Rutgers was one of those either you like it or you don't type of deals. I went to RU New Brunswick in Fall 2005. I didn't like the environment or the people. I hated 'greek life,' and couldn't give a rat's ass about sports. And I hated the dorms, too.
But you're considering RU Newark, which I'm sure is much more different than New Brunswick. You'd be a train ride away from the city!
What made it worse was the God awful fin aid packet. I felt scammed out of my cash. And the admins there were so heartless in regards to their students. It's understandable, given the huge student body at RU NB, but it still hurt like a mother. To this day, I can't hear the words Rutgers without thinking of asshole, heartless admins and smelly, beer soaked asshole undergrad business majors.
I'm a bit of an artsy kind of guy (not the type who hidse in cafes and make faces at other people's selection in music) and I wanted to live in a city. Since my parents moved to PA, I pretty much became a "technical" PA resident, and received some awesome fin aid @ the art school I'm going to in Philly.
If anything, The New School looks like the right place for me and my needs regarding environment and classmates. I just hope I get some loans to go with that scholarship...
Apologies for the length. This blog's really working my writing muscle!
@Ashley Brooke sorry I wasn't able to get to a computer earlier. They gave me no indication about how far they were in the process, but I did only hear about it through a voicemail before heading to class. I didn't want to call them back immediately because I was worried about sounding too eager and insane.
@Arna I would loveloveLOVE to see your writing sample if you'd be willing to share it. And congratulations on all your acceptances!
my e-mail is s (dot) ali haider @ gmail (dot) com
And congratulations to everyone else who got acceptances today!
@Arna! I am in awe of you! I agree--I would love to hear about your decision making process if you don't mind sharing. (Or what portion of it you don't mind sharing with an online audience of semi-strangers. Maybe something like what Nick McRae is doing on the MFA Chronicles blog?)
And congratulations to everyone who received acceptances today (M.B. Wells, Rose, and everyone I'm forgetting!)-I'm in awe of all of you, too.
sahaider, That's okay. I don't think it would be too eager for you to call back right away! You're just responding to the voicemail. Unless they'll say, "I'm sorry. You are too excited about our program. We're going to have to move you over to the rejection pile." Haha. :)
After the Columbia College acceptance in Fiction today, I have officially hit rock bottom (although I am sincerely happy for M.B. Wells) and given up hope.
What's the popular beer in Korea, is it Tsing Tao? Whatever it is, I'm going to go buy a case and drink it as I apply for ESL jobs in Korea.
Hullo everyone. I'm a late comer to this party but it seems I missed the memo. I have been twiddling my thumbs waiting to hear back and then I log on to the blog only to find out that I should quit worrying about half the places I applied to! Argh!
Congratulations to everyone who got in. And am crossing my fingers and toes for the rest of us!
Thanks for the reccomendation! I love me some indian food, so I'll be happy to eat ample amounts of navratan korma there. Pictures of the town do look so pretty-- though pretty cold to a floridian like myself!
I've never posted before, but am so excited for all you people who've been accepted places! What a crazy process we've been in!
heres my list (fiction):
Michener -- rejected
purgatory: U of Oregon Oregon State Portland State U of Montana U of Idaho U of Colorado
U of Oregon sent me an enormous, thick envelope. I ripped it open in a frenzy to find... housing information. Why would they do such a thing? Anyways, continuing to wait in agony...
Why can't they have the decency to do what journals do, i.e. something like "we are sorry that your submission does not meet our current needs"? Instead, they reassure us that they have read our submission carefully, but this is not something I want to be reassured of if I am being rejected. I do not want to be told "We have read your submission very carefully and are quite sure that you do not merit recommendation for admission." If all you are doing is rejecting me, at least leave me the hope that my sample was read while the reader was drunk and pissed off at her husband and that my protagonsit resembles him when he fucked another woman or whatever and that the chunk of life I tried to animate was not one that they wanted to think about. Is it too much to ask for such a small shred of self-delusion?
I am going through the same feelings you are about acceptance to The New School. I'm totally stoked about the possibility to work with the likes of Ann Hood or Francine Prose. And I haven't stopped smiling from the thought of a group of faculty members sitting around my manuscript and deciding the little guy from Honolulu deserves a shot. But holy cow on the cost. Even with the scholarship, I'd still be in debt up to my nipples. Everyone in my life says take out the loans and worry about the rest later — it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Nonetheless, I'm worried as hell.
@Congrats Xaviers that's a grrreat achievement just go there and don't keep thinking about the debt. It is your destiny to have to got in - there will be some path that'll open up and solve the debt part....sooner or later...
Marrying Arna is rapidly becoming my Plan A. No matter Arna's sex.
I also know that Arna submitted "Ulysses, but Better" as her writing sample. Insider knowledge.
Congratulations to everybody (special poetry shout-out to Brad - those are some serious odds at Michener).
I received quite a funny rejection letter this morning from Rutgers Camden. I didn't apply there (and Newark accepted me yesterday). Suck it Camden - I'm sleeping with your sister - get over it.
I haven't posted in a while, but I just wanted to check in to say congrats to all the acceptances! No acceptances or waitlists yet for me, I'm afraid.
Arna, I'm dying to see your sample and hear where you decide to go and why! If you're willing to share, you can reach me at jennypenny13 at comcast (dot) net.
Hello, beautiful people! I *should* be blogging to you from beautiful downtown Tuscaloosa, but NO. United jostled me around and bumped me from flight-after-flight yesterday -- with no explanations, just "We're very sorry. We try to look out for all of our passengers. But sometimes..." Lawz, the sh*t I put up with to get my gaddamz flyer miles.
Well, as my dad told me yesterday whilst I was whining to him on the phone about the evils of United Airlines, "There are many worse problems in the world than being rescheduled. Be firm about what you want from these people. But they may not give it to you. And there may be nothing you can do about that." I consider myself a pretty easygoing person, but my dad takes easygoing to a supernatural level. Which, I totally love about him! Although, maybe if I were a screamer or a freaker out, I would be writing this in Tuscaloosa instead of NYC.
@Arna & Nadiya - You win! Really, YOU M*TH*RF*CK*NG WIN! You're knocking down the most selective admits in the country as if no one else has applied. Mad respect, love and great wishes to you both!
I think we're getting a dozen, or more, acceptances each day, now. Right? C O N G R A T U L A T I O N S @LJ & Coughdrop & AaronApps & burlaper & Melissa & MBWells & Bri & Rose & BradSmith! And a special shout out to sahaider -- I'm SO happy for you! You've been calm and lovely through a lot tough letdowns. Congratulations on this wonderful moment!
And we're seeing a lot fewer rejections this week, I think. March is coming in with big radness! (Props to whoever coined that term, because I'm working it into every phase of my life.) I hope that, by the end of this month, we will all have found good matches. That outcome is actually looking quite possible! It sucks that so many of us had a lot of early rejections, which was tough, but a lot of us have been brought out of deeply dark moments by acceptances that have exceeded out expectations. I hope that every one of us who has had a dark moment finds joy at the end.
@Jessie - Thanks for the comment on Laura Kasischke. Now, I won't be too nervous to talk to her! Well, I probably won't be too nervous...
@Georgie - How about, instead of meeting you in Iowa City, I meet you in Betendorf and we do some riverboat gambling? Mark Twain got a lot of material out of the Mississippi. I'll bet we could, too!
@videokilledtheradiostar - This was a nice place, beeyotch, until you brought your snarky bragitude about your fancy Liberty U program. I know that Lib U is awesomely selective -- and it's clear that you're a super talented fanficter -- but you DON'T have to be such a bragadocious @ss about it!
I really hope you get a good financial aid package from The New School (same to all the other TNS acceptances)!
Thanks for sharing your experience at Rutgers. While dealing with the administration and getting screwed over sounds annoying, I love the MFA program and it's definitely one of my top choices, so hopefully all the other stuff wouldn't be so bad.
It really sounds like my undergrad university -- big public school where people commonly run into random, odd problems. Like you park your car outside a building, run in to drop a paper off in a professor's mailbox, come back out two minutes later, and your car has somehow already been towed and is waiting at a gas station 5 miles down the street where you'll have to pay $125 to get it back (that happened to two people I know!). I also ran into problems when trying to graduate, when suddenly one of my gen-ed classes didn't count anymore and I had to petition to get it counted...
Also there's a lot of Greek shenanigans at my school, which I can't stand... But I love the English department, it's like a nice little artsy oasis. Hopefully the MFA at Rutgers would be the same sort of thing.
@xavier - Congratulations on being accepted by The New School. I don't want to be that person who leaves links to bummer articles during your moment of joy. But if your friends and family are telling you not to worry about student debt, maybe you should read this article, to get a balancing perspective:
But as tuitions rise, many people are borrowing heavily to pay their bills. Some no doubt view it as "good debt," because an education can lead to a higher salary. But in practice, student loans are one of the most toxic debts, requiring extreme consumer caution and, as Dr. Bisutti learned, responsibility. ...
When I went to TNS's Open House in the fall one of the directors of the program (don't remember his name) was quite honest about funding. He said that most students received scholarships that would cover about half the tuition. I hope you guys do better, but the reality is you'll probably be on the hook for at least $22,000 in loan debt for just tuition after two years. Good luck.
Last night was awful. After I told my mother that I thought wanting closure was complete crap, I decided last night that having it done would be a relief! Then I wouldn't have this cloud of waiting over my current writing. Today, I got up and thought of seeing my profs (recommenders) at school, and I decided again that closure is BS!
There are crickets chirping down here in Gawjuh! I haven't even received my SIUC rejection! I deserve a rejection letter people! OK, I'll stop shouting. I need to go write.
@Trilbe - Hey lady - love your positivity. I'm the mother of "March radness" - and still waiting for the magic fairy dust to rain down on me.
