Playwriting MFAs

[puttputt]

I had the same conversation with Ohio this week. Good luck! Maybe we'll be Ohio classmates.

Definitely worth visiting. It's a pretty, but small town. It's a change of pace from NY or Chicago.

[k-hotspur]

Have been reading this for a little while and thought I would add my experiences to the forum.

 

I applied to Juilliard last year on a whim and ended up being very surprised to be a finalist (though I didn't get rejected until the end of June!). I decided to apply to more schools this time around and had interviews at both UCLA and Cal Arts last weekend and have a Columbia interview in March. Still waiting on any word from Brown, Yale, Brooklyn College and Juilliard. Anyone else having trouble (or success) communicating with the Brooklyn College admissions office? Any tips would be appreciated. 

[puttputt]

I emailed Brown this week and was told that notifications are coming very soon. So, I'm guessing that means this week or next. That's pure conjecture though.

[longwalktonever]

Thanks for emailing Brown, puttputt! Do you guys know if Brown typically does interviews? Or do they tend to admit/waitlist/reject without formal interviews? Thanks!

[EccentricDreamer]

Have been reading this for a little while and thought I would add my experiences to the forum.

 

I applied to Juilliard last year on a whim and ended up being very surprised to be a finalist (though I didn't get rejected until the end of June!). I decided to apply to more schools this time around and had interviews at both UCLA and Cal Arts last weekend and have a Columbia interview in March. Still waiting on any word from Brown, Yale, Brooklyn College and Juilliard. Anyone else having trouble (or success) communicating with the Brooklyn College admissions office? Any tips would be appreciated. 

Hi k-hotspur! I see this forum is heating up.

 

From my understanding all the Yale finalists have been contacted....so "official" letters should be coming out soon. As far as Brooklyn College, I just checked online and they stated that notifications will be sent via mail. But I'm sure if you're a finalist to be interviewed, a phone call or email would be the preferred communication method. 

 

Now Juilliard...that's the hot ticket but you have to wait a while for a decision. I haven't heard of anyone being in a dilemma of being accepted into another school while waiting on Juilliard (if they were a finalist). What does one do in that situation????

 

All I can say is that all this "waiting" has me in and out of anxiety mode. How does one handle it?

 

Kudos to all those who have gotten acceptances and interviews!!

[puttputt]

re: Brown. I have no idea their process, i.e. interviews and such. Only that notifications will be sent "momentarily." I'm pretty sure I did not make the cut there regardless. I would love for this process to be complete.

[Trilogyfan]

According to the survey page of acceptances and rejections, it looks like last year Brown sent out rejections on February 28, which is, of course, tomorrow. Is anyone enjoying this :-?

 

Congrats to all you finalists! Here's hoping we all get some good news in the next week or two.

[failsafe]

@k-hotspur - BC can be a huge pain.  Last year they lost my application, so I had to rush them a new one, then they found my old one anyway so then they had two and I felt like a moron--that said, the woman helping me through it all (I think she might be gone now) was very nice.  And all that just to get flat out rejected, anyway (via e-mail on March 21, but had already gotten confirmation from the dept a week before that that all finalists and waitlisted people had been notified). This year I sent everything with delivery confirmation well in advance of the deadline, and haven't had any problems (or communication, except an e-mail last week saying my application had been forwarded to the department).

 

btw I applied on a whim to Juilliard two years ago, and got to the semifinalist round--which although super disappointing at the time, it was really what gave me the courage to pursue my writing "officially".  (from what i've heard, last year Juilliard was a mess--they didn't get enough applications, so extended the deadline by two months, which I guess extended notifications, too.)

[Reds]

 I have forced myself to try something completely new with the new play I'm writing. It's period (which scares the shit out of me) and I have to do a lot of research in order to give it historic accuracy. It's definitely been a slower process than just imagining characters and putting them onstage with no background whatsoever, but it has taught me to love it and cherish it even more. 

