2021 Applicants Forum

[Boomer not Ok]

Yes, I put down some dead white dudes (and dudettes) in my SOP. So, that's probably toasted me. But if Eliot, Melville, Woolf and Borges influenced me, I guess I thought it worth saying. Now, when I look at my SOP, I see the mention of my influences is so "TMI, extra-ish," and pretentious, so I wish I hadn't. Also, put down some philosophers who influenced me, because I think there's plenty of cross-over between fiction and philosophy. But that may have screwed me too, who knows? But, whatever, I don't try to emulate or write like Borges or Melville, I just mentioned them in the context of what themes I explore in my work (madness, conundrum of personal identity, blindness etc.). But to answer the question, I definitely listed a bunch of influences but only for the SOPs that asked for more than 500 words. 

[JPReinhold]

1 hour ago, anna23 said:

hi! just wondering if anyone can provide more info on the stereotypical "Bukowski mfa bro"? Bukowski is one of my favorite authors and it's interesting to see people mention those who read him as pretentious? just wanted to see more about that and why he falls into the stereotype? I guess I just honestly I haven't really heard that from anyone. I mostly hear about 'infinite jest' and others shitting on people who love it. I guess it's all really dumb in a way, but, now I'm wondering if people view me negatively when I mention my love for Bukowski. 

also I love Nikolai Gogol! I'm a Russian speaker myself so I find Russian authors to be extraordinary and pretty dark to be honest (which I like). Reading Gogol's and Tolstoy and Dostovesky's works in Russian is particularly meaningful and the English translation doesn't really hold up as much but those works are remarkable for sure in any language. anyways! just my two cents!  hope everyone is hanging in there. 

I have a really beautiful, yellowed, paperback translation of TALES OF GOOD AND EVIL that is absolute poetry in places. 

Edited February 15, 2021 by JPReinhold

[JPReinhold]

50 minutes ago, M-Lin said:

Never read Gogol, but have you read Jhumpa Lahiri's The Namesake? The main character is named after Gogol ?

Our anxiety is FIRE.

[M-Lin]

3 hours ago, Starbuck420 said:

ya'll see that this thread is officially marked "HOT?"

 

we made it!

 

2 hours ago, JPReinhold said:

Our anxiety is FIRE.

@JPReinhold Your anxiety might be too FIRE? to realize that you meant to quote Starbuck420's quote above? HAHAHA

[JPReinhold]

3 minutes ago, M-Lin said:

 

@JPReinhold Your anxiety might be too FIRE? to realize that you meant to quote Starbuck420's quote above? HAHAHA

I’d like to say that it’s anxiety that’s fueling this mess, but I think I might just be like this ?‍♂️ 

[TshirtDome]

4 hours ago, Jjayy said:

Hello, all. I've been lurking for about a week since discovering this site and I finally created an account so I could drop in and say thank you for all the insights and great conversations I've seen here. I don't feel so alone anymore on my MFA journey and I feel less stressed just knowing that there are other people in the world with interests and aspirations that are so similar to mine.

So, yeah, thank you very much - for the words. 

I get that this takes a particular kind of enterprising spirit (which is hard for many of us to find rn), but I decided to create my own dorky sort of self-driven syllabus with texts and a poetry project that I hope will be enough for a book eventually. It's been good to return my attention to the craft and remember that the professional ambitions that accompany writing are only mechanisms for supporting the work itself, namely to feel this whimsy world and translate those messages into sexy poems lol.

[Pinskadan]

6 hours ago, sylviaplate said:

I did - a lot of the articles/tips I read about SOPs suggested it, as it gives the adcoms a good sense of who you are as a reader, which of course influences you as a writer. I mentioned Kim Addonizio, Sharon Olds, Hanif Abdurraqib, and I think Rita Dove. Looking back, I wish I'd just included one or two so it didn't seem like I was just giving a laundry list to seem widely read, but no going back!

