2021 Applicants Forum

[Jjayy]

1 hour ago, Norwood said:

Here's a short story for yinz: 

A guy tried to mug me for my bike on the front steps of my apartment last night. Guy kept saying he'd break my fingers if I didn't let go of it, but with some effort I fought him off and ran inside, slamming the door behind me. Got upstairs and into my room, where I then received an email from Vanderbilt. 0a/2r/5p. All of a sudden flooded with the feeling of, "Aw heck, come back and take the bike. What do I care?"

Unbroken fingers crossed for the rest of them, though—best of luck to everyone! 

That's truly terrifying. Glad you're okay. 

[sunglikeice]

28 minutes ago, NLake said:

I got my Miami acceptance at the end of January, and they have been sending out emails to the cohort to plan for new grad student welcome/information meetings next week. Based on that, I assume they have sent out all their acceptances, so definitely check your portal to see if they’ve got anything new on your app status! I’m new to this process so I have no idea if they do this all at once or in waves. 
 

Good luck to you! 

OK. Thanks for the clarification. Bad news is pending and will be posted soon then. But congrats to you! That's great. Seems like a pretty neat place to study. Charming town and atmosphere...

[NLake]

8 minutes ago, sunglikeice said:

OK. Thanks for the clarification. Bad news is pending and will be posted soon then. But congrats to you! That's great. Seems like a pretty neat place to study. Charming town and atmosphere...

Thank you. I haven’t been up there in years but it seems nice. 
 

I do wish there were less confusing application update / Admissions emails. I got a, “We’re excited to welcome you in the fall!” email this week from a school I’ve been all but formally rejected from, and it cut me deep. 
 

Best of luck on your other apps! I’m sure good news is around the corner. 

[sunglikeice]

Just now, NLake said:

Thank you. I haven’t been up there in years but it seems nice. 
 

I do wish there were less confusing application update / Admissions emails. I got a, “We’re excited to welcome you in the fall!” email this week from a school I’ve been all but formally rejected from, and it cut me deep. 
 

Best of luck on your other apps! I’m sure good news is around the corner. 

Eek. That's obnoxious. 

Thank you kindly. Hope so. Hope so...

[Ydrl]

59 minutes ago, JPReinhold said:

I aim to repulse.

Excellent. I challenge you to a duel, for I am more repulsive than you could ever be! En garde!

[rroseselavy]

Since I couldn't find any info on here when I was doing research, I'm sharing SAIC interview experience for people who may be interested in the future. 

The panel is with two faculty members--mine were Mary Cross and Nathan Hoks. Many of the questions came directly from my statement of purpose so I'm glad I looked that over again before the interview. They asked some standard questions: what are you reading; why SAIC; what classes are you interested in while here. Mostly it was just a conversation about major themes of my work and cross-disciplinary interests. They did praise my work--called out specific lines that stuck with them--but they did not ask me to explain or go over a specific poem.

I'd recommend not asking about funding during the interview. SAIC does an "interview weekend" and this includes a luncheon with everyone who was invited to interview, along with faculty, who can answer those financial questions (this happened over zoom this year). Getting together (again, via zoom) with current students was very informative as they were candid about representation among faculty (not diverse) and the cost. Decision will come within 2 weeks, I'm told, which includes merit based scholarship decisions. They generally give acceptances via phone call and then email and send a letter. 

good luck to everyone in this great time of waiting! 

 

 

edit:

Was emailed by Amaud Johnson from UW-Madison a little bit ago and notified I have been placed on  a waitlist! Did not disclose the number of people also on the waitlist.

Edited February 20, 2021 by rroseselavy

[mnlandre]

On 2/19/2021 at 1:44 PM, NLake said:

I’m glad to see folx getting some love today! Congratulations to all of you, and good luck to those still waiting on answers. 
 

I’m wondering if anyone else in this community applied to UAF. If so, anyone know anything about their timeline? I got an email at the beginning of February that my (perhaps all) application had been sent to the department for review, but nothing since. Not surprised by that, but I feel like I see less info rolling around about this program than any of the others I applied to. Again, not surprised, as I don’t imagine many folx are keen on living Yukon adjacent. ?

I applied to their joint MFA/MA program! Just got a weird email today that said "welcome!" asking me to make a student account/email. It said nothing about an actual acceptance or anything about funding, so I'm really confused. I reached out to the director of the creative writing program to see if they will notify me of admissions through that email? Not really sure at this point, but I'm definitely on edge.

[ShydreezyWrites]

1 hour ago, rroseselavy said:

Since I couldn't find any info on here when I was doing research, I'm sharing SAIC interview experience for people who may be interested in the future. 

