2021 Applicants Forum

[sylviaplate]

3 hours ago, mrvisser said:

Looks like an Ohio State acceptance went out for someone in nonfiction!

Aaaand the anxiety’s kicked in!

Got a Syracuse financial aid email today and I nearly jumped out of my skin. Long few weeks ahead ? Hope everyone takes the time to step away from email/forums/screens and do things that don’t cause inconsolable dread. 

[A Small Raven]

On 1/5/2021 at 10:06 AM, jujubee said:

Hello! I am also new here but have been lurking since last year. I applied to one PhD in CW for Fall 2020 and got accepted but had to defer enrollment due to covid (international applicant here). I am looking to apply to seven programs this year: Houston, FSU, USM, UT Dallas, UNLV, Georgia State, and Louisiana Lafayette, all PhD (I have an MA in creative writing, with poetry as focus). Just wanted to express solidarity with everyone who's anxious about this cycle and sending you good juju, hoping we all get accepted to our program of choice ?

Anybody else applying to PhD programs?

Hey there! I also have an MA in creative writing with a focus in poetry! You said you're an international applicant - where did you get your MA? I'm applying to PhD programs this cycle as well, although a very different list from yours: University of Denver, Boston College, UT Knoxville, UNC Chapel Hill, UC Santa Barbara, and UC Berkeley.  

I'm VERY new to this site, but I have noticed that a lot of people in this particular forum seem to be applying for MA or MFAs. Would love to hear from the other Literature / Writing PhD applicants of this year!

I'm currently in the fun phase of obsessively checking my email every ten minutes, even though we likely won't hear back for another month. Hope you get good news! 

[Gebler]

1 hour ago, CCort said:

Hey there! I also have an MA in creative writing with a focus in poetry! You said you're an international applicant - where did you get your MA? I'm applying to PhD programs this cycle as well, although a very different list from yours: University of Denver, Boston College, UT Knoxville, UNC Chapel Hill, UC Santa Barbara, and UC Berkeley.  

I'm VERY new to this site, but I have noticed that a lot of people in this particular forum seem to be applying for MA or MFAs. Would love to hear from the other Literature / Writing PhD applicants of this year!

I'm currently in the fun phase of obsessively checking my email every ten minutes, even though we likely won't hear back for another month. Hope you get good news! 

In all my lurking here, I don't think I've ever seen someone who wants a phd instead of an mfa. Sorry.

[jujubee]

3 hours ago, CCort said:

Hey there! I also have an MA in creative writing with a focus in poetry! You said you're an international applicant - where did you get your MA? I'm applying to PhD programs this cycle as well, although a very different list from yours: University of Denver, Boston College, UT Knoxville, UNC Chapel Hill, UC Santa Barbara, and UC Berkeley.  

I'm VERY new to this site, but I have noticed that a lot of people in this particular forum seem to be applying for MA or MFAs. Would love to hear from the other Literature / Writing PhD applicants of this year!

I'm currently in the fun phase of obsessively checking my email every ten minutes, even though we likely won't hear back for another month. Hope you get good news! 

Hi CCort! Good to see a fellow PhD applicant here. The schools I mentioned all have CW as concentration, but I also applied to a few PhD programs in English and Lit (all UCs) so we overlap on UCSB and Berkeley. So far, radio silence is killing me, but I distract myself with Bernie Sanders memes and marking of papers (in that order).

My MA is from Asia. Can't say specifically here for fear of being made by judgey colleagues who may be lurking lol but I can DM you if you want ?

Same boat as you and others--also checking this sporadically throughout the day. And because of the time difference, I always look forward to evenings where the next email could change (or destroy) my life haha. But I'm trying to stay positive by thinking, as long as there's no rejection, that's an acceptance ?

Edited January 21, 2021 by jujubee

[babypoet2k]

5 hours ago, sylviaplate said:

Aaaand the anxiety’s kicked in!

