2021 Applicants Forum

[Downtozero]

3 minutes ago, Phoebe R said:

A few weeks ago I would've agreed with what everyone is saying, but I do actually know a poet in the community who began at a less picky school and was picked for Cornell's program this year, so who even knows anymore. I wouldn't personally want to take that path, but I wouldn't totally count it out. EDIT to mention that I don't know what this person's circumstances were.

 

Is this the poet that posts in Draft? I thought they went for an MA first, not an MFA. That's different and is an ok option I think for people who aren't ready for an MFA (though personally the idea of spending that long in grad school is mind-boggling to me...practically a decade if you go for your PhD as well...)

If you're talking about someone else, disregard!

[cecsav]

Still no word from LSU, UNM, University of Houston, University of Florida, Florida State, or Oklahoma State. Portals all still say under review. This application process is brutal. 

[omgalexx]

45 minutes ago, cecsav said:

Still no word from LSU, UNM, University of Houston, University of Florida, Florida State, or Oklahoma State. Portals all still say under review. This application process is brutal. 

Maybe no word from UNM is a good thing! I was rejected yesterday. 

[fireflystasis]

Just got an e-mail from David Crouse saying I'm waitlisted at U-Wash Seattle! I'm so thrown. I honestly wrote it off as a straight rejection.

"The admissions committee was very favorably impressed by your accomplishment and potential as a writer. Unfortunately, the small size of our program—just four incoming in each genre—means that a number of highly qualified candidates, such as yourself, won’t receive an initial offer. Less than three percent of applicants will be admitted this year, and only a slightly larger group recommended for the waiting list."

The website says the program typically admits 10-12 students! Wonder why the class is so small this time round.

[nottheamazonalexa]

5 minutes ago, fireflystasis said:

Just got an e-mail from David Crouse saying I'm waitlisted at U-Wash Seattle! I'm so thrown. I honestly wrote it off as a straight rejection.

"The admissions committee was very favorably impressed by your accomplishment and potential as a writer. Unfortunately, the small size of our program—just four incoming in each genre—means that a number of highly qualified candidates, such as yourself, won’t receive an initial offer. Less than three percent of applicants will be admitted this year, and only a slightly larger group recommended for the waiting list."

The website says the program typically admits 10-12 students! Wonder why the class is so small this time round.

CONGRATS!!!! Wow that is 3x smaller.

I am also hoping to receive a waitlist from them (poetry). Did you just get the email right now? Are you also poetry? 

[fireflystasis]

4 minutes ago, nottheamazonalexa said:

CONGRATS!!!! Wow that is 3x smaller.

I am also hoping to receive a waitlist from them (poetry). Did you just get the email right now? Are you also poetry? 

Prose! Looks like I received the email four hours ago.

Edited March 10, 2021 by fireflystasis

[nottheamazonalexa]

Just now, fireflystasis said:

Fiction! Looks like I received the email four hours ago.

ahhhh gotcha well congrats again and best of luck in getting off the waitlist  

[fireflystasis]

Just now, nottheamazonalexa said:

ahhhh gotcha well congrats again and best of luck in getting off the waitlist  

All the best to you as well, I hope you hear from them soon!

[koechophe]

2 hours ago, cecsav said:

Still no word from LSU, UNM, University of Houston, University of Florida, Florida State, or Oklahoma State. Portals all still say under review. This application process is brutal. 

Heya, I'm also applying to Houston, Florida State, and Oklahoma State, and it's been crickets for me. 

Also on my list is WSU, UNLV, USC, U of U, all with absolutely no responses. 

I'll let you know if I hear anything, but I'm assuming I'm on SOME form of waitlist for most of them (if not in the "we've rejected you but haven't told you yet" pool). 

 

Edited March 10, 2021 by koechophe

[jujubee]

7 hours ago, koechophe said:

Heya, I'm also applying to Houston, Florida State, and Oklahoma State, and it's been crickets for me. 

Also on my list is WSU, UNLV, USC, U of U, all with absolutely no responses. 

I'll let you know if I hear anything, but I'm assuming I'm on SOME form of waitlist for most of them (if not in the "we've rejected you but haven't told you yet" pool). 

 

Same. Waiting on Houston, Florida State, and UNLV

[cosmictones]

30 minutes ago, jujubee said:

Same. Waiting on Houston, Florida State, and UNLV

Seriously, what is up with Houston?

[rcsteel]

Emailed Iowa asking for a decision update and they said that letters were pushed back by a week due to COVID. Also said to email them back if I have not received a letter by the end of March and they will email me a copy of the letter.

