Playwriting MFAs

[tate12]

Well congrats anyway! The lack of funding at NYU is so baffling to me. 

 

Has anyone heard from Brooklyn College? 

[asimpleton]

Hey all!
I've been following this forum for a while now. Congrats to everyone on their success; its amazing to see such a community of playwrights supporting one another!

Question here; I noticed a few of you have gotten accepted to Ohio U for playwriting. I applied as well but have yet to hear back so I assumed I was not accepted. However, I emailed the department last week and was told that a decision for my application has not yet been made. What does this mean exactly?

[SeaLou]

@asimpleton.

That's a great question. I also haven't heard from Iowa or Ohio but my application says under review. If anyone has any insight on that, it would be great.

[annabananaphone]

@asimpleton and @sealou. I visited Ohio 2 weeks ago and they said they would let me know soon about their decision. My friend currently attends Ohio so I have been hearing a lot of the inside scoop. They seem to be accepting people one by one. I know (according to my friend and the people who have posted on here) that they have sent out two acceptances, but I'm not sure if they've sent out a third yet. I know they did invite me and a few other people to visit the school, so I am guessing they will send out the third acceptance to one of us, but you never know. I'm pretty sure another one of my friends was close to getting accepted last year, and he didn't hear from them until the final decision had been made. Point being, I don't think there is any systemic process they have for accepting people... although like I said, my guess would be that this year they will accept people they invited for a visit. 

 

Also, it seems like no one has heard from Brooklyn College yet... or at least no one I have talked to has. I'm sure it will be any day now.

Edited March 26, 2015 by annabananaphone

[asimpleton]

@sealou, glad to see I'm not the only one!

 

@annabananaphone, that's great! What did your visit consist of? What's the school like? I'm currently living abroad so unfortunately cannot visit the campus. 

[SeaLou]

@annabananaphone

That's what I thought. I wasn't counting on an acceptance letter. I knew about the people from this board, so great to see people getting in. I know lavendercloud has spoken highly of the program.

Of course, more detail would be nice - very cool you visited.

Really wishing I had applied to Brooklyn now but maybe next year. Really wanted to steer clear of NY, primarily for fiscal reasons.

[iamnonightbird]

@SeaLou - Iowa has offers out - we have until today to respond! 

 

Had a chance to speak with the head of the program last week and found out more about the financial situation - you get an assistantship that pays, so you qualify for in-state residence and there's a scholarship that takes care of tuition so I'm all in. They have a fully-funded fellowship too, but I'm more than happy with their standard package. Moving to Iowa! Looking forward to culture shock. Still can't believe it happened - overjoyed, ready for the next step. 

My final results ended up being: 

University of Iowa: Accepted
Carnegie Mellon: Interviewed, Accepted

Yale: Rejected
UCSD: Rejected
The New School: Rejected

 

What about everyone else?

[genericincognito]

I accepted at Ohio, and I know at least one other person has too. So at least 2 of their 3 spots are filled. 

 

I still haven't heard anything from Brooklyn College. 

 

Congrats to those accepted! To those planning to reapply next year, best of luck and keep on chugging. This was my third year rolling the grad school dice. 

[iamnonightbird]

I heard from a friend of a friend of mine that at least one offer for Brooklyn College went out yesterday.

[tate12]

Oh, that's good to know, iamnonightbird!

 

I'm still waiting for Michener......

 

BUT I will be attending UT in the Fall, either way. 
 

I need to start looking for an apartment....

Edited March 27, 2015 by tate12

[danej115]

@iamnonightbird, how did you friend find that out?

[tate12]

Seconded! And how many do they accept at Brooklyn? 

[lavendercloud]

For those still holding out on Ohio: it sounds like there are two other would-be offers out there but neither person has accepted (one is international and trying to figure out paperwork, the other is still considering other programs). So while an offer may still go out to someone else who's visited, if you haven't heard anything the chances seem very slim. But reapply next year, for sure!

 

Did any Iowa rejections go out? I never heard anything, nor from UCLA. Got my official UCSD rejection, sadface. I'm super-excited about Ohio, though, and just got an email from Charles that I'll be getting a little more money than I expected.

 

Tate, good luck! I hope Michener comes through for you!

 

genericincognito: can't wait to meet you in August! EEK!

[lavendercloud]

Edit/update: I was wrong about the current status of the Ohio class - all three of us have accepted our spots. Thanks @genericincognito for the info!

[annabananaphone]

I'm glad people got into Ohio who are excited about going. I really liked the program, but I could tell they sensed my hesitation about living in the middle of rural Ohio for 3 years. I just don't think I could do it. Definitely worked out for the best! Congrats to those of you who got in.

 

On my end of things, I am visiting a class at UCLA next week and speaking with the professors a little further. Looks like I will get to make the choice between NYU and UCLA. Although decisions can stress me out, especially making one between NY and LA, I am definitely thankful to have these two options. I set out applying to grad schools knowing how small and competitive these programs are and not expecting anything and was impressed with even the amount of interest I got. 

[lavendercloud]

annabanana: That's quite a choice! Which one are you leaning toward?

 

I just found out that my play is a semifinalist for the Bay Area Playwrights Festival. Pretty damn exciting! Anyone else heard anything from summer programs? I'm also still waiting on Sundance and the Royal Court IPF.

