Fall 2017 MFA

[Hortense]

@sheherazade I'm in the same boat as you, i.e., one or two programs left who haven't notified. And, honestly, my odds of getting into those programs are nil. JHU was the last school I was hopeful about. So I'm disengaging from the MFA app season as of now. And I'm already starting to have a sense of relief. This whole process has been psychologically onerous. I've had writer's block since January, and normally I never get writer's block. I'm already starting to look forward to writing again. Good luck in 2018!

[aridari]

1 hour ago, Scheherazade said:

 Welp, I guess that's another program I can cross off my list. With one school left to notify, I'm already starting to work on my applications for 2018. I wish I had started earlier last year; even though I felt good about my SOP back in December, I've found all sorts of ways to make it better. Lesson learned: let drafts simmer before sending them out into the application abyss.

Abyss is right...it's great you're thinking ahead though. It's my second year and I've learned it's never too early to start preparing. I don't have many inspirational things to share though, judging by how the season is going for me so far. But you never know! Maybe that last school will be it. Is this your first app season?

[MFA17OrBust]

52 minutes ago, Hortense said:

@sheherazade I'm in the same boat as you, i.e., one or two programs left who haven't notified. And, honestly, my odds of getting into those programs are nil. JHU was the last school I was hopeful about. So I'm disengaging from the MFA app season as of now. And I'm already starting to have a sense of relief. This whole process has been psychologically onerous. I've had writer's block since January, and normally I never get writer's block. I'm already starting to look forward to writing again. Good luck in 2018!

Best of luck, @Hortense, and I'm glad you'll be writing again. Thank you for all your support on this forum.

 

Edited March 2, 2017 by MFA17OrBust

[aridari]

@Hortense it's good to disengage. This entire process is really brutal, and you deserve a break! Best of luck next season, and in your future writings!

[Everyday Inn]

9 hours ago, Scheherazade said:

Good point about the divide between funded and unfunded students. That was a big consideration for me; I applied mostly to places that fund all students equally or close to it. When I picked programs, I looked for ones that emphasized camaraderie over competition, and I feel like uneven funding inherently creates a hierarchy. 

 

On 3/1/2017 at 8:30 AM, manandcamel said:

A few weeks ago I messaged a CNF guy there, who says he really likes it there, but he dislikes the divide between funded TAs and non funded MFA students. He said it created cliques.

Great point. I finally got into Draft (and learned the suspicious pizza superstition), and did a "math post" on it last night. If 80% accepted students are funded in school A, and A's acceptance rate is 10%, that's 8% chance to be funded. Meanwhile, if school B funds all its accepted students, with an acceptance rate as low as 5%, applying to school B actually has a lower chance of getting fully funded.

That was my point last night. 

Now I have a second thought. Thanks to you. I imagine myself sitting in an MFA classroom, being the only one (or two) student without funding. That's terrible. Also, when hanging out with my fellow writer classmates, they might be talking all over about their stupid undergrad students, how to teach them the ABCs of creative writing as a TA, and complaining about the school's "poor" funding and other forms of financial aids...eventually I'll stop going out with them. 

In programs that fully fund half their students, (NYU for instance), I also can picture the tension between fully funded students and the other... 

Edited March 2, 2017 by Everyday Inn

[sadpoet]

Not gonna lie, last night I ate half a pizza and had a dream about an acceptance to BU. Can I think of this as a positive sign?

 

I'm sincerely hoping.

[Scheherazade]

10 hours ago, aridari said:

Abyss is right...it's great you're thinking ahead though. It's my second year and I've learned it's never too early to start preparing. I don't have many inspirational things to share though, judging by how the season is going for me so far. But you never know! Maybe that last school will be it. Is this your first app season?

This is my first application season. True, I could still hear some good news, but it seems so unlikely that I'm not holding out hope. Better to look forward and potentially get a pleasant surprise than to dwell on disappointment. I've heard plenty of inspirational stories about people applying several years in a row, so I haven't abandoned my MFA dreams yet. I think it's important to remember that a rejection isn't a referendum on your worth as a writer or person, though it sometimes feels like it is.

Speaking of rejection, someone on the admissions results page mentioned accessing a (terse) rejection letter via the Johns Hopkins portal. But when I checked, my application is listed only as "submitted" with no link to a decision. I'd really prefer a swift notification; otherwise, it feels like being rejected multiple times. For the University of Maryland, for instance, I had long presumed my rejection before verifying it on the portal. And as if that wasn't enough, I got another rejection notification via email several days later. Why don't you dig in the knife in a little deeper, UMD?

@Hortense, best of luck with your writing! I emphasize completely. After a long writing drought, I've started focusing on fiction again, which has been the best salve for this torturous season.

[manandcamel]

5 hours ago, Everyday Inn said:

Great point. I finally got into Draft (and learned the suspicious pizza superstition), and did a "math post" on it last night. If 80% accepted students are funded in school A, and A's acceptance rate is 10%, that's 8% chance to be funded. Meanwhile, if school B funds all its accepted students, with an acceptance rate as low as 5%, applying to school B actually has a lower chance of getting fully funded.

I've done the same mental gymnastics over and again. It's difficult to stop thinking about, and paints a bleak image of MFAs. Sorry I put that on you. 

[manandcamel]

@Hortense thanks for all your support on here. I hope things work out for you!

If anybody is withdrawing from this thread but wants critiques for next season, please message me. I was very grateful I could exchange drafts with one of my friends before applying this year. I know an extra set of eyes helps, especially if you've been out of workshop a while or don't have another reader to cycle through your work. 

[momorenae]

I got an odd email and was wondering if anyone else had encountered this situation. I've gotten no indication that I've been accepted to this school but received an email from Financial Aid with a student ID and login credentials. I'm inclined to think that it's a mistake but would like a second opinion. What do you think?