But! I am waitlisted at ASU Tempe for poetry. 3-years, fully funded, no snow, ample parking, literary center, study-abroad opportunities, close to my home state of CA? I want to go to there. But I still have dreams of Brown.
Props to everyone accepted, especially the jackpot Michener winners - well done!
I feel for the people who got accepted at places with little to no funding. Especially Sarah Lawrence, which has the highest undergrad (and grad?) tuition rate in the US.
@WreckingLight - love your posts. I would buy your poetry book. Good luck with your funding situation.
Has anyone received a Vanderbilt rejection? Something tells me that, because the application was free, they are cycling through their list something fierce as acceptances drop them for another school. It seems like so much more unnecessary work on their part to waive the application fee and be bombarded with applications from people who might not have applied if they'd had to pay. (Me, for example.)
I haven't received a Vanderbilt rejection yet (fiction), though I'm not holding out much hope.
By the way, I've been meaning to tell you for a while that I love the name you're using on here. Nabokov is probably my favorite writer of all time. I prefer Pale Fire over Lolita, however.
I'm just remembering that one of the universities I applied to has a reputation for having a feminist bent to their admissions process (and overwhelming female-male ratios to back that up), so I offered to wear fake breasts as part of my personal statement, just to make me "doubly golden" along with my typically female name.
This is a university I have previous unhappy dealings with, but I thought they'd be impressed by my village poetry prize hoard so far: "two plant-pots, half a (admittedly good-looking) goat, and a free run at a milkmaid's virginity".
It was split from head to tail, like a biological curio. I declined it, asking for some thatching material instead; this, like my UTexas application, was DENIED.
Okay, so has absolutely everybody who applied to Iowa's Nonfiction Writing Program gotten either a yes or a no letter by now? It was sounding like it over at Driftless House. I am in China, have heard nothing, and have the vague sense that there's this rejection letter that's going to reach me in two months or whenever is the next time they get around to sorting the incoming international mail...
Just another case of wanting to hear it from the horse's mouth, I guess.
I think someone asked if anyone else was waiting for a response from Montana. I haven't heard from them either. Or from Colorado, Arizona, or Hollins, for whatever that's worth.
OH MY LAWD. SO EXCITING!!!!!! CONGRATS times a jillion! If I could see you in person, I would jump up and down clapping giddily, not unlike a mentally-challenged person. I also would throw makeshift confetti (shredded office memos) all over you! You must be lightheaded with happiness. You've both been lovely on this blog... so gracious. Congratulations, you guys, that is SO SO SO awesome!
I'm not sure I'd assume not having heard from Michigan indicates a position on the waitlist, especially as your friend personally contacted the program. I'd be more inclined to assume the sickle's swinging through the air; it just hasn't reached us yet.
I'm with mj -- duchess, how do you know about ASU? !
Also, did anyone ever answer the question about checking status on FL's website? I just started going around in circles when I finally got myself logged in....
Also, I'm in fiction. It seems several schools have started notifying for poetry -- that doesn't necessarily mean they're done with fiction, right? But CSU... sigh. I'm guessing I'm not on their wish-list, but I haven't heard anything... anyone know the inside scoop?
Thank you! And you're probably right, it's just hard knowing why they just don't all send out all of everything at the same time--like the law schools. MFA grad schools: UR DOIN IT WRONG.
@Anti - Hunter rejection for CNF came via email Tuesday am... was along the lines of 'your application status has been updated online, check it!' and then a form letter was waiting for me. Hope this helps.
I'm FINALLY on a flight -- with St. John's basketball team. Fate? I've been bumped from three flights, to end up here, connecting to Birmingham through Chicago. SURROUNDED by tall, black men with high earning potential. I'm just sayin...
@Trilbe - I think getting into the NBA is tougher than getting into an MFA program. Thirty teams, with each team taking, on average, only one or two new players via the draft. More than likely, none of the athletes you see on that St. John's team will make it. If you added all the other pro leagues around the world, however, I don't know. I don't have the figures but it may still be tougher than an MFA.
But you are right that they do have high earning POTENTIAL. It just won't be realized.
Rec'd acceptance e-mail to Maryland for fiction last week, followed quickly by a letter of congratulations. Unsure of funding, but I am instate, it's a great school and It's looking like a very strong option for me. I'll be visiting with faculty next week. If anyone has q's or helpful info about the program, feel free to e-mail me at 00.emily at gmail dot com.
I got into Sarah Lawrence in poetry, but I don't think they are finished notifying. When they called me it sounded like it was one of the first calls, so if you have applied, I would definitely not assume rejection at this point! I also don't think there have been any reported nonfiction acceptances yet.
@ the duchess,
Sarah Lawrence does have the highest undergrad tuition in the country, but the graduate tuition is considerably lower. And they only charge you for one and a half years, not the full two, because they don't charge for thesis credits. Not like it's cheap though so I'm definitely panicking about financial aid.
This morning I called Rutgers again to ask for more details about when they'll be making funding decisions. They said that they will mail all decisions about TAships and funding by... April 20. APRIL 20. Freaking out. Because my decision will depend on funding, and some other schools will want to know by April 15. AHHHH. No idea what I would do if I haven't gotten a funding decision from Rutgers by then.
@phillywriter - I didn't think anyone had any idea what it meant. Sweet! I prefer Lolita to Pale Fire. In fact, I prefer Lolita to anything, period. Though, Pale Fire is marvelous if you can get through the poem. Now I want to change my user name to Kinbote.
In any case, if we're going strictly by history, it's more likely next Friday, as Brown really seems to like that second Friday in March.
It's just that a lot of the Brown rumors on the INTERNETS have said that decisions were made, and only Grad School approval of the choices was needed - so who knows? Maybe they're a week ahead of schedule.
Yes, the Brown decisions have been forwarded to the Grad School for approval - I thought I heard it from a horse's mouth, but it turned out that I was confused and read it instead through an e-mail.
Ack! KayBay and other ND hopefuls--a commenter on Driftless House said that after a phone call with Notre Dame, it sounded like they were making decisions and contacting acceptances TODAY! I am so nervous...I want in so badly! I just chose my loudest, most obnoxious ringtone. Sorry, co-workers!
I love Sarah Lawrence College very much (two of my referees were once teachers there), and I used to travel up on the Metro North to use their curious library on Sundays during a protracted stint in New York writing.
They've always been lovely to me - I've had the pleasure of meeting Kate Johnson a few times, and am now good friends with many of the graduated MFA students (who attended the Summer workshops with me in 2008 and 2009, and who loved their time at SLC as graduate students).
I've been accepted a couple of times for the MFA, but the cost is really prohibitive, and each year I try to convince them to open up one place on a full scholarship - not for me, but for some kid out there who is in even more dire financial straits than I am, and who shows more promise than I ever could. While you prepare a sad face to meet my own, I'll inform you that my gentle persuasions never work, although, at the same time, I'd also like to inform you that I'm really good in bed.
That, and that SLC's financial support is only $6000 per year. It's the kind of thing that has the magical potential to automatically start that scene from "Good Will Hunting". With the Quantum Physics of Minnie Driver's Mouth, I've already put a bet of £5 with a bookmaker that all copies of the film will gradually implode due to the mathematical principles destroyed by said mouth.
If it wasn't COMPLETELY inappropriate, I would so walk across the street to Notre Dame right now and knock on someone's ddor and see what they were up to. :P
I got a fake-out email from san jose state universtiy today. We are so please we recieved your application... you forgot to choose a secondary genre stupid. Oh lol.
Laura T, I'm guessing that their first funding offers have gone out and the reason they say you will know by April 20th is that they may have to wait until April 15th for that funding to become available. There's nothing else they can do at that point.
I just remembered that I meant to mention the worst FOE I ever received: Last year I applied to Columbia. I got a rejection letter in the mail. A few days later, I got an email inviting me to an admitted students' day on campus. So I'm thinking, "Maybe they sent me the wrong letter. Maybe I really got in!" A few minutes later, I got an email apologizing because they accidentally sent the email to the rejected students instead of the accepted ones. Yeesh.
@ meredith: did you call asu? i would do it myself, but my name also happens to be meredith, and i don't want ms karla elling to think that either of us fiction-merediths were one really annoying person.
I remember that Columbia FOE. The brief hope! The crushing email that came a few minutes later! From an administrative POV, I know the terror (TERROR!) of sending email to the wrong people, but that one still hurt.
I tried on my lunch break, but I just got Karla's voicemail. I'm going to try again in a minute though! I'll definitely letcha know if I get ahold of her!
and lol we should bombard her voicemail with meredith messages
she'd be so alarmed. "But they don't sound like the same person.... Could the be the same person? I just don't know anymore!" ::wanders off into the desert::
So, do we think Brooklyn has sent out ALL of their acceptances? Do I dare try calling the MFA assistant? Or perhaps emailing because I am such a chicken...
Thoughts? Advice from the brave souls who have called up only to be rejected?
i half want to know the answer to that question desperately and half don't. it will break my very fragile heart. however, the waiting and anxiety is breaking my freaking mind.
@miss private eye - I think you summed up exactly how I feel. Is it better to keep up false hope, or to be painfully squashed? I don't even necessarily need to know if I got in, I just want to know if they are done notifying - that way I don't have to hear an outright rejection.
To everyone who is going crazy with rejection anxiety:
This is my third year applying to programs, but the first that I actually cleared out weeks of time to spend on my manuscript. I was waitlisted last year, rejected outright the year before. This year, I got into one solid program and am waiting to hear from nine more.
Art was always going to require sacrifice, uncertainty, anxiety, etc. Our field is competitive, demanding, often melancholy, and newly brimming with displaced professionals. If you're not up to the task of dealing with that in the long term, this may be a poor career choice for you. When you break through one barrier, another will waiting. If you care about it enough, you'll keep going, and even that's no guarantee.
Ok, guys, I'm seriously crying right now: I'm in at Texas State, San Marcos for fiction by phone. I got a voicemail on my home phone where I wasn't expecting in. omg.
