aa2427 Posted March 2, 2021 Posted March 2, 2021 4 minutes ago, Yellow62 said: In the same boat. Sadly it's completely possible that, since their cohorts are small, the rest of the accepted applicants may just not be online. Despite how many people use Grad Cafe and Draft, I've read that it's likely the majority of MFA applicants each year actually aren't on these sites. Ew, there are people out there who have lives outside of stressing online? It just feels weird that if there were 200 applicants and 6 chosen, none would be online. But I'm grasping for straws, alas Graceful Entropy 1
goodcynara Posted March 2, 2021 Posted March 2, 2021 36 minutes ago, fishfish24 said: Hey, sorry to hear you're having a rough time of it. I'm also really struggling with rejections this year (it's my second round applying). What comforts me the most is recalling people who've been rejected from five or seven programs only to be accepted at Iowa or Michener or Hellen Zell. Those stories serve as a great reminder not to measure yourself by rejections. And remember, if a program takes 4 writers and has a 5-person waitlist, you could be number 10 or number 1000 and you wouldn't know the difference from a form rejection. Try to have faith in your work, take comfort in group critiques and feedback from workshops, measure your work by peers and mentors you trust. I was waitlisted at three great programs last year and have received straight rejections this round even though I know my applications were stronger. Bottom line, applying to MFAs is a shit show. Take heart. Sally forth. Writing is one of the hardest things you can choose to do with your life because these are the kinds of odds you will always face. That doesn't mean you shouldn't do it, or that you aren't meant to write!❤️ Fantastic and generous. Thank you for this.
Chabek Posted March 2, 2021 Posted March 2, 2021 19 minutes ago, aa2427 said: I am really wondering what is going on with Michener poetry. Radio silence aside from an acceptance that seems like it could have been improperly entered? Maybe this is just wishful thinking on my part, but it feels like acceptances have not gone out yet? (Hoping to keep the dream alive but I would also just like my rejection now if that is the case so I can stop wondering!) Same. I know that NWP and Michener have different admin/admissions but they’re closely tied to each other. You’d think timeline would be similar. I heard from NWP yesterday a.m.
goodcynara Posted March 2, 2021 Posted March 2, 2021 40 minutes ago, aheather said: This is such a kind and generous message, thank you! I'm from the PNW, so I've spent a lot of time in the lushness of the west, but never the desert. I've had this very, very specific fixation on the desert since my senior year of college. I think I saw one too many Georgia O'Keefe paintings and decided I belong in New Mexico, which is obviously a total fantasy, but the chance to actually live it through is super compelling. I imagine myself staring at the desert and all the fantastical landscapes within it. Side note, if you're a desert person, you should read Dorthea Tanning's Chasm. That said, I also love seasons, and I love close study of a place as it changes over a year. If I'm spending so much time thinking about the physical environment, it feels like I should go to the program that is explicitly about that (ISU), to nurture the critical part of that work. I can always move to the desert on my own later, I keep telling myself (but then I start daydreaming about it all over again...) I feel lucky beyond all reason that this is the choice I get to make, I know either option is just glorious, and will serve me in so many ways. If I could airlift ISU's program onto UNLV's location, I might have an easier go of it, but also, so much depends on all the intangibles! I need to know the vibes of the programs, how empowered people feel to have real conversation in workshop, if professors are secretly jerks, if the teaching load feels unbearable. It feels like I need to know everything so that I can map out these two scenarios before picking the right one, and I'm grateful to have some time to learn it all, but also feeling a bit aimless as I parse out where to start. The most beautiful, satisfying thing is knowing that I could be happy at either. I'm so grateful I didn't get into the programs that I didn't get into, I think there are quite a few that sounded like good ideas but wouldn't have been the place for me to thrive. I hope everyone on here gets where they're meant to, when they're meant to, even if that route looks nothing like what you'd expect. Thank you!!!!! mostly, like, will I get hate crimed if I kiss my girlfriend in public? (granted, she's not even my girlfriend yet, but I am trying hard on that part of things and would like to feel safe with her.) Is there queer community, like bookshops and bars and such? The Vegas I imagine is so transient due to tourists, I don't know much about the culture of people who actually call it home. Thank you! This is a thing hugely on my mind, the access to a good international airport so I can escape places as needed! But ISU has its (very large) perks as well, so the decision is going to be prolonged, unfortunately. WEST COAST BEST COAST! your side of the Rockies is the definitive Better Side of the Rockies! I've been in six years of iterations of Draft (I know, I need real hobbies) and genuinely adore all the mods as human beings. They've been busy with real life stuff, and they do a lot of work to vet people who have requested to join (there have been past issues with programs trying to get in the group to see what people are saying, and the mods understand that allowing that to happen would ruin the core purpose of the group). They're all super, super kind, if you're finding yourself waiting for way too long and do want to reach out. Just sought out "Chasm;" looks like a fun read, thanks! I resonate with your gladness about programs you didn't get into; understanding in hindsight that they wouldn't have been places where you would have thrived. Truly helpful for me to remember that what is for us will not go by us. I love that you love the world and its scenery and I feel a little better knowing you're out there advocating for it with your art. You'll know what to do. You cannot lose.
