Accept/reject mixup - has this ever happened to anyone?

[amryfal]

Forgive me if this is the wrong place for this, I'm new here.

Okay, so because of locational/family constraints, I only applied to two schools this year - the PhD in literature program at Kent State University, my MA school (graduating in May, yikes!) and the North East Ohio MFA in creative nonfiction, through Youngstown State University. The NEOMFA, for anyone unfamiliar with it, is a consortial program run by u Akron, Kent State, Cleveland State, and Youngstown State. To apply, you apply to the graduate school at one of the gateway campuses, and also to the program itself. I also applied for an assistantship, which is why I picked the YSU gateway - it's closer to home. Two years of commuting to Kent to teach (my MA was funded) and take classes...it's hellish, and I wanted to be closer.

I got accepted to the Kent literature PhD, but waitlisted for funding. (Really, Kent? I've been teaching there for two years and have an awesome GPA. Basically, the department's way of saying, "Only one prof does what you want to do, and no one else cares about you, please go somewhere else, but if not, we'll take your money, kthx.")

I got an acceptance letter from YSU: "You've been accepted into the MFA in Creative Writing! Here's your log-in info and your advisor's name!!!" I was stoked about that, but no word at all on my assistantship application. I waited a while, and finally contacted my advisor to ask who I should contact about the potential for funding.

And I got back an email saying "The NEOMFA program did not recommend you for admission. You're welcome to do your MA at YSU."

Um.

Um.

I got an acceptance letter.

NOT for the MA. Very clearly for the MFA. And no rejection letter from the NEOMFA program.

I'm sure it's a screwup between the NEOMFA committee and the YSU graduate school. YSU has, like, NO admissions standards, so they probably just said, "Sure! You're in!" before waiting to hear from the NEOMFA program. But I'm confused. (And crushed. Let's not forget crushed.) I emailed my so-called advisor *and* the program coordinator, asking--very politely, I promise--how I got an acceptance letter if I wasn't accepted. No response.

Now I have to decide whether to take the PhD offer (not my favorite program in the world, honestly--it was a last-ditch application) and try to pay for it somehow and hope to get funded off the waitlist (it happened with my master's)...or if I just adjunct for a while.

AAAAAAARGH!?!?!

[ETA: I forgot the reason I posted this here was to ask if anyone who was on the waitlist for funding for Kent's English PhD has heard anything.]

Edited March 22, 2012 by amryfal

[RosamundReage]

Yes, things like this do happen and your best bet is to contact the program director NEOMFA and tell her/him that you received an acceptance letter and than a rejection and this has placed you in a precarious situation because you were very excited about attending the program. I would ask for a face to face meeting to discuss the issue and how you could get conflicting responses. Because they have not emailed you back I would call them first thing and book an appointment. Legally if you received an actual letter of acceptance they are very much in the wrong, but be very polite and explain that you had already made plans to attend the program and are now under undue stress because of the conflicting responses. While you need to maintain professionalism you will also need to convey that you are upset because of the position this has placed you in.

[amryfal]

thank you. i'm hoping for an email today, but i haven't heard anything yet, so i will contact them. their website is very unclear and said nothing about the potential for an acceptance from the gateway but a rejection from the program...it would have made a huge difference in my plans if i'd known the possibility existed.

[nyoung0911]

"I got accepted to the Kent literature PhD, but waitlisted for funding. (Really, Kent? I've been teaching there for two years and have an awesome GPA. Basically, the department's way of saying, "Only one prof does what you want to do, and no one else cares about you, please go somewhere else, but if not, we'll take your money, kthx.")"

Amryfal...

I too am in the same boat as you regarding KSU's lit program. Again, like you, I got in...and didn't get funding. I received an email from the DGS last night: apparently, of the four fellowships they were able to offer, two of them went to people already in the program. I have two Master's degrees, very good GRE scores, etc...so, yeah, I certainly understand your last sentence above. I'm not going to go there - but I'm also out-of-state, so the tuition would not be worth it.

The other piece is that my specific email to the DGS was to ask if I might be able to get funding next year, assuming excellent progress, etc. This was when she told me about the above two students, but she kind of made it sound like they were in the heightened realms of literary excellence already. So, no, I'm not going to go. If you're really bound and determined to go this year, go and pay out of pocket. But I wouldn't. Like you said, they think you're smart...but not enough to fund you.

[amryfal]

Sorry to hear it, nyoung0911, but hopefully you got in somewhere else. kent's not a bad place, but you better believe the funding went to someone's pet MA students. which i'm not >.< i have a hard time believing that my GREs and GPA were that much worse than 8 other applicants, but it's possible. they did try to get me an adjunct class and a partial tuition remission, but i don't know if it's enough to make the politics worth it there...i hate the thought of paying for it, but i'm not sure what else to do at this point.

just out of curiosity, did they tell you *where* on the wait list you were? i'm fourth for the last spot, and the three ahead of me are all kent MAs as well...gah. here's hoping everyone gets really good offers from other schools this week.

[amryfal]

and then today i get this email from the MFA program:

First, my apologies for not getting back to you sooner. With all the admissions stuff going on it has been very busy here.

The first letter you got was your acceptance into the university, YSU, which is not the same as acceptance in to the program. You have to be accepted into both. The letters on decisions for the program just went out yesterday. (I think you will be pleased by your letter.)

I am not sure what advisor you spoke to, however, I expect that since he did not have the NEOMFA committee results he meant that you weren't yet accepted or rejected. Your NEOMFA Campus Coordinator should by now have called you to give you the news. Did he?

For your reference, your Campus Coordinator, who will also be your academic advisor is ------. He will help you register for classes at YSU and on other campuses, and will help you with all MFA related issues. The Graduate Coordinator for the YSU English Department will be able to help you with YSU related issues.

If you'd like a preview of the NEOMFA course offerings for Fall 2012, take a peek at the "Current Students" section of our website. And feel free to call me if you have any problems or questions.

All the best.

so now it sounds like i'm in? wtf? can i get off this roller coaster now????????? oddly, the campus coordinator who should have called me (and hasn't) is the same one who told me last week that i was rejected...this just gets weirder :/

[edited to fix weird font issues]

Edited March 27, 2012 by amryfal

[TeaGirl]

Perhaps your campus coordinator hadn't yet got the news when you emailed him, or got mixed up?

I'd say wait for your letter which you should be receiving very soon, and then you can email him back with an official acceptance.

Good luck, and hopefully congrats!

[spunkrag]

Mang, what a frustrating deal. Sorry this has happened.

[amryfal]

And...I'm in OFFICIALLY.

I still have to find out about funding, but for now, I'm going to bask in the glory.

Thanks to everyone who responded!