Not sure if this is a sign of anything really. I didn't get this last year when I applied, but I didn't fill out the FAFSA for that application cycle. So, this could be normal for them, something they send to everyone with incomplete info. Just checking to see if anybody else got one.
I got the UNCG financial aid thing too. I'm confused though, as obviously I don't have a student ID and pin needed to log in, as I haven't been admitted.
@San Marcos - I almost applied to that program because Tim O'Brien teaches there now. Then four published authors sat around a table and told me their individual "Tim O'Brien Stories," thereby scaring me out of applying. He's supposed to be a jackass on all sorts of levels, which I won't mention here because I don't want any libel lawsuits filed against me.
However, he's brilliant, and I think it'd be an awesome opportunity.
i took a workshop with tim o'brien. he's definitely tough, a true soldier, even made some of my classmates cry. but if you know what you're doing, he'll try to help.
@AB Congrats. I've been following your worries on the blog...good stuff...also read your work on Amanda's blog. Give OBrien a big kiss for me even if he is a Jack@@@.
@Arna--Is there anyway I could read your sample. I'm fascinated to see what you are writing...the future in writing of america
@everyone---so I just figured out that TNS means the new school...that only took five years
Anyone heard from South Carolina, Georgia, or FSU for fiction? I was reading the acceptance blog from last year about decisions...seems to be a lot of movement around April 15th when people start making decisions and waitlist movement happens. Does this really have to go on for another six weeks and can Alabama just send me a rejection...I'm not on the waitlist so just send me the mail.
I'm in at Idaho as I've said before and couldn't be happier. No funding, but whatever I'm willing to go into debt to live the dream. Anyone else heading to Idaho or thinking about it give me a shout out. I received a call from Daniel Oronzco and was wondering who you talked to or if you talked to anyone at all.
emailed michigan. if you haven't been called or emailed about being accepted or waitlisted, you are out. you will get a letter about this sometime this week or next week. this is what i have been told.
@Ashley, Arna, Laura T, sahaider, M. B. Wells... and everyone else - congratulations! I love seeing good news on the blog every day. I'm so proud of you all!
For all of you still waiting with fingers crossed, I would offer to share my brown-butter blondies, but I think I might eat them all out of anxiety.
i took the eight week course with jim mcpherson. it was ridiculously awesome, wonderful classmates from all over the world. he's like yoda. i think it was 600 bucks, but worth it to spend two months in IC.
klair,
i wouldn't consider him a jackass. then again, i'm as blunt of a person as he is.
I'm not trying to stir the turd here, but I think it is rude to ask a writer who has been accepted into a good program for his or her writing sample. I don't think those who are asking necessarily mean to be rude, but it is rude to ask, and I honestly don't think a lot of people ask to read the samples out of sheer curiosity. Perhaps it's best to trust the departments' decisions to admit these writers? Arna, especially. If he's gotten into all the top five programs then he's obviously a good writer. No need to validate that in our own minds.
i def understand where you're coming from but arna has offered on here before to send his sample to anyone who has an interest so the point is a lil null.
Were you offered the "merit scholarship"? It's over 4 grand, but I'm wondering, is it per semester or per year (4 grand for 22,000 dollars a year seems kinda meager)?
@bmazur &/or Liz
Indeed it does. Thanks so much.
@Leslie
Rutgers alumni are insanely loyal to their alma mater. I respect that. Like I said before, the education you'll get is top-notch.
@Laura T
I'm sure you'll love Rutgers.
It's partly my fault that I didn't like the place. I went in, a cocky Jersey kid freshly graduated from high school, thinking it'd be just 4 more years of cranking out papers and studying for tests I didn't give a rat's ass about and still getting A's and B's.
Boy was I wrong.
If your heart is set on that school, and THEY'RE PAYING YOU TO BE THERE, than it'd personally take the opportunity. Rutgers-Newark keeps rising in the MFA rankings (last I checked. Could be wrong). Def. an up and coming program. And sorry for the caps.
@DG
Yeah, that pretty much looks like what I thought TNS was going to be in regards to funding. My cousin went to Milano for grad, and also pulled off a half-paid scholarship. It was one of the reasons why I chose TNS to begin with.
@everyone/anyone
I like TNS, but my attempts at looking for more "real scoop" info. about the program (yelp!, studentsreview, some half-cooked blogs that shall remaind anonymous) haven't been that helpful (most are really positive, though).
I'm sure it's a very good program (my fiction professor teaches there and raves about it, but I can't trust faculty), but I'd like to know if anyone else has heard otherwise or has anything else to say about it.
I remember reading more than a few scathing pans about the Columbia Writing MFA (if a bit curious, check out Rick Moody's article about his time there in The Atlantic), but I haven't found anything of that nature concerning the other schools I've applied to.
Also, does anyone know how many writers are excepted per genre? Or at least in fiction?
@cecil - I'm definitely a fan, and I'm also a fan of being groped. However, I'm a dude, so I don't think my chances are very good of getting groped by him.
I agree with what Emily said wholeheartedly, but with a caveat of sorts...
I feel like I HAVE made sacrifices for my writing, and have been very devoted to it since completing undergrad. I "wrote" in college, but since graduating, I made it my biggest priority besides minimal health and survival ('cuz if I'm dead I can't write anyway, right?), and occasionally prioritizing friends and family over writing. But everything else has come after writing. I waited to apply to schools until I really thought my writing was as good as I could get it alone, and completing my portfolio completely ruled my life for 6 months (and that was just revision).
What I'm afraid of - and I know none of you can tell me this, but I'm putting it out there anyway - is that I will have made sacrifices and continue to make sacrifices and then one day find that I just suck and it really was a huge waste of time and money, etc. I'm not necessarily going to feel this way without an MFA acceptance - I've already started to realize I can do a LOT more work without a program to guide me - and it's not like I need fame or anything. But I mean, some people just aren't good writers, right? I could easily be one of those people, and no amount of sacrifice or dedication is going to turn a sow's ear into a silk purse.
Then I tell myself, but if I'm happy doing it, does it really matter? And I like that idea, but... I don't know. Even if it makes me happy, I don't want to be that girl that worked her whole life for something and was really shitty at it.
I agree that dedication & sacrifice is going to be necessary in the writing life, I just have this dread knowing that dedication and sacrifice are not necessarily going to be ENOUGH.
Everybody who is being so kind and supportive, Thank you x 100,000!
klairkwilty, Haha. I have heard no such things about Tim O'Brien, but I do know that he only teaches one semester for every four (or so I've heard), so as much as I am excited at the idea of working with him, I know that he won't be the only influence on my writing there. Also I need some stories of my own! Hopefully they will be positive.
Kitty In A Cathouse, YAYA! Another Texas State person! Congratulations! What is your genre? Feel free to e-mail me if you want to chat about the program. orthetiger(at)gmail(dot)com.
I realized last year I spent almost $500 on books, and I already re-read about 50% of my reading material from books I already own.
The library is out for me. I've had my card taken away so many times for late fees... I've tried everything but it seems I ALWAYS incur late fees. And then I have to pay all this money and I don't own the book.
So recently I asked my family to all pitch in and buy me an e-reader for my birthday, which they did. I really, really wasn't sure about the whole not-a-real-BOOK thing, but I actually love it, and now brand-new books only cost $0.99 for the most part. Some are free, and none are more than $9.99. And I can keep them without having to buy a new bookshelf since all of mine are so completely overstuffed I can't fit another book on them.
I was very resistant to the idea, but it really is a LOT cheaper. Especially if you can get other people to buy the actual ereader for you. :)
That's what I feared. I'm sure they'll explain more about fin aid and finding out how to pay for the tuition in the packet they'll be sending out to acceptances in the upcoming weeks.
I think every writer is constantly asking themself if they are good "enough" to keep going, good enough to get to the next step. And when it comes down to it, MFA applications are about the closest you're going to come in the literary world to a roughly objective measurement of that. (of course, you get to decide where that "enough" level is for yourself by choosing which schools you apply to)
The problem is that no answer is ever going to be satisfying. If you don't get in, you can always decide to be persistent and try again; you can improve your writing, or decide that you didn't get a fair shake, or that you applied to the wrong schools. For some people, that can clearly pay off. Even if you do get in, though, you still might never make it to the next level and get books published.
Anyway, I know there are plenty of people on this blog who believe in following your dream at all costs, so I'll be the one dissenting voice and say that there is no shame in cutting and running, no matter where you stand in the process. You can always continue to write for yourself, or for others, but it doesn't have to be the one, all-consuming passion of your life, and maybe some good can come out of realizing that.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go prepare my samples for my next seven years' applications to Iowa.
Okay. I just got the UNCG incomplete financial aid email.
I also filled out a FAFSA. I refuse to believe we all screwed up our aid applications. Probably just some weird automated thing triggered by FAFSAs without already admitted students attached to them. Maybe.
I guess we'll find out when they send our IDs and PINs.
@all the ridiculous number of happy people today - and a special shout out to the ever-sweet Ashley Brooke - huge congratulations!!!
@summer programs - any of you multitude of buckeye staters have good/bad things to say about summer programs in the area? thinking particularly of the one antioch hosts. driving to iowa every week seems a little extreme (plus the deadline has passed. if not, i might have done it.)
i personally feel like writers, like most artists, are really insecure about their work and whether or not it's truly "good". No really awesome writer ever believed himself to be a really awesome writer. It's just something I believe because I see it so prevalently true.
In fact, most folks I know who do believe themselves to be the cream of the crop, are the furthest thing from talented.
don't give up on yourself though; the only person that's worth being is who you truly feel you are. if that's a writer, write.
@Nathaniel and @Megan (and everyone else who has had the same worries as Megan!)
