2021 Applicants Forum

[Cristie]

6 hours ago, cosmictones said:

Just got accepted to Idaho for poetry off the waitlist! Pretty stoked. Still waitlisted at Houston. Anyone have thoughts on Idaho? I know it's not the most prestigious program, but the profs are super accomplished and it seems like they have a top ten pedigree in terms of poets getting published in Best American poetry and getting Pushcart Prizes. I know that only tells part of the story, but it's an encouraging part. 

I'm fiction/non but I had a strong interest in Idaho. I'm a big John Muir fan (and the like) and enjoy writing/studying environmental literature. One of my professors (who is our poetry professor actually) spoke very highly and encouraging about the program during one of our discussions. She did a writing retreat there for poetry. She had all good things to say. Someone else in the conversation made a little joke about men who wear Carharts going there and we all had a good chuckle over that. That may not be what you are looking for but that was our poetry prof (and I don't even write poetry but had her for an intense summer course called Book Bootcamp). She's just cool like that and I respect her opinion. The only reason I didn't apply there is I wanted to stay in the south. And all four English/Creative Writing professors (one is our Chair) I sent my list of possible schools to checked that they agreed with Idaho while there were some schools on the list that they did not check off their approval. Not sure if that helps but maybe someone else can chime in. Congratulations and Good luck!

[anna23]

Hi everyone! I just have one school left to hear back from (the University of San Francisco) and I am still waiting for a response. if anyone applied for poetry and heard back or heard any news, please let me know!! thanks in advance

[fishfish24]

Hey all! I took a (much needed and prolonged) break from gradcafe. Have to say, I missed the community! In any case, I'm a little daunted by the backlog of pages and wondering whether someone could update me on Michener waitlist news. Has there been any reported movement/debate here or on Draft (I never did get on there...). Thanks!!! Looking forward to catching up on everyone's good news:)

[Ydrl]

To the troll,

Suck my non-existent nuts, you slimy hagfish.

-L. H. S

[peachy4345]

6 hours ago, ariela luv said:

But how are you going to pay for New Hampshire? You said it is not charging tuition, but giving no stipend or teaching job. You posted that under those terms you were going to say no and apply next year.

How much is SJCNY with this 75% scholarship? Does SJCNY give everyone a 75% scholarship, much the same as NYU claims to give everyone a 50% scholarship? Jess from Draft wrote a post about not being fooled by these claimed discounts that everyone gets. It is like me charging for this advice, but giving a 100% discount. Not every 100% discount is a bargain. What even is a discount? It means someone else is paying more. It does not mean the Seller labels it one.

What do you mean you "can't afford SJCNY"? That implies that, if costs were the same, you would take SJCNY over New Hampshire. Are you actually claiming so? If you want to be honest, why don't you just say you view New Hampshire is better? 

New Hampshire is not fully funded. 

If  you haven't heard back by now, it is a rejection. With Hunter you can presume a rejection as soon as you see posts that they started interviews. 

I've said 100 times Iowa loses money on its MFA students. Columbia makes money on them. Therefore, Columbia is not going to waste time on a waitlist guy whom they won't even be charging tuition. If enough people say no, and Columbia offers you a spot, they will answer.  

As much as I say Columbia is a rip off for its MFA's, Columbia is not a rip off for its PhD program. On PhD students, Columbia loses money in the hope of building its reputation by molding a future professor. It may be true that Columbia's policy is to scrimp on funding PhD students. It may be true that PhD students might have been better off going to other schools that pay better. Still, the poster here has an agenda. It is to help his strike. It is not to transform Columbia's MFA program from a money making program into a money losing program like Iowa. I think any letter from an MFA candidate should not be in favor of the strike. Right now, Columbia's MFA is building its reputation exclusively through what its teacher's publish. Write Columbia to fire a few professors, and use the money to fund its MFA program: in other words to build its reputation also through student alum's. 

