2021 Applicants Forum

[M-Lin]

5 hours ago, mrvisser said:

I'm new to it, and I think I still like this site a little more for conversation purposes. But of course I don't want to miss any acceptances, so I check Draft fairly often too.

I already deactivated my FB account after one day in Draft!(because I had only activated it for the group) I just decided to stay here for second-hand information... so thanks for staying in! ?

[WolfMan]

I don't get why people submit their stories to the criticism of random people on the facebook group. There's always the danger that someone will lift things from your writing sample. Best to entrust it people you're close to. 

[Starbuck420]

1 hour ago, WolfMan said:

I don't get why people submit their stories to the criticism of random people on the facebook group. There's always the danger that someone will lift things from your writing sample. Best to entrust it people you're close to. 

although I also trust strangers to tell me when something's bad, lol. not that I don't trust my friends to do that, but I think sometimes people close to us either let us off the hook without realizing, or maybe don't have the courage to tell us what's what

also I don't think people share writing draft proper, though I know there's a separate (much smaller) workshopping group. I am in neither, but just saying

[WolfMan]

3 minutes ago, Starbuck420 said:

although I also trust strangers to tell me when something's bad, lol. not that I don't trust my friends to do that, but I think sometimes people close to us either let us off the hook without realizing, or maybe don't have the courage to tell us what's what

also I don't think people share writing draft proper, though I know there's a separate (much smaller) workshopping group. I am in neither, but just saying

Eh in my experience it's best to show writing to those who have some authority on the matter like professors and people who've been published. Amateurs can give misleading advice. 

[mrvisser]

One funny thing about Draft is wondering how many people posting are also in this group under some username that would give no hints. Although I've also picked some of you out in that group making comments haha. My username would make it pretty easy to figure out who I am in that group as well.

[spacedumpster]

17 minutes ago, mrvisser said:

One funny thing about Draft is wondering how many people posting are also in this group under some username that would give no hints. Although I've also picked some of you out in that group making comments haha. My username would make it pretty easy to figure out who I am in that group as well.

Recently joined after hearing about it here, but I haven't engaged... Aside from lurking on anyone with prospective schools in common. ? 

[chaes]

I saw in Draft that someone shared a tweet by Melissa Febos (professor in the Nonfiction Writing Program at University of Iowa) cautioning against the use of Garamond for applications because of how faintly it appears on the page. Helpful advice and something I had never considered. But I used Goudy Old Style (slightly thicker than Garamond) for every document in my application. I thought the font was fine on the PDFs I submitted, and I've used Goudy when creating and printing out assignments for former students. But I'm worried after reading that tweet ? How much of a bearing do you think a font type's readability has on an application?

[mrvisser]

1 hour ago, chaes said:

I saw in Draft that someone shared a tweet by Melissa Febos (professor in the Nonfiction Writing Program at University of Iowa) cautioning against the use of Garamond for applications because of how faintly it appears on the page. Helpful advice and something I had never considered. But I used Goudy Old Style (slightly thicker than Garamond) for every document in my application. I thought the font was fine on the PDFs I submitted, and I've used Goudy when creating and printing out assignments for former students. But I'm worried after reading that tweet ? How much of a bearing do you think a font type's readability has on an application?

I doubt it has much of an impact beyond slightly irritating readers. Like everything else, it just depends on how good the sample is. They aren't going to reject great writing for font choice, although they may dislike lesser writing more than usual if it strains the eyes.

[FairleyAlfy]

16 hours ago, mrvisser said:

One funny thing about Draft is wondering how many people posting are also in this group under some username that would give no hints. Although I've also picked some of you out in that group making comments haha. My username would make it pretty easy to figure out who I am in that group as well.

Yea, my username is easy to figure out from my name on FB haha. 

[M-Lin]

1 hour ago, chaes said:

I saw in Draft that someone shared a tweet by Melissa Febos (professor in the Nonfiction Writing Program at University of Iowa) cautioning against the use of Garamond for applications because of how faintly it appears on the page. Helpful advice and something I had never considered. But I used Goudy Old Style (slightly thicker than Garamond) for every document in my application. I thought the font was fine on the PDFs I submitted, and I've used Goudy when creating and printing out assignments for former students. But I'm worried after reading that tweet ? How much of a bearing do you think a font type's readability has on an application?

I wanted to use Optima because I liked the font so much but eventually decided against it... put everything in Times New Roman. I've read somewhere that faculty members, having to read so many applications, tend to dislike sans-sarif fonts, for they can be hard on the eyes when reading for a long time. And, in my case, Times New Roman allowed me to fit a couple extra lines in the SOPs and writing samples. I found it especially valuable for SOPs since most schools ask for less than 2 pages so that one or two extra lines did make a difference. 

I went with the safe choice because I didn't want to give the impression that I was trying hard to stand out by choosing an unusual font. But I think what matters ultimately is the quality of your writing; the style of the font won't improve or diminish it in any way. 

