2021 Applicants Forum

[JennyO]

56 minutes ago, iai said:

Looks like Columbia Fiction is going out. 2 people on Draft received emails from Nicolas Christopher! 

I'm guessing they were acceptance emails? eep!! not sleeping tonight

[SMSM1229]

1 minute ago, JennyO said:

I'm guessing they were acceptance emails? eep!! not sleeping tonight

Do you think all of the acceptances are going to go out tonight?

[JennyO]

2 minutes ago, SMSM1229 said:

Do you think all of the acceptances are going to go out tonight?

Wish I could say yes or no. I'm not sure

Edited March 19, 2021 by JennyO

[goodcynara]

45 minutes ago, Brightstar2044 said:

I graduated from Bennington in, gulp, 1996. I was in the second class. The program is incredibly good, rigorous, and demanding. Liam Rector was the program director at the time, and he brought phenomenal writers in to lecture. The main reason I went to Bennington, though, was for the opportunity to grow as a writer and not for the letters MFA.

Same! Megan, Bennington's current Associate Director, sent me the itinerary for their recent residency and it looks fantastic. A friend who graduated last year echoed your experience of it being incredibly good and rigorous. If you're not following them on Twitter, I recommend it. They are making a concerted effort to connect with and celebrate their alumni, and it's full of interesting tips. Thanks for sharing your experience!

[SMSM1229]

2 minutes ago, JennyO said:

Wish I could say yes or no. I'm not sure

Let me know please if you get an email! Good luck ❤️

[goodcynara]

51 minutes ago, feralgrad said:

That's tough. In my mind there are several factors to consider.

Low-res (to my knowledge) doesn't usually offer funding, but it's easier to hold a job outside the university. That can be valuable if you're already on your career path.

Personally, I had no strong career prospects yet. The work I do as a TA is preferable to my other options on the job market. The professionalization of the MFA (via teaching, lit mags, etc) is valuable for me. At this age (24), I can afford to take the pay cut (my stiped is about $18k right outside a major city). Not to mention I wanted a close-knit community, and that seemed (keyword seemed) easier to achieve in full-res. For all these reasons, I went with full-res.

I know that was mostly my experience, but maybe it's helpful to compare your priorities to mine?

That comparison is indeed helpful! Thank you so much for sharing your experience!

Perhaps chief among my issues is that I WANT TO GO TO ALL THE PROGRAMS!

[JennyO]

 

Just now, SMSM1229 said:

Let me know please if you get an email! Good luck ❤️

Will do! and thanks! good luck to you too ?

[Cristie]

3 hours ago, goodcynara said:

Does anyone out there have experience with both low-res and full-res programs that you'd care to share? One of the low-res programs I am seriously considering has a strict acceptance cutoff of 5PM EDT tomorrow. I realize that no one can solve this but me. But in the name of due diligence, I'd be grateful to hear about any relevant experience. 

 

[A bit of background, should you care to read:

I'm extremely lucky and grateful to have been accepted to two low-res and two full-res programs, and am doing as much research as I can to determine which program will offer rigorous study that will help me to create the best version of a project I'm passionate about as well as significantly develop my writing in general. 

I have interviewed three people from both low-res programs to which I was accepted (Bennington, VCFA). All absolutely loved their program and said it transformed their writing and trained them to have a daily writing practice that has held even through traumatic life events.

Tomorrow, I will interview two current students and one alum from the two full-res programs to which I was accepted. Additionally, over the next couple of weeks, both of these full-res programs are holding extensive accepted student events, including sample classes. 

I am still waiting on final funding offers for three of the four programs to which I've been accepted, plus pending decisions from three more programs. All good! I wouldn't be sweating this one bit if Bennington's acceptance deadline was April 15. As it stands, the only way to keep my toe in with Bennington AND stay open to the other programs is to pay the deposit for a January start.

I'd welcome your thoughts/feedback.]

 

This is a tough one. If this were me, I'd have to really ask myself if I had the kind of self discipline a low-res would require. My poetry professor did one (in Maine?) and raves about it. But I need to be IN/AT school to learn best (covid taught me that). So I think it comes down to YOU, not them. I'd also email your chair, AND mentor/professor and pose the situation to them. Get 2 different professional opinions from those who know you and probably about those programs. Might want to write "urgent". Good luck, interested to see how you work out of this pickle! Lol. Give an update!

[iai]

30 minutes ago, JennyO said:

I'm guessing they were acceptance emails? eep!! not sleeping tonight

Yup, emails! I thought it’d be calls but... /: I guess we can only wait and see. Fingers crossed for all of us who applied though! ??

[SMSM1229]

5 minutes ago, iai said:

Yup, emails! I thought it’d be calls but... /: I guess we can only wait and see. Fingers crossed for all of us who applied though! ??

Do you think they are all coming out tonight? i need to calm down LOL

[iai]

Just now, SMSM1229 said:

Do you think they are all coming out tonight? i need to calm down LOL

I both hope so and hope not ? It seems that it was spread out for previous years, so it might be the same this year? 

[SMSM1229]

1 minute ago, iai said:

I both hope so and hope not ? It seems that it was spread out for previous years, so it might be the same this year? 

Spread out over the span of a few days?

[iai]

Just now, SMSM1229 said:

Spread out over the span of a few days?

I believe so! It seems like they also contact people over weekends. ?

[helterskelter]

WOO just got accepted to New School with a scholarship offer! Sad I can't go but I'm glad to finally get an acceptance! Good luck to everyone else getting their decisions this week.