[fireflystasis]

24 minutes ago, rcsteel said:

Emailed Iowa asking for a decision update and they said that letters were pushed back by a week due to COVID. Also said to email them back if I have not received a letter by the end of March and they will email me a copy of the letter.

Thanks for the info!

It's strange to me that Iowa is still doing snail mail—what about us international applicants? Seems infeasible. It was also the only program I saw that required mailing hard copies.

[oubukibun]

Hello everyone,

I haven't been lurking very long, but I figured it was time to come out and ask some questions and become a member of the forum as I fear the application process has only begun for me.

I've been a tutor and/or a teacher in some capacity or combination since my sophomore year of college (at Otterbein in Ohio), and due to an unpleasant time at a private school here in Miami, the fire under my ass finally lit itself and I realized it was time to stop diddling and get back to work.

I don't want to say I'm a poet, because that implies my work is fruitful all the time and that I've been read or published (although, watch this space), but well, I'm a poet-in-training by my own hands.  I was lucky to have one of the most wonderful and refreshing English faculties during my undergraduate (seriously, an entire Winter quarter devoted to Woolf; I'm still pinching myself I was that fortunate), so I honed my skills and had a years-long workshop to really experiment and stretch my writing muscles.  I don't write every day, which seems to be an accepted no-no, but when I do, I'm supremely happy with the result.  It's hard for me to write for the sake of writing, since I have to edit and proofread as I write and not after I've finished that session for the day.  The writing has to come from somewhere I can't place; in a way, it has to be intentional, but not with intent, if that makes any sense.

I take pride in my English because I worked so hard to learn it (Spanish is my first language), and I'm happy with my style, which I've been developing since at least the latter half of eighth grade.  It makes me happy to know that my friends and even my teachers and professors 'know' me through my writing.  That distinctiveness is something I never tried to capture intentionally, so it's nice to see it be captured anyway.

Why am I rambling on and on?  Well, I didn't (don't?) truly believe I'd/I'll be getting into grad programs this year, especially since I only applied to four: Syracuse, Brown, Iowa, and Boston University.  I consciously picked from the cherry-top of the cherry-top, and figured I'd work my way down until, well, I managed to find a nook that would have me down the long, long tree of admissions (sorry, I like nature imagery, bear with me).  Syracuse right out of the gate said no, and I haven't heard from Iowa and Brown, so I assume they will be sending those "Thanks, but no thanks" or "We just don't know where you fit in our program with our diverse faculty and..." messages soon enough (actually, not soon enough, who am I kidding).  Boston U, I suppose, is the outlier here, and part of me chose it subconsciously knowing I stood a 'better' chance at getting in there...  Somehow.  Of course, I also chose one that decides to make decisions in April (and near my birthday, too, the grief, haha).

I realize, of course, this is all folly, which we all willingly participate in.  We 'improve' our writing, and 'work' on our portfolios, and 'try' again, but the final choice seems so arbitrary, and subjective, that I'm not so sure what the preparation is for or how it works (How does one satisfy faceless people in charge of deciding your grad fate?).  I completed my applications, but the entire time I felt so completely unprepared or that it was incomplete somehow, like I was an impostor, but surely this is how a lot of people applying to grad schools, and, indeed, how many grad schools indirectly (and even directly) make applicants feel.

I've never known how to convince people to hire me or take me in.  Somehow, I've had the chance to teach across a pretty diverse set of classrooms (students on the spectrum, students on the outskirts of the Ecuadorian jungle, students learning English for the first time, Gifted eighth graders, etc.) despite that, but, thinking on my Statement of Purpose, and what a ridiculous struggle it is to even conceptualize a page or a page and a half that can summarize one's worth...

Nothing I do or did matters.  I'm not even sure my writing matters, since someone's gold-spun wheel is another's bloody instrument of torture.

Tl;dr: Anyone know of any grad programs, fully or mostly funded, that seek out or appeal to 'poets' who seek to continue experimenting and changing the form?  And if not change the form, then a program that fosters the individual growth of a writer's voice so it becomes even more idiosyncratic?

In happier news, a good friend of mine asked if he could read some of my work for his sister's wedding as she had asked him to perform a reading.  I said, sure, and much to my surprise, he actually chose the one I thought might fit.  Having someone read my work to a group of strangers is so oddly thrilling to me, maybe even more so than a grad school acceptance...  somehow (I could just be deluding myself).

I've attached that poem so those who've read this far and can offer any advice about choosing a program 'right' for me can take a look at the writing itself and make an informed opinion...  or not.