goodcynara Posted March 2, 2021 Posted March 2, 2021 7 minutes ago, aa2427 said: Ew, there are people out there who have lives outside of stressing online? It just feels weird that if there were 200 applicants and 6 chosen, none would be online. But I'm grasping for straws, alas Totally. People with lives. Gross. Graceful Entropy and tippybug 2
mrvisser Posted March 2, 2021 Posted March 2, 2021 If I don't hear any more about that goddamn Notre Dame fiction acceptance I swear I'm going to...silently sulk in my chair. eternalwhitenights, fishfish24, DeepSyntax and 1 other 4
goodcynara Posted March 2, 2021 Posted March 2, 2021 What's your waiting room soundtrack? Today, mine is a classic courtesy of the great Bob Marley. I don't wanna wait in vain for your loveI don't wanna wait in vain for your love From the very first time I placed my eyes on you, girlMy heart says follow throughBut I know, now, that I'm way down on your lineBut the waitin' feel is fine So don't treat me like a puppet on a string'Cause I know how to do my thingDon't talk to me as if you think I'm dumbI wanna know when you're gonna come See, I don't wanna wait in vain for your loveI don't wanna wait in vain for your loveI don't wanna wait in vain for your love 'Cause if summer is hereI'm still waiting thereWinter is hereAnd I'm still waiting there Like I saidIt's been three years since I'm knockin' on your doorAnd I still can knock some moreOoh girl, ooh girl, is it feasible?I wanna know now, for I to knock some more Ya see, in life I know there's lots of griefBut your love is my reliefTears in my eyes burn, tears in my eyes burnWhile I'm waiting, while I'm waiting for my turnSee! I don't wanna wait in vain for your loveI don't wanna wait in vain for your loveI don't wanna wait in vain for your loveI don't wanna wait in vain for your love I don't wanna wait in vain for your love, oh!I don't wanna, I don't wanna, I don't wanna, I don't wannaI don't wanna wait in vain, noI don't wanna, I don't wanna, I don't wanna, I don't wannaI don't wanna wait in vain, noI don't wanna, I don't wanna, I don't wanna, I don't wannaI don't wanna wait in vain No no no, I, no I (I don't wanna wait in vain)It's your love that I'm waiting onIt's my love that you're running fromIt's your love that I'm waiting onIt's my love that you're running from
aa2427 Posted March 2, 2021 Posted March 2, 2021 25 minutes ago, Chabek said: Same. I know that NWP and Michener have different admin/admissions but they’re closely tied to each other. You’d think timeline would be similar. I heard from NWP yesterday a.m. Yes, it's just very strange there have been no waitlists or rejections yet either. Plus, many of the people in Draft are experienced and talented people who have applied multiple times, so what are the odds none of them got accepted or waitlisted?
