Fall 2017 MFA

[Hortense]

2 hours ago, badeyebrows said:

agreed--in general, i think the group is a good resource and a fine place to commiserate. although, as others have said, the vibe here on gradcafe just suits me better.

the "drama" that i saw this morning centered around a semi-fictional (i think?) SOP someone shared with the group. it touched on sensitive topics including rape, and then the thread escalated into comments (that i've only skimmed, for my own sanity/productivity at work) about trigger warnings, the merits of this guy's piece of writing, and a whole lot more. i think some of the other slightly more contentious threads about application fees and how/if white writers should write characters of color were interesting and mostly productive. this latest thread seems heavier on shenanigans, lighter on productivity.

ETA: maybe it's a valuable conversation and i just haven't taken the time to read it closely, so don't take my word on it

It's not shenanigans. People are serious. It's just a tempest in a teapot and no fun at all. You did the right thing by not reading it closely.

UPDATE: They deleted the entire conversation. All is safe again.

Edited February 22, 2017 by Hortense

[MFA17OrBust]

So, do we think Iowa has finished acceptance notifications? 

[Hortense]

23 minutes ago, MFA17OrBust said:

So, do we think Iowa has finished acceptance notifications? 

I'm guessing no. There just aren't that many notifications on Grad Cafe or Draft. They admit 50 people total, so I'm guessing there'll be more. Also, I think in years past the acceptances were spread out. Hope I'm right, but I don't have any inside information.

Edited February 22, 2017 by Hortense

[MFA17OrBust]

4 minutes ago, Hortense said:

I'm guessing no. There just aren't that many notifications on Grad Cafe or Draft. They admit 50 people total, so I'm guessing there'll be more. Also, I think in years past the acceptances were spread out. Hope I'm right, but I don't have any inside information.

Thank you, @Hortense. Sounds right. Sure appreciate the insight. 

[manandcamel]

If anybody else applied to Wisconsin, they've sent all notices. 

[Tif]

1 hour ago, Hortense said:

It's not shenanigans. People are serious. It's just a tempest in a teapot and no fun at all. You did the right thing by not reading it closely.

UPDATE: They deleted the entire conversation. All is safe again.

Ah, that must be why I didn't see it. I was all like, "What? When? Where?" ?

[BLeonard]

I just joined Draft thanks to this thread - like two days ago. Hoo boy, that fictional SOP was something. 

[Chickenrun]

On 2/21/2017 at 10:36 AM, slouching said:

Finally rejected from Minnesota. There goes my dream of being close to Paisley Park.

Rejected from fiction at UMN. Goodbye, Charles Baxter. I suppose I will find someone else to mentor me. 

Edited February 23, 2017 by Chickenrun

[BLeonard]

TFW you see the first calls for NYU going out....

[pdh12]

=O

[manandcamel]

@BLeonard rooting for you!

[manandcamel]

I've been waitlisted at Michigan! There's a post on Draft atm that's curbing some of my enthusiasm BUT I'm so hopeful.

[badeyebrows]

48 minutes ago, manandcamel said:

I've been waitlisted at Michigan! There's a post on Draft atm that's curbing some of my enthusiasm BUT I'm so hopeful.

congrats! hold onto your enthusiasm and x out of that post!

[pdh12]

@manandcamel that's amaziiiiiiiing!!!!

[MFA17OrBust]

1 hour ago, manandcamel said:

I've been waitlisted at Michigan! There's a post on Draft atm that's curbing some of my enthusiasm BUT I'm so hopeful.

CONGRATULATIONS, @manandcamel !!!

[Hortense]

1 hour ago, manandcamel said:

I've been waitlisted at Michigan! There's a post on Draft atm that's curbing some of my enthusiasm BUT I'm so hopeful.

:-)

[BLeonard]

Congrats, @manandcamel!

[Scheherazade]

2 hours ago, manandcamel said:

I've been waitlisted at Michigan! There's a post on Draft atm that's curbing some of my enthusiasm BUT I'm so hopeful.

Congrats!

4 hours ago, BLeonard said:

TFW you see the first calls for NYU going out....

Ugh, I feel you. I got a call from an unknown Manhattan phone number today, but it was just a courtesy call to remind me of my doctor's appointment tomorrow. This is my fourth false alarm, so I can only assume that I have a secret archenemy who is conspiring to give me a heart attack via prank phone calls.

[BLeonard]

17 minutes ago, Scheherazade said:

Congrats!

Ugh, I feel you. I got a call from an unknown Manhattan phone number today, but it was just a courtesy call to remind me of my doctor's appointment tomorrow. This is my fourth false alarm, so I can only assume that I have a secret archenemy who is conspiring to give me a heart attack via prank phone calls.

 

I never answer a number I don't recognize, but I did it at least once today. False alarm! 

[pdh12]

Yes, all of this.

and fwiw, it looks like just fiction notifications have gone out from nyu (?)

[BLeonard]

@pdh12 , where are you seeing that. I'm not seeing anything on Draft - it seems like Poetry went out, but not Fiction - or Grad Cafe.

[Scheherazade]

4 minutes ago, BLeonard said:

I never answer a number I don't recognize, but I did it at least once today. False alarm! 

With the exception of 800 numbers, every unknown number I've gotten a call from in the past month has been from an area where one of my MFA programs is located. Conclusion: the universe hates me.

Re: the genre of the acceptance, it's listed as fiction. The poster mentioned getting a call from Deborah Landau; even though she's a poet, she may be calling everyone since she's the program director.

[BLeonard]

Based on the TGC listing, it's international. My spouse seemed to indicate that they might be - might be - calling international students first.

Edited February 23, 2017 by BLeonard

[Scheherazade]

23 minutes ago, BLeonard said:

Based on the TGC listing, it's international. My spouse seemed to indicate that they might be - might be - calling international students first.

A different accepted student on Draft mentioned that she thinks they're notifying fellowship recipients first. That said, she is also international, so that could be the case as well.

All but two of my schools have started sending out fiction acceptances, so I'm more or less considering my season finished. I'll be thrilled if by some miracle I get an acceptance or waitlist, but I'm not holding out hope. In hindsight, I realize I should've used more diverse stories in my sample; I sent in two that had a number of surface similarities. Numerous people told me that showcasing my best writing was more important than exhibiting range, so I used two recently published stories that tackled the same theme. Independently, I think the stories were strong, but read together, they might have portrayed me as someone who can only write one type of story.

Knowing this, I'm confident that I can assemble a better sample for next year. It was heartbreaking to realize I wasn't going to an MFA in the fall, but I'm trying not to dwell on the disappointment.

[leogursk]

1 hour ago, Scheherazade said:

With the exception of 800 numbers, every unknown number I've gotten a call from in the past month has been from an area where one of my MFA programs is located. Conclusion: the universe hates me.

SAME. It's making me crazy.