2020 Applicants Forum

[catkin]

Hello all!

I'm new here, rather wish my friend didn't tell me about this website because now I can't stop refreshing the page every 5 mins, but I'm a first-time poetry MFA applicant waiting on news from Iowa, Michigan, Virginia, Utah, Irvine, Hunter, NYU, New School, and Cornell. Got rejected from UMass Amherst last week, definitely hurt (especially since they sent me an email at 10pm saying my status had changed but the portal only read "Update pending" for 36 hours) but that Ocean Vuong is a hack anyway (totally kidding) and I'm optimistic I'll hear some good news somewhere.

Anyone have an idea when we'll be hearing from these schools? I take it a lot of you have applied to many of the same schools I have. Best of luck!

[Brother Panda]

Thanks @litty!!

[SarahBuya]

3 hours ago, presentperfect said:

Yeah, University of New Orleans! I don't necessarily want to do an online program, but thought I might want the option. 

Awesome. Definitely a good option.

[MFALongshot]

1 hour ago, catkin said:

Hello all!

I'm a first-time poetry MFA applicant waiting on news from Iowa, Anyone have an idea when we'll be hearing from these schools? I take it a lot of you have applied to many of the same schools I have. Best of luck!

Iowa (IWW) is probably late this month into march. You can always check when people were accepted in previous years through the results search. It sort of gives a good idea. Also, welcome.

[MFALongshot]

It looks like someone moved to phase 2 for fiction at Ole Miss (university of Mississippi). Can anyone verify this?

[Ydrl]

Thanks to everyone who replied to my earlier panic. I’m still very worried, but now I’m worried while surrounded by good sentiments and reassurance so the dread probably won’t last as long.

[MFALongshot]

41 minutes ago, MFALongshot said:

It looks like someone moved to phase 2 for fiction at Ole Miss (university of Mississippi). Can anyone verify this?

Another person moved on. It's confirmed imo lol.

[Yesgirlstoo]

Does anyone know if Iowa’s Nonfiction Writers Workshop is on a similar timeline to IWW? Late Feb/March. I’m not finding results for previous years. 
 

ETA: I’m dumb I just didn’t use the right search terms. Anyway. To answer my own question, yes around Feb 22-mar 8 seems like the norm and it seems like a personal phone call from John D’agata awaits those admitted.  Am I the only person who hates the phone and is totally unprepared for faculty to call me?? New level of panic

Edited February 13, 2020 by Yesgirlstoo

[Brother Panda]

8 hours ago, MFALongshot said:

Hopefully just a week. Ten days max? Fingers crossed.

I’d assume no more than a few days if past years are any indication to what this year holds. But yes, fingers very much crossed haha. 

Edited February 13, 2020 by Brother Panda

[Karakoram]

3 hours ago, catkin said:

Hello all!

I'm new here, rather wish my friend didn't tell me about this website because now I can't stop refreshing the page every 5 mins, but I'm a first-time poetry MFA applicant waiting on news from Iowa, Michigan, Virginia, Utah, Irvine, Hunter, NYU, New School, and Cornell. Got rejected from UMass Amherst last week, definitely hurt (especially since they sent me an email at 10pm saying my status had changed but the portal only read "Update pending" for 36 hours) but that Ocean Vuong is a hack anyway (totally kidding) and I'm optimistic I'll hear some good news somewhere.

Anyone have an idea when we'll be hearing from these schools? I take it a lot of you have applied to many of the same schools I have. Best of luck!

Hi Catkin. it's lovely to have new member here. Welcome ❤️ I'm also a newbie  we have 4 schools in common. Yeah, best of luck to us all. I'm so on edge every single moment of my waking life haha.

[Karakoram]

1 hour ago, Ydrl said:

Thanks to everyone who replied to my earlier panic. I’m still very worried, but now I’m worried while surrounded by good sentiments and reassurance so the dread probably won’t last as long.

Rejections are stressful, yes. But it's important you keep writing and not let it keep you down. I know it sounds like some self-help shit. And no one is in any others' shoes. But imagine one day Syracuse would like to give you an honorary doctor and you go there to give a commencement speech. You can tell the students there that: well, Syracuse rejected me but I still write. Haha. Sorry, I'm so a compulsive optimist (receiving dozens of rejections every month). Keep your chin up eh. 

