2021 Applicants Forum

[Boomer not Ok]

8 minutes ago, Gertrude. said:

I disagree. Columbia has a lot of open admission, money making programs including undergrad College of General Studies. Most of its masters programs are like that, but the MFA in writing is a prestige program. They don’t want it to be known as open admission.

It seems Columbia MFA is very competitive despite the funding. I'm not sure of the "hard" numbers of fiction acceptances, but I think it's around 60-70 a cohort. If anyone knows for sure, please advise. But since, I suspect, many of these 60-70 "acceptances" are already applying to all the other NYC area programs or top-tiers (IWW, Syracuse etc.) , they probably lose more than a few of them to less expensive programs.  I can understand ponying up to the cost of Columbia's MFA if you have access to their faculty and can afford it, but if I got in, I would want to know how accessible they really are. Are they there to teach? Are they invested in their students? Or they there for Columbia's PR Department and a paycheck and just want to be left alone to do their own writing when they get some precious time? 

[Starbuck420]

1 minute ago, Gertrude. said:

Most of its masters programs are like that, but the MFA in writing is a prestige program. They don’t want it to be known as open admission.

I wouldn't (and didn't) say that they're open admissions, but they do have a reputation for bilking people, and I think that's pretty much deserved. How else do you justify admitting, like, 70 people, charging everyone $60k/yr, and fully funding none of them? 

If you're fully aware of the program's reputation and the financial cost and choose to attend anyway, then that's fine, good for you -- I feel like I read a good novel by a Columbia grad almost every year, in fact -- but I think that they tend to take advantage of the aspirations of some applicants in a way that's really cynical, and almost predatory, so I'm happy to call them out on that

[Ydrl]

11 minutes ago, cecsav said:

Have you tried Craigslist? I'm going to try to get into grad housing if I can, but I've been looking at CL ads in the areas of potential schools, and it seems like there are often some pretty good set ups 

There’s a lot a places that are available, but none at a reasonable rate on any website. It’s frustrating as hell.

[cecsav]

6 minutes ago, Ydrl said:

There’s a lot a places that are available, but none at a reasonable rate on any website. It’s frustrating as hell.

Ick. I hope you get the funding AND the housing you need! 

[Gertrude.]

12 minutes ago, Boomer not Ok said:

It seems Columbia MFA is very competitive despite the funding. I'm not sure of the "hard" numbers of fiction acceptances, but I think it's around 60-70 a cohort.  

How do you know it is still competitive? I doubt there is a single person who will turn down ANY fully funded program in order to pay for Columbia. That means Columbia is now the 61st most competitive program. It is almost certainly behind  Brooklyn College which charges  $8,000 per year.  There are posts about Brooklyn, but I haven't see any about Columbia except to complain about tuition.  

[Starbuck420]

4 minutes ago, Gertrude. said:

How do you know it is still competitive? I doubt there is a single person who will turn down ANY fully funded program in order to pay for Columbia. That means Columbia is now the 61st most competitive program. It is almost certainly behind  Brooklyn College which charges  $8,000 per year.  There are posts about Brooklyn, but I haven't see any about Columbia except to complain about tuition.  

umm...Gustav? is that you, buddy?

[nottheamazonalexa]

22 minutes ago, Gertrude. said:

How do you know it is still competitive? I doubt there is a single person who will turn down ANY fully funded program in order to pay for Columbia. That means Columbia is now the 61st most competitive program. It is almost certainly behind  Brooklyn College which charges  $8,000 per year.  There are posts about Brooklyn, but I haven't see any about Columbia except to complain about tuition.  

social Marxism 

Edited March 5, 2021 by nottheamazonalexa

[Starbuck420]

Just now, nottheamazonalexa said:

social Marxism

lmao

[Boomer not Ok]

1 hour ago, CrankyGinger said:

’m in the same boat, waiting to hear about the other NYC schools with an acceptance from SLC. If anyone thinks of really good questions, please share because I want us all to be prepared to get the info to help us choose the right program. I do love a lot of SLC’s aspects, though. Especially teaching opportunities in so many different areas. I’d have to move from Brooklyn further up, though. 

