I can't offer any advice for rejection-induced anxiety/depression, except to say "go write something." Believe it or not, it really helps to know that you're doing something productive and getting better. I feel the progression and I'm very happy with it (although I could have used it YESTERDAY *said a la Adam Sandler in Wedding Singer*). I'm proud of myself and I will keep trucking because hey, what else is there to do other than quit, and you know what, fuck that. I said it. Fuck quitting.
@WT. Yes, you're right, and also great (where are yr acceptances??) - thank you. Good calls. I didn't know Lethem was on the NYU faculty. Bloody hell. Shame I have no money nor desire to be in New York. Also, thanks for the intros to Karen Russell & Kelli Wells. I just googled 'Kelli Wells' - if only she was the first result that appeared - a pornstar - but somehow i doubt it. That would have been polymath-arama indeed.
On the plus side, I'll at least have a full-novel manuscript ready to edit upon entering a program if I don't get in this year, and I'm just a couple of stories shy of having enough for a collection. It's still early and I still have 6 more to go (which is a lot in the scheme of things considering I only need one). I'm trying not to freak out but keeping perspective right now is a little tough.
Yup, but some of the places are taken (until peeps decide not to go there) and the committee is still looking at other apps. I have a shot, like yourself, but who knows till the offer comes in?!
I have been a silent lurker for long enough. I keep thinking if I don't post anything, I will stop reading and obsessing. I might as well join in. I applied for fiction to:
Michener (rejected) Alabama (assumed rejection) Iowa Virginia Montana Hunter UNCG Irvine Florida Sarah Lawrence
Aside from Michener, haven't heard a peep. I was in a pretty good groove of not obsessing, but that's over now. I would love for this weekend to zip on by, and get some kind of news next week. Any kind!
I wish everyone all the best, and I know this is a particularly difficult year. I'm pulling for everyone on here.
Hehe, MFA Guy, Florida in general is full of the Brits, but yes, Orlando and Clermont are known for their high Brit contingency. I love them though! You can always spot them 'cause they're pasty yet also sunburned and wear soccer jerseys. They're so cute! :)
Coughdrop, pizza and candy (I opted for candy instead of ice cream) was a wonderful diversion. I reverted back to my childhood joy before coming home, jumping onto this blog, and going back to adult sadness :( but I still have candy! I recommend chocolate covered gummy bears and espresso beans and pretzals. And, well, anything chocolate covered really... does the trick!
I have a case of wine that went untouched at an event I organized last week. I think I shall drink one myself tonight and throw a party with the rest this weekend.
Re. safety school. As many have said, there's no such thing. It's a subjective process. For example, I had my three recommenders rank 4 of my short stories. They each ranked them differently, including the top story. If you extend this to the MFA application process (and assume I'm no super-talented writer like, say, Raymond Carver), that means if I sent out the same story out to three schools (each one headed by one of my three recommenders), only one of the three would express interest. Now, would that interest translate to an acceptance given the incredible competition?
For both Michigan and Iowa, you do have to wait for snail mail. I assumed I was rejected from Iowa pretty early on. I called and asked them, and they said that if you hadn't gotten a call, you were rejected. (I applied in CNF, and got my rejection letter Thursday.)
Michigan will be mailing rejections, and are giving us the run around about whether they're done notifying. I'm assuming I'm rejected, or at best, wait-listed. You could call on Monday and ask them.
Kaybay, Chocolate covered espresso beans sound amazing as HELL but I don't dare try them! I am excitable at the best of times and I feel for whoever would be in my presence if I eat those things. But, I would probably have a very good time.
I see lots of Anne of Green Gables on this page. Pit of despair (I'm in the depths myself), Kellie with an e. I love those books. I'm reading them RIGHT NOW.
Also, @DigAPony, your boyfriend's dad sounds like my dad. He's always offering to throw rocks through ^*^*'s windows.
Half way through a pretty nice bottle of Australian shiraz (not something I generally like that much).
This may have come up (it's hard to keep up with so many posts), but did anyone else get the FIU email asking for an electronic copy of the writing sample and statement?
It seems to suggest that the faculty hasn't started reading samples but is preparing to do so.
Koru! I gave up meat for Lent!! And I've decided to write each day during Lent too. A lot of people grumble about Lent, but I kind of like that it gives me an excuse to be disciplined (something I am not naturally). So far, giving up meat has been kind of nice. I'm generally eating healthier (er, except the pizza and candy tonight). I'm hoping some of these habits carry over to Ordinary Time ;)
@kaybay, i gave up wheat and sugar ... to try to be healthier & more conscious of what i was eating. i'm already veggie, pretty much vegan. so there's nowt much else to give up food wise! lol!
i think i'm finally past the sugar cravings! hurrah!
though i'm not sure the bottle of white wine i just opened counts as 'healthier' lol!
I have no idea what you're all talking about re. liquor and candy. Call me ignorant.
I wish this blog displayed the number of each post/comment. It indicates, for example, "401 - 443 of 443" but what if I wanted to read #428? I don't know how you guys do it, but I have to resort to leaving little notes on the date/time stamp where I last left off.
Ha, Seth's rankings make me feel a smidge more optimistic than I was 15 minutes ago. I applied for 6 schools, and I have a definite first choice, but my first choice is beneath the other 5 in the rankings. So now I'm just going to cross my fingers that of everyone my first-choice school accepts, however many of them is necessary will choose higher ranked schools until a space opens up for me. ^_^
Though the rankings do make me feel a little weird, if only because I really have a very strong preference for the lowest-ranked one to which I applied. Now I'm looking around and thinking, "Did everybody else miss something? Or did I?" o_O?
Ah well, back to fretting. Why is there nothing on TV tonight?
Just chiming in to wish everyone who's gotten acceptances a big F YEAH!! congratulations... I know I will forget names since my eyes are glazing over catching up with hundreds of comments, but Arna, Nadiya, Real Talk, Trilbe, KP, Kerry, lovely long french name that i've forgotten, and more.... RIGHT ON. i hope everyone gets to celebrate big this weekend.
as for rejections, i really appreciate those who have called schools and reported back on what's what- THANK YOU! for some reason i can't bring myself to do it but am so glad you can!! @chrissy, denise, and katie for reposting from the PW...... it took the sting out of the iowa rejection, knowing that that stupid little envelope at my door was nothing to tear open in a manic fervor. so, that was nice.
also i too took a census test today- if you guys are unemployed, check it out, the test is easy and they pay $22 an hour! if anyone else on this blog lives in SF and wants to meet up for a drink and curse this process and talk about our favorite bookstores and cupcakes and fried okra (got a fave spot in berkeley), hit me up. especially reeealtalk!!
ok GOOD LUCK EVERYONE and sorry if i missed anyone! all my fingers crossed for yall as the marathon waiting continues.
FOE from UMass Boston! I keep getting automated emails from them telling me my application is incomplete because I won't have a bachelor's degree until May. The emails are really scary and tell me to SUBMIT THESE MATERIALS RIGHT NOW. I called the office three times after the first one and was told different things, until eventually I talked to the lady in charge of the admissions office, and she said that it's no big deal and just means that if I get accepted I have to prove to them when I graduate, and until then I'll get one of the scary emails every month. I wish they'd told me that in the actual emails!
@FWD, go where you think you'll thrive. F the rankings. :p
Seriously, the school that is the one I'm most keen on of my schools is definately not the highest ranked of the ones I'm applying to ... but if it helps me improve my writing and nurtures my craft, then it's a good place for me.
I've been getting a lot of junk email from Boston Univ's Dept of Psychoanalysis. Sometimes, I read it as "Parapsychology." Reminds me Ghostbusters and Poltergeist. Weird.
That's cool! Whatever works :) by the way, I'm pretty sure that Puerto Rican rice and beans are the greatest creation in the whole wide universe. Two of the ladies I work with are Puerto Rican and they taught me how to make that stuff and I could probably eat them every darn day, they're so good. And meatless, with tons of carbs and protein!! Yeyah!
@Woon - I second Princeton. Also, Harvard would be fun. Loved my time there and people teaching undergrad writing (from Marjorie Sandor to Brock-Brodio to Seamus Heaney) were all great. And I dig Boston!
I'd also add:
Stanford Berkeley Pomona or one of the Claremont-McKenna schools
I'm also a science geek and would love to do an MFA at Caltech or MIT...really thought about attending them as an undergrad and think they'd be great intellectual communities.
Stanford has the Stegner, as you probably already know. It's basically an MFA. Five poets and five fictioners workshopping together and taking whatever classes they want.
Yeah, I hear that in November or something. Apparently it would be fully funded too, and I think it would begin next year. Hmmm, maybe a fun thing to think about as I apply again next year! Like I stand a chance...
