2021 Applicants Forum

[orangeslice]

It also looks like someone was waitlisted at Vanderbilt as of today

[Ydrl]

Had a nightmare that Cornell rejected me on Valentine’s Day just like they did last year. I didn’t apply to Cornell this year. Why are you the way that you are brain?

[mrvisser]

17 minutes ago, Ydrl said:

Had a nightmare that Cornell rejected me on Valentine’s Day just like they did last year. I didn’t apply to Cornell this year. Why are you the way that you are brain?

Brains are strange creatures. Out of high school I had a job at a gas station, and it was far and away the worst job I've ever had. Sometimes I have dreams in which I've found myself forced to return there for work, and I'm so miserable.

[Ydrl]

Virginia Tech is expecting to notify by the end of the month. I’ll update you on U Florida, U Maryland, U New Hampshire, and SJCNY when I hear back. I don’t think anyone besides me is applying to the last two though.

[eternalwhitenights]

Y'all, I am feeling it today. I've been attending webinars for Notre Dame that the Keough School of Global Affairs has put on virtually (like once a week classes) that are free, on various subjects of literature and politics and theology, and the more I've seen of the vibe of the faculty and the school atmosphere, the more my desire to go there grows each day. Every single virtual event I've attended has just confirmed for me that this is the next right step in my life, and I want it so bad I think my heart will burst from the desire, anticipation, and hope.

AAHHHHHHHHH I didn't want to get attached too quickly because I obvs don't know if I'll get in or not, but my heart is so, so open to and ready for this, and I just want it so much. I think I will scream and leap and cry as soon as I hear the result. 

My heart is in this, y'all! Just wow. The thought of having a dedicated two-three years to just write my novel and research for it and grow as a writer kind of makes me want to explode into butterflies.

[mrvisser]

9 minutes ago, eternalwhitenights said:

Y'all, I am feeling it today. I've been attending webinars for Notre Dame that the Keough School of Global Affairs has put on virtually (like once a week classes) that are free, on various subjects of literature and politics and theology, and the more I've seen of the vibe of the faculty and the school atmosphere, the more my desire to go there grows each day. Every single virtual event I've attended has just confirmed for me that this is the next right step in my life, and I want it so bad I think my heart will burst from the desire, anticipation, and hope.

AAHHHHHHHHH I didn't want to get attached too quickly because I obvs don't know if I'll get in or not, but my heart is so, so open to and ready for this, and I just want it so much. I think I will scream and leap and cry as soon as I hear the result. 

My heart is in this, y'all! Just wow. The thought of having a dedicated two-three years to just write my novel and research for it and grow as a writer kind of makes me want to explode into butterflies.

It's so enticing! Vanderbilt was the first school I did a lot of research on, and I was very vividly imagining living in Nashville, so it hurt to lose that one, but I'm still really excited my other applications. I'm glad you're finding so many good things about Notre Dame; it makes me feel a lot better about applying there and I'd be thrilled to end up in South Bend.

[eternalwhitenights]

1 minute ago, mrvisser said:

It's so enticing! Vanderbilt was the first school I did a lot of research on, and I was very vividly imagining living in Nashville, so it hurt to lose that one, but I'm still really excited my other applications. I'm glad you're finding so many good things about Notre Dame; it makes me feel a lot better about applying there and I'd be thrilled to end up in South Bend.

I think it would be SO freaking rad if we both ended up in the same program. How utterly cool would it be to have a friend going into the program and be like, YO, we met on gradcafe!! It's like having an ally going in.  And yes, I think South Bend would be great. I just love the holistic nature of their program, and you can tell they have their s*it together when it comes to the way they organize their stuff. One of the first virtual classes I attended just happened to be with a professor who I would LITERALLY want as my faculty adviser since so many of his interests are in the same historical space as mine. Also, he has an English accent, which is bomb, and it would be SO MUCH FUN to be in his classes.

Did you officially hear back from Vanderbilt, then? I know you were waiting on there and WashU over the past few days. ❤️

[mrvisser]

8 minutes ago, eternalwhitenights said:

I think it would be SO freaking rad if we both ended up in the same program. How utterly cool would it be to have a friend going into the program and be like, YO, we met on gradcafe!! It's like having an ally going in.  And yes, I think South Bend would be great. I just love the holistic nature of their program, and you can tell they have their s*it together when it comes to the way they organize their stuff. One of the first virtual classes I attended just happened to be with a professor who I would LITERALLY want as my faculty adviser since so many of his interests are in the same historical space as mine. Also, he has an English accent, which is bomb, and it would be SO MUCH FUN to be in his classes.

Did you officially hear back from Vanderbilt, then? I know you were waiting on there and WashU over the past few days. ❤️

Having a friend would be a big relief! Especially since South Bend isn't all that big. And English accents are always a plus. 