Chabek Posted March 2, 2021 Posted March 2, 2021 Just now, aa2427 said: Yes, it's just very strange there have been no waitlists or rejections yet either. Plus, many of the people in Draft are experienced and talented people who have applied multiple times, so what are the odds none of them got accepted or waitlisted? It’s odd for sure! Maybe they haven’t gone out yet. Or maybe Michener told the folks who have gotten accepted to keep mum about it lol
elemves Posted March 2, 2021 Posted March 2, 2021 25 minutes ago, mrvisser said: If I don't hear any more about that goddamn Notre Dame fiction acceptance I swear I'm going to...silently sulk in my chair. I’m endlessly pacing in the airport right now waiting for something, anything, on this front. This is the third school where acceptances have gone out according to the results page, and I’ve yet to hear anything: no rejection, no portal update, and certainly no acceptance or waitlist. Fingers crossed for you and me and anyone else out there waiting on the Dame. mrvisser 1
elemves Posted March 2, 2021 Posted March 2, 2021 6 hours ago, aheather said: Hello! I got an acceptance for poetry via portal and then phone call for Iowa State University on Friday (portal)/ Saturday night (phone call). I was taking the weekend to be offline and heal from what I thought was just a suite of rejections, so the good news was SHOCKING. I was so overwhelmed, and then got a phone call from UNLV on Sunday night to throw me for a whole second loop. I couldn't be happier with these two programs, I write exclusively about place and space-- I spent a LOT of my undergrad abroad (I did my classes via email correspondence and lived in France for a year, went to Berlin multiple times for my thesis, and then wrapped up college and moved to Malaysia for a year), and then I literally started a journal of ecopoetics. So! Having one international program and one environmentally focused program is bananas. I feel like these two acceptances, more than any acceptances anywhere else, shows that what I'm trying to do in my work is legible. I am a genuine fit for these places, and the fact that they see that shows that my work is doing what I've been working to make it do. So much love for this forum, I wish I could make everyone as deliriously happy as I've been this weekend. (and now, I have the most terrifying, overwhelming decision of my life) congratulations!!! I’m waiting to hear from ISU for fiction, and my portal still hasn’t updated nor have I gotten an email. Anxiously hoping no news is good news. I’m queer too and I heard Ames is actually a pretty great place to be out relative to the reputation some places in Iowa have. It is such a dreamy program, so I understand feeling torn between the material and the place.
somemoretrees Posted March 2, 2021 Posted March 2, 2021 Hi all, been refreshing this page (and draft) non-stop since I found it a couple weeks ago, and finally decided to post something. So I'm waitlisted at my top choice, was interviewed for a TA position, and when I reached out to the department they said it was a very short list (2-3 per genre). This is all wonderful and I'm excited but........... I am absolutely losing my shit with the waiting. Is anybody else in a similar position? These waitlists are agonizing. woweezowee 1
Ydrl Posted March 2, 2021 Posted March 2, 2021 43 minutes ago, mrvisser said: If I don't hear any more about that goddamn Notre Dame fiction acceptance I swear I'm going to...silently sulk in my chair. I’m gonna have to apply again next year if I can’t land a stipend. I don’t want to go for round three, if I must I’m gonna...sink deep between the couch cushions and hibernate until mid-October. Also, I get results for my COVID test tomorrow. It’s not looking too great right now, but I have hope.
Graceful Entropy Posted March 2, 2021 Posted March 2, 2021 @aheatherThe one thing I will say about ISU is that it seems like they did one of their writing professors Chloe N. Clark the dirty. She got in trouble (and harassed inside and out) for banning hate speech in her class and papers, so... ya know. Prolly worth researching on your own. As far as Vegas goes, I have some friends who grew up there and it's a pretty family oriented place outside the strip--great public school funding. Also, like, so many good places to eat. And as someone pointed out, because LV gets so many tourists, it is easy as pie to travel from. Don't know much about the actual writing programs, but thought I'd throw my couple cents out for ya
goodcynara Posted March 2, 2021 Posted March 2, 2021 (edited) First acceptance! Sarah Lawrence, Poetry. Lovely, warm phone call from Paige-Ackerson Kiely. She mentioned that AWP is this week and that they were generally swamped, but that next week would be more clear. Makes sense that other programs might also be experiencing delays due to AWP. Anyone have experience with Sarah Lawrence and/or Bronxville? Long ago, I dated a guy whose Mom lived in Westchester. It was beautiful, but tony and filled with a lot of white people (don't get me wrong, some of my best friends -- also me; although my birthfather is from Bolivia; but I currently work with uber-rich white people and I'm pretty over it). I wonder about cost of living, especially since the program is only partially funded. Would love any insights about the program or the area. Thanks so much for letting me hang with y'all here in GradCafe. I would be feeling insane right now without your generous sharing. Edited March 2, 2021 by goodcynara eternalwhitenights, Salaam O, mess_mess and 12 others 15
Salaam O Posted March 2, 2021 Posted March 2, 2021 4 minutes ago, goodcynara said: First acceptance! Sarah Lawrence, Poetry. Lovely, warm phone call from Paige-Ackerson Kelly. She mentioned that AWP is this week and that they were generally swamped, but that next week would be more clear. Makes sense that other programs might also be experiencing delays due to AWP. Anyone have experience with Sarah Lawrence and/or Bronxville? Long ago, I dated a guy whose Mom lived in Westchester. It was beautiful, but tony and filled with a lot of white people (don't get me wrong, some of my best friends -- also me; although my birthfather is from Bolivia; but I currently work with user-rich white people and I'm pretty over it). I wonder about cost of living, especially since the program is only partially funded. Would love any insights about the program or the area. Thanks so much for letting me hang with y'all here in GradCafe. I would be feeling insane right now without your generous sharing. Have no information about Sarah Lawrence, but CONGRATULATIONS! AHHHH!