@Koru - Yale is cool. New Haven sucks. I think it would be fun to go there as an undergrad, but, as I get older and envision spending more time off campus, Yale gets less appealing.
Actually, I really hate New Haven...but they do have a KILLER pizza joint.
MFAguy, it well might. the Theatre dept. is quite a bit separate from the rest of the uni ... you know, like so much better that the rest of meagre Yale. :p
Hadn't given playwrighting a thought tbh ... was thinking in terms of fiction and poetry. my mistake/shortsightedness/second glass of wine. :p
@kaybay - Where did you hear about Harvard? I might call and ask. If that's for real, I might defer (if I even get in anywhere this year) to take a shot at that program. It's just the coolest school.
@frankish, lol i must be weird then. i like NH. :p grungy, you can hear gunfire at night ... and some great mom and pop groceries such as Romeo & Joe's ... and of course pizza. :D
Frankish - it was back on the Abramson-Leslie back in the day, Oct/Nov. Basically it said that Harvard was looking to start a program in 2011 and that it would be fully funded. Yeah, all I could think of would be how damn selective it would be. Holy crap, it would give Vandy a run for it's friggin' money.
Long-time lurker here. I've been feeling sick to my stomach for the past week, giving up hope and already researching other ways to spend the next year of my life. So much ambiguity and lack of response has started to eat away at my brain. Then today, I fell down my stairs after getting an email from University of Michigan saying that I am accepted for poetry.
God, nothing can describe. Trust me, the brink of agony was worth this one moment that changes everything. Good luck to everyone.
But the strength of a program is pretty much entirely faculty and who the students are. You can't just plop the letters CW MFA onto an Ivy and assume you'll reap the benefits of it. Harvard could start one tomorrow, and I don't know that it would offer benefits greater than you'd get from one of the more established programs.
But who knows, they're Harvard. They could be like, "We have a CW MFA, and we've bribed Salman Rushdie to teach your first class, and the physics students have resurrected Faulkner for the 2nd years. Take it, Iowa."
@kaybay - Yeah, I'm sure it would be competitive, probably like Brown in size and popularity. It would be worth a shot though. I visited a lot of colleges when choosing for undergrad, and Harvard was head and shoulders my favorite.
@FWD -- I'm not sure I could take Faulkner in class. He'd babble incoherently like in the second chapter of "The Sound and the Fury." That was frikkin' unreadable.
I have to admit, I'm not an Ivy person. In fact, I questioned whether or not I would actually be happy in a school like Cornell. I'd be pretty happy at a school like Florida, Florida State or Alabama, believe it or not. Far less competition and pretentiousness. But that's just me. Whatever floats your boat, man ;)
@FWD - Admittedly, it was a long time ago. But when I was an undergrad there was no official creative writing program (just some courses in the English department) and still the faculty was as good or better than many current MFA programs. If I recall correctly: Lucy Brock-Brodio, Marjorie Sandor, Seamus Heaney, Susan Dodd, et al. I'd have to check on the others, as I didn't take their workshops.
So can we all create a virtual bar aka chat room and all get drunk together on the internet some night? I think that's already what is happening right now, it just isn't official.
@ whomever, I asked this on the last page with no response . . . I don't get the multiple-days notification. I'm specifically freaking out about IA (but I've noticed the trend with MI and Cornell), but how/why does it take days to place 25 phone calls?!
@Farrah, maybe it takes days because everyone they call rambles incoherently for an hour going "io ... io ... iowa? .... like ... wait ... writing ... workshop .... really?"
@Farrah -- one phone call saps the energy out of me. Two phone calls where I have to repeat the same thing over again to a 20-something student would just be murder. Three, and I'm ready to resign and retire to Hawaii.
Koru, I don't think that all are, but I just think it might be hard to fit in there. That's just me. I'm from the San Francisco Bay Area originally and found it hard to fit in there. I may disagree ideologically with many Southerners, but I end of fitting in with them more. They are pretty open and laid back for the most part, strange cultural nuances aside. Every region/school has its pros and cons, but I like the "feeling" of a regular state school. Again, just me :) My brother went to Michigan and really disliked the student body there (we're pretty similar) and he loved Michigan State because it felt more down to earth for him. Just an example. I hope I didn't sound judgmental (I know it did ;) ), sorry if I offended you.
@Farrah & Woon - I guess the academic world is pretty cush. When I was in finance, I used to interview 15-20 candidates a day on the phone when I wanted to fill an important post. Don't mean to be an ass, but were you joking about calling three people being taxing?
not offended at all ... soooo much of it just depends on who is around you & if you click with them.
that's perhaps my biggest fear about this whole MFa thing ... no matter where I end up, or how good the school or faculty are, what if the people who are in my workshop year are turds? :p
I second your sentiment about Michigan. My sister is there right now for undergrad and I live an hour away, and I have to say the Ann Arbor atmosphere/student body are somewhat unpleasant. But still. It would have been worth it. Sigh.
@koru - I worry about that sometimes, too, and maybe with MFA programs becoming so much more competitive it might be a problem. On the flip side, I took three workshops as an undergrad and a few when doing my MA, and there were really only two turds between the five or six workshops. Five or six of the people have become lifelong friends (this was 20 years ago). So I'm trying not to worry about it.
CAA - I think my brother described them as either dressing like surfers even though they are pretty far away from the ocean and probably had never done anything resembling surfing, or dressing like hipsters who thought they were saving the world because they bought Starbucks and recycled their cups and smoked weed. He said they would sit around talking about injustice in the world in their big fat Mercedes that they just got from their parents, and by "injustice" I mean that said Mercedes was not the kind they wanted as a graduation present. And the law school building where no one else is allowed in and no one can talk? Really???
His words not mine :P I went to Ann Arbor and wasn't impressed. It wasn't terrible, but I understood where he was coming from.
Having grown up in the Ann Arbor area, I'd like to say that I know very little about the U of Michigan student culture, but the townies and everyone in the area are actually quite fantastic and non-hipster. It's a wonderful (well, I guess pretty hippie) place to live. But, then again, I know nothing about the student culture, which means it could be as bad as all that. I just love the town and everything about the area.
I chose my undergrad (Grinnell College in Iowa) for similar reasons. I visited four schools - Carleton, Swarthmore, Vassar and Oberlin. I felt like a lot of the coastal liberal arts colleges and those near cities to be a lot more "preppy", "old money" and "faux-liberal". While I didn't have the metropolitan college experience (I'm from the San Francisco area anyway), I felt like colleges in smaller towns were more welcoming of diverse backgrounds and a lot more laid back as far as academic competition goes. I didn't realize that some of my friends came from incredibly influential and wealthy families until much later because the culture at my alma mater didn't focus on that sort of thing. Other campuses definitely focused on where you came from/what your parents do etc. I don't see why that should matter.
Frankish, Oh wait, are you responding to my offer to call some schools? If so, I think it's past business hours but I am willing to practice my phone skills starting again Monday. :)
I have never been to Ann Arbor ever but I go to wonderful tiny middle of nowhere loving huggy hippie school and all I am saying is the lovey-est and the huggy-est and the hippie-est people come from Ann Arbor.
I think it all depends on whether or not you think thats a good thing. :)
Is there anyone here who applied to Iowa but does not have it as their top choice? Just wondering how often people get in there and still choose not to go if they have offers from another program.
@sahaider - It's not my top program. Of course, it looks like I didn't get in, so that wouldn't really help anyone on the waiting list. But if I got into every program to which I applied, I'd probably pick one of the others over Iowa.
And I didn't decide to apply in time for Brown, but I'd probably choose that as my top pick.
I think thats what makes me the most sad about leaving! I know hugs are not a typical form of greeting among strangers and friends alike in most places...
@sahaider, i applied to it just to see if they'd accidentally slip me in the accepted pile.
of all the programs i applied to, it was the one that i was least sure of who/why i'd study there ...
i might be odd, though ... the programs i liked best of the ones i applied to are ones that i had the greatest sense of what i'd get out of them, had read the faculty before, etc ... my top choices are based on that, not on rankings ... seth's or peterson's or anything ...
@ Wandering Tree, have you had good news yet? I took a few days off post-WI blood bath, so I might have missed it. But I know I read your sample and I KNOW you should be receiving offers.
@sahaider -- I applied to Iowa but it's not my top choice. Upon graduation, I'm not looking for an editorial or teaching job. I just want to write and, with that in mind, I don't think it matters where I go. I'm more location-minded than prestige-minded as far as the MFA is concerned. Do I really believe Iowa has the best faculty and best cohort? No. I don't want to say what school is my top choice because AdCom peeps might be secretly reading this blog.