The panel is with two faculty members--mine were Mary Cross and Nathan Hoks. Many of the questions came directly from my statement of purpose so I'm glad I looked that over again before the interview. They asked some standard questions: what are you reading; why SAIC; what classes are you interested in while here. Mostly it was just a conversation about major themes of my work and cross-disciplinary interests. They did praise my work--called out specific lines that stuck with them--but they did not ask me to explain or go over a specific poem.

I'd recommend not asking about funding during the interview. SAIC does an "interview weekend" and this includes a luncheon with everyone who was invited to interview, along with faculty, who can answer those financial questions (this happened over zoom this year). Getting together (again, via zoom) with current students was very informative as they were candid about representation among faculty (not diverse) and the cost. Decision will come within 2 weeks, I'm told, which includes merit based scholarship decisions. They generally give acceptances via phone call and then email and send a letter. 

good luck to everyone in this great time of waiting! 

 

 

edit:

Was emailed by Amaud Johnson from UW-Madison a little bit ago and notified I have been placed on  a waitlist! Did not disclose the number of people also on the waitlist.

I agree. Most of my interview was very conversational when they asked me about my work. It felt really empowering for my two interviewers to have resonated with the two short stories I submitted in my portfolio. One of the interviewers talked about how they could help build on one of my short stories to make it into a novel. I think the trick to the interview is really just being yourself and answering questions honestly. Even if I do not get into SAIC, the fact that the interviewers read and understood my work and its purpose validated me enough to know that this is what I am meant to do. 

[eternalwhitenights]

9 hours ago, Ydrl said:

Tbh I think it’s boredom. There wasn’t anyone like this in the 2019 or 2020 season. Now the pandemic hit and suddenly we have a troll with infinite faces.

Also I like your new profile picture.

Thank you. I thought there couldn't be a more perfect place than this forum to use that picture, ha. 

[NLake]

47 minutes ago, mnlandre said:

I applied to their joint MFA/MA program! Just got a weird email today that said "welcome!" asking me to make a student account/email. It said nothing about an actual acceptance or anything about funding, so I'm really confused. I reached out to the director of the creative writing program to see if they will notify me of admissions through that email? Not really sure at this point, but I'm definitely on edge.

Wow! That’s really exciting! I hope that means good news for you!

I only applied to the MFA, and got some sort of student code to log in to their system in January or early February, but it said nothing indicative of a welcome or acceptance. Do let me know if you hear anything else! I’m at the edge of my seat. ❤️

[rcsteel]

Does anyone know if both Texas Programs (Michener Center and New Writers Project) will be on the same or close to the same schedule for decision notifications?

[mrvisser]

3 hours ago, rcsteel said:

Does anyone know if both Texas Programs (Michener Center and New Writers Project) will be on the same or close to the same schedule for decision notifications?

I believe they have the same faculty, so maybe they have some of the same people making decisions.

[cecsav]

41 minutes ago, mrvisser said:

I believe they have the same faculty, so maybe they have some of the same people making decisions.

I've been wondering about that. Since they have the same faculty, will everyone who applied to both programs get either two acceptances or two rejections? Why would someone be accepted to one program but not the other? There's a good chance I'm overthinking things though. It's one of my strongest personality traits. 

[panglosian]

Hey, out of curiosity has anyone heard about any finding cuts yet? I just saw on draft that Ohio State messed up BIG TIME in offering fellowships they couldn't deliver on, I was just wondering if anywhere else was reacting similarly. I heard rumors about UMass too but I just don't know for sure. 

[Ydrl]

Y’all, instead of downvoting M*rshall Goodman and their many spam accounts, including z*st, please just report. We all heard from them earlier that they feed off of downvotes. Please report, this was funny for awhile but it’s getting really bad really fast.

[fishfish24]

13 hours ago, cecsav said:

I've been wondering about that. Since they have the same faculty, will everyone who applied to both programs get either two acceptances or two rejections? Why would someone be accepted to one program but not the other? There's a good chance I'm overthinking things though. It's one of my strongest personality traits. 

The admissions processes are completely separate--there's no overlapping faculty between the two committees (at least this year--I asked). Also, in terms of them accepting or rejecting the same people, think about how different the programs are. Sure, they have the same faculty (with the exception of the program directors) but NWP is a teaching MFA and Michener isn't. Even without factoring in their other distinct qualities, that makes them very different programs.

[Starbuck420]

15 hours ago, panglosian said:

Hey, out of curiosity has anyone heard about any finding cuts yet? I just saw on draft that Ohio State messed up BIG TIME in offering fellowships they couldn't deliver on, I was just wondering if anywhere else was reacting similarly. I heard rumors about UMass too but I just don't know for sure. 

this is pretty heinous. I don't have any info to add, but, yeah, obviously it's messed up. I would recommend people not apply here in the future. same for any other program that rescinds or alters funding in this way. This is a huge deal

[TshirtDome]

16 hours ago, panglosian said:

Hey, out of curiosity has anyone heard about any finding cuts yet? I just saw on draft that Ohio State messed up BIG TIME in offering fellowships they couldn't deliver on, I was just wondering if anywhere else was reacting similarly. I heard rumors about UMass too but I just don't know for sure. 