It's been twisted fun reading through this thread, but a writer is always at least a little bit of a masochist, so that makes sense.  Take care, everyone, and breathe easy, and don't forget to dip your madeleines at tea time!

 

Manny

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ufL9juatKSpWlXvgyi8i7IXagBEbFCG5B3PqWTwtjY0/edit?usp=sharing

 

Edited March 10, 2021 by oubukibun

[CrankyGinger]

10 hours ago, fireflystasis said:

Prose! Looks like I received the email four hours ago.

I did my undergrad there and loved it, congrats on the waitlist!

[lunch]

13 minutes ago, oubukibun said:

 

Habits Together.rtfUnavailable

Unfortunately, it doesn't look like I'm able to view the attachment -- GradCafe says I don't have permission or that the file is unavailable. 

[oubukibun]

Huh.

I changed the format to .docx, so maybe that'll work now?  Rich text format is iffy all around.

[fireflystasis]

Just now, oubukibun said:

Huh.

I changed the format to .docx, so maybe that'll work now?  Rich text format is iffy all around.

It still says "This attachment is not available. It may have been removed or the person who shared it may not have permission to share it to this location."

Perhaps sharing it as a Google doc would work?

[lunch]

1 minute ago, oubukibun said:

Huh.

I changed the format to .docx, so maybe that'll work now?  Rich text format is iffy all around.

Hm, still nothing. This is the error: "It may have been removed or the person who shared it may not have permission to share it to this location." It's possible that the forum doesn't actually allow people to share attachments? You might need to upload it to something like Dropbox or Google Drive.

[eternalwhitenights]

6 minutes ago, oubukibun said:

Hello everyone,

I haven't been lurking very long, but I figured it was time to come out and ask some questions and become a member of the forum as I fear the application process has only begun for me.

I've been a tutor and/or a teacher in some capacity or combination since my sophomore year of college (at Otterbein in Ohio), and due to an unpleasant time at a private school here in Miami, the fire under my ass finally lit itself and I realized it was time to stop diddling and get back to work.

I don't want to say I'm a poet, because that implies my work is fruitful all the time and that I've been read or published (although, watch this space), but well, I'm a poet-in-training by my own hands.  I was lucky to have one of the most wonderful and refreshing English faculties during my undergraduate (seriously, an entire Winter quarter devoted to Woolf; I'm still pinching myself I was that fortunate), so I honed my skills and had a playground to really experiment and stretch my writing muscles.  I don't write every day, which seems to be an accepted no-no, but when I do, I'm supremely happy with the result.  It's hard for me to write for the sake of writing, since I have to edit and proofread as I write and not after I've finished that session for the day.  The writing has to come from somewhere I can't place; in a way, it has to be intentional, but not with intent, if that makes any sense.

I take pride in my English because I worked so hard to learn it (Spanish is my first language), and I'm happy with my style, which I've been developing since at least the later half of eighth grade.  It makes me happy to know that my friends and even my teachers and professors 'know' me through my writing.  That distinctiveness is something I never tried to capture intentionally, so it's nice to see it be captured anyway.

Why am I rambling on and on?  Well, I didn't (don't?) truly believe I'll be getting into grad programs this year, especially since I only applied to four: Syracuse, Brown, Iowa, and Boston University.  I consciously picked from the cherry-top of the cherry-top, and figured I'd work my way down until, well, I managed to find a nook that would have me down the long, long tree of admissions (sorry, I like nature imagery, bear with me).  Syracuse right out of the gate said no, and I haven't heard from Iowa and Brown, so I assume they will be sending those "Thanks, but no thanks" or "We just don't know where you fit in our program with our diverse faculty and..." messages soon enough (actually, not soon enough, who am I kidding).  Boston U, I suppose, is the outlier here, and part of me chose it subconsciously knowing I stood a 'better' chance at getting in there...  Somehow.

I realize, of course, this is all folly, which we all willingly participate in.  We 'improve' our writing, and 'work' on our portfolios, and 'try' again, but the final choice seems so arbitrary, and subjective, that I'm not so sure what the preparation is for or how it works.  I completed my applications, but the entire time I felt so completely unprepared or that it was incomplete somehow, like I was an impostor, but surely this is how a lot of people applying to grad schools, and, indeed, how many grad schools indirectly (and even directly) make applicants feel.