I have 2-3 top choices and the rest follow. If I got into my 2-3 top choices, it would be a tough decision, one that I would have to make with a coin flip, I'm afraid.
I applied to Iowa but have not yet heard and don't hold out much hope. It was never my top choice for various reasons: location (at least three days drive from home for me), a possibly competitive atmosphere, and I was ambivalent about the size of the cohort. So, I applied just to see if I had a shot, nothing to lose after all, and one hell of an opportunity if by some miracle I got in, but I'd have to do a lot of thinking before accepting a spot there. Does that make me sound like an ass? I don't mean it that way, I'm just...ambivalent, like I said.
Well, there was an "unofficial acceptance" on 2/5, but I still don't know what that means. Someone posted that ND will be notifying everyone else in early March. Oh, the humanity! I hate waiting! I just want to know!
Are you Catholic? My mom's Jewish (non-practicing) and my dad's Shinto (also non-practicing). I'm not sure what that makes me (although I did go to both temples when I was little), but if I end up at ND, I'll probably start some sort of make believe religion and register it as a student organization : - )
I am Catholic :) And I think Koru is too! Several other posters here are also Catholic, we've had some good discussions ;) I would pray like a mo fo if I got into Notre Dame. Seriously, they'd kick me out of the grotto...
@ kaybay, I KNOW! I've had American Idol inspired dreams the last few nights. I just started watching the show last week--I've been accused of seeking out competition-based programming--and the Simon Cowell "it's not good news" is surprisingly refreshing.
to everyone (besides myself, of course) who has heard only bad news (or no news, which equates to bad news -- haaay Iowa! haaay Michigan!) ... to you all I extend a huge, wine-soaked, teary, "it's all gonna be okay... I think..." internet hug. That may be the saddest sentence I ever write. WELL, MORE WINE
Seriously though, everyone, I'm there with ya. We'll get through this!! *tear* *sniff* *gulp wine*
The particular sect of Shinto my dad's family belongs to is actually pretty close to Catholicism. When Christians (mostly Roman Catholic) were persecuted in Japan and forced to go into hiding, a few new religions popped up that blended practices that were acceptable to the feudal lords (shogunate) with Christianity so that people could practice more openly. Just a little fun fact for ya!
honeybadger fell down the stairs and you all congratulated the mo fo? of?
I quote, "So much ambiguity and lack of response has started to eat away at my brain. Then today, I fell down my stairs after getting an email from University of Michigan saying that I am accepted for poetry." which by the way came directly after another "long time lurker" posted the very same message, sin the falling down the stairs - sue won somebody - and like wow, congrats, but who are you, where did you come from and where have you gone? just stopping by to say I got in, ha ha, bye
sorry.
it's taken me two hours at least to catch up on the day's blog.
kaybay - so glad I perked you up today with the fried okra cookin'. Maybe I should've applied to 'bama. Or even Michener likes okra. Oh, yes, most certainly he does!!!
my dog is sick. imagine a labrador that just looks at his food in the bowl but doesn't eat it. Spent the afternoon at the vet. He should be OK. bunch of med. The wen to my Shakespeare seminar, 45 min. late - people are still on the topic of why King Lear would do such a stupid thing - and I pointed out that the story has to start somewhere - and if he hadn't been stupid, we wouldn't be here talking about it - but there's a whole story that follows - and BTW it is fiction. he really didn't do that.
but no - lets scratch and sniff some more - see who's the smartest in the bunch. oh gawd. I missed you guys. how does one discuss great literature with non-writers???? eh???
so, honey bee or honey bear or honeybadger, congrats, but are you for real?? or just laughing at us??? sorry in advance for the typose
Iowa is not my top choice. It always seemed so surreal to me, what with its prestige and history and all, that I never really considered it...until I started talking to my friend's husband who got his MFA in poetry there. He writes a very different kind of poetry than I do, but he said one of the nice things about IWW was that with a larger cohort size you're bound to find one or two people (at least) who you really click with stylistically. And that adds a lot to what you get out of workshopping. And he said the competition really depends on the cohort. He didn't experience that at all. It was enough to make me reconsider and go ahead and apply.
That said, I tried really hard not to have a top choice. And I still think I don't. I certainly have a Top 5 (out of my 17) and they're a lot different than what I expected my Top 5 to look like pre-research. Three of them are almost completely off the radar for MFAs.
They burn what I sent in, and dance, I am drinking because so many rejections pile in my frontmind.
I will wait for Indiana, Purdue, Bowling Green, for they have sent no admits for poets, and I am hoping, praying, being acceptance of what I cannot control/be.
Thanks so much for your comments. It's really uplifting knowing that someone didn't walk the hallowed MFA ground and did just fine. I just hope that one day I might be able to say the same thing. Unless, of course, someone wanted to let me into an MFA program, which I'd totally be down for.
and there were more typose than I realized!!! meds. my dog is on medications.
and the King Lear stuff - the discussion just went on and on and on.
I don't drink EtOH. I ought to, maybe. But I don't. Pass a cupcake, will ya?
and sorry for the bitterness. I was frenzied, trying to cecthup with you'ins! and I'm already bee hind again. See? No wine for me! Not a good thing. I mean, just look at me without it!!! pitiful.
I was torn between Iowa and Hollins. Iowa, in CNF, and they have a multimedia nonfiction aspect, too. I'm a documentary filmmaker, so that really appealed to me. Hollins, because I like multi-genre aspect. I was going to visit if I got into both to help me decide. (Won't need to do that because I didn't get into Iowa...boo.)
Now, it's Hollins, all the way!! Come on Hollins! Wishing wishing wishing.
Yup! I love Endo. My favorite of his is Deep River. I ended up reading Silence last year after the beatification ceremony in Nagasaki (I was living in Japan at the time).
Other Japanese writers I adore (apart from the two Murakamis): Kenzaburo Oe, Kobo Abe and Yoko Ogawa
@mostly swell, meds for the dog is good, because that means s/he is gonna get better!
my last cat i had to give two insulin shots a day to. sweetest pussy, totally worth all the costs of meds! (he finally died of old age, half-blind and diabetic, poor guy!)
sick pets aren't great, but owners who take care of their pets are! xx
@Chrissy - Hollins is great. I'm not sure how things have changed since they moved to MFA, but I got to do some filmmaking there (and ended up moving to LA and directing some stuff) and worked with Doris Dorrie in screenwriting (she was visiting that year). It was a really neat program.
Oh, and part of my catching up includes condolences to MommyJ, if you're still here to see this. I was rooting for you as well. I wish you the best. Definitely keep on with the writing!
@WT Endo is definately in my 'fave five' authors ... no idea where. Deep River is ... just overwhelming in so many good ways. As is Silence. It's like his works just take over my life when i (re)read them! :-)
@Jason J ... amanda graciously statrted up a ning community for us, where we can post all sorts of things such as writing samples and other stuff in a closed community so that not just any random person can see stuff. probably a dozen and a hald or two dozen from here are also over there now ... it's about a week old, or so? i'm losing track of time ... too many snow days!
For those who haven't received any good news (my boat also), I'm starting to think it might not be so bad.
I'm definitely not a silver-lining kind of guy, but if I get rejected everywhere I think the sheer fury will fuel my writing to the next level. It's like when that person who you were ambivalent about anyway dumps you so you lose 20 pounds and run five miles a day.... :D
Mostly Swell, you logged on as I'm going to sleep :( :( I'm sorry to hear about your dog, that sucks! Poor pooch!
WT - thanks for the info about that sect of Shintoism. I really didn't know that and that's actually kind of interesting, might need to look that up a little and read about it.
Couldn't agree more. Although I haven't received any rejections yet, there are a couple that are assumed and that stings, but it also makes me want to get that much better.
@koru Thanks. You're a sweetheart. Yeah, I think he'll be OK. Still, ya know, it's hard when one's baby is sick. ndand well, like the vet said, when a labrador doesn't eat, it's serious.
Aren't you the one with a MINI? I have one too. I did a U-turn when i was leaving the seminar tonight - and I swear I grinded the right bumper against a boulder next to the curb - and was cursing myself all the way home. But I got out to assess the damage and nothing. I mean, am I lucky???? Can you imagine?? I'm thinkin' not only how much $$$ it's gonna cost to fix something cosmetic, but even worse, what kind of idiot am I to ef up my own bumper in a gocart car that makes a you-ee on a dime????
lucky life, lucky lucky life. lucky life (Gerald Stern - Pittsburgh poet. he says it better.)
@ashley: I agree that Seth has done a lot for people, and I am thankful. However, I truly believe that the ranking system is so flawed that it would be better to do away with it completely.