I only name-checked a prof. at one school (Khadijah Queen at CU Boulder) - I figure they can spot a suck-up pretty easily, so if I couldn't honestly say that a professor had a big impact on me or sparked my curiosity, I left it out. (Not a dig on any professors at the programs to which I applied, but rather I've only read their writing that's available for free online and can't speak to their wider body of work). 

Oh, and I used a Mary Karr quote about memory/reality relating back to my writing interests. Felt a little schmooze-y to use in my Syracuse app, but at that point in the app process I was too exhausted to change it.

I super hate to be a bummer, but one of my best friends is doing his MFA at CU Boulder and he mentioned to me the other night that Khadijah Queen is leaving because she got a better position elsewhere ? He was really hoping to work with her, too. This could turn out to not be the case, just what I heard!

[sylviaplate]

11 minutes ago, Pinskadan said:

I super hate to be a bummer, but one of my best friends is doing his MFA at CU Boulder and he mentioned to me the other night that Khadijah Queen is leaving because she got a better position elsewhere ? He was really hoping to work with her, too. This could turn out to not be the case, just what I heard!

Good to know! A bummer, sure, but better to be well-informed. Would *love* if she got a position at a program with guaranteed full funding, because even if I did get into Boulder, the money will unfortunately be the deciding factor. 
 

[jka0124]

8 hours ago, Pinskadan said:

I super hate to be a bummer, but one of my best friends is doing his MFA at CU Boulder and he mentioned to me the other night that Khadijah Queen is leaving because she got a better position elsewhere ? He was really hoping to work with her, too. This could turn out to not be the case, just what I heard!

That’s true. This is a good reason why I don’t think anyone should list faculty for arts programs. Professors aren’t guaranteed to be there and you could be listing the one professor who is on their way out. It’s a bummer for anyone who reads your SOP and it’ll be (subconsciously) marred by that, I think. No offense, Sylviaplate (or anyone who did this)! 

8 hours ago, sylviaplate said:

Would *love* if she got a position at a program with guaranteed full funding
 

She did, though it hasn’t been announced publicly yet. 

[Ydrl]

Thank goodness that Virginia Tech took pity on me. I accidentally uploaded my writing sample twice instead of once with a personal statement as well. I hope they like me enough to disregard that.

[Blackhole]

4 minutes ago, Ydrl said:

Thank goodness that Virginia Tech took pity on me. I accidentally uploaded my writing sample twice instead of once with a personal statement as well. I hope they like me enough to disregard that.

I uploaded mine twice. every document twice. just feels terrible.

[Ydrl]

Just now, Blackhole said:

I uploaded mine twice. every document twice. just feels terrible.

It’s good to know it’s not just me.

[shanbanan]

9 minutes ago, Ydrl said:

Thank goodness that Virginia Tech took pity on me. I accidentally uploaded my writing sample twice instead of once with a personal statement as well. I hope they like me enough to disregard that.

Hello! Another VA Tech hopeful here Have you heard anything? I remember reading that they might be reaching out in  mid-February for interviews and just curious. Thanks!

[mrhamlet]

anyone apply to USFT or have an idea of when they inform?

[Ydrl]

4 minutes ago, shanbanan said:

Hello! Another VA Tech hopeful here Have you heard anything? I remember reading that they might be reaching out in  mid-February for interviews and just curious. Thanks!

I reached out a day ago and the same contact said they should be reaching out by the end of the month.

[shanbanan]

1 minute ago, Ydrl said:

I reached out a day ago and the same contact said they should be reaching out by the end of the month.

Thank you! 

[fishfish24]

Did anyone else who applied to Syracuse get a "Happening@Syracuse" email this morning? I get it that's a generic graduate school email, but I'm confused why they sent it to me since it's geared toward current students returning for the spring semester and students joining in the fall... 

[Blackhole]

10 minutes ago, fishfish24 said:

Did anyone else who applied to Syracuse get a "Happening@Syracuse" email this morning? I get it that's a generic graduate school email, but I'm confused why they sent it to me since it's geared toward current students returning for the spring semester and students joining in the fall... 

