Playwriting MFAs

[bibsy]

no word on yale yet, but i just got out of my ut interview!

l o l, Y'ALL, i messed up so bad. I GOT MY INTERVIEW TIME WRONG. i confused my timezones and emailed kirk lynn to ask for clarification on whether i was to meet with them at 10:30 or 10:50. he said, "i had you down for 10:50. can you hop on now?" i said, no worries, i'd see him at the scheduled time... and then i realized i was doing my timezone math incorrectly and had missed my window by an hour ohhhh MANNN. anyway, everything was fine! i spoke with kirk lynn and patrick shaw, who were both wildly personable. i was probably a little frazzled, but i don't feel like the mixup had a severe impact on our convo (though they were very gracious to meet with me at a different time). 

[atreus85]

2 hours ago, bibsy said:

no word on yale yet, but i just got out of my ut interview!

l o l, Y'ALL, i messed up so bad. I GOT MY INTERVIEW TIME WRONG. i confused my timezones and emailed kirk lynn to ask for clarification on whether i was to meet with them at 10:30 or 10:50. he said, "i had you down for 10:50. can you hop on now?" i said, no worries, i'd see him at the scheduled time... and then i realized i was doing my timezone math incorrectly and had missed my window by an hour ohhhh MANNN. anyway, everything was fine! i spoke with kirk lynn and patrick shaw, who were both wildly personable. i was probably a little frazzled, but i don't feel like the mixup had a severe impact on our convo (though they were very gracious to meet with me at a different time). 

Ahhhhh that's my worst nightmare! I'm glad they let you reschedule and that it went well though. Besides make sure you've got the right timezone, do you have any advice for going into an interview now that you've done it?

[bibsy]

4 minutes ago, atreus85 said:

Ahhhhh that's my worst nightmare! I'm glad they let you reschedule and that it went well though. Besides make sure you've got the right timezone, do you have any advice for going into an interview now that you've done it?

i would say to remember that no one is trying to trick you. these are people who passionately want to build a cohort they can guide over the next 2 - 3 years, and they're hoping to learn that you are the right fit. i think i was surprised by how "easy" the questions were: what's inspiring you creatively, what do you want to get out of grad school, what's a challenge you've overcome, what's your process like when collaborating with others... it didn't feel like a test i needed to prepare for. this committee is asking you to share what you should already know about yourself without incredible deliberation. i'm still articulate and confident when i'm off-balance, but i'm less succinct than i might otherwise be. if anything, i'd say, based on my own shortcomings, be comfortable with brevity. consider who you are as an artist and how you can communicate those principles as directly as possible.

[everythingsfine]

Hey y’all! Longtime lurker and first time poster. This is my first cycle applying and I’m trying not to check my email 50,000 times per day 🥲 I applied to Yale, Brown, UCSD, and Northwestern. 
 

Besides my day job, I’ve been knitting and crafting like a madwoman to calm my mind. What have all of y’all been doing to keep sane? 
 

Also, thank you to @bibsy for all of the interview insight! The best of luck to all my fellow playwrights! We got this 💪

[atreus85]

10 hours ago, everythingsfine said:

Hey y’all! Longtime lurker and first time poster. This is my first cycle applying and I’m trying not to check my email 50,000 times per day 🥲 I applied to Yale, Brown, UCSD, and Northwestern. 
 

Besides my day job, I’ve been knitting and crafting like a madwoman to calm my mind. What have all of y’all been doing to keep sane? 
 

Also, thank you to @bibsy for all of the interview insight! The best of luck to all my fellow playwrights! We got this 💪

I have been learning how to crochet. My New Year's resolution was to take up a hobby I couldn't monetize, and now I have two dinosaurs. I also signed up to be a reader for a new play festival, and so far I haven't come across any bad plays. 

[bibsy]

13 hours ago, everythingsfine said:

Hey y’all! Longtime lurker and first time poster. This is my first cycle applying and I’m trying not to check my email 50,000 times per day 🥲 I applied to Yale, Brown, UCSD, and Northwestern. 
 

Besides my day job, I’ve been knitting and crafting like a madwoman to calm my mind. What have all of y’all been doing to keep sane? 
 

Also, thank you to @bibsy for all of the interview insight! The best of luck to all my fellow playwrights! We got this 💪

i started taking ice skating lessons two years ago, and i spent 3 hours on the ice today, l o l. 

[sbristow]

21 hours ago, everythingsfine said:

Hey y’all! Longtime lurker and first time poster. This is my first cycle applying and I’m trying not to check my email 50,000 times per day 🥲 I applied to Yale, Brown, UCSD, and Northwestern. 
 

Besides my day job, I’ve been knitting and crafting like a madwoman to calm my mind. What have all of y’all been doing to keep sane? 
 

Also, thank you to @bibsy for all of the interview insight! The best of luck to all my fellow playwrights! We got this 💪

Weirdly enough checking GradCafe has been the thing keeping me calm/distracting me from other more stressful parts of my life. (This is my first round of applications though, I'm applying to only my top choices this year to see what happens. I'll probably feel more stressed out during my second round of applications next year when I'll be casting a wider net and really trying to get in somewhere). But I love the idea of distracting yourself by reading for a new play festival. Diving into a project like that is a great, creatively fulfilling way to keep your mind off stuff. Personally I'm a literary journal editor and it's amazing. Volunteering to read grant applications is also a great way to spend time.

