2021 Applicants Forum

[Ydrl]

Also there’s only two assistantships at U New Hampshire, if both awardees accept there’s not really a lot of options funding wise.

Aaaaaaaaand there’s a waitlist for V Tech in fiction.

Edited March 2, 2021 by Ydrl
V Tech

[arden]

Just now, goodcynara said:

On 2/27/2021 at 8:17 AM, nottheamazonalexa said:

As someone whose request to join draft hasn’t been approved yet just want to extra thank the people on here posting about what they’ve seen!!
 

Also has anyone seen/heard anything on Houston, Brown, NYU, UVA, or Columbia? Poetry specific maybe? It seems like UW and Iowa have started calling for poetry per this thread. Also waiting on Michener and NWP poetry so hoping those haven’t gone out yet!! 

My request to join Draft has also been pending for over a week. If anyone has insights about this, would love to hear. I may message one of the moderators.

as someone who only just joined Draft somewhat recently, I'll quickly pass on what others said to me—don't worry too much about getting accepted into the group in the meanwhile, it can take a few weeks to get approved because of how many requests they get etc!

Here's, to the best of my knowledge, all the current info about these schools that I've seen (apologies in advance if any of this is outdated, others pls feel free to correct or add on!) 

• UVA: a student indicated that acceptances should go out by email sometime in early-mid March, with rejections and waitlists following later. 
• Brown: as some others have posted here, there's some possibly sus reports on results for a single poetry admission and several rejections, but everyone on Draft is of the consensus that these may be fake, as no one else has reported any news. 
• NYU has made several calls to candidates accepted with major fellowships, but it's atm unclear if or when more acceptances/waitlists will be going out. It sounds like frequently people hear back all the way through April (though that can go for lots of programs!) 
• No news on Columbia (yet!)
• Several Michener and NWP decisions have gone out to my knowledge, though I don't believe all have so I'll be holding onto that hope for ya in the meanwhile ❤️ 

Quite a lot of other programs seem to begin with poetry admissions, and at the very least it seems like fiction and poetry don't always inform about decisions at the same time, so it's worth keeping that in mind if you start to see acceptances coming from the other genres at any of the above schools!

[DeepSyntax]

10 minutes ago, goodcynara said:

My request to join Draft has also been pending for over a week. If anyone has insights about this, would love to hear. I may message one of the moderators.

It took a couple of weeks for me. I applied to join last month.

[nottheamazonalexa]

1 minute ago, arden said:

as someone who only just joined Draft somewhat recently, I'll quickly pass on what others said to me—don't worry too much about getting accepted into the group in the meanwhile, it can take a few weeks to get approved because of how many requests they get etc!

Here's, to the best of my knowledge, all the current info about these schools that I've seen (apologies in advance if any of this is outdated, others pls feel free to correct or add on!) 

• UVA: a student indicated that acceptances should go out by email sometime in early-mid March, with rejections and waitlists following later. 
• Brown: as some others have posted here, there's some possibly sus reports on results for a single poetry admission and several rejections, but everyone on Draft is of the consensus that these may be fake, as no one else has reported any news. 
• NYU has made several calls to candidates accepted with major fellowships, but it's atm unclear if or when more acceptances/waitlists will be going out. It sounds like frequently people hear back all the way through April (though that can go for lots of programs!) 
• No news on Columbia (yet!)
• Several Michener and NWP decisions have gone out to my knowledge, though I don't believe all have so I'll be holding onto that hope for ya in the meanwhile ❤️ 

Quite a lot of other programs seem to begin with poetry admissions, and at the very least it seems like fiction and poetry don't always inform about decisions at the same time, so it's worth keeping that in mind if you start to see acceptances coming from the other genres at any of the above schools!

YOU ARE THE BEST. THANK YOU -- this is seriously so so appreciated. ❤️ 

[arden]

Just now, nottheamazonalexa said:

YOU ARE THE BEST. THANK YOU -- this is seriously so so appreciated. ❤️ 

I was absolutely LOSING my mind when I was waiting to get into Draft, and it was largely because of an almost identical list of schools. So, I absolutely know where you're at / want y'all to know you're not alone! 