Fact check "We have a legal right to strike, but this later action (withholding stipends) constitutes illegal academic retaliation." This is just false. It is legal. You can strike, and they can legally withhold your stipend." The reason the student union's lawyers are not moving for an injunction is because it is legal. 

So many things here....first, Columbia profits from its PhD program. The vast majority of undergrad courses are taught by grad students and adjuncts--so Columbia collects undergrad tuition dollars with the promise of students in intimate classes with renowned professors, but in reality they are being taught by contingent labor. It's not that we are not great teachers, but we should be clear that Columbia profits A LOT from grad labor. (This touches MFA students if they work in the writing center or teach Core writing to help fund their program.)

And yes, of course I have a position. That position is to make people considering entering grad school at Columbia aware that there are massive and important labor disputes going on. Grad workers at private unis are only allowed to organize  because of a National Labor Relations Board case in 2016--which Columbia fought against tooth and nail. I actually was accepted to an MFA program long ago, and have many friends who have done MFAs--what you probs all know if that it's a tough field to work in, which is why it's really exciting to see publications like the New Yorker vote to unionize this week! For those of us in such difficult fields, it's critical to be aware of unions. 

As for your 'fact check,' yes employers have a right to withhold wages during a strike. However, if they debit student accounts, and grad workers can't pay that amount, a hold is placed on the account that prevents course registration, degree progress, and can interrupt visas and health insurance. THAT is illegal retaliation, because universities are not allowed to impose academic consequences for strike participation. 

Finally, thanks for assuming I'm a man. You are incorrect.

[woweezowee]

7 hours ago, ariela luv said:

 

...

Edited March 30, 2021 by woweezowee
deleting quote of troll misinformation and my response

[Boomer not Ok]

Anyone still waiting to hear back from BU? I've had no news. I saw there's been 1 acceptance for poetry and fiction (from folk on this thread!!! congrats).

Other news: I got a weird email from NYU suggesting I should apply to some humanities program based on my MFA application. Like I'm a good fit for it. Seems they're desperate to fill seats but wondering how many other people here got the same email.

Same thing happened with Rutgers Camden. Got an email to apply to their MA program, which actually seemed like a good alternative to their MFA but after looking into it more I kinda got turned off. Wonder how many people here also got that invite.

[cosmictones]

9 hours ago, Cristie said:

I'm fiction/non but I had a strong interest in Idaho. I'm a big John Muir fan (and the like) and enjoy writing/studying environmental literature. One of my professors (who is our poetry professor actually) spoke very highly and encouraging about the program during one of our discussions. She did a writing retreat there for poetry. She had all good things to say. Someone else in the conversation made a little joke about men who wear Carharts going there and we all had a good chuckle over that. That may not be what you are looking for but that was our poetry prof (and I don't even write poetry but had her for an intense summer course called Book Bootcamp). She's just cool like that and I respect her opinion. The only reason I didn't apply there is I wanted to stay in the south. And all four English/Creative Writing professors (one is our Chair) I sent my list of possible schools to checked that they agreed with Idaho while there were some schools on the list that they did not check off their approval. Not sure if that helps but maybe someone else can chime in. Congratulations and Good luck!

Thanks! I got a Carhart so I guess I'm good to go.

[woweezowee]

29 minutes ago, ariela luv said:

 

 

Edited March 30, 2021 by woweezowee
deleting quote of troll misinformation and my response

[SMSM1229]

1 hour ago, Boomer not Ok said:

Anyone still waiting to hear back from BU? I've had no news. I saw there's been 1 acceptance for poetry and fiction (from folk on this thread!!! congrats).

Other news: I got a weird email from NYU suggesting I should apply to some humanities program based on my MFA application. Like I'm a good fit for it. Seems they're desperate to fill seats but wondering how many other people here got the same email.

Same thing happened with Rutgers Camden. Got an email to apply to their MA program, which actually seemed like a good alternative to their MFA but after looking into it more I kinda got turned off. Wonder how many people here also got that invite.

Hi! I'm on NYU's fiction waitlist and I didn't get an email about any other programs. Are you also on the waitlist for fiction? 