@Riah: No, I'm not associated with Columbia, though I guess part of my point is that I could be. There's nothing stopping people (or schools) from creating multiple accounts and voting on these rankings. It’s bogus, as the internet is inherently corrupt.
At least by surveying faculty you know who you're dealing with. I can't believe that someone on the internet who has yet to even get accepted to a program is somehow better able to evaluate programs en masse than a faculty member. At the least, they're both equally unqualified to do so (though again, I think there was a reason why U.S. News & World Reports chose to speak to faculty in compiling their rankings, and also a reason why they abandoned these rankings altogether).
But IMHO, let's just do away with the surveys though. If you insist on rankings MFA programs in an “overall” category, look only objective date: number of applicants, acceptance rates, funding breakdowns, ect. and if these schools don't disclose that information, they don't get ranked (that should get their attention!). I know there is some subjectivity in that, but it sounds better than asking people (who literally could be 15) to rank schools they never attended.
@mostly swell, yes! i also have a MINI. she's my baby, my first-ever-new car in my mid-30s!!
and i totally did the same thing a year or so ago ... i'd left the car with my father while i was out of the country working. came back to the us, took him out to lunch, backed into some rebar sticking up out of the ground to form a construction barrier. ooops! and luckily, somehow, despite the impact, no scratch!?!
my father was laughing at my panic. :p
glad your go kart is unscathed, and i hope the pooch is shortly all sorted too!
your last post is a perfect one to finale to my evening (on the blog, I mean)
I'm not a silver-lining type of person either (ha! the mere THOUGHT!) but I'm thinking you're right. Here's to amping up the writing quality, not the self-pity.
glad yours was OK too. And yeah, people like to laugh at us??? What is really cool to me is that soooo many people smile when I drive by - and I know they aren't smiling at me. People love to see my sweet little MINI. rally lights make it! I'm '06 hyperblue with white bonnies and top. harmon Kardon stereo. got it used last summer. wanted the '06.
I'll check your response in a bit - then sign off.
@mostly swell ... we're twins! ... 06 S, hyper blue with white bonnies and roof as well!
though no H/K stereo ... pretty basic S lol!
but been on a bunch of rallies throughout the UK with MINI folks. FAB mini folks in the UK. Even toured the plant (twice) where our babies were born. (total geek, i admit!).
@koru oh yeah, I forgot the S part. mine too. Mechanics love the supercharge thang. That's always good when your mechanic adores and drools over your car.
Yo, if I were there, I'd be touring the plant too.
and do you guys wave at each other when you drive by??? We do here, mostly. I have a neighbor in a yellow MINI who doesn't wave or smile or nothin'. I want to bump into her, but I stay cool... ya know.
@Mostly Swell, I live about an hour hour and a half from a dealer, so all the MINIs around here are pretty aweome about waving, as there are few of us!
I swear, you can tell if someone'll wave if they have spotlamps or bonnet stripes! :p
I know this was a while up thread, but I don't think that Princeton will ever house an MFA, and I'm glad that they don't. One of the benefits of Princeton as opposed to some of the other ivies is that its primary focus is on undergraduate students. Princeton's awesome creative writing faculty members teach only undergrad workshops, with only a few grad students in other fields sprinkled in once in a blue moon. Well, except for Toni Morrison, but that's because she doesn't teach at all.
2,428 comments:
«Oldest ‹Older 401 – 600 of 2428 Newer› Newest»Ok. Angie, come back.
@YARebels, CAA, Red, MFAGuy
Gah. I send virtual cookies and stuffed animal seals to all of you. For hugs and joy.
We can get through this, right?
@MFAGuy -- didn't you have a VT interview? I'd say you're beyond your safety schools now.
I can't offer any advice for rejection-induced anxiety/depression, except to say "go write something." Believe it or not, it really helps to know that you're doing something productive and getting better. I feel the progression and I'm very happy with it (although I could have used it YESTERDAY *said a la Adam Sandler in Wedding Singer*). I'm proud of myself and I will keep trucking because hey, what else is there to do other than quit, and you know what, fuck that. I said it. Fuck quitting.
@WT. Yes, you're right, and also great (where are yr acceptances??) - thank you. Good calls. I didn't know Lethem was on the NYU faculty. Bloody hell. Shame I have no money nor desire to be in New York. Also, thanks for the intros to Karen Russell & Kelli Wells. I just googled 'Kelli Wells' - if only she was the first result that appeared - a pornstar - but somehow i doubt it. That would have been polymath-arama indeed.
Kaybay,
On the plus side, I'll at least have a full-novel manuscript ready to edit upon entering a program if I don't get in this year, and I'm just a couple of stories shy of having enough for a collection. It's still early and I still have 6 more to go (which is a lot in the scheme of things considering I only need one). I'm trying not to freak out but keeping perspective right now is a little tough.
@Chrissy - yes we can. I've found that cuddly kittens help (there's one sitting on my keyboard right now, so typing is somewhat difficult).
Best of luck!
@MFA guy ... my safety school notified someone here four weeks ago ... and i've not heard a peep.
i think i'm in the pit ...
@woon.
Yup, but some of the places are taken (until peeps decide not to go there) and the committee is still looking at other apps. I have a shot, like yourself, but who knows till the offer comes in?!
It's Kellie with an 'e' and she taught me during undergrad. LOVED her!
Also, anyone know how many NYU takes?
I have been a silent lurker for long enough. I keep thinking if I don't post anything, I will stop reading and obsessing. I might as well join in. I applied for fiction to:
Michener (rejected)
Alabama (assumed rejection)
Iowa
Virginia
Montana
Hunter
UNCG
Irvine
Florida
Sarah Lawrence
Aside from Michener, haven't heard a peep. I was in a pretty good groove of not obsessing, but that's over now. I would love for this weekend to zip on by, and get some kind of news next week. Any kind!
I wish everyone all the best, and I know this is a particularly difficult year. I'm pulling for everyone on here.
I'm sorry koru!
My safety school was Wyoming, one of my two official rejections. Bahahaha! :D
Cheers!
Jason J, i'm fairly sure this whole process is meant to be strange.
Eli,
re: Kellie Wells
Start with her novel "Skin". Considering your SF inclinations, I think you'd like it.
Yeah MFA, my "safety school" was UCF and it's the only official rejection I've had too... bah... :(
My safety schools are Emerson and George Mason. Although, I've decided now, there's no such thing as a safety school in the MFA game.
UCF: Well, Orlando's full of moany holidaying Brits! I know I've been there and I am one!
Eli, indeed! Stranger still by the minute.
@YARebels - oh yeah, 'Kellie' it is!
@WT - ooh sweet - i will explore. thanks.
Okay, its Friday night and those of us here are down in the dumps. I think its time to break out the drinks! Who's with me?
I'm already drinking and gradin' some comp papers - well in between drinks and inking up my B-stamp!
Hehe, MFA Guy, Florida in general is full of the Brits, but yes, Orlando and Clermont are known for their high Brit contingency. I love them though! You can always spot them 'cause they're pasty yet also sunburned and wear soccer jerseys. They're so cute! :)
Hmm...I wonder if I have the supplies for a margarita...Wooo party!
Coughdrop, pizza and candy (I opted for candy instead of ice cream) was a wonderful diversion. I reverted back to my childhood joy before coming home, jumping onto this blog, and going back to adult sadness :( but I still have candy! I recommend chocolate covered gummy bears and espresso beans and pretzals. And, well, anything chocolate covered really... does the trick!
Does anyone know how Michigan rejects? Do I really have to wait for snail mail!?!
What about Iowa? Please tell me they email rejections.
@Chrissy, did you happen to ask how the program(s) reject?
I have a case of wine that went untouched at an event I organized last week. I think I shall drink one myself tonight and throw a party with the rest this weekend.
Re. safety school. As many have said, there's no such thing. It's a subjective process. For example, I had my three recommenders rank 4 of my short stories. They each ranked them differently, including the top story. If you extend this to the MFA application process (and assume I'm no super-talented writer like, say, Raymond Carver), that means if I sent out the same story out to three schools (each one headed by one of my three recommenders), only one of the three would express interest. Now, would that interest translate to an acceptance given the incredible competition?
@kaybay, have some candy for me please! it's one of the things i gave up for lent. :-S probably a good thing, or I'd be bingeing on it right now.
i may opt for alcohol instead. much better. :-p
For both Michigan and Iowa, you do have to wait for snail mail. I assumed I was rejected from Iowa pretty early on. I called and asked them, and they said that if you hadn't gotten a call, you were rejected. (I applied in CNF, and got my rejection letter Thursday.)
Michigan will be mailing rejections, and are giving us the run around about whether they're done notifying. I'm assuming I'm rejected, or at best, wait-listed. You could call on Monday and ask them.
