anna23 Posted January 31, 2021 Posted January 31, 2021 4 minutes ago, mrvisser said: Welcome, and good luck! Which programs did you apply to? I did journalism for my undergrad and then worked in the industry for a couple of years afterward before deciding it wasn't for me. Thank you so much and good luck to you as well! I applied to Hunter College, University of San Francisco, University of Notre Dame, and Brown all for poetry! Do you mind sharing why you did a pivot from journalism? I know the job market is tough right now so that was definitely in the back of my mind when applying to several journo programs but I'll see what ends up happening. lilacbread and largeheartedboy 2
gustav3 Posted January 31, 2021 Posted January 31, 2021 I have a new theory. There is a college teacher advertising MFA application help and card reading. (katherinestandefer.com) Now, in any academic discipline but writing, a teacher will be afraid to admit she does card reading. It will end her career. But not in writing. Why? What is card reading? You’re basically writing a story. And it is always in the nature of “your writing life in 2021 will have up’s and down’s.” The story will always have some contradiction to mimic the contradictions of inner thought. This is exactly what all creative writing has. If there is contradiction, everyone can agree with a claim, and even believe it is specific to them: “How could you have known?” Oddly most people believe they are the only human with contradictory thoughts. So the believer will believe. And in a sense, all fiction is creating a fake story that everyone can agree and relate to. Even if it turns out one day that card reading is proved fake, it could be a useful writing exercise. It is speculative fiction, like Shakespeare writing about the witches in Macbeth.
feralgrad Posted January 31, 2021 Posted January 31, 2021 17 hours ago, lilacbread said: Ahh I wish I could do that! I would love to find a situation that allows for that. What do you do? At the time, I was working an admin position in an office. Pretty dry,lots of spreadsheets, but it was a relaxed environment. lilacbread 1
mrvisser Posted January 31, 2021 Posted January 31, 2021 7 hours ago, anna23 said: Thank you so much and good luck to you as well! I applied to Hunter College, University of San Francisco, University of Notre Dame, and Brown all for poetry! Do you mind sharing why you did a pivot from journalism? I know the job market is tough right now so that was definitely in the back of my mind when applying to several journo programs but I'll see what ends up happening. Good choices! I also applied to ND. The job market was a tough thing. I had a good reporting job at the time, but I was disillusioned with the way that a lot of it was becoming a kind of "in" club (at least in Seattle) with who got which jobs where. And I also have some questions about the direction of journalism in general. I saw a lot of unprofessionalism in some of the kids coming out of UW. But most of all, I just left because I always wanted to write fiction, and I figured it was time to invest in my real passion. anna23 and eternalwhitenights 2
Ydrl Posted January 31, 2021 Posted January 31, 2021 Really hoping there’s a bunch of decisions tomorrow like I’m predicting. This is so draining. mrvisser, teasel, lilacbread and 5 others 8
mrvisser Posted January 31, 2021 Posted January 31, 2021 5 minutes ago, Ydrl said: Really hoping there’s a bunch of decisions tomorrow like I’m predicting. This is so draining. I expect seven phone calls tomorrow begging my attendance. Ydrl, NLake, Ophelias pansies and 9 others 12
Ydrl Posted January 31, 2021 Posted January 31, 2021 (edited) 1 minute ago, mrvisser said: I expect seven phone calls tomorrow begging my attendance. I’m expecting to hear from Iowa’s Fiction program pleading me to grace them with my 800 page novel excerpt. Edited January 31, 2021 by Ydrl woweezowee, largeheartedboy, FairleyAlfy and 3 others 6
Ophelias pansies Posted February 1, 2021 Posted February 1, 2021 1 hour ago, Ydrl said: Really hoping there’s a bunch of decisions tomorrow like I’m predicting. This is so draining. Same! Honestly I wish I could rip the bandaid off. I never thought that worrying for an answer would lose it's zeal so quickly.
