current Hollins MFA student here. I love the program, and the campus is gorgeous. 

Thanks for joining the thread! I may have questions for you if I get accepted.

[feralgrad]

Heads up: Make sure you know if your program requires a FAFSA. Some fully-funded programs do. I've seen a couple horror stories about people getting passed up for funding because they didn't realize it was required.

[Ydrl]

1 hour ago, feralgrad said:

Heads up: Make sure you know if your program requires a FAFSA. Some fully-funded programs do. I've seen a couple horror stories about people getting passed up for funding because they didn't realize it was required.

This is important. Like, very important. If you want full funding and you can’t tell if they require a FAFSA, just fill it out, it’s free. It’s gonna be real bad if your dream program accepts you but can’t give you the funding you need to go there because you didn’t fill out a thirty minute form.

[anarchisttiger]

Hello, first time applicant, lifelong worrier. The suspense is eating away at my stomach. What does everyone do to chill out?

[Ydrl]

@anarchisttiger currently working a part time job that pretty physically demanding. It leaves me pretty tired so I can sleep longer to kill time. Also I do a lot of research for my poetry, even if I’m not really writing any due to the stress of waiting. It gives me things to write about for either grad school or round two of applications. I’m also a worrier, so when I’m not doing either of those things, I’m worrying in some capacity. I’m either eating my feelings away, spending a bit too much money, or doing random things related to worrying about grad school. I’m not good at this whole waiting thing.

[feralgrad]

On 1/13/2020 at 7:16 AM, anarchisttiger said:

Hello, first time applicant, lifelong worrier. The suspense is eating away at my stomach. What does everyone do to chill out?

Since this is my second year applying, the anxiety has been easier to manage (but don't get me wrong--I spend plenty of time fidgeting and heart-palpitating at my desk). Podcasts are a great distraction (I've been listening to a lot of Knifepoint Horror), as well as making playlists.

Overall, I try to remember that I survived the disappointment last year, and I can do it again. Looking back, I'm glad that I wasn't able to attend in 2019; now I'm in a much better place creatively and emotionally, so I'm better positioned for success. If I have to wait another year, as much as it would suck, I'll be that much better for it.

[rbr542]

3 hours ago, anarchisttiger said:

Hello, first time applicant, lifelong worrier. The suspense is eating away at my stomach. What does everyone do to chill out?

I'm working on a couple of new pieces. I'm also editing some of my old stuff and submitting indiscriminately to any journals with open submission periods.

[Ydrl]

@rbr542 I wish I was productive like you. I’m no good under stress.

@feralgrad podcasts sound like a nice way to relax. I’m personally a YouTube binge watcher.

@anarchisttiger I thought of something else. If you can’t stand the wait and you want instant gratification without the worry, I recommend watching undergrad college acceptance videos on YouTube. I binge watch them, it’s very satisfying to see people get into Ivy League colleges while crying tears of joy.

In unrelated news, I seem to have leveled up in gradcafe. I’m now “caffeinated” lol.

[rbr542]

4 hours ago, Ydrl said:

@rbr542 I wish I was productive like you. I’m no good under stress.

@feralgrad podcasts sound like a nice way to relax. I’m personally a YouTube binge watcher.

@anarchisttiger I thought of something else. If you can’t stand the wait and you want instant gratification without the worry, I recommend watching undergrad college acceptance videos on YouTube. I binge watch them, it’s very satisfying to see people get into Ivy League colleges while crying tears of joy.

In unrelated news, I seem to have leveled up in gradcafe. I’m now “caffeinated” lol.

Now I'm binge watching undergrad acceptance videos on YouTube lol.

[anarchisttiger]

Thanks y’all...glad to know I’m not alone! I’m taking a break from writing and started learning embroidery. Lately specific lines from my writing sample have been crossing my mind and making me cringe. I’m sure that’s anxiety. Staying busy helps and I will def try everything mentioned. 

[Ydrl]

@anarchisttiger I should probably go back to crocheting, drawing, and painting because those were pretty welcome distractions. I’m not really writing anything I like at the moment and I really don’t want to go back to past works and be disappointed by myself. The anxiety is killing me too.

Anyone else having dreams about this stuff now? I literally had a dream last night where the whole US had a massive snowstorm so the notifications all got pushed back to March.

[polkadotpoet]

Hey, all! So glad I found this and can talk about my stress and anticipation with people who understand — I think I might be driving my friends and family a little crazy. I applied to programs at North Carolina State, Brown, Iowa, Rutgers-Newark, Minnesota, and Montana in poetry. My top choice is Minnesota! 

[anarchisttiger]

2 hours ago, Ydrl said:

@anarchisttiger I should probably go back to crocheting, drawing, and painting because those were pretty welcome distractions. I’m not really writing anything I like at the moment and I really don’t want to go back to past works and be disappointed by myself. The anxiety is killing me too.