Haven't officially heard from WashU or Vandy yet, but I imagine I'll get the axe pretty soon. And that's okay! Still have my #1 choice in Michener, my alma mater, and then Iowa and ND. Ole Miss wasn't the only school I had mixed feelings about, and they're ruled out now, so all I have left are schools I'm certain about.

Edited February 14, 2021 by mrvisser

[eternalwhitenights]

5 minutes ago, mrvisser said:

Having a friend would be a big relief! Especially since South Bend isn't all that big. And English accents are always a plus. 

Haven't officially heard from WashU or Vandy yet, but I imagine I'll get the axe pretty soon. And that's okay! Still have my #1 choice in Michener, my alma mater, and then Iowa and ND. Ole Miss wasn't the only school I had mixed feelings about, and they're ruled out now, so all I have left are schools I'm certain about.

I'd say that's a hopeful signal, then. I feel like I've seen rejections on the results page here in GradCafe from Vandy, and there were a few people who posted in Draft who said that they were waitlisted for fiction. You never know!

[programs2021]

Ack, I'm feeling so frustrated. One of the writers I know recently got into a competitive program. Normally I would be excited for them (I really try to be supportive of my writer peers in general) but this person is sorta fake? The more I got to know them over the past year, the more I realized they're really competitive and even sort of mean. In private convos, they've actively trashed other writers (even friends) when they read others' works, but will act nice about it to their faces. I get that it's out of insecurity, but it makes me feel some kind of way to hear their opinions, and see them do a complete about-face every time in the presence of their peers. I think I've just been feeling bleak when I think about the writers that will work with them in the future. Idk who to talk to about this so I thought I'd vent. ?‍♂️

[mrvisser]

17 minutes ago, programs2021 said:

Ack, I'm feeling so frustrated. One of the writers I know recently got into a competitive program. Normally I would be excited for them (I really try to be supportive of my writer peers in general) but this person is sorta fake? The more I got to know them over the past year, the more I realized they're really competitive and even sort of mean. In private convos, they've actively trashed other writers (even friends) when they read others' works, but will act nice about it to their faces. I get that it's out of insecurity, but it makes me feel some kind of way to hear their opinions, and see them do a complete about-face every time in the presence of their peers. I think I've just been feeling bleak when I think about the writers that will work with them in the future. Idk who to talk to about this so I thought I'd vent. ?‍♂️

There are definitely stereotypes about the kind of snobby people that are in MFAs, and I do wonder how some of those people make it in.

[programs2021]

22 minutes ago, mrvisser said:

There are definitely stereotypes about the kind of snobby people that are in MFAs, and I do wonder how some of those people make it in.

Yeah, idk. It's unfair for sure

Edited February 14, 2021 by programs2021
Identifying info

[mrvisser]

18 minutes ago, Gandoph said:

How would an MFA program know whether someone is snobby? 

I'm not hinging their candidacy on snobbiness. I'm extremely snobby myself. I was just vaguely alluding to jokes I've heard about "guy in your MFA" types who are obsessed with Bukowski or Kafka or Cormac McCarthy. I can't actually speak on whether there re a lot of these types in MFA programs, but if there are I would just kind of find it funny that writers of such narrow influences would be good enough to make it in.

[cecsav]

How realistic is it to expect responses from Oklahoma State University and FSU, if my portals still say pending/under review, but there are (multiple) results posted from both programs?

[cecsav]

Also, how does everyone attach the footnote type info to your posts? Please and thank you!

[mrvisser]

3 minutes ago, Gandoph said:

Do you believe, if you read 10 MFA writing samples, you could tell which writers have narrow influences? 

I don't think it's a matter of identifying narrow influences, but rather whether someone with narrow influences is best suited to write a strong sample. That being said, I'm sure ADCOMs sometimes can tell when a sample is clearly derivative of a certain style.

[mrvisser]

6 minutes ago, cecsav said:

Also, how does everyone attach the footnote type info to your posts? Please and thank you!

Click the dropdown bar next to your name in the top right of the site, then go to account settings, then signature.

[cecsav]

4 minutes ago, mrvisser said:

Click the dropdown bar next to your name in the top right of the site, then go to account settings, then signature.

Rock on. Thank you very much! 

[mrvisser]

10 minutes ago, Gandoph said:

I guarantee you that, if I showed you 5 MFA writing samples from people with narrow influences, and 5 other MFA writing samples, you could not tell which group was which. The five you would pick would be just as likely to be the wrong group. 

Maybe. I'm not an English faculty member. Are you suggesting that it doesn't benefit your application to read widely and be widely influenced? You gave enough of a shit to make an account to argue with me, so what's your point?

