2021 Applicants Forum

[Graceful Entropy]

1 hour ago, M-Lin said:

To whoever is willing to share, how was your acceptance communicated? Phone? Mail? E-mail (personal e-mail, form acceptance, e-mail to check application status)? Homing pigeon? Tele-pathetically, somehow? 

While I know this won't rival Draft's pizza superstition, mine actually came by phone call... on the day my phone was dead and I had no charger.
So the director left a voicemail, but then also emailed me later that afternoon, like, 'Yo, we should chat. Also, most people respond back to these pretty quickly, do I have your right number?'

After that I was still in the dark until the phone tag finally hit and she told me over the phone, while I blabbered and said nothing productive. Writers, amiright?

[mrvisser]

Via Draft there is an acceptance to Indiana and an acceptance to an unspecified school in Virginia. Not sure whether the latter is UVA, Virginia Tech, Hollins, or something else.

[Ydrl]

4 minutes ago, mrvisser said:

Via Draft there is an acceptance to Indiana and an acceptance to an unspecified school in Virginia. Not sure whether the latter is UVA, Virginia Tech, Hollins, or something else.

Could be George Mason tbh, it’s the only Virginia school that I’ve seen notify on here (thought that doesn’t mean much). If it’s V Tech this early I’m gonna assume my true form as a ball of anxiety.

Edited February 3, 2021 by Ydrl

[pattycat]

8 minutes ago, mrvisser said:

Via Draft there is an acceptance to Indiana and an acceptance to an unspecified school in Virginia. Not sure whether the latter is UVA, Virginia Tech, Hollins, or something else.

First acceptance from one of my schools. Cue stomach ache and overwhelming grief. 

[mrvisser]

6 minutes ago, pattycat said:

First acceptance from one of my schools. Cue stomach ache and overwhelming grief. 

Unless it's George Mason, as @ydlr suggested! I didn't realize Mason was in Virginia, and there have been other acceptances mentioned there.

[pattycat]

1 minute ago, mrvisser said:

Unless it's George Mason, as @ydlr suggested! I didn't realize Mason was in Virginia, and there have been other acceptances mentioned there.

I meant Indiana. But yeah, I think she was talking about GM

Edited February 3, 2021 by pattycat
typo

[mrvisser]

Comments are saying it is George Mason. That Indiana piece seems like a big one. I was very close to applying there.

[Ydrl]

14 minutes ago, mrvisser said:

Comments are saying it is George Mason. That Indiana piece seems like a big one. I was very close to applying there.

To be honest, I’m kicking myself for not applying to: Indiana, George Mason, and Miami OH. They were all on my list of 26 this year. Why am I the way that I am?

[mrvisser]

18 minutes ago, Ydrl said:

To be honest, I’m kicking myself for not applying to: Indiana, George Mason, and Miami OH. They were all on my list of 26 this year. Why am I the way that I am?

I think—for me, at least—it's really easy in hindsight to ask why one didn't apply to other schools, especially once acceptances roll in. I see how excited people are and I think, I could have gotten in and I should have tried! Like, why did I end up not applying to Indiana and choosing to apply to Ole Miss? I'm happy about applying to Ole Miss, but at this point I can't remember how I narrowed it into my list of seven. Which is why I'm also going down the 20-something applications route for next year if this year doesn't work out. 

Agh, unrelated tangent: I'm currently staying a few days at the Oregon Coast (in an isolated, COVID-safe manner), and I thought it would be a nice way to distract myself from MFA stuff, and at times it is, but I walk around and look at Victorian houses and oceanside cliffs and it all just brings me back to writing. Goddammit.  

[eternalwhitenights]

3 hours ago, Ydrl said:

To be honest, I’m kicking myself for not applying to: Indiana, George Mason, and Miami OH. They were all on my list of 26 this year. Why am I the way that I am?

Because you're human and only have so much time and energy.  

You did great. You've got this. You're going to be okay, promise. ❤️

[Yellow62]

On Feb 3 2020, the application thread got to page 19. On Feb 3 2021, the application thread is at page 44. This season is going to be insanely competitive, isn't it? 

[JPReinhold]

29 minutes ago, Yellow62 said:

On Feb 3 2020, the application thread got to page 19. On Feb 3 2021, the application thread is at page 44. This season is going to be insanely competitive, isn't it? 

Or at least insanely anxiety-ridden.

[M-Lin]

38 minutes ago, Yellow62 said:

On Feb 3 2020, the application thread got to page 19. On Feb 3 2021, the application thread is at page 44. This season is going to be insanely competitive, isn't it? 

I think it also just shows that we're generating some good conversations here.

Plus, between Feb 3 last year and Feb 3 this year, there's a world of difference. Let's say, Feb 3 2020 was in the "before-time", and now we're in the "after-time". And with that, the individual anxiety level and the collective need of community has risen in tandem. 

[mrvisser]

Ah, shit, looks like a Florida State acceptance went out. I know there are a lot of people here who applied to Florida schools.

[mrvisser]

The person who got in said FSU this year received twice as many applicants as normal.

