Ydrl Posted January 31, 2020 Posted January 31, 2020 1 minute ago, rbr542 said: Ah....somehow, I just thought of this, which made me open my personal statement, in which I found a blunder. Oh well... One blunder shouldn’t make a huge difference, unless that blunder is messing up the program/faculty names of course.
rbr542 Posted January 31, 2020 Posted January 31, 2020 (edited) 1 minute ago, Ydrl said: One blunder shouldn’t make a huge difference, unless that blunder is messing up the program/faculty names of course. Lucky for me I haven't mentioned any faculty in any of my statements (Program name is correct, thank god.!) Also, I'm getting a mini heart attack every time my E-mail dings with a gradcafe alert.? Edited January 31, 2020 by rbr542
feralgrad Posted January 31, 2020 Author Posted January 31, 2020 3 minutes ago, rbr542 said: Lucky for me I haven't mentioned any faculty in any of my statements (Program name is correct, thank god.!) Also, I'm getting a mini heart attack every time my E-mail dings with a gradcafe alert.? Michener doesn't seem to be terribly explicit about it on their website, anyway. I doubt anyone will care, especially if you show that you've done your research in other ways. Side note: that's exactly why I turned off email notifications haha!
sallyvalley Posted January 31, 2020 Posted January 31, 2020 (edited) Has anybody heard about ole miss phase 2 applications? Congratulations to everyone getting acceptances and don't lose hope to y'all getting rejections or who haven't heard anything yet, I believe in you! Edited January 31, 2020 by sallyvalley Typo whoops
rbr542 Posted January 31, 2020 Posted January 31, 2020 (edited) 12 minutes ago, feralgrad said: Michener doesn't seem to be terribly explicit about it on their website, anyway. I doubt anyone will care, especially if you show that you've done your research in other ways. Side note: that's exactly why I turned off email notifications haha! I never felt comfortable mentioning faculty. I mean, how do we know that a famous author is going to be a good teacher, or for that matter, even know that you want to work with a particular faculty without actually working with them before? Edited January 31, 2020 by rbr542 WhoknewMFAweresointense and Sigaba 1 1
Ydrl Posted January 31, 2020 Posted January 31, 2020 (edited) 8 minutes ago, rbr542 said: I never felt comfortable mentioned faculty. I mean, how do we know that a famous author is going to be a good teacher, or for that matter, even know that you want to work with a particualr faculty without actually working with them before? I didn’t pick the famous ones to talk about. The famous ones aren’t my favorite ones to read. I honestly mentioned faculty that I would like to emulate/write surreal poems like. I looked at poems, looked at interviews, and asked my recommenders about the poets they knew. Some I took a gamble on, sure, but I figured if I didn’t like working with them, I’d transfer to someone else for advising. I thought mentioning faculty was a safe bet so long as I did the research to back it up. Edited January 31, 2020 by Ydrl
feralgrad Posted January 31, 2020 Author Posted January 31, 2020 (edited) 15 minutes ago, rbr542 said: I never felt comfortable mentioned faculty. I mean, how do we know that a famous author is going to be a good teacher, or for that matter, even know that you want to work with a particualr faculty without actually working with them before? I toned down faculty mentions significantly this year compared to last year. I name-dropped a lot in my first round SOPs, even though I hadn't read anything by most of the people I mentioned. I think it shows when you're doing it as a perfunctory gesture. To be frank, rockstar faculty are nice, but ultimately I'm looking for a strong community, a well-rounded curriculum, and professional opportunities. It's not gonna help me stand out if tack on "oh, also, Professor XYZ is soooo talented" after listing all the things I care about more. That isn't to say I think it's pointless or foolish to mention faculty, but if your priorities are like mine, I feel being genuine is the best policy. Edited January 31, 2020 by feralgrad Ydrl and rbr542 2
rbr542 Posted January 31, 2020 Posted January 31, 2020 (edited) 6 minutes ago, feralgrad said: I toned down faculty mentions significantly this year compared to last year. I name-dropped a lot in my first round SOPs, even though I hadn't read anything by most of the people I mentioned. I think it shows when you're doing it as a perfunctory gesture. To be frank, rockstar faculty are nice, but ultimately I'm looking for a strong community, a well-rounded curriculum, and professional opportunities. It's not gonna help me stand out if tack on "oh, also, Professor XYZ is soooo talented" after listing all the things I care about more. That isn't to say I think it's pointless or foolish to mention faculty, but if your priorities are like mine, I feel being genuine is the best policy. I can stand behind each word in my statements 1000% in terms of things like literary influences/ writing aesthetic/ future goals/ Why I want to go there for an MFA. I just couldn't get myself to mention faculty, when I cannot know for sure whether I want to work with them. I just hope I won't get passed over for this reason alone. Edited January 31, 2020 by rbr542
Ydrl Posted January 31, 2020 Posted January 31, 2020 2 minutes ago, feralgrad said: I toned down faculty mentions significantly this year compared to last year. I name-dropped a lot in my first round SOPs, even though I hadn't read anything by most of the people I mentioned. I think it shows when you're doing it as a perfunctory gesture. To be frank, rockstar faculty are nice, but ultimately I'm looking for a strong community, a well-rounded curriculum, and professional opportunities. It's not gonna help me stand out if tack on "oh, also, Professor XYZ is soooo talented" after listing all the things I care about more. That isn't to say I think it's pointless or foolish to mention faculty, but if your priorities are like mine, I feel being genuine is the best policy. After reading this I understand a bit more about not mentioning faculty. If you praise faculty without being genuine, that’s probably not going to help. Another reason I mentioned faculty with every application is kind of complicated. I have a recommender that I’m close with who reads my work and gives me criticism. Having a good relationship with a faculty member is a must for me, so I want to make a good first impression.