Anyone else having dreams about this stuff now? I literally had a dream last night where the whole US had a massive snowstorm so the notifications all got pushed back to March.

I’m having dreams, but they’re acceptance dreams! 

[buckles]

Glad to know I'm not the only one anxiously waiting for application decisions. I applied to 4 programs (Brown, Vanderbilt, BU, and Iowa). My top 2 would be Brown followed by Vanderbilt. I'm not excited by Iowa just wanted to see if I could get in. I'm jealous of everyone that applied to Syracuse (dream school). I didn't apply because if I got accepted, I wouldn't be able to say no and my boyfriend is finishing up his MBA so it didn't make practical sense. I submitted a novel excerpt which isn't recommended.

[Ydrl]

2 hours ago, polkadotpoet said:

Hey, all! So glad I found this and can talk about my stress and anticipation with people who understand — I think I might be driving my friends and family a little crazy. I applied to programs at North Carolina State, Brown, Iowa, Rutgers-Newark, Minnesota, and Montana in poetry. My top choice is Minnesota! 

Have I found another poet? I have a feeling I found another poet. Just a feeling though.

Also, welcome @polkadotpoet! And wow, it's cool to see all the different programs you're applying to, good luck!

[Ydrl]

35 minutes ago, buckles said:

Glad to know I'm not the only one anxiously waiting for application decisions. I applied to 4 programs (Brown, Vanderbilt, BU, and Iowa). My top 2 would be Brown followed by Vanderbilt. I'm not excited by Iowa just wanted to see if I could get in. I'm jealous of everyone that applied to Syracuse (dream school). I didn't apply because if I got accepted, I wouldn't be able to say no and my boyfriend is finishing up his MBA so it didn't make practical sense. I submitted a novel excerpt which isn't recommended.

Hey, at least you submitted something at all. And that's how I feel about Iowa if I can be frank here. I'll go on the off chance I get in, but it's not the one I'm the most enthused about. That is a tie between Cornell and Syracuse.

[anarchisttiger]

I’m so surprised at everyone! My top choices of the schools I applied to are Iowa and Brown. I also applied to UC Irvine and UVA. 

[Ydrl]

49 minutes ago, anarchisttiger said:

I’m so surprised at everyone! My top choices of the schools I applied to are Iowa and Brown. I also applied to UC Irvine and UVA. 

Nice! I was gonna apply to Irvine but I’d already applied to Cornell and I couldn’t commit to paying that amount of money again.

Dont get me wrong, Iowa is the school I would choose if I got in (haha what a pipe dream), but Cornell and Syracuse are so exciting due to factors outside the program.

Speaking of Syracuse, when do you suppose they’ll accept people? The earliest I can imagine is Friday, but that might just me being too hopeful.

[feralgrad]

5 minutes ago, Ydrl said:

Speaking of Syracuse, when do you suppose they’ll accept people? The earliest I can imagine is Friday, but that might just me being too hopeful.

Based on the results page, it seems that they'll very occasionally send acceptances in late January. Most come out in mid-February or early March.

[Ydrl]

1 minute ago, feralgrad said:

Based on the results page, it seems that they'll very occasionally send acceptances in late January. Most come out in mid-February or early March.

So, after some digging, it might be the weather that decides when Syracuse sends out acceptance notifications (which they send out first). Syracuse has notoriously bad snow storms around this time of year. It better not heckin’ snow until February.

(I curse like a sailor, so censoring myself has gotten a giggle out of me today.)

[feralgrad]

@Ydrl I'm trying to accept that I'll be in Purgatory for at least another month, since all of my schools have January deadlines. That said, it hasn't kept me from checking the app portals before the deadlines have even passed (answer me, you cowards!).

Edited January 14, 2020 by feralgrad

[Ydrl]

22 minutes ago, feralgrad said:

@Ydrl I'm trying to accept that I'll be in Purgatory for at least another month, since all of my schools have January deadlines. That said, it hasn't kept me from checking the app portals before the deadlines have even passed (answer me, you cowards!).

@feralgrad two of my programs deadlines are tomorrow and I’ve had them done for about three weeks now. The wait is already killing me. I’m trying to hype myself up for Syracuse and WashU ‘cause I can’t imagine February or March currently. It’s just too far away for me to maintain my nervous/excited state without crashing hard.

Also omg there’s another acceptance.

Edited January 14, 2020 by Ydrl

[polkadotpoet]

36 minutes ago, Ydrl said:

@feralgrad two of my programs deadlines are tomorrow and I’ve had them done for about three weeks now. The wait is already killing me. I’m trying to hype myself up for Syracuse and WashU ‘cause I can’t imagine February or March currently. It’s just too far away for me to maintain my nervous/excited state without crashing hard.

Also omg there’s another acceptance.

I'm new to grad cafe (joined today). Where do you guys see these acceptances? Also, just from browsing forums, I've noticed that there are FB groups, too. What ones would you all recommend?