Food for thought, from Rilke:
"No one can advise or help you - no one. There is only one thing you should do. Go into yourself. Find out the reason that commands you to write; see whether it has spread its roots into the very depths of your heart; confess to yourself whether you would have to die if you were forbidden to write. This most of all: ask yourself in the most silent hour of your night: must I write? Dig into yourself for a deep answer. And if this answer rings out in assent, if you meet this solemn question with a strong, simple 'I must,' then build you life in accordance with this necessity; your whole life, even into its humblest and most indifferent hour, must become a sign and witness to this impulse."
Cliche? Maybe, but I think it sums up why we're all here :)
I've been obsessed with poetry these last few months (I'm taking a break from fiction due to my long hours spent on my writing sample. Narrative, you are so dead to me).
Currently, I'm reading John Ashbery's "Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror" for the second time in a row. I'm still as confused as the next person in trying to decipher Ashbery's work, but the book is still a tremendous read. I highly recommend it.
And I just finished "The Lice" by W.S. Merwin. Very, very good. I found it to be Cormac McCarthy-esque in many places (The Asians Dying reminded me a lot of the poetic violence in Blood Meridian). CM fans should check it out.
Just got an email from Dierdre McNamer--I'm in for fiction at Montana!!!! Funding looks unlikely unless one of those five spots opens up. I am so happy! Oh my goodness, oh my gosh! March Radness!!!
currently i'm only really reading in between the lines of every single freaking blog entry here, but...
just finished "Between the River and The Bridge" by Craig Ferguson. Who new late night TV's funniest (and least controversial) talk show host was also a brilliant novelist? It really was great storytelling in the best sense of the word.
Are you refering to the graduate summer workshops? Just looked it up and unfortunately the deadline for both sessions was March 1. Which sucks...I actually live in IC and totally would have taken one of the sessions if I had known about it sooner. It looks like there are some undergrad workshops still open though, and there is the Iowa Summer Writing Festival, which I have done and would recommend--the workshops are only weekend or weeklong classes, $250 for weekends and $450 for a week, I think, but worth it if you can afford it. Here's the link to the summer programs with a link to the festival at the bottom if you or anyone else wants to check them out.
Hey thanks Red Micky, yup I knew the deadline was past. I was thinking about next summer, but nowhere could I find the costs of the workshops (the 3/8 week ones, not the festival stuff). I've never been to Iowa, but I figure a summer in IC would be awesome.
I LOVE Craig Ferguson, though I'm a late comer to his cult. His show has a Dada-esque feel that reminds me a lot of Conan in his late nineties, early 00s prime.
And his monologue is unscripted!
I read about the novel, but wasn't sure if Ferguson could crack it as a writer. I guess I was totally wrong.
Crap...now I have that stupid Kraftwerk-inspired Twitter song in my head...GAH!
YEAH, AB!!! so happy for you! and see, now i can take over that mother hen position on the blog next year unless i receive some kind of miracle. :) also, does this mean you will get to work with zz packer, or is she only a visiting writer for spring 2010? if you do get to work with her ... *dies*
also congrats to peter, kitty, courtney and benjamin! so much good news. keep it comin'.
For those accepted into Texas State for fiction: when you spoke to someone did they mention how many people they were accepting? Did they mention if they were notifying more people soon? (hopefully?)
I'm feeling utterly dejected. Texas State was the only school who hadn't made any notifications yet...and now...sigh.
@ Benjamin and Courtney: YAAAY! March radness indeed! Big congrats to both of you!
@ Henry:
I have a Nook. Everyone said not to get it because it's "first generation" technology, but Barnes and Noble WAS my cute local bookstore before they turned into a monster chain, so I've always been more comfortable with their website, etc (as opposed to amazon or some of the others).
I'm a total technophobe - I still use CDs in my car, I've never owned a digital camera, I only JUST learned how to back up my files to one of those little key-chain type thingies... so I wasn't sure at all about making the jump to electronic books. But I've had it for over a month now and so far there's nothing I don't like about it. I love that I can bring five books with me on a weekend trip without actually having to carry five books. I love that if I finish one book at 2 am and really NEED to start another one I can buy a new one without leaving my bed. Etc. etc. I was a huge skeptic but now I'm converted.
2,502 comments:
«Oldest ‹Older 1801 – 2000 of 2502 Newer› Newest»Arna & Rose,
Congrats!
@Laura T
Shoot! I shoulda applied to Sarah Lawrence.
Oh well...
Rutgers was one of those either you like it or you don't type of deals. I went to RU New Brunswick in Fall 2005. I didn't like the environment or the people. I hated 'greek life,' and couldn't give a rat's ass about sports. And I hated the dorms, too.
But you're considering RU Newark, which I'm sure is much more different than New Brunswick. You'd be a train ride away from the city!
What made it worse was the God awful fin aid packet. I felt scammed out of my cash. And the admins there were so heartless in regards to their students. It's understandable, given the huge student body at RU NB, but it still hurt like a mother. To this day, I can't hear the words Rutgers without thinking of asshole, heartless admins and smelly, beer soaked asshole undergrad business majors.
I'm a bit of an artsy kind of guy (not the type who hidse in cafes and make faces at other people's selection in music) and I wanted to live in a city. Since my parents moved to PA, I pretty much became a "technical" PA resident, and received some awesome fin aid @ the art school I'm going to in Philly.
If anything, The New School looks like the right place for me and my needs regarding environment and classmates. I just hope I get some loans to go with that scholarship...
Apologies for the length. This blog's really working my writing muscle!
Woah, Arna! Congrats! Now I kind of wish I had landed in Michener just to work with you. You must have had a killer sample.
Is anyone's UT-Austin status still in limbo?
@Ashley Brooke sorry I wasn't able to get to a computer earlier. They gave me no indication about how far they were in the process, but I did only hear about it through a voicemail before heading to class. I didn't want to call them back immediately because I was worried about sounding too eager and insane.
@Arna
I would loveloveLOVE to see your writing sample if you'd be willing to share it. And congratulations on all your acceptances!
my e-mail is s (dot) ali haider @ gmail (dot) com
And congratulations to everyone else who got acceptances today!
@Arna! I am in awe of you! I agree--I would love to hear about your decision making process if you don't mind sharing. (Or what portion of it you don't mind sharing with an online audience of semi-strangers. Maybe something like what Nick McRae is doing on the MFA Chronicles blog?)
And congratulations to everyone who received acceptances today (M.B. Wells, Rose, and everyone I'm forgetting!)-I'm in awe of all of you, too.
sahaider,
That's okay. I don't think it would be too eager for you to call back right away! You're just responding to the voicemail. Unless they'll say, "I'm sorry. You are too excited about our program. We're going to have to move you over to the rejection pile." Haha. :)
ARNA you are killing!! I was wondering if anyone actually gets in to Texas... Way to go! Again!!
After the Columbia College acceptance in Fiction today, I have officially hit rock bottom (although I am sincerely happy for M.B. Wells) and given up hope.
What's the popular beer in Korea, is it Tsing Tao? Whatever it is, I'm going to go buy a case and drink it as I apply for ESL jobs in Korea.
Hullo everyone. I'm a late comer to this party but it seems I missed the memo. I have been twiddling my thumbs waiting to hear back and then I log on to the blog only to find out that I should quit worrying about half the places I applied to! Argh!
Congratulations to everyone who got in. And am crossing my fingers and toes for the rest of us!
@Coughdrop
Thanks for the reccomendation! I love me some indian food, so I'll be happy to eat ample amounts of navratan korma there. Pictures of the town do look so pretty-- though pretty cold to a floridian like myself!
Congratulations to everyone whose gotten in. I'm still waiting on mine - freaking out now!
@DFW1985: Tsingtao is Chinese. The stuff in Korea is Cass or Hite, and both are foul. Fortunately for you, neither are widely available in the US.
My hearty congratulations to everyone with good news! I'm still in the Dark Ages.
Neither is*. Sorry, email subscribers.
Just got an Email from Michener at Texas, I got in for poetry. Absolutely stunned.
HOLY CRAP, BRAD!!! You're the one!!! Congrats, congrats, congrats!
@Brad @Rose and @Burlaper a huge congrats to you...
@Arna please please send me an autograph :)))
Hi everyone,
I've never posted before, but am so excited for all you people who've been accepted places! What a crazy process we've been in!
heres my list (fiction):
Michener -- rejected
purgatory:
U of Oregon
Oregon State
Portland State
U of Montana
U of Idaho
U of Colorado
U of Oregon sent me an enormous, thick envelope. I ripped it open in a frenzy to find... housing information. Why would they do such a thing? Anyways, continuing to wait in agony...
Re: rejection etiquettte
Why can't they have the decency to do what journals do, i.e. something like "we are sorry that your submission does not meet our current needs"? Instead, they reassure us that they have read our submission carefully, but this is not something I want to be reassured of if I am being rejected. I do not want to be told "We have read your submission very carefully and are quite sure that you do not merit recommendation for admission." If all you are doing is rejecting me, at least leave me the hope that my sample was read while the reader was drunk and pissed off at her husband and that my protagonsit resembles him when he fucked another woman or whatever and that the chunk of life I tried to animate was not one that they wanted to think about. Is it too much to ask for such a small shred of self-delusion?
@Anti
I am going through the same feelings you are about acceptance to The New School. I'm totally stoked about the possibility to work with the likes of Ann Hood or Francine Prose. And I haven't stopped smiling from the thought of a group of faculty members sitting around my manuscript and deciding the little guy from Honolulu deserves a shot. But holy cow on the cost. Even with the scholarship, I'd still be in debt up to my nipples. Everyone in my life says take out the loans and worry about the rest later — it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Nonetheless, I'm worried as hell.
The New School offers financial aid to International applicants too wish I had known earlier atleast I could have taken a shot at it!!!
@Congrats Xaviers that's a grrreat achievement just go there and don't keep thinking about the debt. It is your destiny to have to got in - there will be some path that'll open up and solve the debt part....sooner or later...