 

Thanks everyone for the welcomes! It's nice to finally meet some like-minded people, fellow writers, and especially playwrights. I'm a bit of a history writer myself, so period's definitely my thing. Back when I was trying to figure out whether I was gearing more towards fiction or playwriting I found myself writing a lot of period pieces and not so much modern day things too. So, that stuck with me. I just finished a play that quite literally took me six to seven years of research and a few years to develop a first draft. I know that sounds insane, but I'm a self-proclaimed history nerd and in wanting to get things as accurate as possible definitely takes time. The one I just finished is set during the latter years of the Revolutionary War and the reason why it took so long to write and research was because every character in it is based on a real person, and not any famous historical figures either, at least none to which people can easily recall from a history book-more local and contained historical records which can sometimes be a royal pain to find. Most of the characters are my direct ancestors whose crazy stories I came across over the course of several years of genealogy research. 

 

So I completely understand your frustration, themirandatragedy! Period pieces require a LOT of patience and attention which definitely takes some getting used to-in some ways I'm still getting used to it myself, but everyone is different. Sometimes though when I feel like I'm getting bogged down with the research I jump ship to another project just to let the info sink in over time. I tend to work on a handful of plays all at once.

 

Other than that I do like working on adaptations and I've got a couple original pieces I'm also working on, one's set in the '20s and the other one is in the '90s (the most modern one I've ever attempted and ironically its the one giving me the most trouble!). History aside, I find I tend to steer more towards subjects that involve family, friendship, sexuality (specifically LGBT issues), religion vs. faith, and more recently some fantasy or sci-fi themes. I'm a drama person through and through, I think. Dark plays mostly, but with the light at the end of the tunnel of course. 

 

I hope everyone hears news soon, in terms of interviews and other such good news. 

[tjack]

This just in -- rejected from Brown.

[Trilogyfan]

Ditto, tjack.

[puttputt]

Me three. Rejected at Brown. 

[lurkinglucy]

Sorry to hear about the Brown rejections. (I didn't apply there. Brown's program wasn't the right aesthetic match for me.) But fingers crossed that everybody gets some good news soon!  

 

Has anyone heard anything from NYU, Juilliard or UT Austin's Theatre Department (non-Michener)? I'm as antsy as ever... 

[teethwax]

I woke up to a Brown rejection. Blech!

[puttputt]

haven't heard anything from UT-Austin. 

 

i know they have michener people visiting. 

was told usually they make phone calls in feb for the theater dept, but not sure where they're at this year. 

[Trilogyfan]

Okay, someone must have gotten into Brown. Don't be shy...let us know! 

As for me I knew it was a longshot. My writing couldn't be further from what they appear to be looking for either, lurkinglucy.

 

Two down, four to go...

[lurkinglucy]

haven't heard anything from UT-Austin. 

 

i know they have michener people visiting. 

was told usually they make phone calls in feb for the theater dept, but not sure where they're at this year. 

 

Visiting? Do they bring Michener folks to campus? Thanks in advance for clarifying, puttputt. 

[Reds]

Also sorry to hear about the Brown rejections. Haven't heard anything from UT Austin either. 

[puttputt]

They do fly in Michener candidates.

It's a full ride plus stipend so...

[longwalktonever]

Also rejected from Brown this morning! Haha, at least we're all in this together.

[lurkinglucy]

Yeah, makes sense. Thanks, puttputt.

[failsafe]

now i kind of wish i applied to brown so i could share in this with you all!

[Trilogyfan]

I feel terrible saying this, but it does feel better knowing I'm not the only one! But I was the first

Next is NYU I suppose?

[teethwax]

NYU is mid-March, right? I'm on my phone, so it's difficult to check. I'm pretty disappointed, but the form email I just got says they're only taking two people this year (!), and that makes me feel somewhat better.

[failsafe]

in years past, it seems that NYU has notified finalists in early-ish March and sent out rejections mid-to-late March, and Brooklyn College is on about the same timeline.  but Yale was two weeks early this year, so who really knows...

 

BTW based on the recommendations of the forum, this past week I read "The Sound of a Voice" (LOVE LOVE LOVED it, @longwalk!) and "The Subject Was Roses" (liked it--but it felt dated to me) (and also "A Moon For the Misbegotten" which I just had and hadn't read, which is great)--and i am totally excited for this huge cargo of plays I ordered from Amazon (i had a giftcard from christmas that has gone to a great cause) arriving on monday!

 

i wonder if albee/o'neill fans are kind of like beatles/stones fans, like generally you're either one or the other?  b/c if so i am definitely on the o'neill/stones side(s).