Hope that helps.
Kaybay,
Chocolate covered espresso beans sound amazing as HELL but I don't dare try them! I am excitable at the best of times and I feel for whoever would be in my presence if I eat those things. But, I would probably have a very good time.
I see lots of Anne of Green Gables on this page. Pit of despair (I'm in the depths myself), Kellie with an e. I love those books. I'm reading them RIGHT NOW.
Also, @DigAPony, your boyfriend's dad sounds like my dad. He's always offering to throw rocks through ^*^*'s windows.
Half way through a pretty nice bottle of Australian shiraz (not something I generally like that much).
This may have come up (it's hard to keep up with so many posts), but did anyone else get the FIU email asking for an electronic copy of the writing sample and statement?
It seems to suggest that the faculty hasn't started reading samples but is preparing to do so.
Cheers (literally)!
@frankish, Aussie wines are awesome for the most part! go southern heimsphere!!! :D
@Woon
I use the term safety schools to apply to places with low app numbers, e.g. NC State, which had around 50 apps last year.
@kaybay
Oh, thanks for the imagery that I've tried so hard to forget!
Koru! I gave up meat for Lent!! And I've decided to write each day during Lent too. A lot of people grumble about Lent, but I kind of like that it gives me an excuse to be disciplined (something I am not naturally). So far, giving up meat has been kind of nice. I'm generally eating healthier (er, except the pizza and candy tonight). I'm hoping some of these habits carry over to Ordinary Time ;)
I decided upon the best of both worlds and broke out the Baileys! Which is what happens when candy and liquor make sweet sweet love.
@kaybay, i gave up wheat and sugar ... to try to be healthier & more conscious of what i was eating. i'm already veggie, pretty much vegan. so there's nowt much else to give up food wise! lol!
i think i'm finally past the sugar cravings! hurrah!
though i'm not sure the bottle of white wine i just opened counts as 'healthier' lol!
I have no idea what you're all talking about re. liquor and candy. Call me ignorant.
I wish this blog displayed the number of each post/comment. It indicates, for example, "401 - 443 of 443" but what if I wanted to read #428? I don't know how you guys do it, but I have to resort to leaving little notes on the date/time stamp where I last left off.
Crappy set up.
@Woon I've subscribed, so they're all in my mailbox and gmail keeps them in order and updates when the thread does. It's very awesome.
And YAY I made a margarita! Deliciousness!
Ha, Seth's rankings make me feel a smidge more optimistic than I was 15 minutes ago. I applied for 6 schools, and I have a definite first choice, but my first choice is beneath the other 5 in the rankings. So now I'm just going to cross my fingers that of everyone my first-choice school accepts, however many of them is necessary will choose higher ranked schools until a space opens up for me. ^_^
Though the rankings do make me feel a little weird, if only because I really have a very strong preference for the lowest-ranked one to which I applied. Now I'm looking around and thinking, "Did everybody else miss something? Or did I?" o_O?
Ah well, back to fretting. Why is there nothing on TV tonight?
Just chiming in to wish everyone who's gotten acceptances a big F YEAH!! congratulations... I know I will forget names since my eyes are glazing over catching up with hundreds of comments, but Arna, Nadiya, Real Talk, Trilbe, KP, Kerry, lovely long french name that i've forgotten, and more.... RIGHT ON. i hope everyone gets to celebrate big this weekend.
as for rejections, i really appreciate those who have called schools and reported back on what's what- THANK YOU! for some reason i can't bring myself to do it but am so glad you can!! @chrissy, denise, and katie for reposting from the PW......
it took the sting out of the iowa rejection, knowing that that stupid little envelope at my door was nothing to tear open in a manic fervor. so, that was nice.
also i too took a census test today- if you guys are unemployed, check it out, the test is easy and they pay $22 an hour! if anyone else on this blog lives in SF and wants to meet up for a drink and curse this process and talk about our favorite bookstores and cupcakes and fried okra (got a fave spot in berkeley), hit me up. especially reeealtalk!!
ok GOOD LUCK EVERYONE and sorry if i missed anyone! all my fingers crossed for yall as the marathon waiting continues.
FOE from UMass Boston! I keep getting automated emails from them telling me my application is incomplete because I won't have a bachelor's degree until May. The emails are really scary and tell me to SUBMIT THESE MATERIALS RIGHT NOW. I called the office three times after the first one and was told different things, until eventually I talked to the lady in charge of the admissions office, and she said that it's no big deal and just means that if I get accepted I have to prove to them when I graduate, and until then I'll get one of the scary emails every month. I wish they'd told me that in the actual emails!
@FWD, go where you think you'll thrive. F the rankings. :p
Seriously, the school that is the one I'm most keen on of my schools is definately not the highest ranked of the ones I'm applying to ... but if it helps me improve my writing and nurtures my craft, then it's a good place for me.
Koru, what do you eat?? God, bless your heart, I could never do that! :)
I've been getting a lot of junk email from Boston Univ's Dept of Psychoanalysis. Sometimes, I read it as "Parapsychology." Reminds me Ghostbusters and Poltergeist. Weird.
Re. going where you want to go, I think I would apply to (and attend, if accepted) the following schools for an MFA if they started one up:
UNC-Chapel Hill
Duke
UCLA
Princeton
Georgetown
@Woon ... do you think the MFA programme looked at your writing sample and forwarded it to the Psych folks to analyse? lmao ....
That's cool! Whatever works :) by the way, I'm pretty sure that Puerto Rican rice and beans are the greatest creation in the whole wide universe. Two of the ladies I work with are Puerto Rican and they taught me how to make that stuff and I could probably eat them every darn day, they're so good. And meatless, with tons of carbs and protein!! Yeyah!
@Woon ... UNC-CH would have been on my list too if only they had an MFA!
Chapel Hill is the sh**!
@koru -- Eeek!
subscribing:)
@Woon - I second Princeton. Also, Harvard would be fun. Loved my time there and people teaching undergrad writing (from Marjorie Sandor to Brock-Brodio to Seamus Heaney) were all great. And I dig Boston!
I'd also add:
Stanford
Berkeley
Pomona or one of the Claremont-McKenna schools
I'm also a science geek and would love to do an MFA at Caltech or MIT...really thought about attending them as an undergrad and think they'd be great intellectual communities.
Cheers!
Stanford has the Stegner, as you probably already know. It's basically an MFA. Five poets and five fictioners workshopping together and taking whatever classes they want.
Wasn't Harvard talking about starting an MFA at some point? Or did I imagine/dream that?
Yah, I know about the Stegner. But I think I'd like to get an MFA degree, as it's a requirement for some teaching positions.
Obviously, wouldn't turn down a Stegner, though. ;)
Cheers!
I'd add Yale ... what is it with the *fun* ivies not having MFA programs (or any CW at Yale?) ...
Yeah, I hear that in November or something. Apparently it would be fully funded too, and I think it would begin next year. Hmmm, maybe a fun thing to think about as I apply again next year! Like I stand a chance...
Sorry, last post was about the Harvard MFA
Doesn't Yale have an MFA in playwriting or something?
@Koru - Yale is cool. New Haven sucks. I think it would be fun to go there as an undergrad, but, as I get older and envision spending more time off campus, Yale gets less appealing.
Actually, I really hate New Haven...but they do have a KILLER pizza joint.
Cheers!
Yeah, Yale Drama offers an MFA for playwrights.
MFAguy, it well might. the Theatre dept. is quite a bit separate from the rest of the uni ... you know, like so much better that the rest of meagre Yale. :p
Hadn't given playwrighting a thought tbh ... was thinking in terms of fiction and poetry. my mistake/shortsightedness/second glass of wine. :p
haha, nice!
If Juilliard opened up an MFA program, I'd consider it, too. Except that they'd probably make you "perform" your writing sample. That would suck.
@kaybay - Where did you hear about Harvard? I might call and ask. If that's for real, I might defer (if I even get in anywhere this year) to take a shot at that program. It's just the coolest school.
Cheers!
@frankish, lol i must be weird then. i like NH. :p grungy, you can hear gunfire at night ... and some great mom and pop groceries such as Romeo & Joe's ... and of course pizza. :D
Frankish - it was back on the Abramson-Leslie back in the day, Oct/Nov. Basically it said that Harvard was looking to start a program in 2011 and that it would be fully funded. Yeah, all I could think of would be how damn selective it would be. Holy crap, it would give Vandy a run for it's friggin' money.
Hello everyone,
Long-time lurker here. I've been feeling sick to my stomach for the past week, giving up hope and already researching other ways to spend the next year of my life. So much ambiguity and lack of response has started to eat away at my brain. Then today, I fell down my stairs after getting an email from University of Michigan saying that I am accepted for poetry.