Ydrl Posted January 31, 2020 Posted January 31, 2020 5 minutes ago, rbr542 said: I can stand behind each word in my statements 1000% in terms of things like literary influences/ writing aesthetic/ future goals/ Why I want to go there for an MFA. I just couldn't get myself to mention faculty, when I cannot know for sure whether I want to work with them. I just hope I won't get passed over for this reason alone. I don’t think they’ll pass over you for that. Don’t worry about it. My priorities are just really specific. I don’t think every single applicant who got in their dream schools mentioned the faculty. It’s statistically impossible. rbr542 1
MFALongshot Posted January 31, 2020 Posted January 31, 2020 1 hour ago, sallyvalley said: Has anybody heard about ole miss phase 2 applications? Congratulations to everyone getting acceptances and don't lose hope to y'all getting rejections or who haven't heard anything yet, I believe in you! Nope. It seems like phase 2 means you're accepted right? Also, I think ole miss said if they don't contact you, it means you're not accepted. Which is fine but how long does one wait? Lol.
feralgrad Posted January 31, 2020 Author Posted January 31, 2020 1 hour ago, MFALongshot said: I think ole miss said if they don't contact you, it means you're not accepted. That's crummy. In my opinion, if you're gonna pay $50-100 on a application, you're entitled to a straight answer... I remember last year, VCU didn't officially reject me until May or June -- via post no less -- and honestly it was kind of offensive.
sallyvalley Posted January 31, 2020 Posted January 31, 2020 2 hours ago, MFALongshot said: Nope. It seems like phase 2 means you're accepted right? Also, I think ole miss said if they don't contact you, it means you're not accepted. Which is fine but how long does one wait? Lol. I think phase 2 is what their final cohort and waitlist ends up being, I kinda appreciate it bc it means you don't pay the application fee unless they're seriously considering you MFALongshot 1
mjm7668 Posted February 1, 2020 Posted February 1, 2020 Congrats everyone on their acceptances!! I'm hoping there's a lot more of those posts in the next couple weeks-- for Ole Miss, I think they said they'll post the names of their phase 2 applicants on their website and contact those people. I'm a little nervous about my Ole Miss application because in the last poem in the manuscript there was a period at the end of the line that shouldn't have been there, but I didn't want to contact them again because I had already spoken to them...also I decided the period might actually work lol. So many Fiction acceptances! What's going on, schools?? (cough cough, UMASS and Purdue) Seems like poetry would go out first or at the same time since there's typically less poetry applicants. sallyvalley 1
Beanie Posted February 1, 2020 Posted February 1, 2020 6 minutes ago, SarahBuya said: Did anyone apply to Arizona State? Meeee! For poetry.
SarahBuya Posted February 1, 2020 Posted February 1, 2020 Just now, Beanie said: Meeee! For poetry. Fiction for me! Do you know if anyone has heard anything? I know they were starting to review applications on 1/17.
Ydrl Posted February 1, 2020 Posted February 1, 2020 22 minutes ago, mjm7668 said: So many Fiction acceptances! What's going on, schools?? (cough cough, UMASS and Purdue) Seems like poetry would go out first or at the same time since there's typically less poetry applicants. I know right? What ever happened to the poetry acceptances? I would at least like to realistically live vicariously through other poets lol. mjm7668 1
mjm7668 Posted February 1, 2020 Posted February 1, 2020 15 minutes ago, SarahBuya said: Did anyone apply to Arizona State? me for poetry as well!! SarahBuya 1
Beanie Posted February 1, 2020 Posted February 1, 2020 4 minutes ago, SarahBuya said: Fiction for me! Do you know if anyone has heard anything? I know they were starting to review applications on 1/17. To my knowledge no responses have been sent yet. But I could be wrong. Certainly none have been reported here. SarahBuya 1
rohrlikealion Posted February 1, 2020 Posted February 1, 2020 Any other PhD in Creative Writing applicants here? I'm finding none in the English PhD thread.
MFALongshot Posted February 1, 2020 Posted February 1, 2020 (edited) 4 hours ago, feralgrad said: That's crummy. In my opinion, if you're gonna pay $50-100 on a application, you're entitled to a straight answer... I remember last year, VCU didn't officially reject me until May or June -- via post no less -- and honestly it was kind of offensive. No no, Ole Miss is great. They don't make you pay unless you make it to phase 2. Edited February 1, 2020 by MFALongshot
MFALongshot Posted February 1, 2020 Posted February 1, 2020 3 hours ago, sallyvalley said: I think phase 2 is what their final cohort and waitlist ends up being, I kinda appreciate it bc it means you don't pay the application fee unless they're seriously considering you Agreed, that's partly why I applied there. Also, Kiese Laymon is a terrific writer imo.
MFALongshot Posted February 1, 2020 Posted February 1, 2020 3 hours ago, mjm7668 said: Congrats everyone on their acceptances!! I'm hoping there's a lot more of those posts in the next couple weeks-- for Ole Miss, I think they said they'll post the names of their phase 2 applicants on their website and contact those people. I'm a little nervous about my Ole Miss application because in the last poem in the manuscript there was a period at the end of the line that shouldn't have been there, but I didn't want to contact them again because I had already spoken to them...also I decided the period might actually work lol. So many Fiction acceptances! What's going on, schools?? (cough cough, UMASS and Purdue) Seems like poetry would go out first or at the same time since there's typically less poetry applicants. Hey good luck to my fellow ole miss applicants. sallyvalley 1
rbr542 Posted February 1, 2020 Posted February 1, 2020 It is officially February, and now the clock begins to tick loudly, loudly. Ydrl, MFALongshot and WhoknewMFAweresointense 3
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