[Boomer not Ok]

19 minutes ago, SMSM1229 said:

Hi! I'm on NYU's fiction waitlist and I didn't get an email about any other programs. Are you also on the waitlist for fiction? 

Nope. Rejected. The email I got said I just had to submit a new cover letter. No fee and they would use my MFA submission to evaluate. I’m not interested but found this bizarre. Does NYU have some kind of algo or AI going through rejected apps to try to fill spaces in undersubscribed programs? Like an airline seat allocator? That’s kind of the vibe I get from this. 

[flyinsaucer]

13 minutes ago, Boomer not Ok said:

Nope. Rejected. The email I got said I just had to submit a new cover letter. No fee and they would use my MFA submission to evaluate. I’m not interested but found this bizarre. Does NYU have some kind of algo or AI going through rejected apps to try to fill spaces in undersubscribed programs? Like an airline seat allocator? That’s kind of the vibe I get from this. 

I got the same email! Found it very strange as well

PS, hoping the silence from BU means an acceptance is coming your way

Edited March 30, 2021 by flyinsaucer

[Downtozero]

22 minutes ago, Boomer not Ok said:

Nope. Rejected. The email I got said I just had to submit a new cover letter. No fee and they would use my MFA submission to evaluate. I’m not interested but found this bizarre. Does NYU have some kind of algo or AI going through rejected apps to try to fill spaces in undersubscribed programs? Like an airline seat allocator? That’s kind of the vibe I get from this. 

Most likely yes - pretty typical admissions tactic. At the school I worked at for example, we'd run a query to pull names of anyone who got rejected from one of our more exclusive tech programs and invite them to reuse their application to be considered for a more general degree. I got a similar referral from one of the MFAs that rejected me this year.

[M-Lin]

2 hours ago, peachy4345 said:

So many things here....first, Columbia profits from its PhD program. The vast majority of undergrad courses are taught by grad students and adjuncts--so Columbia collects undergrad tuition dollars with the promise of students in intimate classes with renowned professors, but in reality they are being taught by contingent labor. It's not that we are not great teachers, but we should be clear that Columbia profits A LOT from grad labor. (This touches MFA students if they work in the writing center or teach Core writing to help fund their program.)

And yes, of course I have a position. That position is to make people considering entering grad school at Columbia aware that there are massive and important labor disputes going on. Grad workers at private unis are only allowed to organize  because of a National Labor Relations Board case in 2016--which Columbia fought against tooth and nail. I actually was accepted to an MFA program long ago, and have many friends who have done MFAs--what you probs all know if that it's a tough field to work in, which is why it's really exciting to see publications like the New Yorker vote to unionize this week! For those of us in such difficult fields, it's critical to be aware of unions. 

As for your 'fact check,' yes employers have a right to withhold wages during a strike. However, if they debit student accounts, and grad workers can't pay that amount, a hold is placed on the account that prevents course registration, degree progress, and can interrupt visas and health insurance. THAT is illegal retaliation, because universities are not allowed to impose academic consequences for strike participation. 

Finally, thanks for assuming I'm a man. You are incorrect.

Hey just wanted to let you know that this thread has a tireless troll that's been around the whole season. Don't mind them! 

Best of luck with your negotiations! 

[lenagator1997]

Hey have you guys committed to going to anywhere yet for your MFA programs? I'd like to know where you all are headed!

[cecsav]

1 hour ago, lenagator1997 said:

Hey have you guys committed to going to anywhere yet for your MFA programs? I'd like to know where you all are headed!

I'll be at ASU

[turtlesfordays]

I just had a Zoom call with Maryland about the waitlist. Apparently, they are only accepting 2 this year (which I had heard previously), and both encouragingly and tragically I was told that in a previous year when they had 4 spots open they would've accepted me. So now I just have to hope someone declines their fiction offer from Maryland so I can go!