Hope everyone is taking care of their hearts this week, staying hydrated, taking your vitamins, etc ❤️❤️ 

[anna23]

Yeah, to echo what everyone else has been saying, I feel like the Brown rejection posts are most likely trolls? I applied to Brown for poetry and haven't heard back with a rejection or anything. But we'll see I guess...

edit: also yay!!! we hit 100 pages!!!

Edited March 2, 2021 by anna23

[goodcynara]

3 hours ago, aheather said:

Thank you! I am, I'm genuinely really, really proud of myself. Also an unfamiliar feeling!

Institutional validation should not mean everything, but whew, it meant a lot to me this weekend.

It's funny because I think I'd rather live in Vegas than Ames? I'm Jewish and gay, and worry that a small town in a conservative state may not be the best place for me. And I loooove the easy access to every gorgeous national park ever. Ames scares me a bit, I've lived in a more rural place (my small town in Malaysia) and I know I am not more productive when I'm bored, I'm just bored. BUT the possibility of interdisciplinary work from ISU is super exciting!

And, on top of that, the programs themselves (ISU has an environmental bent, UNLV has an international one) are so different that I don't know how to weigh it! Which do I care about more, travel or nature?! AHHHH!

Your maverick path and focused aesthetic make me want to read your work, and obviously, ISU and UNLV feel the same! Congratulations again. 

I grew up in Michigan and Minnesota, and both places have become far more diverse since I lived there as a kid. The tiny town in Minnesota where my parents live, once mostly white, is now 35% Mexican with a growing Somalian population as well. The lakes, the geese, and unexpectedly, the light -- an inhabited, diffused pink-gold at certain moments in twilight, enswathes me in a liminal calm. In winter, there are cardinals and a rush of strength that runs up from sleeping roots in the frozen ground to reassure your feet that you can do anything, or at least go on. 

Like many of us who moved west, I wanted something different culturally and socially. Only you can decide what will feed you on the daily in terms of human interaction -- whether you need it at your coffee shop five minutes away or whether you're willing to hop in the car and drive an hour or a few. I will say that as an inhabitant of California who has spent significant time in the high desert (Joshua Tree and surrounding), if you have never lived in the west, come. Vegas itself is one thing, but the desert speaks. I have spent entire days doing nothing but looking out over a relatively unremarkable stretch of desert behind my ex's old place and it transformed my mind in way that nothing else has. 

As someone with a journal in ecopoetics, you're way ahead of me in all of this. Just throwing in my two cents because hearing from others about this sort of stuff can be like a horoscope -- it's all true and it's all false. You take what resonates with you and leave the rest. 

I sincerely look forward to reading your work. I hope you'll return one day and leave a link.

[goodcynara]

15 minutes ago, DeepSyntax said:

It took a couple of weeks for me. I applied to join last month.

Ah, good to know. Thanks!

[goodcynara]

25 minutes ago, Ydrl said:

From what I’ve heard it might take awhile, there’s a lot of people joining this round of applications.

Thanks so much! 

[Botanica]

Hi everyone! I just got accepted at University of North Carolina Wilmington for poetry via email! I’m not sure if anyone else applied there, but I was told funding deliberations would be starting shortly. After several rejections and a few days before my wedding, this was such a wonderful email to receive!

[mrhamlet]

This was my second year of applying and it's shaping up to be my second year of receiving all rejections. I know it can be a crapshoot, but it's hard not to feel discouraged. What do you all tell yourselves in moments like this? Reaching out for some perspective... thank you.

[aheather]

9 minutes ago, goodcynara said:

Your maverick path and focused aesthetic make me want to read your work, and obviously, ISU and UNLV feel the same! Congratulations again. 

I grew up in Michigan and Minnesota, and both places have become far more diverse since I lived there as a kid. The tiny town in Minnesota where my parents live, once mostly white, is now 35% Mexican with a growing Somalian population as well. The lakes, the geese, and unexpectedly, the light -- an inhabited, diffused pink-gold at certain moments in twilight, enswathes me in a liminal calm. In winter, there are cardinals and a rush of strength that runs up from sleeping roots in the frozen ground to reassure your feet that you can do anything, or at least go on. 

