Playwriting MFAs

[SuddenBeth]

8 hours ago, ovrzlous said:

Hello all! Longtime lurker and first time applicant (Yale, UCSD, NYU, Columbia, Juilliard). Figured I'd come out of the woodworks to embrace this community! How's everyone doing emotionally? I didn't realize how much anxiety I was carrying around waiting for decisions until it sideswiped me earlier in the week. 

How have you all been staying active as you wait? And for those of you who have applied in the past and experienced rejection, what advice do you have on bouncing back and not tethering your self worth so closely to your work and a decision?

Good luck to all! Congratulations @Zadicanon your interview!

My main strategy has been to spend my time planning out what my next year might look like if I don't get in anywhere. I'm kind of at a point in my life where I need a big change so I've been looking into moving out to NY or Chicago and maybe taking sketch classes at UCB or Second City or IO Theater or something like that  as well as seek out other writing classes/ opportunities/ fellowships.  It's been helpful to have something planned that I'm excited about so if everything goes tits up I'm emotionally prepared and not at a total loss.

Also I've got two shows I'm working on right now, one is a sketch show and the other is a drunk Shakespeare show that I'm acting in/ directing and I'm taking an online sitcom spec writing class through Second City for fun. Basically I'm trying to load myself up with projects that I'm passionate about to keep my mind off things. I'm trying to be really strict about not checking the forum too much also because I feel like that could become a really obsessive/ anxiety inducing process if I let myself rely on it too much.

[space94]

15 hours ago, SuddenBeth said:

My main strategy has been to spend my time planning out what my next year might look like if I don't get in anywhere. I'm kind of at a point in my life where I need a big change so I've been looking into moving out to NY or Chicago and maybe taking sketch classes at UCB or Second City or IO Theater or something like that  as well as seek out other writing classes/ opportunities/ fellowships.  It's been helpful to have something planned that I'm excited about so if everything goes tits up I'm emotionally prepared and not at a total loss.

Also I've got two shows I'm working on right now, one is a sketch show and the other is a drunk Shakespeare show that I'm acting in/ directing and I'm taking an online sitcom spec writing class through Second City for fun. Basically I'm trying to load myself up with projects that I'm passionate about to keep my mind off things. I'm trying to be really strict about not checking the forum too much also because I feel like that could become a really obsessive/ anxiety inducing process if I let myself rely on it too much.

^^A thousand times this. No matter what happens, we press on. Thank you for sharing. 

Congrats to all the CMU people. I didn't apply, but I support you all. 

[Silverlake]

2 hours ago, space94 said:

^^A thousand times this. No matter what happens, we press on. Thank you for sharing. 

Congrats to all the CMU people. I didn't apply, but I support you all. 

Yes, I didn't apply to CMU or UT, but nonetheless I'm excited for those of you who are getting responses and having the chance to imagine new options for yourselves! Keep going!

[Agez]

Congratuatulations to all with CMU interviews! Best of luck! I think I saw some recent posts on the MFA DRAFT '20 FB page about interviews and what to expect, etc if that's helpful.

[Agez]

On 2/7/2020 at 9:36 PM, nerv said:

@sns1106 congratulations!!!

Rejection for me. First one under the belt (except probably also UT, given the info above) - let's do this. ?

I'm sorry to hear that. I'm probably with you on the UT boat. But hey, its a long road

[zayzay]

Congrats to the CMU and UT people! I didn't apply to CMU, but so happy for you guys. Any updates from anyone today?

[sns1106]

On 2/10/2020 at 11:03 AM, zayzay said:

Congrats to the CMU and UT people! I didn't apply to CMU, but so happy for you guys. Any updates from anyone today?

Thank you! Still nothing from UT or Yale for me. Just waiting on those

[littlered11]

Hi! First time poster/applicant! I applied to a seriously extra number of programs, but my favorites are Michener, UCSD, Brown, Brooklyn, CMU, Ohio, and Boston. So far I've been invited to interview for CMU; congrats to everyone else who did too! Anyone heard anything from Michener yet?

[jck349]

1 hour ago, littlered11 said:

Hi! First time poster/applicant! I applied to a seriously extra number of programs, but my favorites are Michener, UCSD, Brown, Brooklyn, CMU, Ohio, and Boston. So far I've been invited to interview for CMU; congrats to everyone else who did too! Anyone heard anything from Michener yet?

Welcome! Someone on the forum had an interview with Michener a week or two ago, so it seems likely that if you haven't heard anything from them, it's probably a no... (I'm in the same boat as you on that one, unfortunately!)

Have you heard anything from anywhere else you've applied to?

[littlered11]

25 minutes ago, jck349 said:

Welcome! Someone on the forum had an interview with Michener a week or two ago, so it seems likely that if you haven't heard anything from them, it's probably a no... (I'm in the same boat as you on that one, unfortunately!)

Have you heard anything from anywhere else you've applied to?

Nope, nothing yet! I wish all the programs were like CMU with a definitive interview/waitlist/rejection response for everyone. I get the sense a lot of them just keep you on an indefinite waitlist without telling you *screams internally*

[Agez]

UCSD Update:

I had a phone interview with Debroah Stein today. They're interviewing 8-10 ppl (her and Naomi). I should hear back in about 2 weeks

[shortymcshortz]

Hello. I applied to Yale, CMU, UCSD, UCLA, USC, Brown, Columbia, NYU, and Northwestern. I was rejected from CMU. I was wondering if anyone has heard back from the other schools I listed especially Yale and UCSD about interviews. 