God, nothing can describe. Trust me, the brink of agony was worth this one moment that changes everything. Good luck to everyone.
Wow, apparently after 10 PM I can't write. It was on the Abramson-Leslie BLOG. Der...
@honeybadger congrats!
(and GREAT name!)
Congrats, HB!
But the strength of a program is pretty much entirely faculty and who the students are. You can't just plop the letters CW MFA onto an Ivy and assume you'll reap the benefits of it. Harvard could start one tomorrow, and I don't know that it would offer benefits greater than you'd get from one of the more established programs.
But who knows, they're Harvard. They could be like, "We have a CW MFA, and we've bribed Salman Rushdie to teach your first class, and the physics students have resurrected Faulkner for the 2nd years. Take it, Iowa."
@honeybadger - Awesome! Congrats!
@kaybay - Yeah, I'm sure it would be competitive, probably like Brown in size and popularity. It would be worth a shot though. I visited a lot of colleges when choosing for undergrad, and Harvard was head and shoulders my favorite.
@FWD -- I'm not sure I could take Faulkner in class. He'd babble incoherently like in the second chapter of "The Sound and the Fury." That was frikkin' unreadable.
I have to admit, I'm not an Ivy person. In fact, I questioned whether or not I would actually be happy in a school like Cornell. I'd be pretty happy at a school like Florida, Florida State or Alabama, believe it or not. Far less competition and pretentiousness. But that's just me. Whatever floats your boat, man ;)
@FWD - Admittedly, it was a long time ago. But when I was an undergrad there was no official creative writing program (just some courses in the English department) and still the faculty was as good or better than many current MFA programs. If I recall correctly: Lucy Brock-Brodio, Marjorie Sandor, Seamus Heaney, Susan Dodd, et al. I'd have to check on the others, as I didn't take their workshops.
Cheers!
@Woon, Faulkner'd probably have wickedly funny stories about other writers, though! :p
random observation of the night: laptop + attention-seeking siamese cat + glass of wine = juggling skills i never knew i had!
Oh, NOT that I got into or ever will be accepted into a school like Cornell, but still :P
So can we all create a virtual bar aka chat room and all get drunk together on the internet some night? I think that's already what is happening right now, it just isn't official.
@kaybay, i don't think that it's fair to assume all people/programmes at all ivies are pretentious old-caste new englandites.
i have a few thoughts on the topic that i don't mind sharing, but not publically ... are you on limbo?
@ whomever, I asked this on the last page with no response . . . I don't get the multiple-days notification. I'm specifically freaking out about IA (but I've noticed the trend with MI and Cornell), but how/why does it take days to place 25 phone calls?!
Anyone?!
Ashley, I am totally down!
@Farrah, maybe it takes days because everyone they call rambles incoherently for an hour going "io ... io ... iowa? .... like ... wait ... writing ... workshop .... really?"
@AB, virtual bar sounds good. :-)
@ koru, that makes as much sense as anything else.
@Farrah -- one phone call saps the energy out of me. Two phone calls where I have to repeat the same thing over again to a 20-something student would just be murder. Three, and I'm ready to resign and retire to Hawaii.
Koru, I don't think that all are, but I just think it might be hard to fit in there. That's just me. I'm from the San Francisco Bay Area originally and found it hard to fit in there. I may disagree ideologically with many Southerners, but I end of fitting in with them more. They are pretty open and laid back for the most part, strange cultural nuances aside. Every region/school has its pros and cons, but I like the "feeling" of a regular state school. Again, just me :) My brother went to Michigan and really disliked the student body there (we're pretty similar) and he loved Michigan State because it felt more down to earth for him. Just an example. I hope I didn't sound judgmental (I know it did ;) ), sorry if I offended you.
@Farrah & Woon - I guess the academic world is pretty cush. When I was in finance, I used to interview 15-20 candidates a day on the phone when I wanted to fill an important post. Don't mean to be an ass, but were you joking about calling three people being taxing?
@kaybay,
not offended at all ... soooo much of it just depends on who is around you & if you click with them.
that's perhaps my biggest fear about this whole MFa thing ... no matter where I end up, or how good the school or faculty are, what if the people who are in my workshop year are turds? :p
@ Woon, I'm ready to retire to Hawaii. I'm not sure that the sun or the waves much less a goddamn luau would do the trick at this point.
Maybe I just need to get lei-ed. :)
@kaybay
I second your sentiment about Michigan. My sister is there right now for undergrad and I live an hour away, and I have to say the Ann Arbor atmosphere/student body are somewhat unpleasant. But still. It would have been worth it. Sigh.
MFA programs can't possibly screen applicants for turdiness.
@koru - I worry about that sometimes, too, and maybe with MFA programs becoming so much more competitive it might be a problem. On the flip side, I took three workshops as an undergrad and a few when doing my MA, and there were really only two turds between the five or six workshops. Five or six of the people have become lifelong friends (this was 20 years ago). So I'm trying not to worry about it.
Cheers!
And that last remark was at you, Frankish. ;)
Koru
I second your turd fear.
@Farrah - Heh. I feel the same. ;)
mfa blog music vol 2 is on its way.
let me know what you guys have been listening to to keep spirits up.
CAA - I think my brother described them as either dressing like surfers even though they are pretty far away from the ocean and probably had never done anything resembling surfing, or dressing like hipsters who thought they were saving the world because they bought Starbucks and recycled their cups and smoked weed. He said they would sit around talking about injustice in the world in their big fat Mercedes that they just got from their parents, and by "injustice" I mean that said Mercedes was not the kind they wanted as a graduation present. And the law school building where no one else is allowed in and no one can talk? Really???
His words not mine :P I went to Ann Arbor and wasn't impressed. It wasn't terrible, but I understood where he was coming from.
@Jason J ... volume 2 sounds like it will be a blessing! i really, really enjoyed volume 1!
i've been listening to Avenue Q a lot, and have Mamma Mia on right now ... mindlessly sappy happy music. :p
really enjoyed discovering Fleet Foxes through the first volume.
BTW, i started a tunes thread on the Limbo blog. :-) if you're on there ...
Frankish,
Wait, why is a comment about Mississippi being directed at me? Did I miss something?
Re: turds
This is one advantage to medium sized or larger programs... More people = more people!
@kaybay, wander around Detroit, and Ann Arbor looks like paradise! :p
(or, it'll look like paradise if you're not shot to death wandering around Detroit!)
Having grown up in the Ann Arbor area, I'd like to say that I know very little about the U of Michigan student culture, but the townies and everyone in the area are actually quite fantastic and non-hipster. It's a wonderful (well, I guess pretty hippie) place to live. But, then again, I know nothing about the student culture, which means it could be as bad as all that. I just love the town and everything about the area.
Kaybay,
I chose my undergrad (Grinnell College in Iowa) for similar reasons. I visited four schools - Carleton, Swarthmore, Vassar and Oberlin. I felt like a lot of the coastal liberal arts colleges and those near cities to be a lot more "preppy", "old money" and "faux-liberal". While I didn't have the metropolitan college experience (I'm from the San Francisco area anyway), I felt like colleges in smaller towns were more welcoming of diverse backgrounds and a lot more laid back as far as academic competition goes. I didn't realize that some of my friends came from incredibly influential and wealthy families until much later because the culture at my alma mater didn't focus on that sort of thing. Other campuses definitely focused on where you came from/what your parents do etc. I don't see why that should matter.
God, Detroit was just sad. It was something out of an apocalyptic graphic novel. I genuinely pray that something good happens to that city.
Frankish,
Oh wait, are you responding to my offer to call some schools? If so, I think it's past business hours but I am willing to practice my phone skills starting again Monday. :)
Jason J,
Yesterday I would have said UMASS by the Pixies. But alas, not today.
Yo La Tengo has been keeping me calm.
I have never been to Ann Arbor ever but I go to wonderful tiny middle of nowhere loving huggy hippie school and all I am saying is the lovey-est and the huggy-est and the hippie-est people come from Ann Arbor.
I think it all depends on whether or not you think thats a good thing. :)
@coughdrop lovey huggy hippie folks are good by me. :-)
Is there anyone here who applied to Iowa but does not have it as their top choice? Just wondering how often people get in there and still choose not to go if they have offers from another program.
I'm still heartbroken about Michigan.
Koru,
Just so long as those huggie, hippie folks have showered : - )
@sahaider - It's not my top program. Of course, it looks like I didn't get in, so that wouldn't really help anyone on the waiting list. But if I got into every program to which I applied, I'd probably pick one of the others over Iowa.
And I didn't decide to apply in time for Brown, but I'd probably choose that as my top pick.