Like many of us who moved west, I wanted something different culturally and socially. Only you can decide what will feed you on the daily in terms of human interaction -- whether you need it at your coffee shop five minutes away or whether you're willing to hop in the car and drive an hour or a few. I will say that as an inhabitant of California who has spent significant time in the high desert (Joshua Tree and surrounding), if you have never lived in the west, come. Vegas itself is one thing, but the desert speaks. I have spent entire days doing nothing but looking out over a relatively unremarkable stretch of desert behind my ex's old place and it transformed my mind in way that nothing else has. 

As someone with a journal in ecopoetics, you're way ahead of me in all of this. Just throwing in my two cents because hearing from others about this sort of stuff can be like a horoscope -- it's all true and it's all false. You take what resonates with you and leave the rest. 

I sincerely look forward to reading your work. I hope you'll return one day and leave a link.

This is such a kind and generous message, thank you!

I'm from the PNW, so I've spent a lot of time in the lushness of the west, but never the desert. I've had this very, very specific fixation on the desert since my senior year of college. I think I saw one too many Georgia O'Keefe paintings and decided I belong in New Mexico, which is obviously a total fantasy, but the chance to actually live it through is super compelling. I imagine myself staring at the desert and all the fantastical landscapes within it. Side note, if you're a desert person, you should read Dorthea Tanning's Chasm. 

That said, I also love seasons, and I love close study of a place as it changes over a year. If I'm spending so much time thinking about the physical environment, it feels like I should go to the program that is explicitly about that (ISU), to nurture the critical part of that work. I can always move to the desert on my own later, I keep telling myself (but then I start daydreaming about it all over again...)

I feel lucky beyond all reason that this is the choice I get to make, I know either option is just glorious, and will serve me in so many ways. If I could airlift ISU's program onto UNLV's location, I might have an easier go of it, but also, so much depends on all the intangibles! I need to know the vibes of the programs, how empowered people feel to have real conversation in workshop, if professors are secretly jerks, if the teaching load feels unbearable. It feels like I need to know everything so that I can map out these two scenarios before picking the right one, and I'm grateful to have some time to learn it all, but also feeling a bit aimless as I parse out where to start.

The most beautiful, satisfying thing is knowing that I could be happy at either. I'm so grateful I didn't get into the programs that I didn't get into, I think there are quite a few that sounded like good ideas but wouldn't have been the place for me to thrive. I hope everyone on here gets where they're meant to, when they're meant to, even if that route looks nothing like what you'd expect.

3 hours ago, lunch said:

I didn't attend UNLV, but I'm a gay man who grew up in Las Vegas and currently lives here, so if you have any questions about the city, I'd be happy to answer them to the best of my ability. 

Thank you!!!!!

mostly, like, will I get hate crimed if I kiss my girlfriend in public? (granted, she's not even my girlfriend yet, but I am trying hard on that part of things and would like to feel safe with her.) Is there queer community, like bookshops and bars and such? The Vegas I imagine is so transient due to tourists, I don't know much about the culture of people who actually call it home.

3 hours ago, Bug128 said:

Congrats! Just to put my two cents in here: I think you should choose Las Vegas. Of course both are wonderful options. Iowa could be very isolating—where would you go if you wanted to have a weekend away somewhere—whereas being in Nevada will offer great weather, lots of opportunity to travel, etc. Also, I would have a distinct hunch that Las Vegas might have a lot more to offer than meets the eye. 

Thank you! This is a thing hugely on my mind, the access to a good international airport so I can escape places as needed! But ISU has its (very large) perks as well, so the decision is going to be prolonged, unfortunately. 

3 hours ago, mrvisser said:

Well, if you go to Vegas, you get to actually live among the best nature has to offer. But as a man of the West, I'm incredibly biased toward my side of the Rockies.

WEST COAST BEST COAST!

your side of the Rockies is the definitive Better Side of the Rockies!

34 minutes ago, goodcynara said:

My request to join Draft has also been pending for over a week. If anyone has insights about this, would love to hear. I may message one of the moderators.

I've been in six years of iterations of Draft (I know, I need real hobbies) and genuinely adore all the mods as human beings. They've been busy with real life stuff, and they do a lot of work to vet people who have requested to join (there have been past issues with programs trying to get in the group to see what people are saying, and the mods understand that allowing that to happen would ruin the core purpose of the group). They're all super, super kind, if you're finding yourself waiting for way too long and do want to reach out.