While I'm still waiting on 8 other schools, my questions for them depending if I get in, would be: (1) Given I'm older, how many "older" students are there in the program? (2) How accessible is the faculty? (3) Is the teaching ethos collaborative and nurturing or one that favors nurturing competitive instincts instead? 4) What is the morale of the students like? Are they contented, happy, disappointed? (Very hard to find out this one, but any ideas would be welcome.) Specifically, and lastly in my case I also have a question that concerns their thesis requirements. I have written during COVID a novella/novel that could form the basis for the thesis requirement and would want to know if there was someone on the faculty I could work with on it closely and who would be receptive to its particular themes and areas of exploration. This is a pivotal factor for me.

Edited March 5, 2021 by Boomer not Ok

[Boomer not Ok]

11 minutes ago, Gertrude. said:

How do you know it is still competitive? I doubt there is a single person who will turn down ANY fully funded program in order to pay for Columbia. That means Columbia is now the 61st most competitive program. It is almost certainly behind  Brooklyn College which charges  $8,000 per year.  There are posts about Brooklyn, but I haven't see any about Columbia except to complain about tuition.  

They seem to find 60 or 70 folk to pay their fees and reject several hundred in the process. 

[mrvisser]

17 minutes ago, Gertrude. said:

I doubt there is a single person who will turn down ANY fully funded program in order to pay for Columbia. 

You underestimate the rich and connected.

[Starbuck420]

1 minute ago, mrvisser said:

You underestimate the rich and connected.

Dude I really think it's Gustav

[Gertrude.]

5 minutes ago, mrvisser said:

You underestimate the rich and connected.

It is not a matter of rich. The prestige depends upon how hard the program is to get into, not just on who teaches. Have you seen a single person posting an intimation of choosing Columbia over a funded program? The article from the Atlantic is two years old. A lot has happened in two years. A lot more schools became fully funded. Who is Gustav?

[Boomer not Ok]

2 minutes ago, Gertrude. said:

It is not a matter of rich. The prestige depends upon how hard the program is to get into, not just on who teaches. Have you seen a single person posting an intimation of choosing Columbia over a funded program? The article from the Atlantic is two years old. A lot has happened in two years. A lot more schools became fully funded. Who is Gustav?

I agree prestige is correlated with percentage of acceptance but my point is Columbia is still "competitive" but maybe not prestigious. They seem to reject many more than they accept. 

[mrvisser]

15 minutes ago, Starbuck420 said:

Dude I really think it's Gustav

Totally, it is. I just thought it was a funny comment to suggest that there aren't people who will pay out the ass for their kids to get an Ivy League on the resume.

[Gertrude.]

Just now, Boomer not Ok said:

I agree prestige is correlated with percentage of acceptance but my point is Columbia is still "competitive" but maybe not prestigious. They seem to reject many more than they accept. 

That is temporary. A few years ago, no school was fully funded, and Columbia was top five. Then the top 60 schools started to be fully funded, but the New York schools didn't. Columbia is no longer top five or top 60. It is just a matter of time before it basically accepts everyone. Or it will start funding. 

No mass numbers will pay out of their ass for Ivy that is open admission. Harvard Extension School and Columbia College of General Studies are open admission Ivy, but only alum's like Jessica Silfa calls them Ivy League. 

[dooooodle]

On 3/2/2021 at 2:25 PM, goodcynara said:

First acceptance! Sarah Lawrence, Poetry. Lovely, warm phone call from Paige-Ackerson Kiely. She mentioned that AWP is this week and that they were generally swamped, but that next week would be more clear. Makes sense that other programs might also be experiencing delays due to AWP.

Anyone have experience with Sarah Lawrence and/or Bronxville? Long ago, I dated a guy whose Mom lived in Westchester. It was beautiful, but tony and filled with a lot of white people (don't get me wrong, some of my best friends -- also me; although my birthfather is from Bolivia; but I currently work with uber-rich white people and I'm pretty over it). I wonder about cost of living, especially since the program is only partially funded. Would love any insights about the program or the area.

Thanks so much for letting me hang with y'all here in GradCafe. I would be feeling insane right now without your generous sharing.

I see a lot of Sarah Lawrence acceptances on this thread... Congratulations to all of you! Because that's the case, I'm going to out myself and tell you I did the entirety of undergrad at SLC from 2008-2012. I love good ol' Sadie Lou (as us alums call it).

