2021 Applicants Forum

[Ydrl]

You guys are gonna be so weirded out / confused when you figure out (or I tell you about) the shrimp thing.

Edited March 2, 2021 by Ydrl

[Chabek]

9 minutes ago, Ydrl said:

You guys are gonna be so weirded out / confused when you figure out (or I tell you about) the shrimp thing.

Sweet Hot Rice In My Pants. I'll stop with this now. Mods don't snipe me. 

[CanadianKate]

54 minutes ago, Ydrl said:

I know not many people get the “Shrimp” thing, but I do get it and maybe they aren’t trolling.

I’m curious if y’all will ever figure out “shrimp”, I’ll tell you if you get it right.

The shrimp thing is great ? and the person seems very genuine - I believe they are just having their work noticed by great programs! I do not  think they are trolling.

Edited March 2, 2021 by CanadianKate

[anna23]

1 hour ago, dreamx said:

Ahh I stopped obsessively carrying my phone everywhere because I had given up hope but then I go and MISS an acceptance call! I got into University of San Fransisco guys! I'm not so sure about funding yet so I'm still on the fence, but I got an incredibly kind and validating voicemail from Laleh Khadivi so I'm going to celebrate ☺️

CONGRATS!!!! I applied there too and am waiting anxiously to hear back. Did you apply for poetry? 

[CayceCamus]

1 hour ago, fireflystasis said:

I don't think shrimp lover is a troll. A while back when I was searching for mentions of Iowa decisions on Twitter, I found their profile and they were being excited about an acceptance to Iowa fiction. I think they just goof around in the notes field.

Oh my, based on their profile, I think I like this person a lot! I don't get the shrimp thing either though. Crab is better.

[dreamx]

12 minutes ago, anna23 said:

CONGRATS!!!! I applied there too and am waiting anxiously to hear back. Did you apply for poetry? 

Thank you so much!! And no I applied for fiction so I'm not sure if poetry acceptances have gone out yet. I wish you the best of luck!! ❤️

[anna23]

12 minutes ago, dreamx said:

Thank you so much!! And no I applied for fiction so I'm not sure if poetry acceptances have gone out yet. I wish you the best of luck!! ❤️

Oh! Very cool  and ah, I'm hoping they come out soon...I can't take the waiting. Thank you so much and congratulations once again! 

[panglosian]

Head's up y'all - there's a Brown acceptance today, email to check portal. Drafters are saying it might be a troll, so keep your eyes peeled. We'll know one way or the other soon enough I guess!

Edit: says it's poetry, which is totally feasible considering poetry often gets done before fiction, but I'll believe it when I see it

Edited March 2, 2021 by panglosian

[eternalwhitenights]

Mental health status on STILL WAITING to hear an answer (did I shout that?):

 

Edited March 2, 2021 by eternalwhitenights

[JPReinhold]

So... do those Brown rejections belong to anyone or are they just bogus troll droppings? 
 

ETA: RE: 3 Brown rejections (poetry) that all appeared at the same time on the results page lookin’ a lil sus.

Edited March 2, 2021 by JPReinhold

[fireflystasis]

16 minutes ago, JPReinhold said:

So... do those Brown rejections belong to anyone or are they just bogus troll droppings? 
 

ETA: RE: 3 Brown rejections (poetry) that all appeared at the same time on the results page lookin’ a lil sus.

The last two appeared hours after the one before them. I remember because it was there when I checked this morning, and it's night here now.

Regardless, if poetry decisions are rolling out already, I'm hoping to hear from fiction soon... or in a few weeks...

[JPReinhold]

1 minute ago, fireflystasis said:

The last two appeared hours after the one before them. I remember because it was there when I checked this morning, and it's night here now.

Regardless, if poetry decisions are rolling out already, I'm hoping to hear from fiction soon... or in a few weeks...

Typically the FB draft group will have a lot of people posting about rejections when mass rejections go out, and no one’s mentioned a Brown rejection there. It seems like a huge number of poets apply there. Seems suspect.

[fireflystasis]

Just now, JPReinhold said:

Typically the FB draft group will have a lot of people posting about rejections when mass rejections go out, and no one’s mentioned a Brown rejection there. It seems like a huge number of poets apply there. Seems suspect.

True, one would think that if the decisions were delivered by e-mail they'd all go out at once unlike with phone calls.

[JPReinhold]

Just now, fireflystasis said:

True, one would think that if the decisions were delivered by e-mail they'd all go out at once unlike with phone calls.

Especially form rejections.

[fishfish24]

Someone just posted a fiction acceptance from Notre Dame... 

[Salaam O]

38 minutes ago, fishfish24 said:

Someone just posted a fiction acceptance from Notre Dame... 

oh my god ahhhhh.