gustav3 Posted February 1, 2021 Posted February 1, 2021 2 hours ago, Ydrl said: Really hoping there’s a bunch of decisions tomorrow like I’m predicting. This is so draining. Don't waste the next month of your life telling yourself this every day. Iowa is the worst because they don't send out the rejections until well after they sent all the acceptances. You'll cling to hope until the last hour.
fishfish24 Posted February 1, 2021 Posted February 1, 2021 Hey all-- I've mostly just been quietly grateful for the company since joining this group, but I thought I'd chime in briefly... A lot of people seem to be experiencing some degree of agony over the fact they haven't heard back yet and/or are expressing the expectation that they'll be hearing back really soon. (For whatever reason, I've been feeling that with each passing day my chances of being accepted are somehow declining, which I have to remember to laugh at myself for because this belief has zero ties to logic!). Anyway, I just wanted to gently remind people the same thing I'm reminding myself: it's actually too early to be hearing back from most of these programs. I'm sure the info below isn't perfect, but here's the data I put together by combing through the past 3-4 years or so of gradcafe and other forums where applicants have posted about receiving offers for programs I've applied to. (It also includes the dates I was waitlisted at Michener, Minnesota, and Madison-Wisconsin last year). Just hoping the extra info might bring some of you a little peace of mind! The programs are ordered by earliest date of earliest documented acceptance: Minnesota: Earliest acceptance: January 26* My waitlist 2019: January 29, 2020 *It seems worth mentioning that Minnesota extended their deadline this year and has had to recalibrate their entire funding program due to covid, so I suspect their responses will be late... Syracuse: Earliest acceptance: January 29 Madison-Wisconsin: Earliest acceptance: February 3 My waitlist response: February 18 Florida (Miami) : Earliest acceptance: February 12 Vanderbilt: Earliest acceptance: February 13 Michener: Earliest acceptance: Feb 14 My waitlist: Feb 18, 2020 New Writer's Project: Earliest acceptance: Feb 14 Helen Zell/ Michigan: Earliest acceptance: February 15 Florida (Gainsville): Earliest acceptance: February 15 Iowa: Earliest acceptance: February 17 Notre Dame: Earliest acceptance: February 22 Brown: Earliest acceptance: March 5 Wishing everyone good luck and peace of mind. purgatoryparadise, NLake, Starbuck420 and 15 others 14 4
gustav3 Posted February 1, 2021 Posted February 1, 2021 37 minutes ago, fishfish24 said: Brown: Earliest acceptance: March 5 Lazy asses. CayceCamus 1
fishfish24 Posted February 1, 2021 Posted February 1, 2021 5 minutes ago, gustav3 said: Lazy asses. Honestly, I had the hardest time finding info on Brown, so I could be in the wrong....
NLake Posted February 1, 2021 Posted February 1, 2021 44 minutes ago, fishfish24 said: Hey all-- I've mostly just been quietly grateful for the company since joining this group, but I thought I'd chime in briefly... A lot of people seem to be experiencing some degree of agony over the fact they haven't heard back yet and/or are expressing the expectation that they'll be hearing back really soon. (For whatever reason, I've been feeling that with each passing day my chances of being accepted are somehow declining, which I have to remember to laugh at myself for because this belief has zero ties to logic!). Anyway, I just wanted to gently remind people the same thing I'm reminding myself: it's actually too early to be hearing back from most of these programs. I'm sure the info below isn't perfect, but here's the data I put together by combing through the past 3-4 years or so of gradcafe and other forums where applicants have posted about receiving offers for programs I've applied to. (It also includes the dates I was waitlisted at Michener, Minnesota, and Madison-Wisconsin last year). Just hoping the extra info might bring some of you a little peace of mind! The programs are ordered by earliest date of earliest documented acceptance: Minnesota: Earliest acceptance: January 26* My waitlist 2019: January 29, 2020 *It seems worth mentioning that Minnesota extended their deadline this year and has had to recalibrate their entire funding program due to covid, so