Fall 2017 MFA

[aheather]

40 minutes ago, pdh12 said:

Was accepted to notre dame this morning for poetry---really wishing you guys all the best luck.

This was the first program I've heard back from, and I'm in love with it.

Congrats!!!! That's so exciting!

3 minutes ago, slouching said:

Same here! It's great to see someone from here get into a program they're super excited about.

No good news yet. Have been attempting to keep myself busy and away from the internet so my grad school anxieties don't overwhelm me. Of course, just when I thought I'd cultivated a relatively relaxed approach to this whole process, I log on and see that ND and Alabama have been notifying for poetry...

On the bright side, I recently got a job offer I'm thrilled about, and just renewed my lease to stay in an apartment that I love. Trying to focus on the positive, which is totally unlike me, haha.

Congrats on the job offer!!! that's all good news! 

[pdh12]

 @slouching, it sounds like you're making Very Wise choices, which is reason enough to rejoice!  It's still so early in the notifying process, and keeping away from the Internet is seriously the best thing any of us could do....though here I am so... GOOD LUUUUUUUCK

also: THANKS to everyone--the positivity is so appreciated!!!

Edited February 17, 2017 by pdh12

[slouching]

@aheather @pdh12 thank you both for the kind words!

Aaaaand just received my WUSTL rejection, finally. 

[pdh12]

And Johns Hopkins and Iowa have started notifying in poetry!

[Sallyj]

Seeing a lot of Iowa phone calls. If we don't get a call in the next few days, is it safe to assume it's a no? 

[zen fang]

8 hours ago, pdh12 said:

Was accepted to notre dame this morning for poetry---really wishing you guys all the best luck.

This was the first program I've heard back from, and I'm in love with it.

nice, i go here for undergrad and i've fallen in love over the course of four crazy years. i can vouch for the awesome faculty.

as i haven't gotten anything from ND yet i'm guessing it's not a great result for me, so it goes!

only formal result i've had so far is waitlisting at Arizona. not an ideal result but i guess it means my work is in the ballpark of acceptance? i applied to thirteen programs. thirteen rejections (eventual or immediate) would be hard, but if that's where my life is going i guess i'll make the most of it.

[Hortense]

1 hour ago, zen fang said:

nice, i go here for undergrad and i've fallen in love over the course of four crazy years. i can vouch for the awesome faculty.

as i haven't gotten anything from ND yet i'm guessing it's not a great result for me, so it goes!

only formal result i've had so far is waitlisting at Arizona. not an ideal result but i guess it means my work is in the ballpark of acceptance? i applied to thirteen programs. thirteen rejections (eventual or immediate) would be hard, but if that's where my life is going i guess i'll make the most of it.

A waitlist from Arizona is an excellent result. They had a ton of apps this year according to folks on Draft. Good luck! 

[conch]

Have there been any other Iowa poetry acceptances in Draft, besides the two on here?

[riverrun]

Hey all, I've been shortlisted to interview at CU Boulder's MFA program. Any tips or suggestions about how to approach these interviews?  Any idea how many people are interviewed at this stage? Things to avoid, things to highlight? 

[pdh12]

@riverrun Good luck!. Some ideas:

-- do whatever research you can into the faculty (their interests, how they correlate with your's, etc)

--have questions ready, even if they're a little vague, it's a good way to be engaged/reciprocate their inquiries.

--be ready to articulate the trjectory of your work. I don't think name-dropping analogs is as important as just being able to speak through the way you think about writing.

edit: disclosure: I've interviewed for comp lit phd's, but I think these suggestions are relevant

Edited February 18, 2017 by pdh12

[pdh12]

@conch, wondering the same--what's the action on draft look like lately?

[riverrun]

Thanks @PDH12 ! Any ideas for good questions? I've been researching these places so much I really can't think of any.....

[pdh12]

@riverrun I know the feeling! It depends on your interests, though. For example one good route could be to ask about interdisciplinary opportunities, or you could ask about how the program folks (faculty and current students) are active in the community---these are things I'd be curious about, personally, and an interview's a great chance to really hear first hand. A website can only show so much

[pdh12]

have there been any Amherst poetry acceptances on draft? everything's blurring together

[aheather]

6 hours ago, pdh12 said:

have there been any Amherst poetry acceptances on draft? everything's blurring together

Two, but from daaaaays ago (I think during or before AWP????)

[Hortense]

@pdh12 Did you apply to Florida? They did acceptances and waitlists tonight for poetry and fiction. (Haven't receive a call or e-mail myself). Incredibly quick turnaround, as their deadline was Jan 15th.

??????????????????????????????????????????????????????

Edited February 19, 2017 by Hortense

[zen fang]

oh dear. I applied to Florida and i've heard nothing.

[pdh12]

@Hortense No, I didn't! funny story though--I applied there in '15 and got waitlisted, and the adcom member I emailed said it was because my poetry was "too intellectual"---it was...strange, but they seem great

 

And a Cornell fiction acceptance is up!!

