Fall 2016 MFA

[chamsee22]

15 hours ago, holycat said:

Ever checked out UCI's MFA reading series, by the way? Attended one for the first time this winter and have been kicking myself for not having done so much earlier.

There's one scheduled in Pasadena, interesting... I'll definitely look into it! Thanks for the rec! And good luck with your UCI app. It'd be my dream school if I were planning on staying in Cali. *fingers crossed for you*

[holycat]

Thank you, thank you, @chamsee22! But feel free to uncross your fingers as necessary; I don't want them to be out of business on my account.

Congrats on the acceptance, @sayantika! Hope something better comes along. 

For those of you who have applied to Brown and haven't combed through the Program's web pages yet, I stumbled upon a page last night that said their review period is from Dec 15 to Feb 15. Does that mean they're done reviewing? O.o According to one of my spreadsheets *ahem*, the earliest they have notified fiction applicants in the past several years is February 25th, with most notifications coming second week of March. I think. I could be wrong. In any case, regardless of when notifications will come, it's possible that our fates vis a vis Brown have already been decided.

The last week of February is almost upon us, folks! The next three weeks are gonna be craaaazy for a lot of us! Days haven't been this long since I was twelve (back in the days of so much eagerness to grow up fast and be taken seriously)! 

Edited February 17, 2016 by holycat

[Radesky]

2 hours ago, holycat said:

The last week of February is almost upon us, folks! The next three weeks are gonna be craaaazy for a lot of us! Days haven't been this long since I was twelve (back in the days of so much eagerness to grow up fast and be taken seriously)! 

FYI, the past two years Michigan has notified on Feb 18.

I wonder if other disciplines have people as neurotic as this one... sigh :/ I should have been a banker or an engineer. 

[holycat]

2 hours ago, Radesky said:

FYI, the past two years Michigan has notified on Feb 18.

I wonder if other disciplines have people as neurotic as this one... sigh :/ I should have been a banker or an engineer. 

Unfortunately, I did not apply to Michigan. Wish I did now...just to hear something tomorrow.

And I think everyone goes crazy over waiting; you should check out the other threads. But most other programs also seem to have rolling admissions. Many grad school applicants have been getting notifications since December (maybe for Spring?). Ours are concentrated around late January - April, it seems. 

[GlowStick]

Okay, I haven't heard back from seven of my eight schools, but I'm bored and need to do something constructive with my energy. So, does anyone know anything about reapplying to the same school or schools next year?

I know Boston makes you turn in new EVERYTHING (including three totally different references, which is horrible) if you reapply, but what about other schools? I mean, I would assume most places would take the same letters of reference, and I'm definitely going to completely rewrite my SoP, but I guess I'm curious about the writing sample. Would I need to turn in a portfolio of completely different poems? Can I keep some poems? Can I keep some poems if I substantially edit them? If I only do some minor editing? I don't know if there are any standards for this, but if anyone has any idea, please let me know!

[karosko]

I applied to Minnesota, Syracuse, New Writers Project, Michener Center, and North Carolina St.

I've already gotten rejections from Minnesota, Syracuse, and the Michener Center, and just today I got my first acceptance from NCSU (woohoo!). Now I'm eagerly awaiting word from the New Writers Project--anybody have any idea when they usually send out letters?

[gaudysideoftown]

11 hours ago, GlowStick said:

Okay, I haven't heard back from seven of my eight schools, but I'm bored and need to do something constructive with my energy. So, does anyone know anything about reapplying to the same school or schools next year?

I know Boston makes you turn in new EVERYTHING (including three totally different references, which is horrible) if you reapply, but what about other schools? I mean, I would assume most places would take the same letters of reference, and I'm definitely going to completely rewrite my SoP, but I guess I'm curious about the writing sample. Would I need to turn in a portfolio of completely different poems? Can I keep some poems? Can I keep some poems if I substantially edit them? If I only do some minor editing? I don't know if there are any standards for this, but if anyone has any idea, please let me know!

I don't know what the specific guidelines are (I'm sure it varies by program), but if I were you, I wouldn't submit the same material to the same program without heavily revising it. Chances are, the same committee of people will look over it again, and you don't want to give them the impression that you haven't written anything new in a year's time. 

I would recommend applying to different programs if you want to use the same sample. Rejection doesn't always mean you're not a good writer; a lot of times it just means you're not a good fit for the specific program.

As far as references go, I guess that's something to email the school about. If I have to reapply next year, I'm not going to bother with schools that require a whole new set of references because that's just ridiculous.

[JenP]

12 hours ago, GlowStick said:

Okay, I haven't heard back from seven of my eight schools, but I'm bored and need to do something constructive with my energy. So, does anyone know anything about reapplying to the same school or schools next year?

I know Boston makes you turn in new EVERYTHING (including three totally different references, which is horrible) if you reapply, but what about other schools? I mean, I would assume most places would take the same letters of reference, and I'm definitely going to completely rewrite my SoP, but I guess I'm curious about the writing sample. Would I need to turn in a portfolio of completely different poems? Can I keep some poems? Can I keep some poems if I substantially edit them? If I only do some minor editing? I don't know if there are any standards for this, but if anyone has any idea, please let me know!