[annabananaphone]

Awesome @lavendercloud. Congrats. I got rejected from most summer things I applied to. I was a semi-finalist at the o' neill, so that was cool.

 

Right now I am leaning more towards UCLA. The program is small and they produce your work, unlike NYU. I also told UCLA that I got a full scholarship at NYU, and UCLA told me they are willing to offer me two TAships and a scholarship which would mean I'd only have to pay about 6,000 for the first year... and then less thereafter because I would be a california resident. The only reason I am still considering NYU is because a. it's totally free and b. most of my friends/collaborators are in nyc. I know a lot of great faculty teach at NYU too, I just think I'd get a lot more individualized attention and opportunities at UCLA. I will let you all know my final decision after I visit UCLA again next week 

Edited April 2, 2015 by annabananaphone

[sparklmoshn]

is anyone else having trouble responding to the NYU admission offer?  I can't find the link that's supposed to be in the NYU home account!

[owlwhale1]

hi!

 

I'm one of those ghosties that reads and never posts until they need something. I applied to a bunch of programs this year and last year, rejected from many, but today I was placed on the waitlist at Brooklyn College!! It's actually my dream school. The program's great, I can stay in the city, etc.

 

I was wondering if anyone else is on the waitlist or if anyone has experience with waitlists? What are they like? Does anybody get in? I guess there's nothing I can do but bide my time and hope someone in the program gets a better offer somewhere else!

 

I hope everyone still waiting to hear from their dream school gets big announcements very soon!

[tate12]

Tough choice, @annabananna!

 

Owlwhale1- You never know what could happen! 

 

The waiting is the worst part. Well, for me. 

 

BUT BUT BUT-

 

I received a phone call at my job yesterday morning. I work at UT Austin. She asked to speak with me. She introduced herself. 

 

And told me I had moved up the waitlist and am now in Michener!

 

Im overjoyed and shocked. I'm thrilled to begin this journey! 

Edited April 3, 2015 by tate12

[Singsalot]

Tate!

 

This is amazing news. Congratulations. So cool! And nice that you had decided on that program anyway and now can rest easy with money. Cool!

[lavendercloud]

Tate: YAY! You should definitely join the MFA Draft group on Facebook if you haven't yet: https://www.facebook.com/groups/247570218754868. Many of your fellow Michener students (incoming and already in the program) are on there. You've probably met a few, but it can't hurt to get in touch!

 

Anyone else get the email that the Royal Court IPF ended up getting canceled this year due to lack of funding? Sad times. I feel like I led y'all who applied on a wild goose chase.

 

Edit: Oh, and I finally got my official rejections from Iowa and UCLA! I've already known where I'm going for a full month but I'm stoked that the application season is one hundred percent OVER for me!

Edited April 3, 2015 by lavendercloud

[SeaLou]

Congrats, Tate! That's awsome.

Also enjoying that relief, lavendercloud. Iowa and Ohio rejections came in this week.

[smooshie]

Hi guys, congrats on all the wonderful acceptances!

I'm know it's a little late to join the convo, but I applied to some MFA Screenwriting/Playwriting programs, and I've received all my decisions now. In case if anyone's curious, here's my Fall 2015 turnout.

 

I got rejected by all the NY/Cali schools I applied to: (see below for a list of my failures)

 

USC Writing for Screen and TV

UCLA Screenwriting

NYU Dramatic Writing

Columbia Screenwriting

Northwestern's Writing for Stage and TV

(yay.)

 

 BUT, I did manage to get acceptances to UMiami Motion Pictures (Screenwriting) and Florida State University's (screen)Writing MFA program offered through their film school.

 

Unfortunately neither of them provide funding for international students (I'm from Canada).

 

I'm highly tempted by FSU's offer, since they only accept 6 people each year for the Writing MFA (SIX people!) but then at the same time, it's in Florida and the connections/network/reputation isn't as good as the more reputable schools in Cali/NY.

 

Although part of me wants to just wants to just go there (great program, great faculty, great resources), another part of me wants to give the other schools (i.e. USC, NYU, UCLA, Columbia) another shot.

 

Any thoughts? Anyone else on the same boat? Would love it if someone could share a similar experience.

 

--Oh and although this isn't quite related, I've also been accepted into the Journalism program at NYU and USC. This also compells me to just do J-school first, find an internship/job, and reapply to a MFA program in the future. I think that way, I could also get a feel for the places and whatnot (i.e. get employed, make a living... etc).

Edited April 5, 2015 by smooshie

[SeaLou]

@smooshie

Congrats on your acceptances.

I don't know too much about dramatic writing MFAs but a few years ago I was looking into screenwriting programs. One of my advisors received his MFA in screenwriting at UCLA and spoke more about the connections he made than the program. His advice was in that field it's more important to go to a school with good connections that allows you to rub elbows with those in the industry. I don't know if anyone else has been told the same on here.

As for waiting for a "better" program, I can't speak to that. This was my first year applying to mfa playwriting programs and didn't get in anywhere so... yeah, not the best resource for that. But I know a lot of people are in that boat so I don't know. I'm using this year to try and get some internships.

Second, the journalism programs seem like a great get. Do those programs cover all your expenses?