mrvisser Posted March 2, 2021 Posted March 2, 2021 4 minutes ago, goodcynara said: First acceptance! Sarah Lawrence, Poetry. Lovely, warm phone call from Paige-Ackerson Kelly. She mentioned that AWP is this week and that they were generally swamped, but that next week would be more clear. Makes sense that other programs might also be experiencing delays due to AWP. Congrats! That first acceptance must feel like a weight off.
goodcynara Posted March 2, 2021 Posted March 2, 2021 Just now, Salaam O said: Have no information about Sarah Lawrence, but CONGRATULATIONS! AHHHH! Thank you so much! I'm out of GradCafe "reactions" for today, which are now being transferred to my physical body in a weird but not wholly unpleasant way. cecsav and tubthumping 2
goodcynara Posted March 2, 2021 Posted March 2, 2021 1 minute ago, mrvisser said: Congrats! That first acceptance must feel like a weight off. Holy heck, no joke! Thank you. You nailed it.
Phoebe R Posted March 2, 2021 Posted March 2, 2021 Another rejection here today from UC Davis! Came in the form of a portal update email. This one definitely hurts a little more (especially considering the unwaveable $120 application fee and my heart being pretty set on California) but we're pushing through. So far it's been only rejections here; Northwestern, UMich, and UC Davis now. Holding out for UC Irvine, Brown, Boston, Mills, and CCA San Francisco as much as I can. Not letting this ruin my day today because I got my unemployment back pay from 3 months today and if you asked me a few days ago if I thought I could even still consider grad school this year I would've told you no because I had no money for it and still no job. Keep pushing, y'all. I know it can be really disheartening and frustrating but I promise you're not the only one feeling this way. anna23, panglosian, sunglikeice and 5 others 8
eternalwhitenights Posted March 2, 2021 Posted March 2, 2021 1 hour ago, goodcynara said: First acceptance! Sarah Lawrence, Poetry. Lovely, warm phone call from Paige-Ackerson Kiely. She mentioned that AWP is this week and that they were generally swamped, but that next week would be more clear. Makes sense that other programs might also be experiencing delays due to AWP. Anyone have experience with Sarah Lawrence and/or Bronxville? Long ago, I dated a guy whose Mom lived in Westchester. It was beautiful, but tony and filled with a lot of white people (don't get me wrong, some of my best friends -- also me; although my birthfather is from Bolivia; but I currently work with uber-rich white people and I'm pretty over it). I wonder about cost of living, especially since the program is only partially funded. Would love any insights about the program or the area. Thanks so much for letting me hang with y'all here in GradCafe. I would be feeling insane right now without your generous sharing. YAY!!!!! I'm so proud of/happy for you, dear!!!! Congrats on your success. ❤️❤️❤️
goodcynara Posted March 2, 2021 Posted March 2, 2021 11 minutes ago, eternalwhitenights said: YAY!!!!! I'm so proud of/happy for you, dear!!!! Congrats on your success. ❤️❤️❤️ Ha! This GIF made me smile. Thank you so much! eternalwhitenights 1
eternalwhitenights Posted March 2, 2021 Posted March 2, 2021 9 minutes ago, goodcynara said: Ha! This GIF made me smile. Thank you so much! Mission accomplished. ? Glad it did, and congrats again. ❤️
corgeel14 Posted March 3, 2021 Posted March 3, 2021 I JUST GOT INTO SARAH LAWRENCE !!!!! Ydrl, jujubee, orangeslice and 16 others 18 1
fishfish24 Posted March 3, 2021 Posted March 3, 2021 1 hour ago, goodcynara said: First acceptance! Sarah Lawrence, Poetry. Lovely, warm phone call from Paige-Ackerson Kiely. She mentioned that AWP is this week and that they were generally swamped, but that next week would be more clear. Makes sense that other programs might also be experiencing delays due to AWP. Anyone have experience with Sarah Lawrence and/or Bronxville? Long ago, I dated a guy whose Mom lived in Westchester. It was beautiful, but tony and filled with a lot of white people (don't get me wrong, some of my best friends -- also me; although my birthfather is from Bolivia; but I currently work with uber-rich white people and I'm pretty over it). I wonder about cost of living, especially since the program is only partially funded. Would love any insights about the program or the area. Thanks so much for letting me hang with y'all here in GradCafe. I would be feeling insane right now without your generous sharing. Congrats!!!! I, too, am out of reactions, haha. But very happy for you:)
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