[manandcamel]

@momorenae could it be that you met the qualifications of the grad school, but haven't yet been approved by the crwr department? Could you check your app portal or the log in to see if there is more information, like a status update? 

[momorenae]

7 minutes ago, manandcamel said:

@momorenae could it be that you met the qualifications of the grad school, but haven't yet been approved by the crwr department? Could you check your app portal or the log in to see if there is more information, like a status update? 

 

No status updates in the app portal (says I'd receive an email with the decision) but the Fin Aid portal goes through and says I'm being considered for priority funding. I'm not willing to get my hopes up because they'd crash terribly if this was some mistake!

[manandcamel]

@momorenae has the school started notifying yet?

[Beta Mike]

@Sleam @badeyebrows New member (been lurking for a couple months) and fellow nonfiction applicant here.  My season started with a rejection from one of my favorite programs: Arizona.  Minnesota then rejected me.  But then came a ray of sunshine: an acceptance at NAU.  They still haven't notified me of their funding offer, which is creating a new kind of unique and protracted agony, but it's certainly nice to have an acceptance under my belt.

I applied to a single PhD program in clinical psych about 6 years ago and learned a great deal from that process, including the hoary adage 'don't put all your eggs in one basket.'

If things don't work out for you this season (my condolences badeyebrows), I'd advise you to widen your search if at all possible (I applied to 12 schools this time around).  Northern Arizona isn't a top-ranked program, but the faculty there seem amazing.  Their funding situation is also not perfect, but I found a handful of very appealing programs (Fresno State, Montana, Moscow Idaho) that fund approximately 50-75% of their applicants, so it's certainly not necessary to only apply to fully-funded programs.

I was also rejected by NWP in Iowa.  This, combined with rejections at AZ and UMN are indicative that maybe my application wasn't top-tier material, but I'm very glad that I widened my search and included the likes of NAU.  There are so many complicated and very personal decisions to make throughout this agonizing process, but if NAU offers me funding, I'll be over the moon at the prospect of going there, even though it may not be an uber-elite program.  As of right now, it seems like a better option than waiting another year and reapplying elsewhere...

[Beta Mike]

2 hours ago, momorenae said:

No status updates in the app portal (says I'd receive an email with the decision) but the Fin Aid portal goes through and says I'm being considered for priority funding. I'm not willing to get my hopes up because they'd crash terribly if this was some mistake!

I had a similar experience with NAU.  I got an email from the graduate school saying I had been recommended for admissions.  It threw me off, but the creative writing department emailed me with a formal acceptance the following day.  I think it's definitely a good sign for you!

[Beta Mike]

Ugh, just got another rejection.  University of New Mexico, nonfiction.

[aridari]

11 hours ago, Scheherazade said:

This is my first application season. True, I could still hear some good news, but it seems so unlikely that I'm not holding out hope. Better to look forward and potentially get a pleasant surprise than to dwell on disappointment. I've heard plenty of inspirational stories about people applying several years in a row, so I haven't abandoned my MFA dreams yet. I think it's important to remember that a rejection isn't a referendum on your worth as a writer or person, though it sometimes feels like it is.

Speaking of rejection, someone on the admissions results page mentioned accessing a (terse) rejection letter via the Johns Hopkins portal. But when I checked, my application is listed only as "submitted" with no link to a decision. I'd really prefer a swift notification; otherwise, it feels like being rejected multiple times. For the University of Maryland, for instance, I had long presumed my rejection before verifying it on the portal. And as if that wasn't enough, I got another rejection notification via email several days later. Why don't you dig in the knife in a little deeper, UMD?

You've got a good mentality. Best of luck preparing for the next cycle! If there's anything I can confirm, it's that time goes fast and it'll be time to apply in no time. 

Same thing for me, in terms of the jhu portal. Though idk if you're on draft, but several posters there mentioned having a different message (something along the lines of "we are mailing you the decision"), which some people think is code for a waitlist. I have no idea, but like you, I want them to just be done with it already. It really shouldn't be hard to have all the rejections up at once ?

Also, I'm sorry about umb. nwp did the same to me too, though I was pretty numb already when the second notice came around 

[aridari]

@Beta Mike sorry to hear that. Hoping for the best for the rest of your schools

[aridari]

For those of you waiting on Hunter: draft people have gotten rejected after interviewing last week. About ten people were on the short list? If you weren't interviewed there's a good chance it's not great news. Who know for sure though? I don't get hunter's process tbh. 

[SimSimSim]

Just wondering, has any USC Phd applicants out there heard anything?  I managed to forget about my application till now since it's the only school I applied to this year and applying to USC feels a lot like buying a hundred dollars worth of power ball tickets, but now that it's March it's getting harder to not check my email and grad cafe every few minutes despite the likelihood  of a form rejection. 

[aridari]

Poetry acceptance from BU on draft, with a note that there were 8 total candidates and they would be notified by the end of this week. @sadpoet best of luck. Now for the fiction notifications...

[sadpoet]

29 minutes ago, aridari said:

Poetry acceptance from BU on draft, with a note that there were 8 total candidates and they would be notified by the end of this week. @sadpoet best of luck. Now for the fiction notifications...

 

Thank you! And good luck to you!

[aridari]

@sadpoet thank you

[Everyday Inn]

For those who are waiting UNCW, I got a three-sentence email this morning from Mark Cox, read: "I know I promised you news around March 1st. You have been very patient.  Bear with me another couple of days at most and all initial notifications will be made.

[cccmmm]

just got an acceptance from university of new hampshire for poetry! don't know yet about funding. 

 

no one else (here or on draft) has mentioned this program, does anyone have any opinions?