I didn't  perhaps it means you are in

[feralgrad]

18 minutes ago, fishfish24 said:

Did anyone else who applied to Syracuse get a "Happening@Syracuse" email this morning? I get it that's a generic graduate school email, but I'm confused why they sent it to me since it's geared toward current students returning for the spring semester and students joining in the fall... 

This has happened to me multiple times at other schools. I guess they think it's good marketing? But really it's just mean.

[CanadianKate]

20 hours ago, pattycat said:

Just popping in to say I hope everyone’s hanging in there. I’ve been a little too paralyzed with anxiety to participate.
I’m guessing Iowa will notify tomorrow or at least sometime this week (Michener as well), so good luck to all who applied there! 

Oh my gosh... My stomach just dropped! Okay. Waiting.... waiting waiting now...

[mrvisser]

Someone on Draft said they were on the phone with Iowa admissions for something and they were told that Iowa wouldn't be sending out acceptances until mid-March because of COVID.

[shanbanan]

17 minutes ago, feralgrad said:

Did anyone else who applied to Syracuse get a "Happening@Syracuse" email this morning? I get it that's a generic graduate school email, but I'm confused why they sent it to me since it's geared toward current students returning for the spring semester and students joining in the fall... 

 

17 minutes ago, feralgrad said:

This has happened to me multiple times at other schools. I guess they think it's good marketing? But really it's just mean.

 

I work on the Marketing team for a R1 university and have talked with colleagues about this extensively. Unfortunately, it's really easy for applicants (undergard and grad, alike) to end up on lists that will make them receive all marketing materials, no-holds-barred. Most applicants agree to receive all information from a school when they apply, and the Marketing dept uses this to put the applicant on a list. If the dept isn't very discriminating about what they're sending (and to whom) then it can get confusing.  I completely agree with @feralgrad though that this comes across as mean.  I've brought it up with my team and I think our school does a pretty decent job of making sure the right information goes to the right groups. I wish it were handled better at other schools. Anyway, I hope this is helpful. 

[fishfish24]

1 minute ago, shanbanan said:

 

 

I work on the Marketing team for a R1 university and have talked with colleagues about this extensively. Unfortunately, it's really easy for applicants (undergard and grad, alike) to end up on lists that will make them receive all marketing materials, no-holds-barred. Most applicants agree to receive all information from a school when they apply, and the Marketing dept uses this to put the applicant on a list. If the dept isn't very discriminating about what they're sending (and to whom) then it can get confusing.  I completely agree with @feralgrad though that this comes across as mean.  I've brought it up with my team and I think our school does a pretty decent job of making sure the right information goes to the right groups. I wish it were handled better at other schools. Anyway, I hope this is helpful. 

When I got the email this was exactly my line of thinking. Like @feralgrad, I've received these kinds of missives from other programs before, but the wording of this one was so... tempting! Hah! Syracuse would be wonderful... 

Honestly, I work so hard at not being hopeful about my applications I sometimes wonder if it's unhealthy. Having a day where an acceptance feels possible might be good for me, even if the source of the hope isn't worthy of producing it.

[NLake]

6 minutes ago, fishfish24 said:

When I got the email this was exactly my line of thinking. Like @feralgrad, I've received these kinds of missives from other programs before, but the wording of this one was so... tempting! Hah! Syracuse would be wonderful... 

Honestly, I work so hard at not being hopeful about my applications I sometimes wonder if it's unhealthy. Having a day where an acceptance feels possible might be good for me, even if the source of the hope isn't worthy of producing it.

I didn’t receive this email. So, could be a reason for you to be hopeful? Good luck! 

[cecsav]

Between the weather and the holiday, should we expect to hear anything today?

 

I'm curious how many of us are first time applicants. Also, what's everyone's living situation (married, kids, etc)? I will be moving for grad school at the same time BOTH of my kids will be entering their freshman year of college. It's extra scary, and the logistics are a big headache already. However, grad school should be an excellent remedy for empty nest syndrome.