Cheers!
I think thats what makes me the most sad about leaving! I know hugs are not a typical form of greeting among strangers and friends alike in most places...
@sahaider, i applied to it just to see if they'd accidentally slip me in the accepted pile.
of all the programs i applied to, it was the one that i was least sure of who/why i'd study there ...
i might be odd, though ... the programs i liked best of the ones i applied to are ones that i had the greatest sense of what i'd get out of them, had read the faculty before, etc ... my top choices are based on that, not on rankings ... seth's or peterson's or anything ...
At Drifting House, Chris said a couple of people turn down Iowa for something else.
Frankish
Brown is by far my tops, but given the way the other schools have gone, I'm losing hope. I guess my writing is too commercial? So sad.
@ Wandering Tree, have you had good news yet? I took a few days off post-WI blood bath, so I might have missed it. But I know I read your sample and I KNOW you should be receiving offers.
@YARebels
Me tooooo. We gotta learn to let it go. My family and friends are treating me like I'm crazy.
@coughdrop, then MAKE them the default greeting!
(they even were at my ivy :o )
and if you and i end up in the same program, i'll make sure to greet you with hugs!
@WT, absolutely! LOL!
@sahaider -- I applied to Iowa but it's not my top choice. Upon graduation, I'm not looking for an editorial or teaching job. I just want to write and, with that in mind, I don't think it matters where I go. I'm more location-minded than prestige-minded as far as the MFA is concerned. Do I really believe Iowa has the best faculty and best cohort? No. I don't want to say what school is my top choice because AdCom peeps might be secretly reading this blog.
I have 2-3 top choices and the rest follow. If I got into my 2-3 top choices, it would be a tough decision, one that I would have to make with a coin flip, I'm afraid.
sahaider
I applied to Iowa but have not yet heard and don't hold out much hope. It was never my top choice for various reasons: location (at least three days drive from home for me), a possibly competitive atmosphere, and I was ambivalent about the size of the cohort. So, I applied just to see if I had a shot, nothing to lose after all, and one hell of an opportunity if by some miracle I got in, but I'd have to do a lot of thinking before accepting a spot there. Does that make me sound like an ass? I don't mean it that way, I'm just...ambivalent, like I said.
Oh Koru, with poetry so beautiful, I would be honored to be hugged by you! Here's hoping for the same program! :)
@coughdrop, thx ... that put a smile on my face. :-) i do give great hugs. and have a great laugh. :-)
So now I'm not going for an MFA for the sense of community, or the focus on writing OR the baked goods!
I am now going for the hugs.
@coughdrop, i'm going for the hugs too ... much less fattening than all the baked goods everyone makes! :p
@Farrah
No offers yet : - ( I have six more programs to go though. Fingers crossed.
re: My #1 program
@Frankish/YARebels and others on the top choice thread
I'd have to say Brown is my top choice of my remaining programs. 2nd? Notre Dame (if I get funding but if not, Arizona State).
So will IA call over the weekend or can we put that on the back burner until Monday?
*Sigh* I'd love to be classmates at Notre Dame with Wandering Tree and Courtney :( maybe we'll all get in! Here's to optimism!
When does ND notify? Many of my blog-favorites are waiting, and I'm crossing my fingers and toes for all of you.
Well, there was an "unofficial acceptance" on 2/5, but I still don't know what that means. Someone posted that ND will be notifying everyone else in early March. Oh, the humanity! I hate waiting! I just want to know!
So. Working on my plans b, c, and d (the bakery). They're all stressful, except for D. I'm making a drink instead.
Kaybay,
Are you Catholic? My mom's Jewish (non-practicing) and my dad's Shinto (also non-practicing). I'm not sure what that makes me (although I did go to both temples when I was little), but if I end up at ND, I'll probably start some sort of make believe religion and register it as a student organization : - )
I am Catholic :) And I think Koru is too! Several other posters here are also Catholic, we've had some good discussions ;) I would pray like a mo fo if I got into Notre Dame. Seriously, they'd kick me out of the grotto...
It was me who posted about ND - I called them up and asked them!
i am indeedy a Catholic. and a superstitious one at that!
though i didn't apply to ND.
A Jewish-Shinto, by the way, sounds very interesting.
@ kaybay, I KNOW! I've had American Idol inspired dreams the last few nights. I just started watching the show last week--I've been accused of seeking out competition-based programming--and the Simon Cowell "it's not good news" is surprisingly refreshing.
Thanks MFA Guy! Much appreciated.
Whoa whoa someone else here is Shinto?!
*high five*
hello friends.
to everyone (besides myself, of course) who has heard only bad news (or no news, which equates to bad news -- haaay Iowa! haaay Michigan!)
... to you all I extend a huge, wine-soaked, teary, "it's all gonna be okay... I think..." internet hug. That may be the saddest sentence I ever write. WELL, MORE WINE
Seriously though, everyone, I'm there with ya. We'll get through this!!
*tear* *sniff* *gulp wine*
And can I just note how this is the first time in my ENTIRE life that I have HATED a weekend?
That ain't right.
*gives Meredith a big, sweaty, tree-hugey hippie hug a la Michigan*
@ Meredith **internet hug back**
you came in right as we'd been discussing how hugging needs to be a new criterion for seth's 2011 rankings of programmes. :p
BIIIG WONDERFUL HUGGGS TO EVERYOONEEE
Kaybay,
The particular sect of Shinto my dad's family belongs to is actually pretty close to Catholicism. When Christians (mostly Roman Catholic) were persecuted in Japan and forced to go into hiding, a few new religions popped up that blended practices that were acceptable to the feudal lords (shogunate) with Christianity so that people could practice more openly. Just a little fun fact for ya!
@WT, have you ever (by chance) read Shusaku Endo's novel "Silence" ?
hold the phone
honeybadger fell down the stairs and you all congratulated the mo fo?
of?
I quote, "So much ambiguity and lack of response has started to eat away at my brain. Then today, I fell down my stairs after getting an email from University of Michigan saying that I am accepted for poetry." which by the way came directly after another "long time lurker" posted the very same message, sin the falling down the stairs - sue won somebody - and like wow, congrats, but who are you, where did you come from and where have you gone? just stopping by to say I got in, ha ha, bye
sorry.
it's taken me two hours at least to catch up on the day's blog.
kaybay - so glad I perked you up today with the fried okra cookin'. Maybe I should've applied to 'bama. Or even Michener likes okra. Oh, yes, most certainly he does!!!
my dog is sick. imagine a labrador that just looks at his food in the bowl but doesn't eat it. Spent the afternoon at the vet. He should be OK. bunch of med. The wen to my Shakespeare seminar, 45 min. late - people are still on the topic of why King Lear would do such a stupid thing - and I pointed out that the story has to start somewhere - and if he hadn't been stupid, we wouldn't be here talking about it - but there's a whole story that follows - and BTW it is fiction. he really didn't do that.
but no - lets scratch and sniff some more - see who's the smartest in the bunch. oh gawd. I missed you guys. how does one discuss great literature with non-writers???? eh???
so, honey bee or honey bear or honeybadger, congrats, but are you for real?? or just laughing at us??? sorry in advance for the typose
did I say I missed you all??? (;
@ kaybay, koru, coughdrop... everyyybodyyyy
EMBARRASSINGLY MUSHY GROUP HUGGGGGG
*burp* sorry guys that was the wine
@ mostly swell
the bitter side of me is extending you a very, very emphatic high five
@Mostly Swell,
catch your breath, have a glass of wine, and some of the cupcakes. i'm sure, knowing this group, there are cupcakes around somewhere :D
@ sahaider:
Iowa is not my top choice. It always seemed so surreal to me, what with its prestige and history and all, that I never really considered it...until I started talking to my friend's husband who got his MFA in poetry there. He writes a very different kind of poetry than I do, but he said one of the nice things about IWW was that with a larger cohort size you're bound to find one or two people (at least) who you really click with stylistically. And that adds a lot to what you get out of workshopping. And he said the competition really depends on the cohort. He didn't experience that at all. It was enough to make me reconsider and go ahead and apply.
That said, I tried really hard not to have a top choice. And I still think I don't. I certainly have a Top 5 (out of my 17) and they're a lot different than what I expected my Top 5 to look like pre-research. Three of them are almost completely off the radar for MFAs.
They burn what
I sent in, and dance,
I am drinking because
so many rejections pile in my
frontmind.
I will wait for
Indiana, Purdue, Bowling Green, for
they have sent no
admits for poets, and I am
hoping, praying, being
acceptance
of what I cannot control/be.
Next year?