Also, many literary journals' submission guidelines state that they prefer Times New Roman. 

[Graceful Entropy]

Seconding @M-Lin . Even if TNR isn't my favorite, font isn't really a hill to push it on for submissions as far as I'm concerned. Gotsta keep it traditional and go w/ the flow when it comes to formatting, I think.

[Graceful Entropy]

18 hours ago, Starbuck420 said:

although I also trust strangers to tell me when something's bad, lol. not that I don't trust my friends to do that, but I think sometimes people close to us either let us off the hook without realizing, or maybe don't have the courage to tell us what's what

I doubt any of your stuff is 'bad.' I think the best guidance is when someone helps you get your writing closer toward your goal in what you're trying to do with it. That can be hard to get w/out a relationship, which is why it's so cool when you can get people you trust to review and help you shape your work.
Definitely one of the reasons I'm most looking forward to the possibility of getting into a program--getting to meet more of those kinda wonderful peoples. 

Edited January 23, 2021 by Graceful Entropy

[chaes]

1 hour ago, mrvisser said:

I doubt it has much of an impact beyond slightly irritating readers. Like everything else, it just depends on how good the sample is. They aren't going to reject great writing for font choice, although they may dislike lesser writing more than usual if it strains the eyes.

Mm true. I'm thinking back to my teaching days because that was basically the attitude I had when it came to handwriting that was difficult to read. Regardless, nothing I can do about it now ? Good to note for any and all future applications, though. 

[chaes]

50 minutes ago, M-Lin said:

I wanted to use Optima because I liked the font so much but eventually decided against it... put everything in Times New Roman. I've read somewhere that faculty members, having to read so many applications, tend to dislike sans-sarif fonts, for they can be hard on the eyes when reading for a long time. And, in my case, Times New Roman allowed me to fit a couple extra lines in the SOPs and writing samples. I found it especially valuable for SOPs since most schools ask for less than 2 pages so that one or two extra lines did make a difference. 

I went with the safe choice because I didn't want to give the impression that I was trying hard to stand out by choosing an unusual font. But I think what matters ultimately is the quality of your writing; the style of the font won't improve or diminish it in any way. 

Also, many literary journals' submission guidelines state that they prefer Times New Roman. 

Good to note for future applications!

[Pinskadan]

2 hours ago, M-Lin said:

I wanted to use Optima because I liked the font so much but eventually decided against it... put everything in Times New Roman. I've read somewhere that faculty members, having to read so many applications, tend to dislike sans-sarif fonts, for they can be hard on the eyes when reading for a long time. And, in my case, Times New Roman allowed me to fit a couple extra lines in the SOPs and writing samples. I found it especially valuable for SOPs since most schools ask for less than 2 pages so that one or two extra lines did make a difference. 

I went with the safe choice because I didn't want to give the impression that I was trying hard to stand out by choosing an unusual font. But I think what matters ultimately is the quality of your writing; the style of the font won't improve or diminish it in any way. 

Also, many literary journals' submission guidelines state that they prefer Times New Roman. 

I ended up going with Palatino, which I find legible and also suited to my work, if that makes any sense lol. It's on most Apple products and on Google Docs too, so it's accessible. My friend who's in his MFA now at CU Boulder used it for his fiction apps and recommended it to me.

Agreeing though with the general consensus that font is not a make-or-break. I think as long as you go with a legible serif old-style font, you'll be fine.

[pattycat]

So now my daydreaming has moved on from looking at apartments and rental homes in my school cities to shopping for backpacks that I can't afford. Here's my fave so far http://www.amazon.com/dp/B07V48GSBB/?coliid=I2H8AXFFLZ75GV&colid=2LRE7KPKGWTSC&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

[JPReinhold]

35 minutes ago, pattycat said:

So now my daydreaming has moved on from looking at apartments and rental homes in my school cities to shopping for backpacks that I can't afford. Here's my fave so far http://www.amazon.com/dp/B07V48GSBB/?coliid=I2H8AXFFLZ75GV&colid=2LRE7KPKGWTSC&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

I like to fantasize about the massive houses with yards and barns I could buy in Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan and spend my anxiety hours on Zillow. My son is a toddler. Every night he says, "Talk. Talk with mommy." And we talk about playing catch in our new yard and our new garage with a basketball hoop. He'd also like a slide.

[pattycat]

20 minutes ago, JPReinhold said:

I like to fantasize about the massive houses with yards and barns I could buy in Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan and spend my anxiety hours on Zillow. My son is a toddler. Every night he says, "Talk. Talk with mommy." And we talk about playing catch in our new yard and our new garage with a basketball hoop. He'd also like a slide.

My son wants a slide, too! He's 5 and loves browsing on Zillow with us. We look at map view and let him pick which dot to click next. He's always proud if it's a good one. He judges houses on how many good hiding spots there are for when we play hide-and-seek.