Got a Syracuse financial aid email today and I nearly jumped out of my skin. Long few weeks ahead ? Hope everyone takes the time to step away from email/forums/screens and do things that don’t cause inconsolable dread. 

 and now i'm freaking out because i have no recent communication from syracuse about anything. fml time to have a pity party

 

EDIT: was this to create a myslice account? could i not have received it because i already created it when they sent the application received email saying create this account??? (im rly trying to hold on to ANYTHING here)

Edited January 21, 2021 by babypoet2k

[sylviaplate]

25 minutes ago, babypoet2k said:

 and now i'm freaking out because i have no recent communication from syracuse about anything. fml time to have a pity party

 

EDIT: was this to create a myslice account? could i not have received it because i already created it when they sent the application received email saying create this account??? (im rly trying to hold on to ANYTHING here)

It was indeed about MySlice - I will never be the person to be proactive about those things ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

[The_Realeo]

I want to ask this before I hear back from anywhere, so no one has to worry why I'm asking.  When we hear back from schools, should we post on this forum or only on the Admission Results page?  Just want to know about proper etiquette and such.  

[mrvisser]

41 minutes ago, The_Realeo said:

I want to ask this before I hear back from anywhere, so no one has to worry why I'm asking.  When we hear back from schools, should we post on this forum or only on the Admission Results page?  Just want to know about proper etiquette and such.  

I'm planning to post to both. It's nice for people to be able to just search the results instead of having to look through pages of discussion.

[FairleyAlfy]

On 1/18/2021 at 8:21 PM, mrvisser said:

My back-up plan is pretty vague right now: Just gonna pack up the car and move somewhere else across the country on a whim, write some more, and hope to get in next time.

This is my plan too. haha 

[Ydrl]

1 minute ago, FairleyAlfy said:

This is my plan too. haha 

That’s probably my plan too, but I can’t be sure. I’ll definitely apply again next year if this year doesn’t go well.

[mrvisser]

2 minutes ago, FairleyAlfy said:

This is my plan too. haha 

It's a liberating-yet-terrifying feeling.

[FairleyAlfy]

Someone in fiction got accepted at OSU today in Draft. I'm guessing they sent out all the poetry acceptances yesterday? If so, I'm either waiting to be waitlisted or my first rejection...gearing myself up for it. 

[cosmictones]

After seeing 2 people get accepted in the Draft I'm already looking up resources to help my application for next year.  Then I get a poem accepted for publication in a small online journal and I feel like there is hope.  Then I realize UNLV's application was due Jan 15th, but I thought it was Feb 1st and I realize I'm an idiot again. Man, the next few months are gonna suck.

[The_Realeo]

2 hours ago, FairleyAlfy said:

Someone in fiction got accepted at OSU today in Draft. I'm guessing they sent out all the poetry acceptances yesterday? If so, I'm either waiting to be waitlisted or my first rejection...gearing myself up for it. 

I'm in your boat.

[cosmictones]

2 hours ago, FairleyAlfy said:

Someone in fiction got accepted at OSU today in Draft. I'm guessing they sent out all the poetry acceptances yesterday? If so, I'm either waiting to be waitlisted or my first rejection...gearing myself up for it. 

yeah dude a couple poetry people have been saying they got acceptances. 

[sylviaplate]

 

4 hours ago, cosmictones said:

After seeing 2 people get accepted in the Draft I'm already looking up resources to help my application for next year.  Then I get a poem accepted for publication in a small online journal and I feel like there is hope.  Then I realize UNLV's application was due Jan 15th, but I thought it was Feb 1st and I realize I'm an idiot again. Man, the next few months are gonna suck.

I feel you - checked my app portals and realized that my most valuable letter of rec wasn't received at two schools.... It is what it is (unless the admissions offices I just emailed exhibit some major acts of kindness), but I'm definitely kicking myself over it. 

Congrats on the publication! In the midst of all this, I'm sure it's great to have something to celebrate. 

Edited January 22, 2021 by sylviaplate

[Gebler]

Is Ohio State a big school or it is just first? How come I never heard about it? 

[cosmictones]

1 minute ago, Gebler said:

Is Ohio State a big school or it is just first? How come I never heard about it? 

Someone in the Draft Facebook Group got accepted to Illinois, but yeah seems like OSU is the first to send out acceptances to a bunch of people. Ohio State is fully funded; that's always a big deal.

 

[Gebler]

10 minutes ago, cosmictones said:

Someone in the Draft Facebook Group got accepted to Illinois, but yeah seems like OSU is the first to send out acceptances to a bunch of people. Ohio State is fully funded; that's always a big deal.