[mrvisser]

49 minutes ago, fishfish24 said:

Someone just posted a fiction acceptance from Notre Dame... 

Fuuuuck.

[aheather]

Hello! I got an acceptance for poetry via portal and then phone call for Iowa State University on Friday (portal)/ Saturday night (phone call). I was taking the weekend to be offline and heal from what I thought was just a suite of rejections, so the good news was SHOCKING. I was so overwhelmed, and then got a phone call from UNLV on Sunday night to throw me for a whole second loop. 

 

I couldn't be happier with these two programs, I write exclusively about place and space-- I spent a LOT of my undergrad abroad (I did my classes via email correspondence and lived in France for a year, went to Berlin multiple times for my thesis, and then wrapped up college and moved to Malaysia for a year), and then I literally started a journal of ecopoetics. So! Having one international program and one environmentally focused program is bananas. I feel like these two acceptances, more than any acceptances anywhere else, shows that what I'm trying to do in my work is legible. I am a genuine fit for these places, and the fact that they see that shows that my work is doing what I've been working to make it do. 

 

So much love for this forum, I wish I could make everyone as deliriously happy as I've been this weekend. 

(and now, I have the most terrifying, overwhelming decision of my life)

[ilikepoetry]

okay so what do u guys think -- my impressions of poetry mfa programs I applied to as famous movie directors

Brown - Claire Denis
Hunter - Mike Leigh
NYU - Martin Scorsese
Iowa - David Fincher
WashU - Abbas Kiarostami
Michigan - Barry Jenkins
Brooklyn - Abel Ferrara
UCSD - Jacques Rivettte
UCI - Clint Eastwood
UCR - Kathryn Bigelow
UNLV - Terrence Malick

[mrvisser]

9 minutes ago, aheather said:

Hello! I got an acceptance for poetry via portal and then phone call for Iowa State University on Friday (portal)/ Saturday night (phone call). I was taking the weekend to be offline and heal from what I thought was just a suite of rejections, so the good news was SHOCKING. I was so overwhelmed, and then got a phone call from UNLV on Sunday night to throw me for a whole second loop. 

Congrats! That's awesome news!

[aheather]

22 hours ago, Ydrl said:

Received a full tuition scholarship

Holy cow!!!! congrats!!!!

[eternalwhitenights]

1 hour ago, fishfish24 said:

Someone just posted a fiction acceptance from Notre Dame... 

Noperdoodles, my heart ain't ready for that yet. Nope nope nope.

[aheather]

9 hours ago, stemchimp said:

Haven't heard back from my top choices and happened upon this forum so I guess I can share in some of this anxiety. I only applied to 5 programs and have gotten financial packets from 2 of them (my safety choices).

Accepted: Purdue (Chemistry), Emory (Biochemistry)

Waiting: Berkley (Biophysics),  UCSF (Chemistry), UCLA (BMSB)

I've already gone through interviews for the waiting schools but its been over 5 weeks now since then and I'm pretty sure I didn't bomb them (no awkward silence or tension during the interview). I just really want any news, even rejection or low priority waitlist, just put me out of this self-doubt purgatory 

I really want a change in scenery especially the west coast, so here's to hoping for word from the California programs!

You're in the wrong place, friend! This is a thread for MFA applicants in creative writing. Sorry about the self-doubt purgatory, though, it's horrible ❤️

[aheather]

19 minutes ago, mrvisser said:

Congrats! That's awesome news!

Thank you!!! 

This was MFA application round 2, grad school application round 4, grad school dreams and trying round 5. It's been a LOT of years of wanting this. I have no idea what to do with myself now. I genuinely am at a loss. I didn't think I'd get in anywhere, let alone have the luxury of choice. I'm especially thrown by the fact that both programs have specializations, deciding between them feels like two entirely different options.

What kinds of questions are people asking current students and professors to get a sense of things? I've gone through all the Draft files and everything, but I'm still struggling to imagine myself in either place enough to figure out where I'd be best served.

[Salaam O]

3 minutes ago, aheather said:

Thank you!!! 

This was MFA application round 2, grad school application round 4, grad school dreams and trying round 5. It's been a LOT of years of wanting this. I have no idea what to do with myself now. I genuinely am at a loss. I didn't think I'd get in anywhere, let alone have the luxury of choice. I'm especially thrown by the fact that both programs have specializations, deciding between them feels like two entirely different options.

What kinds of questions are people asking current students and professors to get a sense of things? I've gone through all the Draft files and everything, but I'm still struggling to imagine myself in either place enough to figure out where I'd be best served.

This is AMAZING. You should be endlessly proud of yourself! I can imagine how difficult of a position you're in right now, though. I bet talking to current students in both programs can help you figure it out :)?