2021 Applicants Forum

[Ydrl]

10 hours ago, Greithe said:

I'm the proud mom of a trans guy, and your post made me smile more than anything else has in a long time. Thank you!

I did notice, while applying to programs, what choices were offered regarding gender and/or sex, and was disappointed to see that one university still only listed two choices. One out of seven total, so that's progress. Slow, too slow, but it's out there. 

I really wish I had a mom like you. I can’t transition until I move out because my parents would rather me be homeless than trans.

Michener and WashU are lagging behind the times. I understand WashU, but Michener is in Austin, the most liberal city in Texas. I’m just glad there are so many programs out there that have a gender and sex assigned at birth option instead of just sex assigned at birth.

[Greithe]

3 hours ago, Ydrl said:

I really wish I had a mom like you. 

...

I’m just glad there are so many programs out there that have a gender and sex assigned at birth option instead of just sex assigned at birth.

I would gladly be an honorary Mom for you whenever you need one. During our transition (and it really is "our", the world shifts for the whole family for a while), I ended up on anxiety medication for the first time in life, because of the panic attacks thinking of my beautiful sweet child (okay, he's in his thirties, but, MY CHILD) out in a world that is so damn narrow-minded and mean sometimes, even to the point of being dangerous.

So yeah, I really did pay attention to the gender/sex choices on the applications, with the realization that those were probably a good indicator of how supportive or even aware the academic community there is, when it comes to trans, nonbinary, genderfluid, intersex and other people who are confronted with this Male/Female box thing all the time.

Will it make any difference in my choice, if I'm lucky enough to get a choice between programs? It actually will, yes. The lone university who only offered Male/Female went to the bottom of my list, though I love their program. Because, MY CHILD.

 

[feralgrad]

17 hours ago, bb hamster said:

I am interested in hearing your general impressions about UNCG and NC State. Does either have a stronger reputation/name reputability? Also curious about the racial diversity at each schools -- it's pretty difficult to tell from the students' pages on the school sites. (As a writer of color, I'm a bit wary of all-white-ish programs.)

Hello/welcome/congrats! I don't have special insight into these programs, but I have tips for sussing them out.

I'd highly recommend reaching out to the admissions coordinator (or whoever is in a similar position) and asking to speak to current students/alumni. That was my strategy for learning what programs/towns were like for queer students.

As far as name recognition goes, my impression is that this is significantly less important for employment prospects than other disciplines. My program, for example, has a good placement rate because of the local job market and the fact that the university frequently hires from within. Again, this is the sort of insight you can get from students/alumni. Another thing to keep in mind is the training/opportunities you'll get in your program. For example, my program is known in the local market for having strong pedagogical training for TAs. It also has two journals and a small press, which is great for people who want to get into publishing. Are these programs offering opportunities/extracurriculars in your field of choice?

Hope that's helpful even if I'm lacking program-specific knowledge!

Edited February 10, 2021 by feralgrad

[susweekly]

Hey y’all. I don’t know if there are other CUNY applicants up in here, but I called Brooklyn College today to deal with a clerical issue (my application was listed as not complete due to some community college courses I took in high school.) The woman at admissions was very kind but she told me that answers might not go out for another SIX WEEKS. thought this would be useful to anyone chomping at the bit to hear back.

[Blackhole]

Hi, I woke up one morning in December and started looking up MFA Creative Writing Courses and complied my notes and stuff (I have been a journalist) and applied to a few schools. hardly slept or stepped out for a week. now, I feel I should have taken more time. I had no idea they would be so hard to get into. I wrote to Syracuse and they said they would be sending out notifications late March and early April. I am 41 and I don't even know why I applied but I guess I thought I'd give it a shot. I am not from the US but did my master's in journalism from Syracuse many years ago.

I don't know if age works against me. Or if journalists apply. 