 

One website said there are 57 fully funded Creative Writing MFA programs. Other websites makes me believe there are about 130 other programs. Is, more or less, all 57 fully funded programs harder to get into than the best of the not fully funded ones? 

[cosmictones]

13 minutes ago, Gebler said:

One website said there are 57 fully funded Creative Writing MFA programs. Other websites makes me believe there are about 130 other programs. Is, more or less, all 57 fully funded programs harder to get into than the best of the not fully funded ones? 

More or less. Places like NYU and Columbia have tons of spots available. Most fully funded programs have 8-12 spots. Most people don't have parents with tons of money and/or don't enjoy having a job while doing grad school so fully funded programs tend to get more applications.

[Ydrl]

Anyone here responsible for the new poetry acceptance or waitlist at Ohio? 

[JPReinhold]

9 hours ago, cosmictones said:

More or less. Places like NYU and Columbia have tons of spots available. Most fully funded programs have 8-12 spots. Most people don't have parents with tons of money and/or don't enjoy having a job while doing grad school so fully funded programs tend to get more applications.

It's important to also consider the impact of the people in your cohort. It should follow that extremely competitive applicant pools lead to higher caliber talent among the selected students. While professors are important, it's logical to think that the quality of your cohort will also impact what you "get" out of your MFA experience. These are the people who will regularly be reading and even steering your thesis, so more competitive (typically fully-funded) programs arguably have better workshops? 

I've also heard horror stories ("that guy in your MFA") about particularly untalented people who are emboldened by being selected and wreck workshops, but let's save those gloomy scenarios for after we've been chosen  

[pattycat]

On 1/18/2021 at 9:22 PM, Greithe said:

 

Mostly rejections don't bother me at all anymore, but sometimes I do get my hopes up. For those, I promise myself something that I can look forward to. Usually it's a day at the beach but not always. For instance, back in November I entered the NYC Midnight Microfiction 250 contest, and bought myself a box of chocolates for when I got news I didn't get through to round two. Turns out I DID get through, so now I still have the box for when I don't get through this round, which I'm pretty sure of. I couldn't get the story right this time to save my life; just not feeling it. So, looking forward to those truffles and coconut clusters already. lol

What a great idea! I'm def going to steal this and try to have something big to look forward to if/when I don't get in. If a pandemic weren't on I would book a trip somewhere warm and beach-y. Maybe I can get a local air bnb just to get out of this house for a bit. Or maybe I'll treat myself to a shiny new laptop.

[Starbuck420]

10 hours ago, cosmictones said:

More or less. Places like NYU and Columbia have tons of spots available. Most fully funded programs have 8-12 spots. Most people don't have parents with tons of money and/or don't enjoy having a job while doing grad school so fully funded programs tend to get more applications.

I'm not advocating anyone go to Columbia (I guess I would actually advocate no one go to Columbia unless they can somehow pay their own way), ~ but ~ I read a couple of really good novels by Columbia MFA grads last year, honestly, and I was sort of like: damn, I guess it is possible to pull it off.

That said, I have heard what happens at Columbia specifically is that there are like 3-4 out of an incoming cohort of ~70 that the famous faculty decide they want to work with beforehand, and that these 3-4 people get some funding and a little bit of preferential treatment. I imagine these are usually the people who publish the novels with major presses, since they are the pets of Ben Marcus, Richard Ford and co
 

[cosmictones]

2 minutes ago, Starbuck420 said:

I'm not advocating anyone go to Columbia (I guess I would actually advocate no one go to Columbia unless they can somehow pay their own way), ~ but ~ I read a couple of really good novels by Columbia MFA grads last year, honestly, and I was sort of like: damn, I guess it is possible to pull it off.

That said, I have heard what happens at Columbia specifically is that there are like 3-4 out of an incoming cohort of ~70 that the famous faculty decide they want to work with beforehand, and that these 3-4 people get some funding and a little bit of preferential treatment. I imagine these are usually the people who publish the novels with major presses, since they are the pets of Ben Marcus, Richard Ford and co
 

Totally, if I had the money to go to NYU or Columbia I would have applied. Plenty of really talented people go there and the faculty seem great. The post I responded to just asked if fully funded programs were harder to get into.