[teasel]

8 hours ago, chaes said:

I saw in Draft that someone shared a tweet by Melissa Febos (professor in the Nonfiction Writing Program at University of Iowa) cautioning against the use of Garamond for applications because of how faintly it appears on the page. Helpful advice and something I had never considered. But I used Goudy Old Style (slightly thicker than Garamond) for every document in my application. I thought the font was fine on the PDFs I submitted, and I've used Goudy when creating and printing out assignments for former students. But I'm worried after reading that tweet ? How much of a bearing do you think a font type's readability has on an application?

 I think you should be fine! Honestly as long an applicant uses a proper size (11-12 seems standard) and avoids things like comic sans/papyrus/chancellor I don't think it makes much of a difference. Some of the programs I applied to were specific when it came to formatting, but as long as you read the directions I don't see why it would matter. Serif fonts tend to be more legible than sans-serif fonts though, hence why TNR tends to be standard vs something like arial.  This is just what my typography/design professor told me, for what it's worth! 

[spacedumpster]

2 hours ago, teasel said:

 I think you should be fine! Honestly as long an applicant uses a proper size (11-12 seems standard) and avoids things like comic sans/papyrus/chancellor I don't think it makes much of a difference. Some of the programs I applied to were specific when it came to formatting, but as long as you read the directions I don't see why it would matter. Serif fonts tend to be more legible than sans-serif fonts though, hence why TNR tends to be standard vs something like arial.  This is just what my typography/design professor told me, for what it's worth! 

So you're telling me I shouldn't have used Jokerman font for my SOP and Wingdings for my work sample?! It's experimental, I thought they'd like it. ?

Edited January 24, 2021 by spacedumpster

[chaes]

4 hours ago, teasel said:

 I think you should be fine! Honestly as long an applicant uses a proper size (11-12 seems standard) and avoids things like comic sans/papyrus/chancellor I don't think it makes much of a difference. Some of the programs I applied to were specific when it came to formatting, but as long as you read the directions I don't see why it would matter. Serif fonts tend to be more legible than sans-serif fonts though, hence why TNR tends to be standard vs something like arial.  This is just what my typography/design professor told me, for what it's worth! 

Thanks for the reassurance ?Interesting that serif fonts tend to be more legible! Northwestern was the only school I applied to that specifically instructed applicants to use TNR, and those instructions only appeared in the sections for the creative and academic writing samples. Iowa instructed applicants to use a 12-point font  for the creative writing sample. As I read over this response, I’m seeing the extent to which the anticipation is driving me up the walls ?

Edited January 24, 2021 by chaes

[jujubee]

16 hours ago, pattycat said:

My son wants a slide, too! He's 5 and loves browsing on Zillow with us. We look at map view and let him pick which dot to click next. He's always proud if it's a good one. He judges houses on how many good hiding spots there are for when we play hide-and-seek.

I, too, have a 5-year old boy who loves slides and indoor playgrounds (which all have closed where I'm from because of Covid). Really hoping I could get into a program there and bring him with me as dependent. Fingers crossed for all of us. February (the second-cruelest month) is almost upon us! 

[eternalwhitenights]

Happy Sunday, y'all. Just wanted to drop in and see how y'all have been--no word on my application yet (no surprise there), but of course, I'm checking every couple of days.

I got an email from "ThinkND" today, and my heart skipped five beats. It was just a newsletter, but OMG my heart truly leapt. I can only imagine what it's going to be like the day I find out.

How's everybody doing? Hanging in there/anybody heard any major news back yet?

[PaulMo]

Hello everyone, 

I decided to throw an introduction in here to distract myself from the difficult decisions ahead. My name is Paul and I applied to Oregon State this year. I noticed a frequent mention of purgatory, I assume that's in reference to waiting to hear back from your application? I guess I'm not in purgatory as I was accepted to two different departments at OSU, I just have no idea which one I should accept. 

I've been feverishly trying to look for a deciding factor of some sort only to further muddy the water that is my decision making process. Is there anyone looking at OSU here? I'm pretty excited, I really like Corvallis and the college. 

[JPReinhold]

8 minutes ago, PaulMo said:

Hello everyone, 

I decided to throw an introduction in here to distract myself from the difficult decisions ahead. My name is Paul and I applied to Oregon State this year. I noticed a frequent mention of purgatory, I assume that's in reference to waiting to hear back from your application? I guess I'm not in purgatory as I was accepted to two different departments at OSU, I just have no idea which one I should accept. 

I've been feverishly trying to look for a deciding factor of some sort only to further muddy the water that is my decision making process. Is there anyone looking at OSU here? I'm pretty excited, I really like Corvallis and the college. 

Hey Paul  We're in purgatory because this is a board for people awaiting decisions from creative writing programs. I see that's not your field, but thank you for the mini heart attack. ?

ETA: Good luck with the whole Chemistry thing though!

Edited January 24, 2021 by JPReinhold
ETA: Good luck with the whole Chemistry thing though!