[Ydrl]

Just now, Blackhole said:

Hi, I woke up one morning in December and started looking up MFA Creative Writing Courses and complied my notes and stuff (I have been a journalist) and applied to a few schools. hardly slept or stepped out for a week. now, I feel I should have taken more time. I had no idea they would be so hard to get into. I wrote to Syracuse and they said they would be sending out notifications late March and early April. I am 41 and I don't even know why I applied but I guess I thought I'd give it a shot. I am not from the US but did my master's in journalism from Syracuse many years ago.

I don't know if age works against me. Or if journalists apply. 

Hi! Age typically works in one’s favor because of writing experience, and also people from all backgrounds apply to MFA programs. Don’t worry about spending this or that amount of time, it’s over and all we can do is wait. I didn’t realize how hard it would be my first time either. Hopefully Syracuse treats you better than they did me last year (they didn’t even use my name in the rejection letter). What other schools did you apply to? 

[Blackhole]

hey, thanks for replying. I hope Syracuse treats me well. They kind of treated me well already. I didn't have to pay the application fee since I graduated from the school 15 years ago  and they waive off the fee for alumni or something like that. They also let me apply after the deadline. I submitted my application on Jan 9. 

I missed a whole lot of deadlines. I wrote to Judy Blunt in Montana but she replied a week later to say the deadline was already over. I have heard Montana is a beautiful place.

I applied to NYU, Washington University in St. Louis, Syracuse and of course Iowa (but Iowa seems very difficult it seems). But my application is full of typos and stuff. And of course I haven't submitted official transcripts yet. 

What schools have you applied to? 

 

[mrvisser]

The results section has a waitlist from WashU via email. Nothing on Gradcafe about it, so not sure whether it's real.

[bb hamster]

2 hours ago, feralgrad said:

Hello/welcome/congrats! I don't have special insight into these programs, but I have tips for sussing them out.

I'd highly recommend reaching out to the admissions coordinator (or whoever is in a similar position) and asking to speak to current students/alumni. That was my strategy for learning what programs/towns were like for queer students.

Thank you! I reached out to the program coordinator for enrolled student contact info. Thanks again for the advice!

[Ydrl]

Just now, mrvisser said:

The results section has a waitlist from WashU via email. Nothing on Gradcafe about it, so not sure whether it's real.

I saw that just now. Checked my portal, nothing. If it is real, I’m not surprised that I didn’t get in haha.

[mrvisser]

Just now, Ydrl said:

I saw that just now. Checked my portal, nothing. If it is real, I’m not surprised that I didn’t get in haha.

My portal doesn't say anything, either. Tough school to get into, but I would love to go there.

[Ydrl]

1 minute ago, Blackhole said:

hey, thanks for replying. I hope Syracuse treats me well. They kind of treated me well already. I didn't have to pay the application fee since I graduated from the school 15 years ago  and they waive off the fee for alumni or something like that. They also let me apply after the deadline. I submitted my application on Jan 9. 

I missed a whole lot of deadlines. I wrote to Judy Blunt in Montana but she replied a week later to say the deadline was already over. I have heard Montana is a beautiful place.

I applied to NYU, Washington University, Syracuse and of course Iowa (but Iowa seems very difficult it seems). But my application is full of typos and stuff. And of course I haven't submitted official transcripts yet. 

What schools have you applied to? 

 

Everything in the bottom portion of my comment (the “Applying to:” section) is what I’ve applied to. I missed the deadline for Rutgers and UNO (transcripts and one missing recommender). Oh well.

[mrvisser]

1 minute ago, Ydrl said:

I saw that just now. Checked my portal, nothing. If it is real, I’m not surprised that I didn’t get in haha.

Right after I posted, someone on Draft said they got in for poetry. Only acceptance mentioned so far.

[Blackhole]

Just now, Ydrl said:

Everything in the bottom portion of my comment (the “Applying to:” section) is what I’ve applied to. I missed the deadline for Rutgers and UNO (transcripts and one missing recommender). Oh well.

wow. all the best. I am dreading March. I just hope everything works out for everyone. 

[Ydrl]

4 minutes ago, mrvisser said:

Right after I posted, someone on Draft said they got in for poetry. Only acceptance mentioned so far.