Congratulations, Brad!
congratulations on all of the recent acceptances! you guys should be so proud.
@arna and @brad smith: super-big congrats on michener!
@Anti, Laura T--One of my recommenders graduated from Rutgers, and warned me about the "RU Screw."
but, I still love you, Rutgers--if there's any room left, pick me, pick me!
Marrying Arna is rapidly becoming my Plan A. No matter Arna's sex.
I also know that Arna submitted "Ulysses, but Better" as her writing sample. Insider knowledge.
Congratulations to everybody (special poetry shout-out to Brad - those are some serious odds at Michener).
I received quite a funny rejection letter this morning from Rutgers Camden. I didn't apply there (and Newark accepted me yesterday). Suck it Camden - I'm sleeping with your sister - get over it.
I haven't posted in a while, but I just wanted to check in to say congrats to all the acceptances! No acceptances or waitlists yet for me, I'm afraid.
Arna, I'm dying to see your sample and hear where you decide to go and why! If you're willing to share, you can reach me at jennypenny13 at comcast (dot) net.
Congrats to all!
Hello, beautiful people! I *should* be blogging to you from beautiful downtown Tuscaloosa, but NO. United jostled me around and bumped me from flight-after-flight yesterday -- with no explanations, just "We're very sorry. We try to look out for all of our passengers. But sometimes..." Lawz, the sh*t I put up with to get my gaddamz flyer miles.
Well, as my dad told me yesterday whilst I was whining to him on the phone about the evils of United Airlines, "There are many worse problems in the world than being rescheduled. Be firm about what you want from these people. But they may not give it to you. And there may be nothing you can do about that." I consider myself a pretty easygoing person, but my dad takes easygoing to a supernatural level. Which, I totally love about him! Although, maybe if I were a screamer or a freaker out, I would be writing this in Tuscaloosa instead of NYC.
@Arna & Nadiya - You win! Really, YOU M*TH*RF*CK*NG WIN! You're knocking down the most selective admits in the country as if no one else has applied. Mad respect, love and great wishes to you both!
I think we're getting a dozen, or more, acceptances each day, now. Right?
C O N G R A T U L A T I O N S
@LJ & Coughdrop & AaronApps & burlaper & Melissa & MBWells & Bri & Rose & BradSmith! And a special shout out to sahaider -- I'm SO happy for you! You've been calm and lovely through a lot tough letdowns. Congratulations on this wonderful moment!
And we're seeing a lot fewer rejections this week, I think. March is coming in with big radness! (Props to whoever coined that term, because I'm working it into every phase of my life.) I hope that, by the end of this month, we will all have found good matches. That outcome is actually looking quite possible! It sucks that so many of us had a lot of early rejections, which was tough, but a lot of us have been brought out of deeply dark moments by acceptances that have exceeded out expectations. I hope that every one of us who has had a dark moment finds joy at the end.
@Jessie - Thanks for the comment on Laura Kasischke. Now, I won't be too nervous to talk to her! Well, I probably won't be too nervous...
@Georgie - How about, instead of meeting you in Iowa City, I meet you in Betendorf and we do some riverboat gambling? Mark Twain got a lot of material out of the Mississippi. I'll bet we could, too!
@videokilledtheradiostar - This was a nice place, beeyotch, until you brought your snarky bragitude about your fancy Liberty U program. I know that Lib U is awesomely selective -- and it's clear that you're a super talented fanficter -- but you DON'T have to be such a bragadocious @ss about it!
@ Anti-,
I really hope you get a good financial aid package from The New School (same to all the other TNS acceptances)!
Thanks for sharing your experience at Rutgers. While dealing with the administration and getting screwed over sounds annoying, I love the MFA program and it's definitely one of my top choices, so hopefully all the other stuff wouldn't be so bad.
It really sounds like my undergrad university -- big public school where people commonly run into random, odd problems. Like you park your car outside a building, run in to drop a paper off in a professor's mailbox, come back out two minutes later, and your car has somehow already been towed and is waiting at a gas station 5 miles down the street where you'll have to pay $125 to get it back (that happened to two people I know!). I also ran into problems when trying to graduate, when suddenly one of my gen-ed classes didn't count anymore and I had to petition to get it counted...
Also there's a lot of Greek shenanigans at my school, which I can't stand... But I love the English department, it's like a nice little artsy oasis. Hopefully the MFA at Rutgers would be the same sort of thing.
@xavier - Congratulations on being accepted by The New School. I don't want to be that person who leaves links to bummer articles during your moment of joy. But if your friends and family are telling you not to worry about student debt, maybe you should read this article, to get a balancing perspective:
http://finance.yahoo.com/college-education/article/108846/the-555000-student-loan-burden?mod=edu-continuing_education
But as tuitions rise, many people are borrowing heavily to pay their bills. Some no doubt view it as "good debt," because an education can lead to a higher salary. But in practice, student loans are one of the most toxic debts, requiring extreme consumer caution and, as Dr. Bisutti learned, responsibility.
...
@Arna - How surreal can it still feel? You've been accepted to almost every program you've applied for! This should be old hat by now.
@Trilbe that was very sweet of you. And you totally made my morning :)
Anti and other New Schoolers:
When I went to TNS's Open House in the fall one of the directors of the program (don't remember his name) was quite honest about funding. He said that most students received scholarships that would cover about half the tuition. I hope you guys do better, but the reality is you'll probably be on the hook for at least $22,000 in loan debt for just tuition after two years. Good luck.
For anyone waiting on the University of Miami, here's what I was told when I called this morning:
"They're working on it right now, so I would say another week or so."
Congrats to everyone getting good news ... and may the days fly by for the rest of us....
Last night was awful. After I told my mother that I thought wanting closure was complete crap, I decided last night that having it done would be a relief! Then I wouldn't have this cloud of waiting over my current writing. Today, I got up and thought of seeing my profs (recommenders) at school, and I decided again that closure is BS!
There are crickets chirping down here in Gawjuh! I haven't even received my SIUC rejection! I deserve a rejection letter people! OK, I'll stop shouting. I need to go write.
@Trilbe - Hey lady - love your positivity. I'm the mother of "March radness" - and still waiting for the magic fairy dust to rain down on me.
But! I am waitlisted at ASU Tempe for poetry. 3-years, fully funded, no snow, ample parking, literary center, study-abroad opportunities, close to my home state of CA? I want to go to there. But I still have dreams of Brown.
Props to everyone accepted, especially the jackpot Michener winners - well done!
I feel for the people who got accepted at places with little to no funding. Especially Sarah Lawrence, which has the highest undergrad (and grad?) tuition rate in the US.
@WreckingLight - love your posts. I would buy your poetry book. Good luck with your funding situation.
Has anyone received a Vanderbilt rejection? Something tells me that, because the application was free, they are cycling through their list something fierce as acceptances drop them for another school. It seems like so much more unnecessary work on their part to waive the application fee and be bombarded with applications from people who might not have applied if they'd had to pay. (Me, for example.)
@miss private eye
Thank you. I feel less like an outcast now.
Anyone have word on Pitt and Bowling Green fiction acceptances? Nada?
@klairkwilty
I haven't received a Vanderbilt rejection yet (fiction), though I'm not holding out much hope.
By the way, I've been meaning to tell you for a while that I love the name you're using on here. Nabokov is probably my favorite writer of all time. I prefer Pale Fire over Lolita, however.
For those of you who applied to the new school, brooklyn, hunter, sarah lawrence--do you think you'll call them this week if you haven't heard or..?
I'm just remembering that one of the universities I applied to has a reputation for having a feminist bent to their admissions process (and overwhelming female-male ratios to back that up), so I offered to wear fake breasts as part of my personal statement, just to make me "doubly golden" along with my typically female name.
This is a university I have previous unhappy dealings with, but I thought they'd be impressed by my village poetry prize hoard so far: "two plant-pots, half a (admittedly good-looking) goat, and a free run at a milkmaid's virginity".
Fingers crossed!
@ WreckingLight
Which half of the good-looking goat? It makes all the difference in the admittance process...
@Red Micky.
It was split from head to tail, like a biological curio. I declined it, asking for some thatching material instead; this, like my UTexas application, was DENIED.
Okay, so has absolutely everybody who applied to Iowa's Nonfiction Writing Program gotten either a yes or a no letter by now? It was sounding like it over at Driftless House. I am in China, have heard nothing, and have the vague sense that there's this rejection letter that's going to reach me in two months or whenever is the next time they get around to sorting the incoming international mail...
Just another case of wanting to hear it from the horse's mouth, I guess.
I think someone asked if anyone else was waiting for a response from Montana. I haven't heard from them either. Or from Colorado, Arizona, or Hollins, for whatever that's worth.
@cat
I'm in at Michigan for poetry. I know someone who got rejected from them...
So I think if you haven't heard that might mean a waitlist...?
@ ARNA & BRAD
OH MY LAWD. SO EXCITING!!!!!! CONGRATS times a jillion! If I could see you in person, I would jump up and down clapping giddily, not unlike a mentally-challenged person. I also would throw makeshift confetti (shredded office memos) all over you! You must be lightheaded with happiness. You've both been lovely on this blog... so gracious. Congratulations, you guys, that is SO SO SO awesome!
@ arna and brad - fantastic! That is amazing news for both of you, although it leaves Arna with a pickle of a decision.
Peaquah, you're right. Arna, are you leaning in way in particular?
@Ena
How was your friend notified of his/her Michigan rejection?
@everybody
My Wolverine Access still does not show a decision.
Have people received Michigan rejections? In what format?
Cheers. And Congrats to those with new acceptances!
Quoting Beth Gibbons, "It's a funny time of year." Keep the vision buried in the dream, y'all.
@weighswithwords:
he emailed them after I told him I got in.
My list (for poetry)
-Michigan (accepted)
-Montana (accepted)
-Minnesota (accepted)
-Maryland (accepted)
-U of Houston:
-UNC Greensboro:
-Austin TX (rejected)
full funding for all acceptances, except Maryland is taking its sweet time. I really want Houston though, but only with my boyfriend. Lesigh.