There was (I THINK) a possibility that UMass wouldn't be taking a new cohort in this year and then it was clear that they would be which I THINK means that they saw that they had the necessary funding to do so??? Like they went from 'maybe not' to 'ok, yes we can take em.' I'm very curious about your question too, as I am being totally speculative.

[teasel]

On 2/19/2021 at 7:29 PM, Boomer not Ok said:

That's great news and a wonderful accomplishment. The fact that your work went through a multiple vetting process (from initial reader to editor approval) and you are receiving payment means a lot. Well done.

 

This is so incredibly kind of you to say--thank you so much. Like many of us I've been dealing with a lot of self doubt, basically questioning every decision I've made leading up to this point haha. Your words really cheered me up : ) 

 

[teasel]

I received a very kind email yesterday letting me know that I'm near the top of the waitlist for UW Madison! Keeping my fingers crossed that it will change to an offer as April 15th approaches. Apparently they received hundreds of poetry apps this year for just 6 spots.  Also hoping this means that I might be hearing good news from other programs in the future? Who knows?!  0a/2w/3r/7p

Also wanted to share my condolences for Vandy applicants--was also rejected and it was a tough one for sure. It wasn't surprising, but the idea of Nashville had grown on me somewhat :') 

Really messed up--what's going on at OSU, I mean. I heard that someone had already declined an offer from another school before they came out with the news. Really hope this doesn't happen to other programs... I know things are tough, but I feel like they could have been waaaayy more transparent. 

[JPReinhold]

5 minutes ago, teasel said:

Really messed up--what's going on at OSU, I mean. I heard that someone had already declined an offer from another school before they came out with the news. Really hope this doesn't happen to other programs... I know things are tough, but I feel like they could have been waaaayy more transparent. 

I got some advice from an English PhD to hold onto the offers until April 15 because people may change funding. I'd much rather decline all offers other than my front-runner as my options change to make the process easier / less-anxiety filled for other applicants and the programs, but it appears we shouldn't do that this cycle. A lot of apprehension this year and I think that will lead to a mass shuffle on April 15.

It ain't over 'til it's over, people. 

[teasel]

3 minutes ago, JPReinhold said:

I got some advice from an English PhD to hold onto the offers until April 15 because people may change funding. I'd much rather decline all offers other than my front-runner as my options change to make the process easier / less-anxiety filled for other applicants and the programs, but it appears we shouldn't do that this cycle. A lot of apprehension this year and I think that will lead to a mass shuffle on April 15.

It ain't over 'til it's over, people. 

 

Definitely some solid advice--the email I received was from Amaud Jamaul Johnson, and he mentioned that normally they get back to people at the top of the waitlist much sooner than April 15th, but I think it's reasonable to assume that this year may differ! 

 

Still waiting on Michener, UVA, UW, Cornell, Brown, IWW, and Michigan!! Wondering if we'll be hearing from a number of programs this next week... 

[JPReinhold]

17 minutes ago, teasel said:

 

Definitely some solid advice--the email I received was from Amaud Jamaul Johnson, and he mentioned that normally they get back to people at the top of the waitlist much sooner than April 15th, but I think it's reasonable to assume that this year may differ! 

 

Still waiting on Michener, UVA, UW, Cornell, Brown, IWW, and Michigan!! Wondering if we'll be hearing from a number of programs this next week... 

 Cornell’s page still reads that they will notify by the end of February - so let’s hope that’s the case! 

[M-Lin]

For people who applied to partially-funded programs like I did, I got some advice regarding funding from the program director of Sarah Lawrence. She said one should always negotiate funding if it's a school one really wanted to go, because as accepted students decline offers, funding frees up and gets reallocated. I'm sure many of you already know this but thought I'd mention just in case! It seems like even well-funded programs are getting screwed this year. 

Bracing for the coming week! 

[Boomer not Ok]

No need for thanks, but thanks...I just think it's important to know you shouldn't be doubting yourself. While this is my first shot at applying for MFAs, I know from experience, having work published in paying pubs, BUT also so much of the same work rejected from as "good" or "higher tier" venues, there's no science to this. It's largely IMO whether what you write connects with the readers/editors, and you cannot 'control' for that. To some extent obviously the same principle applies with MFA apps, although there are other variables involved. (Of course, if your work is at the level where Granta or The New Yorker is hounding you, then this doesn't apply, but then maybe you should be teaching in an MFA, not applying for one. IMHO.)