Fall 2016 MFA

[gaudysideoftown]

On 3/1/2016 at 0:26 PM, DangerDetective said:

My last name ends with Y. As in "Y the hell am I holding out hope for this."

It does seem a little cruel. I'd rather smash my false hope than let it grow into false expectation. 

My last name starts with H, as in "How is it even possible that haven't they reached H yet?"

[FalloutCoversEverything]

There is so much news today but none of it is relevant to the programs I applied to, even though I still have 5 programs to hear from--all of which have responded by now in the past. Ah, the tension. 

[holycat]

So...y'all wanna know what NYU offered me?

 

Do you?

 

Really?

 

HALF TUITION!!!

 

What a joke! That, my friends, as @FalloutCoversEverythingwould say, is a rejection. Ah well. There go my NYC dreams because we know Columbia isn't going to cough it up. But but but...I'm grateful to the Universe and the forces within and outside it that I already have a very good offer in hand (and have yet to hear from seven schools). *takes a bow*

Thank you, @gaudysideoftown! Wishing everyone the best!

[gaudysideoftown]

@holycat, at least they offered you something! I know its not the news you wanted to hear, but now you know you're a good enough writer to get offered partial funding at NYU! That's a lot more than most people can say. 

[holycat]

2 minutes ago, gaudysideoftown said:

@holycat, at least they offered you something! I know its not the news you wanted to hear, but now you know you're a good enough writer to get offered partial funding at NYU! That's a lot more than most people can say. 

Thank you for the kind words. But everyone that gets into NYU gets at least half tuition. Unless we're considering the very fact of being accepted a compliment.  I suppose it is and I'll send them a proper thank you note once I receive all correspondences from them. (The other program is better-rated and way more selective than NYU, by the way. Don't worry, don't worry...I won't let any of it get to my head; I feel humbled and lucky. )

[gaudysideoftown]

7 minutes ago, holycat said:

Thank you for the kind words. But everyone that gets into NYU gets at least half tuition. Unless we're considering the very fact of being accepted a compliment.  I suppose it is and I'll send them a proper thank you note once I receive all correspondences from them. (The other program is better-rated and way more selective than NYU, by the way. Don't worry, don't worry...I won't let any of it get to my head; I feel humbled and lucky. )

I'm wondering if it'd be worth it to explain to them that you are interested in their program, but another program offered you better funding. Perhaps they'd be willing to match? 

[holycat]

4 hours ago, gaudysideoftown said:

I'm wondering if it'd be worth it to explain to them that you are interested in their program, but another program offered you better funding. Perhaps they'd be willing to match? 

That's what my mentor suggested too. But while I was happy to haggle with Nissan when I held up Toyota's offer and ended up getting 0% APR and all kinds of discounts on a young credit, this just didn't feel right.  You can't force someone to be more enthusiastic about working with you. They either see your potential or they don't. The folks at the other Program that made me that awesome offer obviously see my potential and the ways in which they can help me develop it. That's good for me. Chemistry is important as we look for the sort of guidance we need as budding writers. That's what I should be going after instead of chasing the clouds. I think.  

[Challenger1992]

4 minutes ago, holycat said:

That's what my mentor suggested too. But while I was happy to haggle with Nissan when I held up Toyota's offer and ended up getting 0% APR and all kinds of discounts on a young credit, this just didn't feel right.  You can't force someone to be more enthusiastic about working with you. They either see your potential or they don't. The folks at the other Program that made me that awesome offer obviously see my potential and the ways in which they can help me develop it. That's good for me. Chemistry is important as we look for the sort of guidance we need as budding writers. That's what I should be going after instead of chasing the clouds. I think.  

Very mature and reasonable approach, I would say Congratulations again  

[holycat]

15 minutes ago, Challenger1992 said:

Very mature and reasonable approach, I would say Congratulations again  

You're too kind, sir/ma'am. And thank you!

[FalloutCoversEverything]

15 hours ago, holycat said:

Thank you for the kind words. But everyone that gets into NYU gets at least half tuition. Unless we're considering the very fact of being accepted a compliment.  I suppose it is and I'll send them a proper thank you note once I receive all correspondences from them. (The other program is better-rated and way more selective than NYU, by the way. Don't worry, don't worry...I won't let any of it get to my head; I feel humbled and lucky. )

Bummer about the half tuition. Congrats again on the admit though. At least you know they liked your sample enough to accept you, even if you didn't make the cut. Think of it as a waitlist spot that never came to fruition. I do very much think you should send them an nice email describing your other offer(s) and see what they say. They might be able to use that to secure funding from the graduate school with the email in hand--they may want to fund more people, but they may not have the leverage to do so. It may be a longshot, but it is worth it. 

Also, the MFA rankings tell one very, very little about the quality of programs/faculty. Don't base your decision off of the rankings. They are literally a list of programs people applied to tallied from the "MFA draft group" on facebook put in order by popularity. In fact, they were so controversial that Poets & Writers stopped publishing them (I do think they were good in their emphasis on funding though). But yeah, NYU/Columbia dropped dramatically in the rankings because of funding--but if one gets funding, they are amazing programs with fantastic faculty. Personally, I'd much rather work with Zadie Smith than a large swath of the faculty in other programs. It's worth the email.

[sayantika]

Received a kind formal rejection from NWP. Goodbye to my UT Austin dreams.

[MatchaTea]

Anyone else check website for Johns Hopkins? I feel like I'm checking wrong...is it the "decision status" link at the bottom of the application page? Mine just says: We write to inform you that a decision has been made....decision letter by mail in next couple of weeks." 