[shortymcshortz]

46 minutes ago, Agez said:

UCSD Update:

I had a phone interview with Debroah Stein today. They're interviewing 8-10 ppl (her and Naomi). I should hear back in about 2 weeks

Did you receive an email about the phone interview from UCSD? Or did you call them? 

[Coffee&Flowers]

On 2/3/2020 at 1:24 AM, newengland1 said:

Hey only just saw this. Sooo ...

- Everyone always has to fill out a FAFSA, and I think everyone gets considered for money. Some people were offered full rides, and others were offered varying amounts of scholarship money. I actually was not initially offered any scholarship money. Then I got into a different (free & stipended) program and went back to NYU and negotiated for a scholarship. They then gave me some (really not a lot at first), and after I started the program, they wound up quadrupling the amount I was given--due to merit. I don't know if everyone is given a scholarship, actually.

- The best part was the level of talent around me. The playwrights were really strong. The faculty are stars in their various genres. This doesn't always equate to good teaching, but I felt I lucked out--most everyone I studied under was an exceptional teacher. Another clear strength of NYU is the cross-training in TV and screenwriting. Some programs offer a course or two in each of those, but they're longstanding areas of expertise for NYU faculty. It's useful, and you can take advantage of that to the extent that you want.

- I would also say that the reputation has been helpful to me. I don't know that Tisch opens as many doors as quickly as Yale or Juilliard, but it's up there. Being in the NYC mix was also pretty helpful for networking. A few random examples: I feel I could easily get coffee with one of my professors who's in the writers room at Mrs. Maisel; I'm friends with Tisch film grads; Spike Lee made a phone call and got one of my peers an agent at ICM. And the program has strong ties to the Public Theater.

- The biggest weakness is clearly the financial aspect. For most people, it is not a free program, and this is problematic. For this reason, the department can occasionally feel like a bastion of privilege. Other potential disadvantages of the program include: bigger cohort, and they don't produce your plays. Maybe I'm biased, but I didn't mind either of these things.

- It truly helped advance my career. When I look at where I was career-wise just before entering, and where I was when I came out of school, it's kind of night & day. By the time I finished, I had an agent and a publication contract. I have a number of high-profile people who will write me letters of rec. I got a nice playwriting fellowship in NYC a couple months after graduating. Not everyone fares as well, and some have skyrocketed faster. But I think of the 9 or so playwrights in my year, the vast majority--particularly those who have been disciplined and productive about both writing and networking since graduating--have had some really nice things happen for them.

Happy to talk more, on or offline!

-c

@newengland1 - Thank you so much! This is incredibly helpful!

[Coffee&Flowers]

13 hours ago, Agez said:

UCSD Update:

I had a phone interview with Debroah Stein today. They're interviewing 8-10 ppl (her and Naomi). I should hear back in about 2 weeks

@Agez- Congrats!! That's awesome!

[Agez]

14 hours ago, shortymcshortz said:

Did you receive an email about the phone interview from UCSD? Or did you call them? 

I got an email from Deborah at 7pm Est on Monday to organize a time to talk this week.

[Agez]

2 hours ago, Coffee&Flowers said:

@Agez- Congrats!! That's awesome!

Thank you! Not trying to get to excited, and appreciating the fact I even got an interview. Deborah is really nice though

[shortymcshortz]

@Agez congrats! I didn’t receive an email at all, so I take it that it’s a rejection or waitlist. 

[PlayWitch]

Hey, babes! Are you all posting your results to the results page, too? It's unusually quiet over there. I haven't heard anything yet, but usually there are a few people who have heard something by now.

[space94]

I'm anticipating we might hear from Yale today? They heard last year on the 15th, which seems a reasonable deadline to impose on your admissions committee, but this year the 15th is a Saturday on a holiday weekend, so it's possible we'll hear from them today. If not, I'd estimate next Friday at the latest. 

[jck349]

10 minutes ago, space94 said:

I'm anticipating we might hear from Yale today? They heard last year on the 15th, which seems a reasonable deadline to impose on your admissions committee, but this year the 15th is a Saturday on a holiday weekend, so it's possible we'll hear from them today. If not, I'd estimate next Friday at the latest. 

I hope so! Fully expecting a rejection, but it'll be nice to have an official rejection instead of hanging out in the "well, I didn't get an interview so probably rejected?" limbo.

[shortymcshortz]

20 minutes ago, PlayWitch said:

Hey, babes! Are you all posting your results to the results page, too? It's unusually quiet over there. I haven't heard anything yet, but usually there are a few people who have heard something by now.

What’s the link to the results page? 

[esbrain]

6 minutes ago, jck349 said:

I hope so! Fully expecting a rejection, but it'll be nice to have an official rejection instead of hanging out in the "well, I didn't get an interview so probably rejected?" limbo.

Do we know if interview requests have gone out? My reading of last year's forum posts were that they sent out requests and first round rejections together (which I kind of like)

[space94]

6 minutes ago, jck349 said:

I hope so! Fully expecting a rejection, but it'll be nice to have an official rejection instead of hanging out in the "well, I didn't get an interview so probably rejected?" limbo.

Same. Yale seems so unrealistic to me that I keep forgetting I'm actually waiting on them, too. My brain just kind of skips it. 

[space94]

Just now, Ezra Brain said:

Do we know if interview requests have gone out? My reading of last year's forum posts were that they sent out requests and first round rejections together (which I kind of like)

I think that's what they normally do. So I'd expect we are still waiting on both.