@ the duchess...waitlisted at asu? when did you find out? how?
Ena,
Congrats on your acceptances!
I'm not sure I'd assume not having heard from Michigan indicates a position on the waitlist, especially as your friend personally contacted the program. I'd be more inclined to assume the sickle's swinging through the air; it just hasn't reached us yet.
I'm with mj -- duchess, how do you know about ASU? !
Also, did anyone ever answer the question about checking status on FL's website? I just started going around in circles when I finally got myself logged in....
Also, I'm in fiction. It seems several schools have started notifying for poetry -- that doesn't necessarily mean they're done with fiction, right? But CSU... sigh. I'm guessing I'm not on their wish-list, but I haven't heard anything... anyone know the inside scoop?
If anyone needs a distraction, here is a blog akin to hipster puppies:
http://unhappyhipsters.com/
The captions. Just read the captions.
@weighswithwords
Thank you! And you're probably right, it's just hard knowing why they just don't all send out all of everything at the same time--like the law schools.
MFA grad schools: UR DOIN IT WRONG.
@Anti - Hunter rejection for CNF came via email Tuesday am... was along the lines of 'your application status has been updated online, check it!' and then a form letter was waiting for me. Hope this helps.
So far The New School and Sarah Lawrence have just been Fiction? Any other genres?
thanks duchess! I'll let you guys know what she says 'bout fiction...
Any Montana fiction acceptances? I've seen some rejections and poetry acceptances, but I've yet to hear a damned thing.
Congratulations to the Michener acceptances-- you all will be living my dream.
I got my rejection from UT Austin, just as acceptances were going out. It kind of sucks, but I'm pretending it had some kind of meaning....
Seems like Brown historically notifies on Fridays, which means tomorrow could be it, folks.
I'm FINALLY on a flight -- with St. John's basketball team. Fate? I've been bumped from three flights, to end up here, connecting to Birmingham through Chicago. SURROUNDED by tall, black men with high earning potential. I'm just sayin...
@Trilbe: I'm already jealous enough! Jeez!
@Trilbe - I think getting into the NBA is tougher than getting into an MFA program. Thirty teams, with each team taking, on average, only one or two new players via the draft. More than likely, none of the athletes you see on that St. John's team will make it. If you added all the other pro leagues around the world, however, I don't know. I don't have the figures but it may still be tougher than an MFA.
But you are right that they do have high earning POTENTIAL. It just won't be realized.
Ahh, sorry for the rambling...
@trilbe: uh, yeah. i'm in chicago. could probably get to o'hare shortly. i'll cab it if i have to. share the wealth, sister.
share. the. wealth.
@adam: brown, possibly tomorrow? man, i had enough bad fridays in february. don't need another one during march radness.
(p.s. every time i read "march radness" i hear a tiger growl in my head. i have no idea why.)
did anyone else get wait-listed for Michener?
Just dropped $100 on books - why do I feel like buying books isn't *really* "spending money"? :-)
For those interested, I ordered:
*Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned
*St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves
*What the World Will Look Like When all the Water Leave Us
And some books by Michigan fiction faculty. Can't wait!
sorry tribe, the st johns team stinks. they were just destroyed by the greatest team in the history of history....the cuuuuuse!
Trillbe--enjoy it! That's some true March Radness!!
Rec'd acceptance e-mail to Maryland for fiction last week, followed quickly by a letter of congratulations. Unsure of funding, but I am instate, it's a great school and It's looking like a very strong option for me. I'll be visiting with faculty next week. If anyone has q's or helpful info about the program, feel free to e-mail me at 00.emily at gmail dot com.
Cheers, and good luck -
Em
@ Courtney,
I got into Sarah Lawrence in poetry, but I don't think they are finished notifying. When they called me it sounded like it was one of the first calls, so if you have applied, I would definitely not assume rejection at this point! I also don't think there have been any reported nonfiction acceptances yet.
@ the duchess,
Sarah Lawrence does have the highest undergrad tuition in the country, but the graduate tuition is considerably lower. And they only charge you for one and a half years, not the full two, because they don't charge for thesis credits. Not like it's cheap though so I'm definitely panicking about financial aid.
This morning I called Rutgers again to ask for more details about when they'll be making funding decisions. They said that they will mail all decisions about TAships and funding by... April 20. APRIL 20. Freaking out. Because my decision will depend on funding, and some other schools will want to know by April 15. AHHHH. No idea what I would do if I haven't gotten a funding decision from Rutgers by then.
@phillywriter - I didn't think anyone had any idea what it meant. Sweet! I prefer Lolita to Pale Fire. In fact, I prefer Lolita to anything, period. Though, Pale Fire is marvelous if you can get through the poem. Now I want to change my user name to Kinbote.
@bdc: Yup. I feel ya.
In any case, if we're going strictly by history, it's more likely next Friday, as Brown really seems to like that second Friday in March.
It's just that a lot of the Brown rumors on the INTERNETS have said that decisions were made, and only Grad School approval of the choices was needed - so who knows? Maybe they're a week ahead of schedule.
@Adam.
Yes, the Brown decisions have been forwarded to the Grad School for approval - I thought I heard it from a horse's mouth, but it turned out that I was confused and read it instead through an e-mail.
@Trilbe
Hahaha, that is pretty stellar. Fate. It's been decided.
Ack! KayBay and other ND hopefuls--a commenter on Driftless House said that after a phone call with Notre Dame, it sounded like they were making decisions and contacting acceptances TODAY! I am so nervous...I want in so badly! I just chose my loudest, most obnoxious ringtone. Sorry, co-workers!
I love Sarah Lawrence College very much (two of my referees were once teachers there), and I used to travel up on the Metro North to use their curious library on Sundays during a protracted stint in New York writing.
They've always been lovely to me - I've had the pleasure of meeting Kate Johnson a few times, and am now good friends with many of the graduated MFA students (who attended the Summer workshops with me in 2008 and 2009, and who loved their time at SLC as graduate students).
I've been accepted a couple of times for the MFA, but the cost is really prohibitive, and each year I try to convince them to open up one place on a full scholarship - not for me, but for some kid out there who is in even more dire financial straits than I am, and who shows more promise than I ever could. While you prepare a sad face to meet my own, I'll inform you that my gentle persuasions never work, although, at the same time, I'd also like to inform you that I'm really good in bed.
That, and that SLC's financial support is only $6000 per year. It's the kind of thing that has the magical potential to automatically start that scene from "Good Will Hunting". With the Quantum Physics of Minnie Driver's Mouth, I've already put a bet of £5 with a bookmaker that all copies of the film will gradually implode due to the mathematical principles destroyed by said mouth.
You should see my Quantitative GRE score.
Not good.
If it wasn't COMPLETELY inappropriate, I would so walk across the street to Notre Dame right now and knock on someone's ddor and see what they were up to. :P
TRILBE,
GET IT, GUUUURL!!
I got a fake-out email from san jose state universtiy today. We are so please we recieved your application... you forgot to choose a secondary genre stupid. Oh lol.
Brad,
Congrats!
Laura T,
I'm guessing that their first funding offers have gone out and the reason they say you will know by April 20th is that they may have to wait until April 15th for that funding to become available. There's nothing else they can do at that point.
@ Andrew--
I was accepted at Montana via email for fiction last week. Also Hunter. Rejected from Alabama (assumed) and Michener. Still waiting on:
Iowa
Sarah Lawrence
UNCG
Virginia (the long, long wait)
UF
Irvine
I don't know where Montana is at in their process. I have seen at least one other fiction acceptance on here, though.
Congratulations, everyone! So many great acceptances so far.
Did anyone else apply to Minnesota State Mankato? I just received an email asking to do an interview for a TA position!
I have no idea what this means, but I figure it has to be a good sign!
Out of 20 total applications:
UBC rejection
UNCW rejection
McNeese waitlist
Mankato ???
And NO WORD from the others!
Driftless has someone in at Texas State for fiction. They got a call yesterday. Anyone else hear anything?
I just remembered that I meant to mention the worst FOE I ever received:
Last year I applied to Columbia. I got a rejection letter in the mail. A few days later, I got an email inviting me to an admitted students' day on campus. So I'm thinking, "Maybe they sent me the wrong letter. Maybe I really got in!" A few minutes later, I got an email apologizing because they accidentally sent the email to the rejected students instead of the accepted ones. Yeesh.
@ meredith: did you call asu? i would do it myself, but my name also happens to be meredith, and i don't want ms karla elling to think that either of us fiction-merediths were one really annoying person.
Violet Mai,
I remember that Columbia FOE. The brief hope! The crushing email that came a few minutes later! From an administrative POV, I know the terror (TERROR!) of sending email to the wrong people, but that one still hurt.
@Violet Mai
That's effin brutal. Hope someone god fired in their Admissions office for that giant faux pas!
..and of course, by "god" I mean got. Weird typo, haha.
@ mj
I tried on my lunch break, but I just got Karla's voicemail. I'm going to try again in a minute though! I'll definitely letcha know if I get ahold of her!
and lol we should bombard her voicemail with meredith messages
she'd be so alarmed. "But they don't sound like the same person.... Could the be the same person? I just don't know anymore!" ::wanders off into the desert::
So, do we think Brooklyn has sent out ALL of their acceptances? Do I dare try calling the MFA assistant? Or perhaps emailing because I am such a chicken...
Thoughts? Advice from the brave souls who have called up only to be rejected?
@sabina
i half want to know the answer to that question desperately and half don't. it will break my very fragile heart. however, the waiting and anxiety is breaking my freaking mind.
In at School of the Art Institute of Chicago, fiction, via phone.
should have mentioned that my Hunter acceptance is unofficial. Montana was official, with TAship.