Edited February 19, 2017 by pdh12

[Hortense]

53 minutes ago, pdh12 said:

@Hortense No, I didn't! funny story though--I applied there in '15 and got waitlisted, and the adcom member I emailed said it was because my poetry was "too intellectual"---it was...strange, but they seem great

 

And a Cornell fiction acceptance is up!!

Oh yeah, someone on Draft got into Cornell on Friday. All my boats are sinking!

Unsolicited advice: You should go to Notre Dame! I've decided I'm applying next year no matter how much I hate Indiana/ Midwestern winters/ religious schools. That program is sweet. Reading a novel now by Azareen Van der Vliet Oloomi and it's so good.

 

 

[pdh12]

Ahh the woe and sinking!!!

I love that vote of confidence, and you echo my only concerns: red midwestern state & Christianity school. How are they so great in such a juxtaposed place?!   Everyone on the program-specific faculty seem amazing, Joyelle has been unfailingly kind, and they're undocumented student funding thing is the shiz...but then it's all trumploving beyond the sanctuary.  

But then, that's all the more reason to get over there and stir up some change...eh this got political fast sorry

[zen fang]

Just now, pdh12 said:

Ahh the woe and sinking!!!

I love that vote of confidence, and you echo my only concerns: red midwestern state & Christianity school. How are they so great in such a juxtaposed place?!   Everyone on the program-specific faculty seem amazing, Joyelle has been unfailingly kind, and they're undocumented student funding thing is the shiz...but then it's all trumploving beyond the sanctuary.  

But then, that's all the more reason to get over there and stir up some change...eh this got political fast sorry

I don't know if you saw earlier, but I actually attend Notre Dame right now and had Joyelle for my advanced creative writing course (she wrote one of my recs actually!) - there is a strong, passionate liberal political base in the student population here and the arts & culture scenes are finally coming into their own. South Bend has been ailing for a long time but there are signs of hope, and, like you said, " all the more reason to get over there and stir up some change"!  Joyelle's perspective on the whole conundrum is right here, actually: https://bigother.com/2013/06/11/interview-with-joyelle-mcsweeney/

This is my favorite part:

" My muse-en-abyme is the Rust Belt, specifically northwest Indiana, where I live. When I moved here in 2006, the economic pain of the place was just palpable: everything was out in the open, from the foreclosed buildings to the SRO motels to the contagious violence that seemed to move around the city to the expressions on people’s faces, people’s postures. In a few years the rest of the world would reveal that it, too, was suffering. In the East Coast suburbs where I grew up, everyone hides their debt behind a façade of affluence. In fact, affluence is debt—you can afford a bigger house, bigger car, second home, new bathroom because you are managing a debt. Here there’s no façade. Capitalism has cracked here, left buildings up and left the ground and water poisoned and the community drained of resources due to rapacious attacks on the tax code. It’s reverse Wizard-of-Oz here—I fell asleep and woke up someplace made of pain, a place that couldn’t hide its pain. In this way it turned out to resemble the majority of human habitations on earth and most non-human habitats, too. "

[Hortense]

For @pdh12 and anyone else not on Draft, things finally got real today. There's a massive thread full of heated comments about application fee waivers/ class privilege in MFA admissions/ university exploitation of applicants. Everyone was being so peaceful and supportive before now. I think the stress of multiple rejections is starting to kick in for most people.

[pdh12]

@Hortense Wow, thanks for that realness update! It's kind of amazing that it held out for so long--it usually starts with one antagonizer and then erupts from there. How has your season been so far? Did you mention earlier that you got into your dream school?

so many people on draft seemed like they were going to be successful this year (maybe it's always like that?), I sort of wish i was witnessing all the acceptances, but this distance is bliss

@zen fang grateful for that interview share!!

[Hortense]

58 minutes ago, pdh12 said:

@Hortense Wow, thanks for that realness update! It's kind of amazing that it held out for so long--it usually starts with one antagonizer and then erupts from there. How has your season been so far? Did you mention earlier that you got into your dream school?

so many people on draft seemed like they were going to be successful this year (maybe it's always like that?), I sort of wish i was witnessing all the acceptances, but this distance is bliss

@pdh12 Me? No, I did not mention getting into a dream school. The season has gone abysmally, but I appreciate you asking. Most of the schools I thought I was a good fit for have either rejected me or already sent out acceptances and waitlists. Johns Hopkins is my last best hope, but the odds are longggggggg. I think my writing sample needed more work. But I learned a lot from this round of applications. Honestly, I'm already thinking about MFA Draft '18.

Oh, lots of people on Draft have been successful. Sometimes it's annoying (esp. if the person has been a non-contributor to the group and then starts bragging about an acceptance) and other times it's inspiring (esp. if it's a Draft veteran).

Incidentally, Syracuse just started notifying fiction acceptances.

Edited February 19, 2017 by Hortense

[minneaplan]

Hi everybody,

I'm brand new here. Firstly, just wanted to say that reading through this forum has helped qualm some of my anticipatory anxieties, so thank you!

I was wondering if anyone had applied to the New Writer's Project (Austin's other MFA)? And if so, have you heard anything from them? I received my Michener rejection some time ago, but anxious to hear back about this one.

Thanks!