[teasel]

7 hours ago, lenagator1997 said:

Hey have you guys committed to going to anywhere yet for your MFA programs? I'd like to know where you all are headed!

I'm pretty sure I'll be accepting my offer from UVA!!! I've been hesitate to talk about it because things feel up in the air still in some ways. The faculty are so insanely talented and the faculty member I spoke to was very kind and happy to answer my questions. Honestly feel like this is the best fit for me. At this point I'm taking myself off a few waitlists, but I'm still waiting to hear back about my waitlist to University of Michigan, mostly because the funding is so great but also because I miss living near my family in the midwest. If I was fortunate enough to get accepted off the waitlist, I would at least consider it. I think what makes me anxious about UVA is the fact that I've never lived in the south east part of the US! But I think it would be pretty exciting, too. 

Edited March 31, 2021 by teasel
typos

[itsalwayssunnyinjackie]

Hi! ❤️ I've been lurking for a while and accidentally posted this in the wrong forum first, so I wanted to ask here since this has been driving me crazy.

I recently got into my dream school in DC for an MFA in poetry, with an offer of tuition remission around $26,000. DC is my dream city and I feel like the value in the connections and location post-grad could be amazing (I did my B.A in political science). I recently got off another university's waitlist and was accepted into a fully funded program in my home state. The program is probably less ranked (not that I really care, an MFA can be whatever you make out of it and it's a risky degree) I'm torn due to the difference in potential opportunities (career, internship, and location wise). I'm having trouble making the decision that would probably lead to me saying no to my dream school. Unless I shouldn't? Haha jk... unless...

[teasel]

Just now, itsalwayssunnyinjackie said:

Hi! ❤️ I've been lurking for a while and accidentally posted this in the wrong forum first, so I wanted to ask here since this has been driving me crazy.

I recently got into my dream school in DC for an MFA in poetry, with an offer of tuition remission around $26,000. DC is my dream city and I feel like the value in the connections and location post-grad could be amazing (I did my B.A in political science). I recently got off another university's waitlist and was accepted into a fully funded program in my home state. The program is probably less ranked (not that I really care, an MFA can be whatever you make out of it and it's a risky degree) I'm torn due to the difference in potential opportunities (career, internship, and location wise). I'm having trouble making the decision that would probably lead to me saying no to my dream school. Unless I shouldn't? Haha jk... unless...

 

Congrats on your acceptances!! I guess the real question comes down to how much in loans you'd have to take out to go to your dream school, and if you feel it's do-able to pay it back. Worst case scenario the dream school helps you with your writing but the job you get afterwards doesn't pay a ton of $ (but who knows! You mention connections are a factor, but you also mention that an MFA is risky no matter what, right?)

 Using a loan calculator might help determine how much interest you'd be paying and how long it might take to pay off. Obviously if you feel that you could work a bit on the side and pay it off w/o stressing yourself out horribly, then maybe it's worth considering if you truly think you'd regret turning it town. Another thing you're probably already looking into but that's worth mentioning: how much does it cost to live in DC? Would  you have to take additional loans for housing, too? 

 Whatever you decide, I hope you're talking to current students!! I'm sure they have a lot more insight on how the funding situation has worked for or against them. Again, congrats and best of luck! 

 

[itsalwayssunnyinjackie]

1 hour ago, teasel said:

 

Congrats on your acceptances!! I guess the real question comes down to how much in loans you'd have to take out to go to your dream school, and if you feel it's do-able to pay it back. Worst case scenario the dream school helps you with your writing but the job you get afterwards doesn't pay a ton of $ (but who knows! You mention connections are a factor, but you also mention that an MFA is risky no matter what, right?)

 Using a loan calculator might help determine how much interest you'd be paying and how long it might take to pay off. Obviously if you feel that you could work a bit on the side and pay it off w/o stressing yourself out horribly, then maybe it's worth considering if you truly think you'd regret turning it town. Another thing you're probably already looking into but that's worth mentioning: how much does it cost to live in DC? Would  you have to take additional loans for housing, too? 