I've never known how to convince people to hire me or take me in.  Somehow, I've had the chance to teach across a pretty diverse set of classrooms (students on the spectrum, students on the outskirts of the Ecuadorian jungle, students learning English for the first time, Gifted eighth graders, etc.) despite that, but, thinking on my Statement of Purpose, and what a ridiculous struggle it is to even conceptualize a page or a page and a half that can summarize one's worth...

Nothing I do or did matters.  I'm not even sure my writing matters, since someone's gold-spun wheel is another's bloody instrument of torture.

Tl;dr: Anyone know of any grad programs, fully or mostly funded, that seek out or appeal to 'poets' who seek to continue experimenting and changing the form?  And if not change the form, then a program that fosters the individual growth of a writer's voice so it becomes even more idiosyncratic?

In happier news, a good friend of mine asked if he could read some of my work for his sister's wedding as she had asked him to perform a reading.  I said, sure, and much to my surprise, he actually chose the one I thought might fit.  Having someone read my work to a group of strangers is so oddly thrilling to me, maybe even more so than a grad school acceptance...  somehow (I could just be deluding myself).

I've attached that poem so those who've read this far and can offer any advice about choosing a program 'right' for me can take a look at the writing itself and make an informed opinion...  or not.

It's been twisted fun reading through this thread, but a writer is always at least a little bit of a masochist, so that makes sense.  Take care, everyone, and breathe easy, and don't forget to dip your madeleines at tea time!

 

Manny

 

Habits Together.rtfUnavailable

Awwww Manny!! Thank you so much for sharing your heart here. ❤️ First off, what a tremendous accomplishment for you to have your command of English that you do. That's such a gift to be able to communicate in two languages so fluently; I'm sure that informs your writing and helps you communicate in ways only you know how. That's an amazing asset, and congratulations on all your success in that realm.

Something that really struck me about your post was that you seem to be coming from a place of assuming that your work has no value in and of itself. I'd like to challenge that.  For one, you as a human are inherently worthy, loved, and deserving of respect and kindness. There is only one you, and therefore, what you write is only something you can create. If you discredit yourself before you even begin, you're depriving the world of the gift of yourself and your voice. I know it can be scary to put yourself out there, but I want to encourage you to not be afraid to express yourself. You can do it; I, for one, believe in you!

In terms of finding the right program, I think it makes sense to look at things from the lens of, "Who am I as a writer?" and then look for programs that encourage experimentation, and perhaps cross-genre work. I'm perhaps a bit biased because I'm really only considering one grad school (Notre Dame--I got rejected this year, but I plan on applying again next year), but from all of my Internet stalking/learning about the program, I think the poetry track might be something you'd really thrive in. They have a huge emphasis on international solidarity, translation, and some of the faculty (I'm thinking specifically Johannes Gorannson) teach from a place of experimentation, at least as far as I've been able to glean.

Unfortunately, the format of your poem wasn't granting permission to view your work. Congratulations on getting your work read in the first place; there is definitely a thrill in knowing others are hearing your heart encapsulated in your work publicly.  My best advice is to write from your depths; be yourself; have fun; and learn as you go. You've got it.

Nice to meet you, friend!

~Mary

[oubukibun]

3 minutes ago, fireflystasis said:

It still says "This attachment is not available. It may have been removed or the person who shared it may not have permission to share it to this location."

Perhaps sharing it as a Google doc would work?

Shared as a Google doc.  If that doesn't work then I give up forever, haha.

[corgeel14]

So on the 8th/9th, when all those New School acceptances came out, I got an email the morning of the 9th that said "application update" but it was just saying they had received all my materials (again) and were under review. Was that a mistake? A way of saying to keep waiting? I applied for poetry and haven't seen any poetry acceptances but that could just mean that whoever got in wasn't on this or Draft I know......What do ya'll think?

[fireflystasis]

3 minutes ago, oubukibun said:

Shared as a Google doc.  If that doesn't work then I give up forever, haha.

Yay! It works now. Thank you for sharing.

[koechophe]

Just got a no from Houston They sent out a pretty nice rejection letter before the automated one from the school, which was a pretty good move IMHO. Either way, if you're waiting on Houston, they'll probably have a decision for you soon.

[DeepSyntax]

16 hours ago, rcsteel said:

I saw a Johns Hopkins Fiction rejection on Draft. Has anyone else heard from them?

Weird. I have not heard from them. But just found that Draft post. They have been making wait list calls per the GradCafe results. But what's the point in doing "rolling" rejections?

I'm still waiting on responses from all but one program. And most of those have had some weird mix of communications already. Assuming this means rejections across the board, but it's so frustrating waiting for that shoe to drop.