[fishfish24]

2 minutes ago, mrhamlet said:

This was my second year of applying and it's shaping up to be my second year of receiving all rejections. I know it can be a crapshoot, but it's hard not to feel discouraged. What do you all tell yourselves in moments like this? Reaching out for some perspective... thank you.

Hey, sorry to hear you're having a rough time of it. I'm also really struggling with rejections this year (it's my second round applying). What comforts me the most is recalling people who've been rejected from five or seven programs only to be accepted at Iowa or Michener or Hellen Zell. Those stories serve as a great reminder not to measure yourself by rejections. And remember, if a program takes 4 writers and has a 5-person waitlist, you could be number 10 or number 1000 and you wouldn't know the difference from a form rejection. Try to have faith in your work, take comfort in group critiques and feedback from workshops, measure your work by peers and mentors you trust. I was waitlisted at three great programs last year and have received straight rejections this round even though I know my applications were stronger. Bottom line, applying to MFAs is a shit show. Take heart. Sally forth. Writing is one of the hardest things you can choose to do with your life because these are the kinds of odds you will always face. That doesn't mean you shouldn't do it, or that you aren't meant to write!❤️

[lunch]

1 minute ago, aheather said:

Thank you!!!!!

mostly, like, will I get hate crimed if I kiss my girlfriend in public? (granted, she's not even my girlfriend yet, but I am trying hard on that part of things and would like to feel safe with her.) Is there queer community, like bookshops and bars and such? The Vegas I imagine is so transient due to tourists, I don't know much about the culture of people who actually call it home.

I would hope that wouldn't be a problem (although some of my worst experiences have been in places thought to be liberal). I do think many people assume Las Vegas to be more progressive than it is, largely because their experience is shaped by the tourist culture (although that's changing as more and more left-leaning transplants move to the city), but I would put Las Vegas more in the "maybe someone silently staring at you while trying to be inconspicuous" camp than the "someone shouting at you" camp. There isn't a queer bookstore, although I think that's sadly pretty common now, but there are gay bars, and as someone who is fairly sensitive to feeling unwelcome in predominantly straight spaces, I feel pretty comfortable. I'm sure UNLV will also be good in that regard.

Also, I imagine you know this from looking at their MFA program, but UNLV and The Believer have really tried to create a literary community that certainly wasn't here while I was growing up. I'm back in the city after spending a long time away at undergrad, and I wasn't able to go to the last Believer Festival because of Coronavirus, but it's exciting to see that kind of progress be made as well.

[aa2427]

I am really wondering what is going on with Michener poetry. Radio silence aside from an acceptance that seems like it could have been improperly entered? Maybe this is just wishful thinking on my part, but it feels like acceptances have not gone out yet? (Hoping to keep the dream alive but I would also just like my rejection now if that is the case so I can stop wondering!)

[mrhamlet]

8 minutes ago, fishfish24 said:

Hey, sorry to hear you're having a rough time of it. I'm also really struggling with rejections this year (it's my second round applying). What comforts me the most is recalling people who've been rejected from five or seven programs only to be accepted at Iowa or Michener or Hellen Zell. Those stories serve as a great reminder not to measure yourself by rejections. And remember, if a program takes 4 writers and has a 5-person waitlist, you could be number 10 or number 1000 and you wouldn't know the difference from a form rejection. Try to have faith in your work, take comfort in group critiques and feedback from workshops, measure your work by peers and mentors you trust. I was waitlisted at three great programs last year and have received straight rejections this round even though I know my applications were stronger. Bottom line, applying to MFAs is a shit show. Take heart. Sally forth. Writing is one of the hardest things you can choose to do with your life because these are the kinds of odds you will always face. That doesn't mean you shouldn't do it, or that you aren't meant to write!❤️

Thank you for this ❤️ I'd like to embroider "Sally forth" on a pillow

[Yellow62]

6 minutes ago, aa2427 said:

I am really wondering what is going on with Michener poetry. Radio silence aside from an acceptance that seems like it could have been improperly entered? Maybe this is just wishful thinking on my part, but it feels like acceptances have not gone out yet? (Hoping to keep the dream alive but I would also just like my rejection now if that is the case so I can stop wondering!)

In the same boat. Sadly it's completely possible that, since their cohorts are small, the rest of the accepted applicants may just not be online. Despite how many people use Grad Cafe and Draft, I've read that it's likely the majority of MFA applicants each year actually aren't on these sites. 