@miss private eye - I think you summed up exactly how I feel. Is it better to keep up false hope, or to be painfully squashed? I don't even necessarily need to know if I got in, I just want to know if they are done notifying - that way I don't have to hear an outright rejection.
nice, klairkwitty!
I'm still waiting to hear from:
Hunter
FSU
LSU
GCSU
Has anyone heard from any of these schools (in fiction)?
Anyone else get a UNCG incomplete Financial Aid e-mail?
@sabina
i feel you dude.
well, if you go for it, i'm behind that decision. if not, i am behind that one too.
my whole thing is just, do i really want to be rejected twice?
To everyone who is going crazy with rejection anxiety:
This is my third year applying to programs, but the first that I actually cleared out weeks of time to spend on my manuscript. I was waitlisted last year, rejected outright the year before. This year, I got into one solid program and am waiting to hear from nine more.
Art was always going to require sacrifice, uncertainty, anxiety, etc. Our field is competitive, demanding, often melancholy, and newly brimming with displaced professionals. If you're not up to the task of dealing with that in the long term, this may be a poor career choice for you. When you break through one barrier, another will waiting. If you care about it enough, you'll keep going, and even that's no guarantee.
Emily is wise.
Just noticed that Wells Tower is going to be teaching at Brooklyn 2010-11.
@weighs
so awesome right?
RE: Brooklyn
Just called.
"They've begun to notify."
"Begun?"
"Not exactly sure where they are in the process. They began calling people last week."
Would seem to me the spark's still alive..
@weighs
there is still hope?!?!
OMG.
weighs, you have more balls to make that call than all of the NBA put together.
thank you for giving my day a bit more hope!
@weighswithwords and @miss private eye and everyone else waiting to hear from Brooklyn:
YAY! The hope can live a bit longer (and I can go back to daydreaming that my phone will ring any moment..)
Big kudos to weighswithwords for calling!
Wells Tower and Amy Hempel: that's seriously too much for me to even fantasize about!
@Lucas-
Not to be nosy, but... what'd it say, what'd it say?
Just curious to hear anything from UNCG. The quiet so far is deafening.
But the fact that they cared enough to contact you is a good sign, right?
@weighs
RIGHT?! it is more than i can even comprehend.
Ok, guys, I'm seriously crying right now:
I'm in at Texas State, San Marcos for fiction by phone. I got a voicemail on my home phone where I wasn't expecting in. omg.
AB!!!! YOU GO GIRL!!!!!
CONGRATS ASHLEY!!!
@Ashley
congrats girl!! i am SO happy for you!! yayyyyy!
ASHLEY!!! Congratulations!!! yay!!!
Hey Ashley B! Congrats!! I'm so happy for you!
OMG Congratulations Ashley!!! That is SO SO SUPER awesome!!! :) :) :)
YAY!
ASHLEY!!!!
BROOKE!!!!!!!!
WOOOO ASHLEY BROOKE!
congrats!!!!!!!
Congratulations Ashley! This is awesome!
YAY YAY YAY
Thanks for everybody's support. I am SO EXCITED even though there is no word on funding. I can deal with that when it comes.
sahaider or anybody else with Texas State acceptances,
feel free to e-mail me at orthetiger(at)gmail(dot)com.
@ Henry
Not sure if this is a sign of anything really. I didn't get this last year when I applied, but I didn't fill out the FAFSA for that application cycle. So, this could be normal for them, something they send to everyone with incomplete info. Just checking to see if anybody else got one.
@Ashley - Good on ya!
@Meredith - Any word on ASU?
@Lucas
I got the UNCG financial aid thing too. I'm confused though, as obviously I don't have a student ID and pin needed to log in, as I haven't been admitted.
Unclear here.
ASHlEY!!!
I am so beyond happy for you!!! Yes!! Breathe easy, my dear! Options!!!
<3
YAY Ashley!!!
Huge Congrats, Ashley!
Congrats, Ashley Brooke!
@San Marcos - I almost applied to that program because Tim O'Brien teaches there now. Then four published authors sat around a table and told me their individual "Tim O'Brien Stories," thereby scaring me out of applying. He's supposed to be a jackass on all sorts of levels, which I won't mention here because I don't want any libel lawsuits filed against me.
However, he's brilliant, and I think it'd be an awesome opportunity.
Hi, Lucas
I received the UNCG fin aid email as well. Who knows if it means anything. Best of luck to you and everyone.
Big congrats, WT, on Southern Illinois!
-Fellow MAR guy
Alright Ashley Brooke!! March Radness!
Just received the mucho perpelxing fin aid e-mail from UNCG.
I know some others had mentioned getting one today, too.
Any insights? I have no damn idea what to think/what to complete, haha. Is everyone else just planning on waiting it out?
i took a workshop with tim o'brien. he's definitely tough, a true soldier, even made some of my classmates cry. but if you know what you're doing, he'll try to help.
@ashley brooke
nicely done girl!
did everyone who received the uncg finaid email submit fafsa info for that school? maybe that's it?
got mail, rejection from new mexico, went for run so as to avoid instinctive recoiling into fetal position.
@mj
Submitted my FAFSA back in January. Hope it didn't effed up along the way. That'd be depressing.
@Cecil - That's not really the type of jackassiness I was referring to. Keep thinking.
Hey I've been away for a while. Congrats to everyone accepted thus far!
Slightly off topic, but has anyone here ever done the Iowa summer w/shop (the 3 or 8 week class)? Any idea about costs etc?
Best.
Duuuude.
Applied to ten programs... have heard from none, zero, zip. Nothing. Nada. Shall I continue?
Am I seriously the only one in this situation? Will tear out all my hair if torment continues. :(
I popped on here to congratulate Ashley. I didn't know about that school so I looked it up...wow. Well done.
Other Lucas, I didn't get said email from UNCG. I didn't fill out a FAFSA (whoops?).
@AB Congrats. I've been following your worries on the blog...good stuff...also read your work on Amanda's blog. Give OBrien a big kiss for me even if he is a Jack@@@.
@Arna--Is there anyway I could read your sample. I'm fascinated to see what you are writing...the future in writing of america
@everyone---so I just figured out that TNS means the new school...that only took five years
Anyone heard from South Carolina, Georgia, or FSU for fiction? I was reading the acceptance blog from last year about decisions...seems to be a lot of movement around April 15th when people start making decisions and waitlist movement happens. Does this really have to go on for another six weeks and can Alabama just send me a rejection...I'm not on the waitlist so just send me the mail.
I'm in at Idaho as I've said before and couldn't be happier. No funding, but whatever I'm willing to go into debt to live the dream. Anyone else heading to Idaho or thinking about it give me a shout out. I received a call from Daniel Oronzco and was wondering who you talked to or if you talked to anyone at all.
emailed michigan. if you haven't been called or emailed about being accepted or waitlisted, you are out. you will get a letter about this sometime this week or next week. this is what i have been told.
@Ashley, Arna, Laura T, sahaider, M. B. Wells... and everyone else - congratulations! I love seeing good news on the blog every day. I'm so proud of you all!
For all of you still waiting with fingers crossed, I would offer to share my brown-butter blondies, but I think I might eat them all out of anxiety.
@Trilbe, OH MY SWEET BABY JEEBUS. Awesome.
MFA guy,
i took the eight week course with jim mcpherson. it was ridiculously awesome, wonderful classmates from all over the world. he's like yoda. i think it was 600 bucks, but worth it to spend two months in IC.
klair,
i wouldn't consider him a jackass. then again, i'm as blunt of a person as he is.
Thanks for the update, mj..
I'm not trying to stir the turd here, but I think it is rude to ask a writer who has been accepted into a good program for his or her writing sample. I don't think those who are asking necessarily mean to be rude, but it is rude to ask, and I honestly don't think a lot of people ask to read the samples out of sheer curiosity. Perhaps it's best to trust the departments' decisions to admit these writers? Arna, especially. If he's gotten into all the top five programs then he's obviously a good writer. No need to validate that in our own minds.
Let the salvos be fired.
@klairkwilty
i def understand where you're coming from but arna has offered on here before to send his sample to anyone who has an interest so the point is a lil null.
I got a call from Texas State about an hour ago saying I was accepted, but won't know about funding until March 22.
I also got a waitlist notification from SIUC via snail mail.
All for poetry! yay!
@cecil - Womanizer-woman-womannizer-he's-a-womanizer
Arna isn't the only person. There were several.
Hey thanks cecil peoples,
Do they do instate/out-of-state, or is it a standard $600 tuition for everyone?
@xavier and other TNS-ers
Were you offered the "merit scholarship"? It's over 4 grand, but I'm wondering, is it per semester or per year (4 grand for 22,000 dollars a year seems kinda meager)?
@bmazur &/or Liz
Indeed it does. Thanks so much.
@Leslie
Rutgers alumni are insanely loyal to their alma mater. I respect that. Like I said before, the education you'll get is top-notch.
@Laura T
I'm sure you'll love Rutgers.
It's partly my fault that I didn't like the place. I went in, a cocky Jersey kid freshly graduated from high school, thinking it'd be just 4 more years of cranking out papers and studying for tests I didn't give a rat's ass about and still getting A's and B's.
Boy was I wrong.
If your heart is set on that school, and THEY'RE PAYING YOU TO BE THERE, than it'd personally take the opportunity. Rutgers-Newark keeps rising in the MFA rankings (last I checked. Could be wrong). Def. an up and coming program. And sorry for the caps.
@DG
Yeah, that pretty much looks like what I thought TNS was going to be in regards to funding. My cousin went to Milano for grad, and also pulled off a half-paid scholarship. It was one of the reasons why I chose TNS to begin with.
@everyone/anyone
I like TNS, but my attempts at looking for more "real scoop" info. about the program (yelp!, studentsreview, some half-cooked blogs that shall remaind anonymous) haven't been that helpful (most are really positive, though).