[everythingsfine]

17 hours ago, atreus85 said:

I have been learning how to crochet. My New Year's resolution was to take up a hobby I couldn't monetize, and now I have two dinosaurs. I also signed up to be a reader for a new play festival, and so far I haven't come across any bad plays. 

Wow, love this. Reading other people’s work is always so refreshing!

[everythingsfine]

On 2/8/2025 at 1:05 AM, bibsy said:

i started taking ice skating lessons two years ago, and i spent 3 hours on the ice today, l o l. 

Haha, I haven’t ice skated in soooo long. My hat’s off to you!

[Mday]

Got an interview request for Carnegie Mellon dramatic writing MFA today! 

[mranderson97]

1 hour ago, Mday said:

Got an interview request for Carnegie Mellon dramatic writing MFA today! 

Same here! Best of luck!
 

I had an interview with UT last week, but have yet to hear back from Yale, Hunter, Brooklyn, NYU, and Columbia.

[DaisyDays]

10 hours ago, Mday said:

Got an interview request for Carnegie Mellon dramatic writing MFA today! 

First time applicant here. I applied to Carnegie but didn't get an interview request... wondering if I should assume the worst

[Ante91]

11 hours ago, Mday said:

Got an interview request for Carnegie Mellon dramatic writing MFA today! 

Me too!! Wishing you the best of luck! 
 

I’m still holding out hope for Yale, Brown, Northwestern, and Columbia.

[ErinAmohn]

6 hours ago, Ante91 said:

Me too!! Wishing you the best of luck! 
 

I’m still holding out hope for Yale, Brown, Northwestern, and Columbia.

Nice! What are your top choices?

[sbristow]

12 hours ago, DaisyDays said:

First time applicant here. I applied to Carnegie but didn't get an interview request... wondering if I should assume the worst

Same here

[KevinKlineLuvr]

hey all! current MFA Playwriting student here. this might be super annoying for me to say but, I’m hoping it’s more helpful than anything…

I only heard positively from one school out of five last year. It was my first time applying, but I was already feeling so despondent before I received an invitation to interview. Two rounds of interviews later, and now I feel so much better than I did this time last year.
 

TLDR: It really only takes one program understanding your work and your ethos around writing to say yes. And if not, grad school doesn’t make you a playwright. 

Edited February 12 by KevinKlineLuvr

[Gummyeyes42]

40 minutes ago, KevinKlineLuvr said:

hey all! current MFA Playwriting student here. this might be super annoying for me to say but, I’m hoping it’s more helpful than anything…

I only heard positively from one school out of five last year. It was my first time applying, but I was already feeling so despondent before I received an invitation to interview. Two rounds of interviews later, and now I feel so much better than I did this time last year.
 

TLDR: It really only takes one program understanding your work and your ethos around writing to say yes. And if not, grad school doesn’t make you a playwright. 

Thank you that’s super comforting and actually made me feel a lot better. Hope your MFA is going well

[bibsy]

writhing a little over here because ut austin said they'd send word on next steps this week, but it's toward eod on friday, and all's quiet in my inbox. 🫠

[atreus85]

4 hours ago, bibsy said:

writhing a little over here because ut austin said they'd send word on next steps this week, but it's toward eod on friday, and all's quiet in my inbox. 🫠

Tomorrow is still this week (and maybe they just need a bit more time too). 

[MChammerstein]

For anyone who applied to Michener (not T&D), your status may be updated on the portal. No emails have been sent out yet. Wishing you karaoke parties for good news, and angsty poems or cozy movie nights for redirective news.

[atreus85]

Well I still haven't heard from any of the schools I've applied to yet, but I did just hear that I'm moving on for Ojai which is nice. Anyone else hear good news from the festival circuit?

[putonash]

officially rejected from michener let's goooo

[Gummyeyes42]

4 minutes ago, putonash said:

officially rejected from michener let's goooo

You’re not alone 😔 hopefully some better news for us soon!

[atreus85]

For those that applied to Iowa, on the Results page it says someone got contacted for an interview on 2/17. That's like really early right?

Edited Tuesday at 10:46 PM by atreus85

[bibsy]

2 hours ago, atreus85 said:

For those that applied to Iowa, on the Results page it says someone got contacted for an interview on 2/17. That's like really early right?

wow yeah, that's SUPER early. like... a full month early, lol. i don't anticipate hearing back from iowa until mid-march. 

EDIT: sifted through past results, and i s'pose it wouldn't be a full month early. looks like iowa usually schedules their calls around march 3 - 5, though they sometimes happen a week later. this would definitely be about 2 weeks early for them, at least. then again, ut austin contacted me pretty early compared to past years, too. (though still no word on if i'm still in the running, ahh.) early outreach might be a trend this cycle. 

Edited yesterday at 12:58 AM by bibsy