[spacedumpster]

4 hours ago, mrvisser said:

I think—for me, at least—it's really easy in hindsight to ask why one didn't apply to other schools, especially once acceptances roll in. I see how excited people are and I think, I could have gotten in and I should have tried! Like, why did I end up not applying to Indiana and choosing to apply to Ole Miss? I'm happy about applying to Ole Miss, but at this point I can't remember how I narrowed it into my list of seven. Which is why I'm also going down the 20-something applications route for next year if this year doesn't work out. 

Agh, unrelated tangent: I'm currently staying a few days at the Oregon Coast (in an isolated, COVID-safe manner), and I thought it would be a nice way to distract myself from MFA stuff, and at times it is, but I walk around and look at Victorian houses and oceanside cliffs and it all just brings me back to writing. Goddammit.  

You didn't miss out on anything by not applying to Indiana. Trust me. 

Where about are you on the coast? If it's bringing you back to writing, go look at that big dumb rock from The Goonies, get some taffy, and write a dang masterpiece!

Interesting observation that I should definitely work into my writing-- every beach town I've been to has a particularly weird uniformity and, like, sterility at the surface. Great Lakes, Northeast, West Coast, doesn't matter. There's something spooky there.

 

Edited February 3, 2021 by spacedumpster

[pattycat]

18 minutes ago, mrvisser said:

Ah, shit, looks like a Florida State acceptance went out. I know there are a lot of people here who applied to Florida schools.

Welp.

[Greithe]

59 minutes ago, mrvisser said:

The person who got in said FSU this year received twice as many applicants as normal.

Oh dear. Sleepless night ahead for me! Pattycat, I hope they're not finished the phone calls yet. Who knows?

With so many schools reporting earlier than they did last year, I had dared to hope the opposite was true - that the competition would be less fierce this year somehow, with fewer applicants. My head knew better, but my heart was a fool.

[mrvisser]

1 hour ago, spacedumpster said:

Where about are you on the coast? If it's bringing you back to writing, go look at that big dumb rock from The Goonies, get some taffy, and write a dang masterpiece!

Interesting observation that I should definitely work into my writing-- every beach town I've been to has a particularly weird uniformity and, like, sterility at the surface. Great Lakes, Northeast, West Coast, doesn't matter. There's something spooky there.

 

In Astoria, so actually the Goonies town, but Haystack Rock is down south quite a ways. I came here a bit growing up, but it's been a while. Lovely place, really. The Airbnb I'm in is a beautiful old Victorian house, so it's been great for reading Joyce and working on the novel.

And yes, my brother has always referred to "beach people." Astoria is different, but most of Oregon's coastal towns have something a little off about them.

[Yellow62]

2 hours ago, mrvisser said:

The person who got in said FSU this year received twice as many applicants as normal.

I expect this to be about the situation for most programs. Buckle up, everyone, and good luck. We're all in it together. 

[BrandonM]

2 hours ago, spacedumpster said:

You didn't miss out on anything by not applying to Indiana. Trust me. 

Where about are you on the coast? If it's bringing you back to writing, go look at that big dumb rock from The Goonies, get some taffy, and write a dang masterpiece!

Interesting observation that I should definitely work into my writing-- every beach town I've been to has a particularly weird uniformity and, like, sterility at the surface. Great Lakes, Northeast, West Coast, doesn't matter. There's something spooky there.

 

Hi @spacedumpster! I applied to Indiana this round and I am wondering what you know/have heard about the program? Have people had bad experiences there? Just curious.

[spacedumpster]

13 minutes ago, BrandonM said:

Hi @spacedumpster! I applied to Indiana this round and I am wondering what you know/have heard about the program? Have people had bad experiences there? Just curious.

Haha, nah I don't know anything about the program--just a longtime denizen of the void of corn and soy who loves to trash the motherland. I'm sure it's a fine school! There's a professor of photography in their fine art department of whom I'm particularly fond, in fact. I'm just ready to GTFO out of Ohio. ?

Edited February 4, 2021 by spacedumpster

[pattycat]

2 hours ago, Greithe said:

Oh dear. Sleepless night ahead for me! Pattycat, I hope they're not finished the phone calls yet. Who knows?

It's possible. Historically, though, they've done all fiction acceptances in the same day. ?

I already feel out to be honest. All my programs are such long shots.

 

[Starbuck420]

5 hours ago, mrvisser said:

The person who got in said FSU this year received twice as many applicants as normal.

makes sense, I guess, and this is certainly what we've all been told to expect this year, but it's interesting to me because Illinois (the only other school to release this info yet, afaik) reported many fewer applications than usual. ofc, the sample size is currently 2 so it's possible Illinois is just an anomaly, but it's also possible that the ruined economy is wreaking havoc with the numbers, rather than increasing the number of applications all across the board. but, again, too early to tell

Edited February 4, 2021 by Starbuck420
edit: confusing typo

[CayceCamus]

1 hour ago, pattycat said:

It's possible. Historically, though, they've done all fiction acceptances in the same day. ?

I already feel out to be honest. All my programs are such long shots.

 

Don't put yourself down! We have heard of a few alleged acceptances, but those in no way correlate to every school rejecting you, not even close! We are so early in the season and universities are sluggish places. We still got acceptances, wait lists, and then maybe some rejections ahead. Nothing is set in stone yet! ☺️