One of the reasons it's known for being a writing institution is because all students must do a ton of writing, even if the literary arts isn't a focus. There are numerous creative scholarly publications, and there's also a well-known, well-attended poetry festival every spring. I will say that undergraduate and graduate students don't interact very much. Most of the graduate classes are in Wrexham, which is a cool Tudor-style building on the edge of campus. The creative writing grads that I did meet as an undergrad were brilliant, diverse, and seemed happy; money didn't even come in conversations even though we were in school during the Great Recession. Yes, SLC is an expensive school, but they are very self-conscious about it and like to help every student the best they can. One of the reasons SLC is so costly is because it runs on the Oxford tutorial system with a low student-to-teacher ratio. This sets it apart from other liberal arts institutions. 

A little about Bronxville... it's a quiet, upper-class Westchester town with not much to do. If I were you, don't live there. Live in the city! If you want to get technical about it, SLC is in Yonkers. You can take a 50min local train ride or a 35min express train from Grand Central in Manhattan (or an even shorter one from 125th St in East Harlem) to either the Fleetwood or Bronxville stations. I can't emphasize enough how easy it is to get to and from the city, and most professors commute via the Metro-North. 

Overall, suppose you like your offer and are leaning towards Sarah Lawrence. In that case, you won't be disappointed with their prestigious faculty, proximity to New York City, appreciation for the literary arts, and reputation.

Hope this helps. 

[cosmictones]

Where are these ranking numbers coming from anyway? No one has developed a generally accepted ranking system for MFA programs as far as I know. Columbia is expensive, it's an ivy, people go there, not me though, who cares, this is boring.

[fishfish24]

   Babes, I was just waitlisted at Michener for fiction!! ❤️❤️❤️

[lunch]

Just now, fishfish24 said:

   Babes, I was just waitlisted at Michener for fiction!! ❤️❤️❤️

Holy shit, congrats!

[mrvisser]

2 minutes ago, fishfish24 said:

   Babes, I was just waitlisted at Michener for fiction!! ❤️❤️❤️

Goddamn that is awesome! Big kudos!

[nottheamazonalexa]

1 minute ago, fishfish24 said:

   Babes, I was just waitlisted at Michener for fiction!! ❤️❤️❤️

CONGATS! how did you find out??

[mrvisser]

3 minutes ago, cosmictones said:

Where are these ranking numbers coming from anyway? No one has developed a generally accepted ranking system for MFA programs as far as I know. Columbia is expensive, it's an ivy, people go there, not me though, who cares, this is boring.

Poets and Writers used to do a comprehensive ranking, but they haven't done it since 2012 because they realized there's no good method to objectively rank schools.

[goodcynara]

6 minutes ago, fishfish24 said:

   Babes, I was just waitlisted at Michener for fiction!! ❤️❤️❤️

WOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

[CrankyGinger]

8 minutes ago, dooooodle said:

I see a lot of Sarah Lawrence acceptances on this thread... Congratulations to all of you! Because that's the case, I'm going to out myself and tell you I did the entirety of undergrad at SLC from 2008-2012. I love good ol' Sadie Lou (as us alums call it).

One of the reasons it's known for being a writing institution is because all students must do a ton of writing, even if the literary arts isn't a focus. There are numerous creative scholarly publications, and there's also a well-known, well-attended poetry festival every spring. I will say that undergraduate and graduate students don't interact very much. Most of the graduate classes are in Wrexham, which is a cool Tudor-style building on the edge of campus. The creative writing grads that I did meet as an undergrad were brilliant, diverse, and seemed happy; money didn't even come in conversations even though we were in school during the Great Recession. Yes, SLC is an expensive school, but they are very self-conscious about it and like to help every student the best they can. One of the reasons SLC is so costly is because it runs on the Oxford tutorial system with a low student-to-teacher ratio. This sets it apart from other liberal arts institutions. 

A little about Bronxville... it's a quiet, upper-class Westchester town with not much to do. If I were you, don't live there. Live in the city! If you want to get technical about it, SLC is in Yonkers. You can take a 50min local train ride or a 35min express train from Grand Central in Manhattan (or an even shorter one from 125th St in East Harlem) to either the Fleetwood or Bronxville stations. I can't emphasize enough how easy it is to get to and from the city, and most professors commute via the Metro-North. 

Overall, suppose you like your offer and are leaning towards Sarah Lawrence. In that case, you won't be disappointed with their prestigious faculty, proximity to New York City, appreciation for the literary arts, and reputation.

Hope this helps. 

This is actually an enormous help, thank you for all this information! The student to teacher ratio and mentoring were one of the enormous pluses during my research and I live in Bk but was trying to decide if I should just move uptown or near the school. Uptown wins! If I don’t get an offer with more funding, I feel good about SLC. Thanks!