[mjm7668]

10 hours ago, feralgrad said:

You may strike out this year (heck, I might too), and it will suck, there’s no denying that. But grad school is just one of many amazing things you can do. Ultimately, handling rejection and weathering heartbreak are vital skills for a writer, and MFA programs don’t teach you that. Perhaps that’s a bit corny, but it’s something to keep in mind.

Thanks so much for this. I totally echo this sentiment. This is my second year applying too and I'm already getting discouraged but the past year has been so amazing and I've met new people, gained new influences, and developed personally in ways I couldn't have if I had been accepted anywhere last year. I just have to keep reminding myself that there's so many things that I can do, and that no matter I'll keep writing. Congrats on all the acceptances and waitlists, y'all! Lets keep em coming!

 

[anarchisttiger]

3 hours ago, Yesgirlstoo said:

Am I the only person who hates the phone and is totally unprepared for faculty to call me?? New level of panic

First of all I hate that acceptances go out via phone. Hate hate hate. Secondly, I work a lot and can't step away to take a call very often, if at all. My newest nightmare is a program deciding to reject me because I let the call go to voicemail. I know that won't happen but STILL!

[KA2020]

Hello all,

 

Just need to vent for a second. Really wish I had applied to some schools that weren't top-tier exclusive. I know there is no such thing as a "safety" program, but there are over 200 MFA programs in this country and I only applied to ten of the best. Vandy, Iowa, Michigan, Cornell, Michener, etc. I always knew there was a huge chance I wasn't going to get in to any of these, but the selectivity statistics have been staring me in the face this past week; I read these programs are essentially as exclusive as the top med schools in the country, the director of the writer's workshop stated their acceptance rate is ~.025% as of 2019, and the small cohort sizes (Iowa not included) make it so getting accepted means not only are you noticeably gifted, but also lucky enough to fit the description of what adcoms are looking to add to this year's specific cohort, etc. Instead of exclusively fully funded programs, I really wish I'd done more research and applied to some partially funded programs that provide opportunities for full/significant funding. At least next year I will have a better idea of what exactly to look for when doing research. 

 

Vent over, thanks for listening and good luck to everyone this season!

 

 

[Karakoram]

Anyway, during the killing wait, I've just found this amazing journal https://typishly.com/faqs/. They say they'll reply in one day with yes/no and a personalised note. So cool, isn't it? I'm going to send my writing sample haha. 

[anarchisttiger]

On 12/26/2019 at 7:06 AM, litty said:

acceptance rates for MFA programs...mean absolutely nothing. They are rounding errors at best, statistically insignificant. There is nothing that can be gleaned from such small sample sizes...With virtually all professional graduate programs, and those in the social sciences, there are standards and a pre-sorting process that occurs to apply...So the high majority of applicants...all look fairly similar on paper...[MFA] Applicants come from all skill levels and the sorting is done during the application process...A "strong writing sample" is difficult to quantify. This is all art and personal preference...

And most importantly, it's not just about your application. For many of the top tier programs, they're building cohorts that can benefit and push each other. So they will often not include writers with similar styles, even if they are the best applicants that year. They want of diversity of thought and not echo chambers. So keep that in mind more than spurious statistics about admissions. Of the thousand applications a program might receive, maybe fifty are interesting and competitive...

For @KA2020 a selection of @litty's wise words from earlier in this thread. The full post is on page 2.

I also only applied to fully funded programs. I went through a period of significant regret over my school choices and I had to remind myself that I cannot afford to take out loans for graduate school and that I only applied to schools I think I'd enjoy attending. That left me with 4 schools. If I am rejected, then I will try again -- but I won't compromise what I know is right for me just because I want to attend an MFA program. If you're going to devote years of your life to something, do it the right way -- your way -- and don't put a degree ahead of your best interests. If you need that funding then you need it. No shame. 

Also, not to be shady, but check out some of the drivel on r/writing and the likes. Remember that that is a lot of the competition for these programs. 

[rbr542]

12 hours ago, Yesgirlstoo said:

Does anyone know if Iowa’s Nonfiction Writers Workshop is on a similar timeline to IWW? Late Feb/March. I’m not finding results for previous years. 
 