@emppeng27
Thanks so much for your comments. It's really uplifting knowing that someone didn't walk the hallowed MFA ground and did just fine. I just hope that one day I might be able to say the same thing. Unless, of course, someone wanted to let me into an MFA program, which I'd totally be down for.
geez
am I bitter???
maybe.
really tired.
yes, sad too.
and there were more typose than I realized!!! meds. my dog is on medications.
and the King Lear stuff - the discussion just went on and on and on.
I don't drink EtOH. I ought to, maybe. But I don't. Pass a cupcake, will ya?
and sorry for the bitterness. I was frenzied, trying to cecthup with you'ins! and I'm already bee hind again. See? No wine for me! Not a good thing. I mean, just look at me without it!!! pitiful.
thanks for the bitter high five, i think.
Re: First Choices
I was torn between Iowa and Hollins. Iowa, in CNF, and they have a multimedia nonfiction aspect, too. I'm a documentary filmmaker, so that really appealed to me. Hollins, because I like multi-genre aspect. I was going to visit if I got into both to help me decide. (Won't need to do that because I didn't get into Iowa...boo.)
Now, it's Hollins, all the way!! Come on Hollins! Wishing wishing wishing.
@xataro, nice! :-)
koru,
what is this limbo blog you speak of? if i subscribed to another mfa blog my inbox would explode probably.
Koru,
Yup! I love Endo. My favorite of his is Deep River. I ended up reading Silence last year after the beatification ceremony in Nagasaki (I was living in Japan at the time).
Other Japanese writers I adore (apart from the two Murakamis): Kenzaburo Oe, Kobo Abe and Yoko Ogawa
@mostly swell, meds for the dog is good, because that means s/he is gonna get better!
my last cat i had to give two insulin shots a day to. sweetest pussy, totally worth all the costs of meds! (he finally died of old age, half-blind and diabetic, poor guy!)
sick pets aren't great, but owners who take care of their pets are! xx
@Chrissy - Hollins is great. I'm not sure how things have changed since they moved to MFA, but I got to do some filmmaking there (and ended up moving to LA and directing some stuff) and worked with Doris Dorrie in screenwriting (she was visiting that year). It was a really neat program.
Good luck!
well geeez I'll just go back to blindly hugging everyone if that's the way it's gon' be
Oh, and part of my catching up includes condolences to MommyJ, if you're still here to see this. I was rooting for you as well. I wish you the best. Definitely keep on with the writing!
@WT Endo is definately in my 'fave five' authors ... no idea where. Deep River is ... just overwhelming in so many good ways. As is Silence. It's like his works just take over my life when i (re)read them! :-)
@Jason J ... amanda graciously statrted up a ning community for us, where we can post all sorts of things such as writing samples and other stuff in a closed community so that not just any random person can see stuff. probably a dozen and a hald or two dozen from here are also over there now ... it's about a week old, or so? i'm losing track of time ... too many snow days!
For those who haven't received any good news (my boat also), I'm starting to think it might not be so bad.
I'm definitely not a silver-lining kind of guy, but if I get rejected everywhere I think the sheer fury will fuel my writing to the next level. It's like when that person who you were ambivalent about anyway dumps you so you lose 20 pounds and run five miles a day.... :D
Mostly Swell, you logged on as I'm going to sleep :( :( I'm sorry to hear about your dog, that sucks! Poor pooch!
WT - thanks for the info about that sect of Shintoism. I really didn't know that and that's actually kind of interesting, might need to look that up a little and read about it.
Have a good night all! Good luck!
@frankish
Couldn't agree more. Although I haven't received any rejections yet, there are a couple that are assumed and that stings, but it also makes me want to get that much better.
@koru
Thanks. You're a sweetheart. Yeah, I think he'll be OK. Still, ya know, it's hard when one's baby is sick. ndand well, like the vet said, when a labrador doesn't eat, it's serious.
Aren't you the one with a MINI? I have one too. I did a U-turn when i was leaving the seminar tonight - and I swear I grinded the right bumper against a boulder next to the curb - and was cursing myself all the way home. But I got out to assess the damage and nothing. I mean, am I lucky???? Can you imagine?? I'm thinkin' not only how much $$$ it's gonna cost to fix something cosmetic, but even worse, what kind of idiot am I to ef up my own bumper in a gocart car that makes a you-ee on a dime????
lucky life, lucky lucky life. lucky life
(Gerald Stern - Pittsburgh poet. he says it better.)
@ashley: I agree that Seth has done a lot for people, and I am thankful. However, I truly believe that the ranking system is so flawed that it would be better to do away with it completely.
@Riah: No, I'm not associated with Columbia, though I guess part of my point is that I could be. There's nothing stopping people (or schools) from creating multiple accounts and voting on these rankings. It’s bogus, as the internet is inherently corrupt.
At least by surveying faculty you know who you're dealing with. I can't believe that someone on the internet who has yet to even get accepted to a program is somehow better able to evaluate programs en masse than a faculty member. At the least, they're both equally unqualified to do so (though again, I think there was a reason why U.S. News & World Reports chose to speak to faculty in compiling their rankings, and also a reason why they abandoned these rankings altogether).
But IMHO, let's just do away with the surveys though. If you insist on rankings MFA programs in an “overall” category, look only objective date: number of applicants, acceptance rates, funding breakdowns, ect. and if these schools don't disclose that information, they don't get ranked (that should get their attention!). I know there is some subjectivity in that, but it sounds better than asking people (who literally could be 15) to rank schools they never attended.
@ Jason J: If you're interested, shoot me an email at mandasue at gmail dot com and I'll send you the invite!
amanda, boom! just did it.
kaybay - thanks
g'nite
I'm headed that way too.
see ya'll soon. I have lots of Shakespeare over the weekend - so, I'll probably lurk or miss out completely 'til Monday
@frankish
I'm with you. I'll be focusing the rage into a productive angle.
Anyone else an ex-Baptist Taoist?
@mostly swell, yes! i also have a MINI. she's my baby, my first-ever-new car in my mid-30s!!
and i totally did the same thing a year or so ago ... i'd left the car with my father while i was out of the country working. came back to the us, took him out to lunch, backed into some rebar sticking up out of the ground to form a construction barrier. ooops! and luckily, somehow, despite the impact, no scratch!?!
my father was laughing at my panic. :p
glad your go kart is unscathed, and i hope the pooch is shortly all sorted too!
@frankish
your last post is a perfect one to finale to my evening (on the blog, I mean)
I'm not a silver-lining type of person either (ha! the mere THOUGHT!) but I'm thinking you're right. Here's to amping up the writing quality, not the self-pity.
cheeeeeeers!
whoa, typos. gross. anyway, goodnight, internet friends.
You will find me in the fire,
the smoldering ash
I leave behind.
@koru
Thanks man.
we'll talk more later.
I'm off.
glad yours was OK too. And yeah, people like to laugh at us??? What is really cool to me is that soooo many people smile when I drive by - and I know they aren't smiling at me. People love to see my sweet little MINI. rally lights make it! I'm '06 hyperblue with white bonnies and top. harmon Kardon stereo. got it used last summer. wanted the '06.
I'll check your response in a bit - then sign off.
Xataro
I'm likin' your stuff
still, I must go.
catch ya later.
@mostly swell ... we're twins! ... 06 S, hyper blue with white bonnies and roof as well!
though no H/K stereo ... pretty basic S lol!
but been on a bunch of rallies throughout the UK with MINI folks. FAB mini folks in the UK. Even toured the plant (twice) where our babies were born. (total geek, i admit!).
@koru
oh yeah, I forgot the S part. mine too. Mechanics love the supercharge thang. That's always good when your mechanic adores and drools over your car.
Yo, if I were there, I'd be touring the plant too.
@koru
and do you guys wave at each other when you drive by??? We do here, mostly. I have a neighbor in a yellow MINI who doesn't wave or smile or nothin'. I want to bump into her, but I stay cool... ya know.
she has a black top. so whatever.. lol
@AB - Mississippi!
@Xataro
600?????
huh?
right, i think i also ought to be tottering off to bed! nite nite, and happy dreams to all, and acceptances in the daylight hours!
@Mostly Swell, I live about an hour hour and a half from a dealer, so all the MINIs around here are pretty aweome about waving, as there are few of us!
I swear, you can tell if someone'll wave if they have spotlamps or bonnet stripes! :p
I know this was a while up thread, but I don't think that Princeton will ever house an MFA, and I'm glad that they don't. One of the benefits of Princeton as opposed to some of the other ivies is that its primary focus is on undergraduate students. Princeton's awesome creative writing faculty members teach only undergrad workshops, with only a few grad students in other fields sprinkled in once in a blue moon. Well, except for Toni Morrison, but that's because she doesn't teach at all.
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