 Whatever you decide, I hope you're talking to current students!! I'm sure they have a lot more insight on how the funding situation has worked for or against them. Again, congrats and best of luck! 

 

Thank you!! It'd probably be around ~40k debt (which I hope isn't too crazy, as I currently have none) and then high living expenses on top of that. I'll definitely start planning out with loan calculators (parents didn't go to school, figuring this out on my own) and see what they offer with work. Currently in touch with students who have been so kind and amazing and they seem very happy with the program. If they find it appropriate, I'll start to ask on the financial stress of the cost and if see I can handle it. Thank you so much for your response (the dream is still alive!) ❤️ 

[corgeel14]

Hey guys! I had thought myself logged out for the year but...UC Irvine had other plans. Just received a waitlist this morning. It's a bit funny because I've just seen it 10 hrs later, bc I had really thought everything was over and done with after months of checking my email every 3 minutes. That leaves me with two waitlists (NYU) and two acceptances (SLC and TNS). SLC and TNS are virtually offering me no money, and over the past couple days my thought process has been leaning towards that meaning its just not the right time for me. Especially just getting out of undergrad, going to either of those programs would mean me depending on my parents for moving costs and day to day until I can find a job, and they're older so I just don't want to do that to them. I'm not really holding out much hope for NYU based on what I've heard about how their wait list either. I would welcome any news/advise on how UCI's waitlist tends to work. Outside of that, it's starting to look like I might do a one year political science masters which has a sort of pipeline to human rights organizations at the same school i'm graduating from next month, I'm hoping that might lead me to a bit of job security, and even writing inspiration. Honestly without this forum I'm sure I would've gone insane around February. Godspeed! & wishing you all the best!

[Blackhole]

Got my rejection from Iowa. Spoke to a writing professor. said I should have applied for CNF. Is there any merit in waiting for a year and reapplying and deferring Columbia? I applied to a few schools that I selected very randomly and started applications very late and of course, the sample sucked. I am still confused about taking Columbia's offer with that little scholarship. My brother has offered to pay for school but I don't know what are the opportunities after an MFA and whether one should be spending that kind of money. I know people have talked about that already. But anyone here reapplying and can they tell me how to prepare? This was my first attempt and I didn't know it would be so tough. 

 

Congrats to everyone who is going to grad school this fall. 

[feralgrad]

@itsalwayssunnyinjackieI was in basically the same position as you my first year of apps. Was thinking of accepting a partially-funded offer for a city I loved. I crunched the numbers, and it would have been $40-50k of debt. When I calculated the loan repayments, it was a couple hundred dollars a month -- not something I was comfortable taking on as a """creative""" in this job market. The difference between you and I is that I had zero fully-funded offers (hence the second app cycle). Forunately, I snagged a fully-funded offer at a program I love last year.

2 hours ago, teasel said:

how much does it cost to live in DC? Would  you have to take additional loans for housing, too? 

As a DC native, I'm sorry to say that it's expensive as hell. Last year I paid $1k a month for a /literally/ rat-infested studio -- and that was cheap for the neighborhood (a great one, also middle-of-the-road in terms of cost).

Moreover, the job market in DC is healthy (and pretty recession-proof), but it's hard for an entry-level applicant. I say this from experience. You can certainly get a job, but finding one that will pay you a fair wage relative to the cost of living is a challenge. It's doable if your expenses are low, but if you're on the hook for loan repayments, it becomes much more complicated.

Sorry to be a debbie downer. I'm saying this cos I hate to see anyone get screwed over by MFA programs with their heads in the sand re: our economic reality. Ultimately it's your choice, but I'll leave you with this, since it was the "tie-breaker" in my decision process: the country is a damn mess right now, and it will be a while before it sorts itself out. It behooves you to be defensive about your finances.

Edited March 31, 2021 by feralgrad

[Cristie]

Lol. I get off here for five seconds and look what happens....all kinds of shit has hit the fan. Was there a fight on the playground?

I'm back now...popcorn in hand.