ETA: I’m dumb I just didn’t use the right search terms. Anyway. To answer my own question, yes around Feb 22-mar 8 seems like the norm and it seems like a personal phone call from John D’agata awaits those admitted.  Am I the only person who hates the phone and is totally unprepared for faculty to call me?? New level of panic

Oh me as well! three of the five programs I've applied to only do phone calls. Despite the low probability of actually getting in, it scares me that I have to speak on the phone with faculty!

Also, ten more days of waiting feels hellish. I want answers now dammit. ?

Edited February 13, 2020 by rbr542

[Seraphina16]

8 hours ago, KA2020 said:

Instead of exclusively fully funded programs, I really wish I'd done more research and applied to some partially funded programs that provide opportunities for full/significant funding. At least next year I will have a better idea of what exactly to look for when doing research. 

While I agree that fully-funded programs are the only way to go when applying, I broadened my apps a LOT my second time around (like, from 6 to 23) because I discovered there were programs that are slightly more under-the-radar, but fund nearly all of their accepted students. Schools like UNC Greensboro, Eastern Washington, Texas State, etc. I didn't even notice these programs my first round because I applied based on "reputation." But there are so many amazing schools out there, with their own unique styles. What's done is done, so don't beat yourself up about where you applied this round, but just know that if you have to apply again (of course, I hope you don't!) there are plenty of options out there. And hopefully it gets you closer to finding the right school for you

[Karakoram]

21 hours ago, MFALongshot said:

21 hours ago, Ydrl said:

Question for everyone. Did you all know what you wanted to write before you applied (I specifically mean poetry versus nonfiction versus fiction)? I got very discouraged while writing fiction (my once lifelong passion) so I switched to poetry. I think that may have been a mistake.

I absolutely love reading poetry, even write my own, but never dared to apply as a poet because, as stated earlier, I don't feel like I understand it sufficiently (I've never taken a class on poetry etc.). I did consider a cross-disciplinary program but never applied to one. Besides all that, what I really want to do is fiction and hopefully, one day, make films. So, fiction was my only option.

Edit: I've never actually taken a fiction writing workshop either so...

To be honest I just started writing recently and been published only in poetry. But I always feel like I would want to do fiction. I did Political Science in college so it's nothing close to all this. Haha.

@MFALongshot: I always want to do films as well. *hi-5*

[anarchisttiger]

1 hour ago, Karakoram said:

To be honest I just started writing recently and been published only in poetry. But I always feel like I would want to do fiction. I did Political Science in college so it's nothing close to all this. Haha.

@MFALongshot: I always want to do films as well. *hi-5*

I used to work in the film industry – prepare yourselves for a brutal workaholic culture. Also prepare for starting at the bottom no matter what, basically. Not trying to dissuade you, just information I wish I’d had some years ago. Best advice is to be early and be kind to everyone! 

[catkin]

Best of luck @Karakoram!

[Seraphina16]

3 hours ago, anarchisttiger said:

I used to work in the film industry – prepare yourselves for a brutal workaholic culture. Also prepare for starting at the bottom no matter what, basically. Not trying to dissuade you, just information I wish I’d had some years ago. Best advice is to be early and be kind to everyone! 

I went to film school for undergrad and all my friends are living this life right now. It's the reason I decided not to pursue film as a career, even though I loved being on set. It's a trial by fire unless you're extremely lucky or have connections.

[anarchisttiger]

49 minutes ago, Seraphina16 said:

I went to film school for undergrad and all my friends are living this life right now. It's the reason I decided not to pursue film as a career, even though I loved being on set. It's a trial by fire unless you're extremely lucky or have connections.

What department were you in? I did costumes, and script supervising on a couple indies. 

[Dochinka96]

This Boise State bullshit is driving me nuts lol

is it the same person???

[Seraphina16]

1 hour ago, anarchisttiger said:

What department were you in? I did costumes, and script supervising on a couple indies. 

I didn't end up doing any real film work (besides a couple of PA gigs) after graduation, but during the program we were required to get experience in every position. That said, I really enjoyed 1st AC/focus-pulling and sound mixing. But screenwriting was my favorite...no surprise there! I didn't have the organizational skills for working with costumes/production design, but I admire everyone who does. So many little pieces to keep track of!