Playwriting MFAs

[toreckonwithhenry]

for those waiting on nyu, i checked out a screenwriting mfa forum on a different site and no one on there had heard anything about interviews for dramatic writing yet either! so may be still in the works who knows

[DaisyDays]

Gonna be real, I am extremely skeptical of the results saying Iowa interviewed/accepted in February. This seems to be such a radical departure from past years... given the mid-January deadline, I'm thinking it's some weird situation (or perhaps a troll, however unlikely).

[tomjoad]

I will also add that, regardless of which school, an interview on Feb 17 and a decision on Feb 28 is a very very quick turnaround. Most schools take 2-3 weeks to decide, perhaps longer...

[bibsy]

to be fair, based on past results, it looks like iowa sometimes extends offers at the end of an interview call. i don't think that fast turnaround time is out of scope for them. i'm also surprised to see results from them this early on, but it's not unheard of for the outreach timelines of these programs to suddenly experience a drastic shift. i mean, yale used to notify in early february, and that's certainly not the case anymore! 

don't get me wrong - i'd love for iowa to extend more interview requests, and boy would i be thrilled to learn that more of those are on their way. just want to temper my own expectations, lol.

[mranderson97]

Just got an interview request from Columbia.

[Gummyeyes42]

Congrats! Also got an interview request for Columbia. Just when you think all hope is lost 🙏🙏

[ms.peanut]

I also got an interview! Nice to feel like all of my applications didn't disappear into the void. 

Edited Thursday at 08:32 PM by ms.peanut
missed a word

[MChammerstein]

Congrats to those with interviews at Columbia and elsewhere! I'm on the Columbia interview train too.

Not to rain on anyone's parade, including my own (and I love parades, especially the Coney Island Mermaid Parade), but I also think Iowa may have already offered all of their acceptances this year. To echo what Bibsy said, Iowa in the past has used their "interviews" as more of a phone call in which they share the good news that the playwright has been accepted. It is possible that they've changed their protocol, but hard to know without any evidence.

In case anyone needs more places to look for data, the FaceBook MFA Draft Group has a small number of playwrights on there. If you scroll back, this has been advertised in past years on this forum. MFA Draft isn't always the most helpful as the notifications published on there are from many different Creative Writing concentrations, but it does sometimes offer insight. Wishing everyone as much patience and peace as they can muster! 

[Thecatlady95]

Congratulations to everyone on the interviews!

Does anyone have any advice on dealing with rejection? I can’t help but feel like a terrible writer because I haven’t gotten any interviews. Unfortunately I got my hopes up and now I’m having trouble facing the reality that I will likely get rejected from all of the places I’ve applied to. 

[ddmandy]

59 minutes ago, Thecatlady95 said:

Congratulations to everyone on the interviews!

Does anyone have any advice on dealing with rejection? I can’t help but feel like a terrible writer because I haven’t gotten any interviews. Unfortunately I got my hopes up and now I’m having trouble facing the reality that I will likely get rejected from all of the places I’ve applied to. 

I'm going through something similar. My problem is I'm so fixated on the application that I haven't actually written anything since the beginning of this month, and I'm scared that my application play will be my best work. I don't know what to say except that it will pass. If I don't get into anywhere this year, I will keep writing. Finish my new play and try again. I'm not happy with my day job, so I'll also apply to other jobs.

Rejections are terrible, as I have applied to numerous developmental programs and received rejections from each one. My recommenders and old professors told me that's because 1) I wrote about sexual violence/abusive dynamics that are a little hard on the audience 2) I wrote plays with minority characters who are a bit hard to cast 3) I'm an international on a work visa, and most theaters don't know how to navigate the situation. As much as those reasons make sense, it sucks. Nothing people say can make it suck less. I can only remind myself that a lot of great playwrights also face rejections. 