Ooooof. Well, Missouri probably wouldn’t be a great place for me to start transitioning so I can’t say I’m too invested. I hope you get good news soon.

Edit: I’ve leveled up and become a Macchiato. Despite most likely being rejected from WashU, I’ve achieved something today haha.

Edited February 10, 2021 by Ydrl
Leveled Up

[mrvisser]

Just now, Ydrl said:

Ooooof. Well, Missouri probably wouldn’t be a great place for me to start transitioning so I can’t say I’m too invested. I hope you get good news soon.

Same to you. I now see multiple mentioning getting acceptances and waitlists via email for both fiction and poetry...this week is off to a brutal start.

There is that silver lining, at least. I've heard good things about St. Louis, but I've also heard that Missouri is brutally conservative elsewhere. Having only ever lived in Portland and Seattle, it'll be a real wakeup call living in a new part of the country.

[Ydrl]

Just now, mrvisser said:

Same to you. I now see multiple mentioning getting acceptances and waitlists via email for both fiction and poetry...this week is off to a brutal start.

There is that silver lining, at least. I've heard good things about St. Louis, but I've also heard that Missouri is brutally conservative elsewhere. Having only ever lived in Portland and Seattle, it'll be a real wakeup call living in a new part of the country.

I love Portland so much, it’s too bad Portland State’s funding isn’t livable. I really had liberal schools on my 26 finalists list this time, oops. I think Maryland has taken the number one spot away from Minnesota. Crossing my fingers.

[Ydrl]

Forgot to mention that getting into Maryland would be very poetic since one of my recommenders really liked it back in the day but she couldn’t get in.

[mrvisser]

Just now, Ydrl said:

Forgot to mention that getting into Maryland would be very poetic since one of my recommenders really liked it back in the day but she couldn’t get in.

One of my best friends went to Maryland (for astrophysics) and loved it. Very nice area with a lot going on, and also kind of an expensive place to live.

[Graceful Entropy]

 

35 minutes ago, Ydrl said:

I saw that just now. Checked my portal, nothing. If it is real, I’m not surprised that I didn’t get in haha.

33 minutes ago, mrvisser said:

Right after I posted, someone on Draft said they got in for poetry. Only acceptance mentioned so far.

I see peeps are getting their acceptances and waitlists, but where are all our rejections? Like, cmon, WUSTL, help a kid out. Gimme that sweet, sweet taste of dismissal!

[Starbuck420]

5 minutes ago, mrvisser said:

One of my best friends went to Maryland (for astrophysics) and loved it. Very nice area with a lot going on, and also kind of an expensive place to live.

Just my ~ highly subjective ~ opinion but having lived in the area for years I kinda despise college park lol. People I know who go to UMD like their programs a lot and certainly it's a great school, but many of them live in DC or nearby suburbs, and, yeah, pay a huge amount of money to live in tiny rooms in group houses and frequently have not insignificant commutes to campus. I was thinking that if I ever applied and got in there (almost certainly not something I would ever have to worry about) I might live in Baltimore and drive there. It's like 45 mins without traffic but I think your overall quality of life could be higher than it would be living in a ~ cool~ DC neighborhood, or in the area immediately around UMD. Takoma Park is also nice

Anyway lol not trying to discourage anyone from applying to UMD. more airing my grievances against DC I guess 

[Ydrl]

2 minutes ago, Graceful Entropy said:

 

I see peeps are getting their acceptances and waitlists, but where are all our rejections? Like, cmon, WUSTL, help a kid out. Gimme that sweet, sweet taste of dismissal!

The rejections typically come in one to two days after. I honestly burst out laughing when I didn’t see an acceptance or waitlist. I’m still chuckling.

[susweekly]

52 minutes ago, mrvisser said:

The results section has a waitlist from WashU via email. Nothing on Gradcafe about it, so not sure whether it's real.

I just received a waitlist offer from George Washington <2

 

[susweekly]

Just now, susweekly said:

I just received a waitlist offer from George Washington <2

 

For fiction, by the way. 

[Blackhole]

Just now, susweekly said:

For fiction, by the way. 

congratulations ?