I suspect their responses will be late... Syracuse: Earliest acceptance: January 29 Madison-Wisconsin: Earliest acceptance: February 3 My waitlist response: February 18 Florida (Miami) : Earliest acceptance: February 12 Vanderbilt: Earliest acceptance: February 13 Michener: Earliest acceptance: Feb 14 My waitlist: Feb 18, 2020 New Writer's Project: Earliest acceptance: Feb 14 Helen Zell/ Michigan: Earliest acceptance: February 15 Florida (Gainsville): Earliest acceptance: February 15 Iowa: Earliest acceptance: February 17 Notre Dame: Earliest acceptance: February 22 Brown: Earliest acceptance: March 5 Wishing everyone good luck and peace of mind. Thanks for putting this together. Really helpful, and a nice reminder not to rush the days along. They’re getting here sooner than I expected - I feel like I just submitted my applications! fishfish24 1
Starbuck420 Posted February 1, 2021 Posted February 1, 2021 11 hours ago, fishfish24 said: Honestly, I had the hardest time finding info on Brown, so I could be in the wrong.... because no one gets in lol
babypoet2k Posted February 1, 2021 Posted February 1, 2021 33 minutes ago, Starbuck420 said: because no one gets in lol oof this HURT Starbuck420 and Neuro-tic 2
Graceful Entropy Posted February 1, 2021 Posted February 1, 2021 Following another lit mag form rejection letter, I'm thinking that I'm gonna take a version of @JPReinhold's advice and stock up on a bunch of sparkling Welches, except for my rejections. Because even tho it will suck, at least I'll have clarification and can get fancy juice drunk. Small victories! dreamx, fishfish24, JPReinhold and 4 others 7
dreamx Posted February 1, 2021 Posted February 1, 2021 (edited) Anybody else hear back from University of Oregon? I saw that someone got in yesterday but I thought they weren't supposed to notify until March lol. My application still says pending... (Also congrats to whoever was accepted!!) Edited February 1, 2021 by dreamx
pattycat Posted February 1, 2021 Posted February 1, 2021 Someone in Draft also just got into Western Michigan for fiction.
JPReinhold Posted February 1, 2021 Posted February 1, 2021 1 hour ago, Graceful Entropy said: Following another lit mag form rejection letter, I'm thinking that I'm gonna take a version of @JPReinhold's advice and stock up on a bunch of sparkling Welches, except for my rejections. Because even tho it will suck, at least I'll have clarification and can get fancy juice drunk. Small victories! YAAS. Celebrate. Elevate the experience - drink it from a champagne flute. Graceful Entropy, Ydrl, Greithe and 3 others 6
tippybug Posted February 1, 2021 Posted February 1, 2021 (edited) I don't know why I keep refreshing this page... Knowing that someone else heard back from a program I've applied to isn't going to do anything but make me nervous and yet I can't stop. I don't think anyone has heard back from anywhere I've applied yet, though. I want to know ASAP but also I am NOT ready for rejections ? I'm wishing I applied to at least one "safety" school to see if I get in it, but no (though I know no program is truly "safe")... I applied to IWW, UVA, Cornell, Brown, Boston, Vanderbilt, NYU, and Columbia only... AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH Edited February 1, 2021 by tippybug pattycat, CayceCamus and Ydrl 3
M-Lin Posted February 1, 2021 Posted February 1, 2021 1 hour ago, tippybug said: I applied to IWW, UVA, Cornell, Brown, Boston, Vanderbilt, NYU, and Columbia only... AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I'm doing the same thing! Fellow NYU and Columbia applicant (in fiction) here. I can't move away from New York so applied to all New York schools. Unfortunately almost none of them has good funding. And kind of regretting applying to Columbia at all since it doesn't seem like it's affordable even if I get funding, according to how stingy they've been. Anyway, just waiting it out in the snow storm. Hey, at least it's finally February! largeheartedboy 1
Ydrl Posted February 1, 2021 Posted February 1, 2021 2 minutes ago, M-Lin said: Anyway, just waiting it out in the snow storm. Hey, at least it's finally February! The snow in my area is ridiculous, I have over two feet already and it’s not stopping yet. But I’m glad it’s February too. largeheartedboy and M-Lin 2
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