I hope this antidote will be helpful: Back when I was applying for jobs, I applied to 1200+ jobs (I stopped keeping count after #1200) and got 10 interviews, and none of them turned into a job offer. Mostly because companies are unwilling to sponsor visas (because of the policies of the current president). I kept trying and eventually found one. "Exhausting" is not enough to describe that journey, and I can't say my current position is my dream job, but it did work out. 

P.S: I saw you only applied to four schools, and two schools haven't really posted their decisions. Hang in there. 

P.P.S: My personal opinion is that Yale still hasn't released their semi-finalist list. So far, the schools that are a bit early compared to previous year timelines are UT Austin, Iowa, CMU. UT Austin and Iowa are in more conservative states; CMU has a rather conservative program (based on my interview experience), so I assume they want to secure their funding before the orange guy makes more unwelcome changes. However, schools in more liberal states (UCSD, Yale, Brown, NYU, Columbia, etc.) are adjusting their programs to fit the policy changes. That might mean we hear from them a bit later. 

Edited Friday at 04:51 PM by ddmandy

[tomjoad]

2 hours ago, Thecatlady95 said:

Does anyone have any advice on dealing with rejection?

Reading this article always helps me.

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/06/oscars-2024-greta-gerwig-was-rejected-by-every-grad-school-she-applied-to.html

[MChammerstein]

The rejection can feel all-consuming at times. You poured your heart out into these plays and applications, and when you don't receive affirmation back, it hurts. Most applicants don't get into an MFA their first try. It usually takes two or three or more go-rounds. You're not alone. Feel the feelings, and lean into your support system or creature comforts. Watch a bad horror film, take a walk, adopt a dog.

I posted this last year, but I'm sharing it again. I would recommend listening to David Henry Hwang's episode on American Theatre Magazine's "The Subtext." He talks a bit about carrying on when your worst fears come true. Hopefully it brings solace to those of us struggling with rejection at the moment.

[sbristow]

I heard from another playwright that a lot of the time people who are doing the first pass on applications are current grad students. Not sure how true it is, but in my experience as a literary journal editor, I can tell you that people get rejected for all kinds of reasons. The person reading your application might just have been in a bad mood, or hungry, or have a personal issue with your style. Maybe they were really on the fence about your play and agonized over the decision but ultimately felt another one was better. Maybe someone on the committee really loved your work and was pushing for you, but they got overruled (I've had to reject lots of pieces I loved because other editors disagreed with me). Or maybe they didn't feel like you'd fit in well with the cohort they were building. There are all kinds of reasons for a good application to be rejected, especially with programs that are as competitive as this one. Rejections suck but they are absolutely not a referendum on your work as a whole.

[MChammerstein]

And this article too. Here's a great quote IMO about how to call in some positivity/yesses after a lot of noes.

"Happy playwright Dipika Guha takes some advice from Elizabeth Gilbert’s book Big Magic. “For every rejection that came in,” Dipika says, “Gilbert would send something out that day to ping something back into the universe. I like that.” Jackie Goldfinger also does this. 'I get a lot of submissions done after a blow. I do something about the no. Being upset and bitter only holds me back.'"

https://howlround.com/how-be-rejected

Edited Saturday at 08:34 PM by MChammerstein
Double Post

[FewMusicians138]

Nothing happens. Nobody comes, nobody goes. It's awful.

[FewMusicians138]

Of course after I post this, someone posted on results they got a Yale interview today 

[OverEasy19]

Thanks for these updates and encouraging words, all! Sorry if I missed this, but where does this results page live?

[Mday]

8 minutes ago, OverEasy19 said:

Thanks for these updates and encouraging words, all! Sorry if I missed this, but where does this results page live?

https://www.thegradcafe.com/survey/ It's here, you can filter by school and by program.

[OverEasy19]

14 minutes ago, Mday said:

https://www.thegradcafe.com/survey/ It's here, you can filter by school and by program.

Thank you for this!! Sending good vibes to everyone :). 

[everythingsfine]

Has anyone heard anything from UCSD or Brown? Hang in there y’all!