literature & creative writing

[Captain Enjambment]

Woke up to great news this morning! In via post at U Georgia (in Athens) for poetry. Followed up with a flattering email from Mr. Andrew Zawacki. First acceptance after a few rejections. Very excited!

[hellodog]

My partner & I both got phone calls this afternoon from Florida State. Erin Belieu, but haven't spoken to her yet-- we got voicemails. Both in for Fiction.

[perrykm2]

Wow, that's great that you both got in together.

[hellodog]

Thanks! Happy about it, but don't know anything about funding yet, and we're probably only going to go if we both get full funding. Florida State's our first notification. Waiting on USC, Utah, & Denver-- but I think Utah & Denver are done?

[poeteer]

I thought FSU fully funded everyone, one way or another. Do you know how many they took in each genre? and congrats!

[hellodog]

Thanks! I was under the impression that FSU gives full funding for all 5 years to only a few people, and then everyone else is partially funded. But I could be wrong. A friend of mine got in 2 years in a row but didn't go because he said they wouldn't give him enough funding and he didn't want to take out more student loans. So he went elsewhere. I don't know how many FSU took in each genre, but I've been told that they take a lot more than other programs.

[poeteer]

I'd say go if they give at least 4 full years.

[Tabz]

Woke up to great news this morning! In via post at U Georgia (in Athens) for poetry. Followed up with a flattering email from Mr. Andrew Zawacki. First acceptance after a few rejections. Very excited!

Congrats!!

[anti]

Has anyone heard from Houston? I'm in a few others, waiting on Houston, Utah, WMichigan, and Ohio.

[poeteer]

where are you in, anti? Houston usually doesn't notify until later, like mid-March.

[Type Writer]

All--

I've been lurking around this site as well as http://creative-writing-mfa-handbook2.blogspot.com/. If you haven't been there, check it out. A very supportive community that I can't join because I have no Google, Twitter, Facebook, etc. account.

I've been accepted to two places in fiction--Denver and Utah--and am interested: for those who have been accepted to more than one program, what is going into your decision to attend one school over another? How are you prioritizing one program quality over another (stipend vs. faculty reputation; job placement vs. lenth of program, etc.) How seriously should we take the P&W CW PhD rankings?

Any feedback would be highly welcome. And--of course!--best of luck to everyone out there!

[poeteer]

I wouldn't take the blog ranking too seriously because it's a very, very informal ranking -- it's based on the blog poll on the sidebar of the blog. basically, the programs with the most "votes" are higher in the "ranking." So this means that the "top 10" or so (plus or minus what? two points? five points?) are probably considered "better" by the community in some extremely vague sense, but the exact order in which they appear from year to year is variable. I think Utah and Denver are similar in reputation? maybe? I don't know. they aren't so far apart, anyway, that it should really matter. but they are very different in other ways. so I would make your decision by comparing structure, funding, faculty "fit," location, etc. One factor to keep in mind is teaching; it's better for your CV to have teaching experience in creative writing and lit as well as composition. I know Utah allows students to teach creative writing and lit. Not sure about Denver, but it's probably in the handbook.

Edited February 29, 2012 by poeteer

[eriksmegs]

Type Writer: I live in Salt Lake currently, so if you have any questions about life here feel free to ask

[anti]

@ type writer:

I agree with poeteer, I wouldn't take the blog rankings too seriously or any of the rankings put out by Seth. No offense to him, but he has no way of polling everyone applying, only the percentage that tells him and the blogsphere everywhere they're applying to. For me, I'm really basing my decisions on funding, and ability to teach. Also, how much the school communicates with me, inviting me to come visit, ext... are the most important things for me.

[mr. persimmon]

Type Writer: are you leaning either way? I'm on the waitlist at Utah and am still waiting on a few other programs, but I'm curious about life in Salt Lake City too.

[eriksmegs]

Type Writer: are you leaning either way? I'm on the waitlist at Utah and am still waiting on a few other programs, but I'm curious about life in Salt Lake City too.

Anything in particular you would like to know about life in Salt Lake?

[mr. persimmon]

Hi Erik - I'm sorry, I didn't see your post above, but yes, anything you can offer about living in Salt Lake would be great. I'm mostly curious about what the university is like, the city, what the cost of living is, if it would be a good place to spend five years or more (I'm guessing it is). I currently live in the Midwest so I'm afraid I don't know a lot about living out West, but I'm very intrigued. And I'd be thrilled to attend the program.

[eriksmegs]

I like the univeristy. I didn't go there for my BA, but I did take two classes there during undergrad, and I liked the professors and the courses. The campus is beautiful (a lot of trees, right at the base of the mountains), and it is large but not too big. Our public transport line (TRAX) takes you from the campus into the heart of downtown Salt Lake in about five minutes, which is nice. Salt Lake is not a big city, but you can definitely find things to do (movies, shopping, museums). Sugarhouse, which is the area around the U, has a lot of small shops and restaurants. There are bars and clubs, but overall there is not a huge night scene in the city. If you like hiking, biking, skiing, etc., Salt Lake is a great place to be--it's 30-45 mintues to the slopes from the U. The mountains are also a nice place to camp in the summer.

The Salt Lake Valley is enclosed by mountains, which is a bit of a different experience from the Midwest (or at least from what I've seen of the Midwest). However, this makes for beautiful seasons--in the fall, the mountains glow with all the changing leaves, and in the winter, they are, of course, covered in snow. We do generally get a fair amount of snow in the winter, and summers can be warm, but we rarely break 100.

As far as cost of living goes, it's hard to tell you too much without being able to compare it to the city you're living in. I recommend trying the cost of living calculator at http://www.bestplaces.net/col/. However, I'm pretty sure cost of living is about average for the country.

So, as you might conclude, in my opinion Salt Lake is a good place to spend five or more years. Sorry this is such a long response....I could tell you more but I don't want to ramble. Let me know if you want more info about anything, and good luck!