[FalloutCoversEverything]

8 minutes ago, sayantika said:

Received a kind formal rejection from NWP. Goodbye to my UT Austin dreams.

=(

Sorry to hear about the bad news. Keep on keeping on, and remember this isn't a reflection of your ability to be a great writer. There's always other programs. There's always next application cycle.

[nightsociety]

Does anyone with access to Draft know what the process of Phase II at Ole Miss involves? How long is the usual turnaround between advancing on and notifications? 

Thanks for the info!

[NYCWriter93]

17 hours ago, holycat said:

 

What a joke! That, my friends, as @FalloutCoversEverythingwould say, is a rejection. Ah well. There go my NYC dreams because we know Columbia isn't going to cough it up. But but but...I'm grateful to the Universe and the forces within and outside it that I already have a very good offer in hand (and have yet to hear from seven schools). *takes a bow*

Thank you, @gaudysideoftown! Wishing everyone the best!

Congrats! If you don't mind, would you tell me a bit about your writing history? I am still a senior in undergrad and think it maybe wasn't the right time for me to apply. I am thinking of reapplying next year or the year after with a stronger application. 

[FalloutCoversEverything]

15 minutes ago, nightsociety said:

Does anyone with access to Draft know what the process of Phase II at Ole Miss involves? How long is the usual turnaround between advancing on and notifications? 

Thanks for the info!

Based on previous years--7-15 days. There's likely a little bit of waiting left to do.

[nightsociety]

41 minutes ago, FalloutCoversEverything said:

Based on previous years--7-15 days. There's likely a little bit of waiting left to do.

I've gotten better at waiting than writing these past weeks. 

Thank you! 

[chamsee22]

4 hours ago, MatchaTea said:

Anyone else check website for Johns Hopkins? I feel like I'm checking wrong...is it the "decision status" link at the bottom of the application page? Mine just says: We write to inform you that a decision has been made....decision letter by mail in next couple of weeks." 

This is what I have, too. It's confusing because I do see people who had more straightforward rejections on the results page.

[MPL]

Has anyone gotten an acceptance call from Iowa? I heard they mailed out decisions March 1, but I've heard traditionally those accepted get phone calls.

[DangerDetective]

43 minutes ago, MPL said:

Has anyone gotten an acceptance call from Iowa? I heard they mailed out decisions March 1, but I've heard traditionally those accepted get phone calls.

Go search through the results page. Iowa has accepted a lot of people over the phone already, according to those who posted there. 

[FalloutCoversEverything]

54 minutes ago, MPL said:

Has anyone gotten an acceptance call from Iowa? I heard they mailed out decisions March 1, but I've heard traditionally those accepted get phone calls.

As @DangerDetective said a lot of acceptances have already been posted. That said, there's a chance for a waitlist. One was posted in the results as having been received via email, but usually more than one makes it up (and they are usually received via postal service).

Re: mailing: Where'd you hear that? I'd assume there'd be some postal mail rejections posted by now (I'm sure some people in Iowa applied). That said, they might have to go through some processing on campus before actually making it to the postal service. 

Edited March 3, 2016 by FalloutCoversEverything

[kmacc84]

Hi everyone. 

 

I'm new. Hope all is as well as it can be. 

I have some questions. How do I handle a phone call from Hunter tmw? I am an applicant who lives two hours by train outside Hunter college. Is it as good as people say it is? I love Donna Masini and her work. I love the poets who teach there, it's just really hard to assess programs because I have gotten into all the ones (the others are low-residency like Vermont, Lesley, etc, except for Sarah Lawrence) I applied to so far and I like them for different reasons. All the schools have great faculty. It really comes down to money and location. I have no money, BTW. ha. 

So what do I talk about with Donna Masini on the phone tmw?

I made their "long list." What does that mean? 

I was very turned off by the first conversation I had with their (admittedly sexy-accented Australian) admissions rep when he called to tell me they needed to know if I would accept, were I admitted into the program. I said yes, I emailed them saying yes. But it hasn't happened yet, and now they want to "talk" over the phone. But if I had to commute that much, and it's all night classes meaning I don't get home until 10:30pm. I have every other day basically, two days out of the week, to do my work, write papers and poetry. Then the weekend. I have that I suppose, unlesss...ahhh. It is killing me. I don;t know if I can handle Hunter, were they to accept me, which is still a decision they are assessing. Screw that. I am going to be laid back and will assess them come 3pm when Donna calls tmw. 

 

I just hate these "wicked games." (Nobody love no one) 

 

But if you have any advice, or words o' wisdom, I'd be eternally grateful. 

[MPL]

Re: mailing: Where'd you hear that? I'd assume there'd be some postal mail rejections posted by now (I'm sure some people in Iowa applied). That said, they might have to go through some processing on campus before actually making it to the postal service. 

41 minutes ago, FalloutCoversEverything said:

As @DangerDetective said a lot of acceptances have already been posted. That said, there's a chance for a waitlist. One was posted in the results as having been received via email, but usually more than one makes it up (and they are usually received via postal service).

Re: mailing: Where'd you hear that? I'd assume there'd be some postal mail rejections posted by now (I'm sure some people in Iowa applied). That said, they might have to go through some processing on campus before actually making it to the postal service. 

Re: mailing. The admin person at Iowa told me all decision letters were mailed out March 1.

 

[Radesky]

Just reject me already Michigan :-\

 

 

[gaudysideoftown]

Michigan finally rejected me today.

Good to know I'll probably be receiving my Iowa rejection tomorrow, I guess.