[cecsav]

1 hour ago, arden said:

as someone who only just joined Draft somewhat recently, I'll quickly pass on what others said to me—don't worry too much about getting accepted into the group in the meanwhile, it can take a few weeks to get approved because of how many requests they get etc!

Here's, to the best of my knowledge, all the current info about these schools that I've seen (apologies in advance if any of this is outdated, others pls feel free to correct or add on!) 

• UVA: a student indicated that acceptances should go out by email sometime in early-mid March, with rejections and waitlists following later. 
• Brown: as some others have posted here, there's some possibly sus reports on results for a single poetry admission and several rejections, but everyone on Draft is of the consensus that these may be fake, as no one else has reported any news. 
• NYU has made several calls to candidates accepted with major fellowships, but it's atm unclear if or when more acceptances/waitlists will be going out. It sounds like frequently people hear back all the way through April (though that can go for lots of programs!) 
• No news on Columbia (yet!)
• Several Michener and NWP decisions have gone out to my knowledge, though I don't believe all have so I'll be holding onto that hope for ya in the meanwhile ❤️ 

Quite a lot of other programs seem to begin with poetry admissions, and at the very least it seems like fiction and poetry don't always inform about decisions at the same time, so it's worth keeping that in mind if you start to see acceptances coming from the other genres at any of the above schools!

The real MVP

[aa2427]

4 minutes ago, Yellow62 said:

In the same boat. Sadly it's completely possible that, since their cohorts are small, the rest of the accepted applicants may just not be online. Despite how many people use Grad Cafe and Draft, I've read that it's likely the majority of MFA applicants each year actually aren't on these sites. 

Ew, there are people out there who have lives outside of stressing online? It just feels weird that if there were 200 applicants and 6 chosen, none would be online. But I'm grasping for straws, alas

[goodcynara]

36 minutes ago, fishfish24 said:

Hey, sorry to hear you're having a rough time of it. I'm also really struggling with rejections this year (it's my second round applying). What comforts me the most is recalling people who've been rejected from five or seven programs only to be accepted at Iowa or Michener or Hellen Zell. Those stories serve as a great reminder not to measure yourself by rejections. And remember, if a program takes 4 writers and has a 5-person waitlist, you could be number 10 or number 1000 and you wouldn't know the difference from a form rejection. Try to have faith in your work, take comfort in group critiques and feedback from workshops, measure your work by peers and mentors you trust. I was waitlisted at three great programs last year and have received straight rejections this round even though I know my applications were stronger. Bottom line, applying to MFAs is a shit show. Take heart. Sally forth. Writing is one of the hardest things you can choose to do with your life because these are the kinds of odds you will always face. That doesn't mean you shouldn't do it, or that you aren't meant to write!❤️

Fantastic and generous. Thank you for this.

[Chabek]

19 minutes ago, aa2427 said:

I am really wondering what is going on with Michener poetry. Radio silence aside from an acceptance that seems like it could have been improperly entered? Maybe this is just wishful thinking on my part, but it feels like acceptances have not gone out yet? (Hoping to keep the dream alive but I would also just like my rejection now if that is the case so I can stop wondering!)

Same. I know that NWP and Michener have different admin/admissions but they’re closely tied to each other. You’d think timeline would be similar. I heard from NWP yesterday a.m.

[goodcynara]

40 minutes ago, aheather said:

This is such a kind and generous message, thank you!

I'm from the PNW, so I've spent a lot of time in the lushness of the west, but never the desert. I've had this very, very specific fixation on the desert since my senior year of college. I think I saw one too many Georgia O'Keefe paintings and decided I belong in New Mexico, which is obviously a total fantasy, but the chance to actually live it through is super compelling. I imagine myself staring at the desert and all the fantastical landscapes within it. Side note, if you're a desert person, you should read Dorthea Tanning's Chasm. 

That said, I also love seasons, and I love close study of a place as it changes over a year. If I'm spending so much time thinking about the physical environment, it feels like I should go to the program that is explicitly about that (ISU), to nurture the critical part of that work. I can always move to the desert on my own later, I keep telling myself (but then I start daydreaming about it all over again...)