Agree with previous poster about substantially editing and/or adding new material for the same reasons. You could also try publishing some of your poems in lit mags in the meantime -- I feel like if they are of publishable quality, without question you should include them (while noting when and where they were published.) It will come down to whether or not your work is a good fit for the school, not whether your work is a good fit for the world.

 

Same references should be fine. Unless they really loved your sample and the rest of your application, chances are, they didn't even read your reference letters (or read them hard enough) to remember them next year. Maybe that's pessimistic. But reference letters are all going to look pretty similar at the end of the day, right?

 

I applied to the same school a second time (haven't heard back) and I applied from fiction to poetry, so my writing sample looks a lot different.

 

 

 

[JenP]

So...if you've seen some acceptances from schools you've applied to but haven't received a rejection yet (not have you seen any rejections), at what point (if ever) would you email the director about a status update? It feels premature, but I'M DYINGGGG. 

[FalloutCoversEverything]

@GlowStick I wouldn't send the same sample, especially to schools you've been rejected from. If you don't get in anywhere, maybe take it as an opportunity to take a summer program (Jupiter / Iowa / Naropa ) or an online workshop. You'll likely end up with a much better packet of writing and you might do substantially better next go around. I mean, you have the greater part of a year to work on two documents--writing sample and statement of purpose, why not make the most of it. But hopefully we'll both get in programs and not have to worry about it. =)

I also agree with @JenP that sending stuff out to journals isn't a bad idea either. Maybe make a habit of trying to write things to send out so you can build a substantial portfolio to pick from for next year. 

That said, sometimes it is HARD to write stuff (/ progress as a writer) while working / not in school. That's why I think the writing workshops might not be a bad idea.

[sayantika]

Congratulations @karosko! I had applied to ncsu fiction, no news yet. Have they sent all the acceptances? Waiting is making me crazy!

[nightsociety]

Any word on University of Michigan fiction? I know they usually notify acceptances around this time. 

[Radesky]

@karosko congrats!

 

46 minutes ago, nightsociety said:

Any word on University of Michigan fiction? I know they usually notify acceptances around this time. 

Today or tomorrow, supposedly, from previous grad cafe records. Needless to say, my productivity has been shot. 

[karosko]

Thanks for the congratulations, @Radesky and @sayantika!!! I'm glad I got in somewhere and am a longtime fan of Dorianne Laux's work, so I'm excited to potentially work with her as my thesis advisor. And she was very sweet and helpful in our (longish) phone conversation yesterday.

To answer your question, @sayantika, I got an email directly from Laux, so I would guess that even though the poetry decisions have been made, that doesn't necessarily mean the fiction decisions have been made. I wouldn't sweat it yet. 

And if anyone else applied to/is wondering about the New Writers Project, I made a polite phone call this morning and they will be sending out decisions next week. 

[gaudysideoftown]

Somebody just posted a Michigan acceptance. Do you guys think they sent out all acceptances at once? 

[gaudysideoftown]

Apparently they usually all go out at once (according to a UMich MFA alum). Guess I'll cross that one off my list too. Down to 6 I guess. 

[chamsee22]

I think I've read that they do fire those out all at once but I hope not!

Brb, freaking out(!!)

[gaudysideoftown]

I mean, it's a known thing that acceptances have gone out on the 18th in the past. This could be a troll messing with us. 

[manoshij]

@sayantika congratulations! This anxiety's kinda killing me as well! :/ Did they mail you the conversation or phone?

Many congratulations to the others who have been accepted, many many kudos to you all! 

[chamsee22]

If you look up Michigan on the results someone says they called the office and were told that results are going out at the end of Feb. What am I to believe?? 

Still freaking out btw

[DangerDetective]

I'm on the same page as @chamsee22. @gaudysideoftown, could you link to the post where you saw the Michigan acceptance? Sorry - just nervous and curious. Cervous. Nervurious? 

[nightsociety]

http://thegradcafe.com/survey/index.php?q=fiction&t=a&o=&pp=100

8 minutes ago, DangerDetective said:

I'm on the same page as @chamsee22. @gaudysideoftown, could you link to the post where you saw the Michigan acceptance? Sorry - just nervous and curious. Cervous. Nervurious? 

 

[chamsee22]

If you're talking about that one Michigan acceptance it should be on this page:

http://thegradcafe.com/survey/index.php?q=creative+writing&t=a&o=&pp=100

You should rotate between searching for fiction, creative writing, and the school's name in the results. Or not, and keep your sanity.

 

[DangerDetective]

18 minutes ago, chamsee22 said:

If you're talking about that one Michigan acceptance it should be on this page:

http://thegradcafe.com/survey/index.php?q=creative+writing&t=a&o=&pp=100

You should rotate between searching for fiction, creative writing, and the school's name in the results. Or not, and keep your sanity.

 

Sanity? Why start now? 

Thanks for the link. I've been doing fiction* and writing* , but I'll keep checking. 

[LexieB]

I think the Michigan poster was a troll. I've seen more notifications go out that they aren't notifying people yet. (Though I'm happy for them if they did get accepted. I'm just skeptical at this point.)