[mrvisser]

4 minutes ago, Gandoph said:

Yikes. I apologize. I didn't mean to offend you in any way. To answer your question, yes. I am saying it doesn't benefit your application to read widely and be widely influenced instead of being narrowly influenced. The Adcoms would not be able to tell any more than one of us could. It is not possible.  

Sorry for getting heated. I thought you might have been a previous troll revisiting our forum again.

I get what you mean. I wasn't saying specifically that someone could tell that an applicant is narrowly influenced. I was more remarking that I'm surprised that close-minded writers would have a strong enough application to get in. I guess I would think that their writing samples and statements of purpose might not look appealing to adcoms. Of course, this is totally generalizing, and being an ignorant asshole doesn't mean one can't also be a good writer, and possibly they slip through the cracks anyways. I guess it's more that I'm surprised that these people are apparently prevalent enough to have created a stereotype.

[JPReinhold]

7 hours ago, cecsav said:

How realistic is it to expect responses from Oklahoma State University and FSU, if my portals still say pending/under review, but there are (multiple) results posted from both programs?

I can’t speak to the process for all universities, but I know that FSU has historically sent out acceptances and waitlists and then ghosted everyone else until the 11th hour (only to send out rejections). I have considered my FSU application dead in the water for that reason.
 

If you want that kind of gas for Oklahoma State, I would look at last year’s data.

[JPReinhold]

6 hours ago, mrvisser said:

I get what you mean. I wasn't saying specifically that someone could tell that an applicant is narrowly influenced.

What is “narrowly influenced” anyway? In the age of film, television, and the internet - we’re surrounded by (art? Literature?) media constantly. Even if you made a concerted effort to read nothing but Nabokov, you still see the writing of 100 different people on the daily. You look at different art, engage in different kind of conversations about politics, science, history... all of these influence your writing. This all happens after you’ve been influenced by your studies, socioeconomic background, religious texts, regional education and dialect, etc etc etc. 

I’d argue no one is truly narrowly influenced.

[Downtozero]

7 hours ago, mrvisser said:

8 hours ago, Gandoph said:

How would an MFA program know whether someone is snobby? 

I'm not hinging their candidacy on snobbiness. I'm extremely snobby myself. I was just vaguely alluding to jokes I've heard about "guy in your MFA" types who are obsessed with Bukowski or Kafka or Cormac McCarthy.

I promise I'm not the troll, just a lurker who was moved to finally register but...I'm a little perplexed by your examples here. I get how Bukowski and Cormac McCarthy are stereotypical MFA-dude faves or whatever (even though they write in totally different styles and predominantly different genres, and I dare say they're both valid literary influences, I get it: they're American white men who write about sex and violence and their non-white, non-male characters are at best a little "flat")...but this is the first time I've seen Kafka listed as part of the "bro" canon and I feel like I have to defend his honor here!

[Ydrl]

14 minutes ago, JPReinhold said:

What is “narrowly influenced” anyway? In the age of film, television, and the internet - we’re surrounded by (art? Literature?) media constantly. Even if you made a concerted effort to read nothing but Nabokov, you still see the writing of 100 different people on the daily. You look at different art, engage in different kind of conversations about politics, science, history... all of these influence your writing. This all happens after you’ve been influenced by your studies, socioeconomic background, religious texts, regional education and dialect, etc etc etc. 

I’d argue no one is truly narrowly influenced.

I would like to be an advocate for @mrvisser. Everyone can be exposed to everything you listed above, but not everyone absorbs or uses it to further themselves or their writing. I was like that for awhile in my Billy Collins bubble. This past year I realized that I could combine my passions, experiences, and random thoughts into poetry and it blew my mind haha.

Edited February 14, 2021 by Ydrl

[fishfish24]

7 hours ago, mrvisser said:

Sorry for getting heated. I thought you might have been a previous troll revisiting our forum again.

I get what you mean. I wasn't saying specifically that someone could tell that an applicant is narrowly influenced. I was more remarking that I'm surprised that close-minded writers would have a strong enough application to get in. I guess I would think that their writing samples and statements of purpose might not look appealing to adcoms. Of course, this is totally generalizing, and being an ignorant asshole doesn't mean one can't also be a good writer, and possibly they slip through the cracks anyways. I guess it's more that I'm surprised that these people are apparently prevalent enough to have created a stereotype.

Just to chime in briefly on this, I think there are a lot of other parts that go into an application that speak more to whether a person is two-faced/closed-minded/hard to work with/etc. than their writing sample. I had a program director tell me at one point that the whole purpose of the letters of recommendation (for their review process, at least) was to suss out how applicants worked with other writers and contributed to a creative community.