[SMSM1229]

1 minute ago, iai said:

I believe so! It seems like they also contact people over weekends. ?

Wowza that is crazy!! Makes sense, just definitely keeps my on edge LOL

Edited March 19, 2021 by SMSM1229

[Ydrl]

Y'know, if things don't work out with colleges/funding, I might apply to some PhD programs next year. I'm thinking both Creative writing PhDs and Folklore PhDs.

[goodcynara]

50 minutes ago, Cristie said:

This is a tough one. If this were me, I'd have to really ask myself if I had the kind of self discipline a low-res would require. My poetry professor did one (in Maine?) and raves about it. But I need to be IN/AT school to learn best (covid taught me that). So I think it comes down to YOU, not them. I'd also email your chair, AND mentor/professor and pose the situation to them. Get 2 different professional opinions from those who know you and probably about those programs. Might want to write "urgent". Good luck, interested to see how you work out of this pickle! Lol. Give an update!

Thanks, @Cristie! I have been making work in other disciplines (music, theatre, multimedia performance) on my own for a couple decades, though it's true that I've had the benefit of incredible collaborators. Some time ago, I reached out to two of the poetry instructors with whom I've been studying over the past year. Between the two of them, they attended both of the low-res programs to which I applied and had nothing but wonderful things to say about them. But I will take your advice and reach out again with the current situation. I am also going to reach out to a friend who is an accomplished and esteemed novelist; perhaps she knows some of the faculty here or there.

One fiction writer who attended Bennington said that he definitely feels that literary journals give his work more attention post-Bennington. I'm in it to devote concentrated time, energy, and study to developing my craft, but that certainly doesn't hurt!

Thanks so much for weighing in - very generous of you. I'll report back when I have news!

[mesab]

Just got waitlisted at Columbia for the Writing MFA in Poetry. Feeling very surreal and not sure whether I'm happy or devastated lol. So uh I guess if anyone else who got accepted doesn't plan to go, feel free to send those denials in and help me end my misery sooner rather than later ;0; 

[corgeel14]

Denied from Columbia and Accepted at The New School all within 30 min of each other. I was also not chosen for a merit scholarship at The New School so I'm going to have to see what aid is looking like...thats the same issue I have with Sarah Lawrence who offered 20k in loans a year lol. I also got into a masters program in Peace and Conflict studies at my current uni. I expect they'll have much more to offer in the way of aid, so I find myself being seduced into the "go traditional for a little bit and then once you're more secure, apply to MFA's" mind set. That scares me a bit. I don't want to be one of those people gets too comfortable to chase their dreams. I have always wanted my career to be as much about advocacy and human rights as it is writing, so its not that this other masters means I've given up my values all together. Idk. It just feels like joining the literary world in NYC is my dream, and not doing that because the other path seems like a pipeline to a safer version of success is weak. But is that actually just my immaturity? Still holding onto lifelong dreams of "taking the city by storm" Is that the kind of mind set that lands writers at the unemployment office? Just having a slight existential crisis. Edit: Still waiting on my very last response from UC Irvine

Edited March 19, 2021 by corgeel14

[SMSM1229]

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Edited March 19, 2021 by SMSM1229

[SMSM1229]

3 minutes ago, corgeel14 said:

Denied from Columbia and Accepted at The New School all within 30 min of each other. I was also not chosen for a merit scholarship at The New School so I'm going to have to see what aid is looking like...thats the same issue I have with Sarah Lawrence who offered 20k in loans a year lol. I also got into a masters program in Peace and Conflict studies at my current uni. I expect they'll have much more to offer in the way of aid, so I find myself being seduced into the "go traditional for a little bit and then once you're more secure, apply to MFA's" mind set. That scares me a bit. I don't want to be one of those people gets too comfortable to chase their dreams. I have always wanted my career to be as much about advocacy and human rights as it is writing, so its not that this other masters means I've given up my values all together. Idk. It just feels like joining the literary world in NYC is my dream, and not doing that because the other path seems like a pipeline to a safer version of success is weak. But is that actually just my immaturity? Still holding onto lifelong dreams of "taking the city by storm" Is that the kind of mind set that lands writers at the unemployment office? Just having a slight existential crisis. Edit: Still waiting on my very last response from UC Irvine

Hi! I'm so sorry about CU, but congrats on The New School! That is so amazing!! ❤️What time did they both get back to you, if you don't mind me asking? Which program were these for?

[corgeel14]

32 minutes ago, SMSM1229 said:

Hi! I'm so sorry about CU, but congrats on The New School! That is so amazing!! ❤️What time did they both get back to you, if you don't mind me asking? Which program were these for?

Thanks!! NS came at 8:30pm and CU came at 9:15pm. Both for poetry concentrations!

[omgalexx]

I emailed UC riverside about when decisions are coming out. They let me know they were still working on it but didn’t give a timeline ...

[Cristie]

38 minutes ago, corgeel14 said:

It just feels like joining the literary world in NYC is my dream, and not doing that because the other path seems like a pipeline to a safer version of success is weak

Whispers: Maybe don't call everyone else's dreams weak...just a thought. Other than that, congrats and good luck making a decision. Sounds like you have some great options!

[cecsav]

3 minutes ago, Cristie said:

Whispers: Maybe don't call everyone else's dreams weak...just a thought. Other than that, congrats and good luck making a decision. Sounds like you have some great options!

I think @corgeel14was saying that not following their dream feels weak. I don't think they were disparaging anyone else's dreams.