I feel lucky beyond all reason that this is the choice I get to make, I know either option is just glorious, and will serve me in so many ways. If I could airlift ISU's program onto UNLV's location, I might have an easier go of it, but also, so much depends on all the intangibles! I need to know the vibes of the programs, how empowered people feel to have real conversation in workshop, if professors are secretly jerks, if the teaching load feels unbearable. It feels like I need to know everything so that I can map out these two scenarios before picking the right one, and I'm grateful to have some time to learn it all, but also feeling a bit aimless as I parse out where to start.

The most beautiful, satisfying thing is knowing that I could be happy at either. I'm so grateful I didn't get into the programs that I didn't get into, I think there are quite a few that sounded like good ideas but wouldn't have been the place for me to thrive. I hope everyone on here gets where they're meant to, when they're meant to, even if that route looks nothing like what you'd expect.

Thank you!!!!!

mostly, like, will I get hate crimed if I kiss my girlfriend in public? (granted, she's not even my girlfriend yet, but I am trying hard on that part of things and would like to feel safe with her.) Is there queer community, like bookshops and bars and such? The Vegas I imagine is so transient due to tourists, I don't know much about the culture of people who actually call it home.

Thank you! This is a thing hugely on my mind, the access to a good international airport so I can escape places as needed! But ISU has its (very large) perks as well, so the decision is going to be prolonged, unfortunately. 

WEST COAST BEST COAST!

your side of the Rockies is the definitive Better Side of the Rockies!

I've been in six years of iterations of Draft (I know, I need real hobbies) and genuinely adore all the mods as human beings. They've been busy with real life stuff, and they do a lot of work to vet people who have requested to join (there have been past issues with programs trying to get in the group to see what people are saying, and the mods understand that allowing that to happen would ruin the core purpose of the group). They're all super, super kind, if you're finding yourself waiting for way too long and do want to reach out.

Just sought out "Chasm;" looks like a fun read, thanks! 

I resonate with your gladness about programs you didn't get into; understanding in hindsight that they wouldn't have been places where you would have thrived. Truly helpful for me to remember that what is for us will not go by us.

I love that you love the world and its scenery and I feel a little better knowing you're out there advocating for it with your art. You'll know what to do. You cannot lose.

[goodcynara]

7 minutes ago, aa2427 said:

Ew, there are people out there who have lives outside of stressing online? It just feels weird that if there were 200 applicants and 6 chosen, none would be online. But I'm grasping for straws, alas

Totally. People with lives. Gross.

[mrvisser]

If I don't hear any more about that goddamn Notre Dame fiction acceptance I swear I'm going to...silently sulk in my chair.

[goodcynara]

What's your waiting room soundtrack? 

Today, mine is a classic courtesy of the great Bob Marley. 

 

I don't wanna wait in vain for your love
I don't wanna wait in vain for your love

From the very first time I placed my eyes on you, girl
My heart says follow through
But I know, now, that I'm way down on your line
But the waitin' feel is fine

So don't treat me like a puppet on a string
'Cause I know how to do my thing
Don't talk to me as if you think I'm dumb
I wanna know when you're gonna come

See, I don't wanna wait in vain for your love
I don't wanna wait in vain for your love
I don't wanna wait in vain for your love

'Cause if summer is here
I'm still waiting there
Winter is here
And I'm still waiting there

Like I said
It's been three years since I'm knockin' on your door
And I still can knock some more
Ooh girl, ooh girl, is it feasible?
I wanna know now, for I to knock some more

Ya see, in life I know there's lots of grief
But your love is my relief
Tears in my eyes burn, tears in my eyes burn
While I'm waiting, while I'm waiting for my turn
See!

I don't wanna wait in vain for your love
I don't wanna wait in vain for your love
I don't wanna wait in vain for your love
I don't wanna wait in vain for your love

I don't wanna wait in vain for your love, oh!
I don't wanna, I don't wanna, I don't wanna, I don't wanna
I don't wanna wait in vain, no
I don't wanna, I don't wanna, I don't wanna, I don't wanna
I don't wanna wait in vain, no
I don't wanna, I don't wanna, I don't wanna, I don't wanna
I don't wanna wait in vain

No no no, I, no I (I don't wanna wait in vain)
It's your love that I'm waiting on
It's my love that you're running from
It's your love that I'm waiting on
It's my love that you're running from