MFA Poetry applicants

[MoJuiced]

I can certainly relate.

 

I really dislike receiving rejection emails in the middle of the night so I have something nice to wake up to. Meanwhile, I'm all eager anticipation during the daylight hours.

[mmt34c25]

Here is another little something to refer to when you get those silly rejections, at least it has eased the sting of my first rejection:

 

[pdh12]

YES!!!! The absolute glory! But staring at it has become extremely disturbing...I don't know if I should throw up or feel bad about society.

[mmt34c25]

YES!!!! The absolute glory! But staring at it has become extremely disturbing...I don't know if I should throw up or feel bad about society.

Haha, feel bad about society, at least staring at this will get your mind of waiting to hear back from schools! I also don't know if it is okay to be comparing my "body" of work or anyone else's to Honey Boo-Boo's belly. Hopefully no one takes offense . 

[MoJuiced]

This is hilarious. I'm the one who (mis)quoted Honey Boo Boo for my Michigan rejection. 

 

[mmt34c25]

You are the best! I wanted to "like" it but couldn't. You've definitely made my life better because I will think of this overtime I get a rejection. I guess I will forgive the fact your alma mater is kU since you are funny! And Michigan doesn't know what's good, neither does Syracuse. 

 

 

This is hilarious. I'm the one who (mis)quoted Honey Boo Boo for my Michigan rejection. 

 

[MoJuiced]

HAHAHAHA! Oh yeah, Mizzou, right...  ;-) You're cool in my book; we know what's good.

 

Here's something else amusing

[mmt34c25]

Very nice! 

[mmt34c25]

So, it looks as if the poets at GMU are sticking to the true nature of poets in their lateness. While I know for a fact nonfiction TA applicants were called for interviews a few weeks ago, I just got a call this morning about scheduling a TA interview at George Mason. They will be doing them the 18th-21st. Good luck to any other applicants!

[MoJuiced]

Congrats!

[mmt34c25]

Congrats!

Thank you! I hope you hear something soon from one of the schools you have yet to hear from. I almost applied to IU they have a great faculty as does Alabama. I know several people who went to Alabama and they are all beyond phenomenal writers. Do you have a top choice?

[MoJuiced]

Indiana and Brown at this point. However, I only applied to programs that I really wanted to attend -- the cost of sweeping me away from LFK. Each has it's unique qualities so it's a win-win-win-win if I can just get in-in-in-in. 

 

Le Sigh.

[pdh12]

I'm dying to go to IU, but looking back at my application I realize I have less than a margin of a chance....in my SOP I talked about my interest in translation thinking the MFA had an inclusive translation tract, but got it confused with Iowa! It is a New England fault--all those states in the midwest are the same to us!  Do you think I could send the admissions committee that disclaimer? ;p

 

My desire to pursue poetry studies has only deepened during this app process. So happy for you, smiling-picture-girl, who has secured an interview!

[mmt34c25]

Haha, I know how you feel. The application process makes certain you are as enamored as possible with the programs you apply to and with writing. 

 

If it makes you feel any better I misspelled Cincinnati in my header for my U of Cin application (I don't know how I missed that) and last year my friend spelled stock as stalk in her personal statement (it also was sent to U of Cin), so it is safe to say they think we can't spell. Don't count yourself out on anything though until it is set in stone, if your passion came through in your personal statement and you have a strong writing sample it will speak volumes. 

 

Also, in the midwest all you tiny eastern states are the same! I was out in Maryland several months ago and it boggled my mind that I could go through so many states in so few hours. Just sit tight, keep your fingers crossed, and you will end up where you should be. Worst case scenario you don't get funding and don't go (I don't know if that is where you are at or not with things). Last year Emerson accepted me but didn't offer enough funding, so I worked on my writing for another year and started working for the journal River Styx. 

 

And you can call me Melanie! Also, if you want to check out some phenomenal translations look up "The Arrival" by Daniel Simko. The name of who translated the poems into English isn't coming to me right now, but they are beautiful. It is by far my favorite book of poetry.

[mmt34c25]

Indiana and Brown at this point. However, I only applied to programs that I really wanted to attend -- the cost of sweeping me away from LFK. Each has it's unique qualities so it's a win-win-win-win if I can just get in-in-in-in. 

 

Le Sigh.

My fingers are crossed for you, IU has a faculty member that is really into incorporating components of hip-hop into their work, right? Or am I making that up?

[pdh12]

Melanie, your words are a soothing balm, you seem really emotionally well-rounded. And yes! I read 'The Arrival', it's gorgeous. 

 

I had wondered about Emerson, too! They gave me a free application, but I haven't fully completed it, fearing that I'd be accepted with no funding (which feels like an insult, in a way).  Is that the case? Do they only partially-fund their MFA students? Hmm...

[mmt34c25]

Melanie, your words are a soothing balm, you seem really emotionally well-rounded. And yes! I read 'The Arrival', it's gorgeous. 

 

I had wondered about Emerson, too! They gave me a free application, but I haven't fully completed it, fearing that I'd be accepted with no funding (which feels like an insult, in a way).  Is that the case? Do they only partially-fund their MFA students? Hmm...

Emotionally well rounded? You make me chuckle!

 

Supposedly (I have not researched this, but it is what I have heard), last year was the last year (or this current year that will end in spring) is the last year Emerson will offer funding. Even if this is false info Emerson does not offer TA spots, although your second year or second semester (I can't remember which) you can TA at a couple other Universities in the area. To do this you have to apply and the faculty chooses two-ish people out of everyone who applies and the stipend is minimal.

 

As for the funding they offered last year I believe there were four $5k fellowship grants, two $10k, and one that was $15 or $18k. I am fuzzy on the exact details but these fellowships are dispersed among the approx 45 students accepted to the program each year (the exact number and amounts are probably off). It seems they favor fiction writers, which is no surprise as the department head last year was a fiction writer. To my knowledge of the 10-ish poetry applicants only one received funding and it was $5k.

 

Emerson also extended their deadline last year to apply, twice, which was the only reason I applied. I think they are struggling to get good applicants with their lack of funding. 

 

I attended their welcoming day as well and at the end of the second day they had a get together at a local venue where faculty were supposed to be present so you could meet them and talk with them as well as current students, other applicants, etc. but, the grad director and Pamela Painter were the only people who showed up faculty-wise giving the impression the faculty didn't really care.

 

I am not saying Emerson is a bad program, they have great journals and some great faculty members and alum. Be cautious though! 

Edited March 6, 2014 by mmt34c25

[mmt34c25]

It may be a waste of time to dwell on it now, but is anyone willing to share a poem from their manuscript? Here's one that I included:

Spring

Mounds of moss' mouths

are right now opening at once

mosses of mound's mouths

are chewing the petals

doing the work of the mortar and pestle

filling with powders of petals.

Mouths expanding to mountain size

the skies are shaped by the fragments of pollen

escaping from the corners of sly smiles expanding

like mountains. The children tilt their faces

toward the lilac saturation

stretch their tongues wide

catch the incantations.

If I am not incorrect doesn't posting something like this on here make it unpublishable? Or has it already been published? Regardless if you haven't sent this to Bitter Oleander that might be a good journal to try to submit to. Thanks for sharing! I would share one, but I am wary that it would result in my poem being unpublishable (like I said I am not 100% certain about these rules). However, here is a link to my first publication from a couple years back http://issuu.com/barelysouth/docs/barely_south_review_-_april_2012 and a newer one http://www.rappahannockreview.com/issue-1-2/homemade/

Rappahannock is a great new journal (Check all they have in both issues out and submit there too!). 

[kelseygwynne]

Hey ya'll!

 

I'm currently debating which MFA program to enter. I've gotten into The New School (can't afford), Columbia College Chicago (can't afford), NC States, and Florida International University. I am heavily leaning toward FIU because of their amazing faculty--Denise Duhamel is my favorite poet, oh, EVER--but I am still unsure and April 15 is fast approaching. Good luck to you all in similarly hard decisions!

[seaeffess]

Hey guys! Has anyone heard anything about NYU's waiting list? I've had two emails ages ago (specifying I'm not to call or ask them any whens or ifs) and nothing since. I'd be really grateful to hear from anyone who's been accepted outright or who has been contacted from the wait list. 

 

I am also curious to know if anyone has been waitlisted by a certain school and asked in that waitlist email not to post online? I don't want to divulge the name of the school but I am curious about whether this is a common practice. 

 

Finally, is anyone accepted to Columbia for poetry and probably going? I would love to discuss! 

 

Finally, because we can poem here, Allen Ginsberg's A Supermarket in California (please excuse the bastardized spacing :

 

What thoughts I have of you tonight, Walt Whitman, for I walked down the sidestreets under the trees with a headache

self-conscious looking at the full moon.
In my hungry fatigue, and shopping for images, I went
into the neon fruit supermarket, dreaming of your enumerations!
What peaches and what penumbras! Whole families
shopping at night! Aisles full of husbands! Wives in the
avocados, babies in the tomatoes!--and you, Garcia Lorca, what
were you doing down by the watermelons?

I saw you, Walt Whitman, childless, lonely old grubber,
poking among the meats in the refrigerator and eyeing the grocery
boys.
I heard you asking questions of each: Who killed the
pork chops? What price bananas? Are you my Angel?
I wandered in and out of the brilliant stacks of cans
following you, and followed in my imagination by the store
detective.
We strode down the open corridors together in our
solitary fancy tasting artichokes, possessing every frozen
delicacy, and never passing the cashier.

Where are we going, Walt Whitman? The doors close in
an hour. Which way does your beard point tonight?
(I touch your book and dream of our odyssey in the
supermarket and feel absurd.)
Will we walk all night through solitary streets? The
trees add shade to shade, lights out in the houses, we'll both be
lonely.

Will we stroll dreaming of the lost America of love
past blue automobiles in driveways, home to our silent cottage?
Ah, dear father, graybeard, lonely old courage-teacher,
what America did you have when Charon quit poling his ferry and
you got out on a smoking bank and stood watching the boat
disappear on the black waters of Lethe?

[pdh12]

Officially wondering if there will be a re-awakening of applicants this go-around....

[Juniperberry]

I think most of them are in the FB group (MFA Draft '15). It's so much nicer and quieter around here though...