I'm sure it's a very good program (my fiction professor teaches there and raves about it, but I can't trust faculty), but I'd like to know if anyone else has heard otherwise or has anything else to say about it.
I remember reading more than a few scathing pans about the Columbia Writing MFA (if a bit curious, check out Rick Moody's article about his time there in The Atlantic), but I haven't found anything of that nature concerning the other schools I've applied to.
Also, does anyone know how many writers are excepted per genre? Or at least in fiction?
**
Still waiting, CUNYs!
Also just got a call from Texas State letting me know I'm in.
Congrats, Peter!
klair,
so is tiger woods, but when it comes to golf, he knows everything. and when he steps on the course, i'm just a fan.
Has anyone heard anything from Arizona State or Houston in any way/shape/form for fiction?
@cecil - I'm definitely a fan, and I'm also a fan of being groped. However, I'm a dude, so I don't think my chances are very good of getting groped by him.
Re: What Emily said
I agree with what Emily said wholeheartedly, but with a caveat of sorts...
I feel like I HAVE made sacrifices for my writing, and have been very devoted to it since completing undergrad. I "wrote" in college, but since graduating, I made it my biggest priority besides minimal health and survival ('cuz if I'm dead I can't write anyway, right?), and occasionally prioritizing friends and family over writing. But everything else has come after writing. I waited to apply to schools until I really thought my writing was as good as I could get it alone, and completing my portfolio completely ruled my life for 6 months (and that was just revision).
What I'm afraid of - and I know none of you can tell me this, but I'm putting it out there anyway - is that I will have made sacrifices and continue to make sacrifices and then one day find that I just suck and it really was a huge waste of time and money, etc. I'm not necessarily going to feel this way without an MFA acceptance - I've already started to realize I can do a LOT more work without a program to guide me - and it's not like I need fame or anything. But I mean, some people just aren't good writers, right? I could easily be one of those people, and no amount of sacrifice or dedication is going to turn a sow's ear into a silk purse.
Then I tell myself, but if I'm happy doing it, does it really matter? And I like that idea, but... I don't know. Even if it makes me happy, I don't want to be that girl that worked her whole life for something and was really shitty at it.
I agree that dedication & sacrifice is going to be necessary in the writing life, I just have this dread knowing that dedication and sacrifice are not necessarily going to be ENOUGH.
Sorry for the ranty downer post.
mfa guy,
only one person in the workshop was from iowa, the rest were out of state / out of country. but i'm pretty sure the costs were the same.
you also have to find a place to stay (unless you drive there every week).
@Anti
The Merit Scholarship is awarded yearly, leaving tuition at near $17,500, by the looks of things.
Everybody who is being so kind and supportive,
Thank you x 100,000!
klairkwilty,
Haha. I have heard no such things about Tim O'Brien, but I do know that he only teaches one semester for every four (or so I've heard), so as much as I am excited at the idea of working with him, I know that he won't be the only influence on my writing there. Also I need some stories of my own! Hopefully they will be positive.
Kitty In A Cathouse,
YAYA! Another Texas State person! Congratulations! What is your genre? Feel free to e-mail me if you want to chat about the program. orthetiger(at)gmail(dot)com.
Just a note:
It would make a lot more sense if this blog had a message board like the Grad Cafe. It would be so much easier for people to communicate.
Peter,
Congrats to you also and feel free to e-mail me, as I am in as well! My address is a few posts up.
@ peaquah
I realized last year I spent almost $500 on books, and I already re-read about 50% of my reading material from books I already own.
The library is out for me. I've had my card taken away so many times for late fees... I've tried everything but it seems I ALWAYS incur late fees. And then I have to pay all this money and I don't own the book.
So recently I asked my family to all pitch in and buy me an e-reader for my birthday, which they did. I really, really wasn't sure about the whole not-a-real-BOOK thing, but I actually love it, and now brand-new books only cost $0.99 for the most part. Some are free, and none are more than $9.99. And I can keep them without having to buy a new bookshelf since all of mine are so completely overstuffed I can't fit another book on them.
I was very resistant to the idea, but it really is a LOT cheaper. Especially if you can get other people to buy the actual ereader for you. :)
Ashley Brooke,
I'm soooo excited about Texas!! Yes, let's email! bblueberries@gmail.com
Thanks, everyone, and good luck!
@weights
That's what I feared. I'm sure they'll explain more about fin aid and finding out how to pay for the tuition in the packet they'll be sending out to acceptances in the upcoming weeks.
@megan
I think every writer is constantly asking themself if they are good "enough" to keep going, good enough to get to the next step. And when it comes down to it, MFA applications are about the closest you're going to come in the literary world to a roughly objective measurement of that. (of course, you get to decide where that "enough" level is for yourself by choosing which schools you apply to)
The problem is that no answer is ever going to be satisfying. If you don't get in, you can always decide to be persistent and try again; you can improve your writing, or decide that you didn't get a fair shake, or that you applied to the wrong schools. For some people, that can clearly pay off. Even if you do get in, though, you still might never make it to the next level and get books published.
Anyway, I know there are plenty of people on this blog who believe in following your dream at all costs, so I'll be the one dissenting voice and say that there is no shame in cutting and running, no matter where you stand in the process. You can always continue to write for yourself, or for others, but it doesn't have to be the one, all-consuming passion of your life, and maybe some good can come out of realizing that.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go prepare my samples for my next seven years' applications to Iowa.
@megan - NOOOOOOOOOOO!
Okay. I just got the UNCG incomplete financial aid email.
I also filled out a FAFSA. I refuse to believe we all screwed up our aid applications. Probably just some weird automated thing triggered by FAFSAs without already admitted students attached to them. Maybe.
I guess we'll find out when they send our IDs and PINs.
@all the ridiculous number of happy people today - and a special shout out to the ever-sweet Ashley Brooke - huge congratulations!!!
@summer programs - any of you multitude of buckeye staters have good/bad things to say about summer programs in the area? thinking particularly of the one antioch hosts. driving to iowa every week seems a little extreme (plus the deadline has passed. if not, i might have done it.)
@megan
i personally feel like writers, like most artists, are really insecure about their work and whether or not it's truly "good". No really awesome writer ever believed himself to be a really awesome writer. It's just something I believe because I see it so prevalently true.
In fact, most folks I know who do believe themselves to be the cream of the crop, are the furthest thing from talented.
don't give up on yourself though; the only person that's worth being is who you truly feel you are. if that's a writer, write.
@Nathaniel and @Megan (and everyone else who has had the same worries as Megan!)
Food for thought, from Rilke:
"No one can advise or help you - no one. There is only one thing you should do. Go into yourself. Find out the reason that commands you to write; see whether it has spread its roots into the very depths of your heart; confess to yourself whether you would have to die if you were forbidden to write. This most of all: ask yourself in the most silent hour of your night: must I write? Dig into yourself for a deep answer. And if this answer rings out in assent, if you meet this solemn question with a strong, simple 'I must,' then build you life in accordance with this necessity; your whole life, even into its humblest and most indifferent hour, must become a sign and witness to this impulse."
Cliche? Maybe, but I think it sums up why we're all here :)
I'm glad Columbia needed to tell me they extended their deadline for Contemporary French Theatre in Paris.
* bangs head against table *
@sabina
i always look to rilke for a bit of refocusing when i need it to. <3
@everyone
What are you reading right now?
I've been obsessed with poetry these last few months (I'm taking a break from fiction due to my long hours spent on my writing sample. Narrative, you are so dead to me).
Currently, I'm reading John Ashbery's "Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror" for the second time in a row. I'm still as confused as the next person in trying to decipher Ashbery's work, but the book is still a tremendous read. I highly recommend it.
And I just finished "The Lice" by W.S. Merwin. Very, very good. I found it to be Cormac McCarthy-esque in many places (The Asians Dying reminded me a lot of the poetic violence in Blood Meridian). CM fans should check it out.
Speaking of Merwin!....
@megan
I think you might like this:
http://ofkells.blogspot.com/2007/07/poem-of-day-berryman-by-ws-merwin.html
@megan
May I ask what e-reader you're using? I'm really on the fence about the things, but I too am out of space and money.
@hillary - Ha!
@RIlke - I don't think your writing is cliched at all. I like you, but I don't like you as much as Virginia Woolf. But I like you I said!
Oh my gosh!!!
Just got an email from Dierdre McNamer--I'm in for fiction at Montana!!!! Funding looks unlikely unless one of those five spots opens up. I am so happy! Oh my goodness, oh my gosh! March Radness!!!
@Anti
currently i'm only really reading in between the lines of every single freaking blog entry here, but...
just finished "Between the River and The Bridge" by Craig Ferguson.
Who new late night TV's funniest (and least controversial) talk show host was also a brilliant novelist? It really was great storytelling in the best sense of the word.
Congratulations, Courtney!
@ MFAGuy
Are you refering to the graduate summer workshops? Just looked it up and unfortunately the deadline for both sessions was March 1. Which sucks...I actually live in IC and totally would have taken one of the sessions if I had known about it sooner. It looks like there are some undergrad workshops still open though, and there is the Iowa Summer Writing Festival, which I have done and would recommend--the workshops are only weekend or weeklong classes, $250 for weekends and $450 for a week, I think, but worth it if you can afford it. Here's the link to the summer programs with a link to the festival at the bottom if you or anyone else wants to check them out.
http://www.uiowa.edu/~iww/summer.htm
Hey thanks Red Micky, yup I knew the deadline was past. I was thinking about next summer, but nowhere could I find the costs of the workshops (the 3/8 week ones, not the festival stuff). I've never been to Iowa, but I figure a summer in IC would be awesome.
Just got a call from Amy Fleury, in at McNeese, fully funded...
for poetry.
Still can not figure out how I should feel.
@ Benjamin- how 'bout, elated? Congrats!
Way to go Courtney!
@Henry
I LOVE Craig Ferguson, though I'm a late comer to his cult. His show has a Dada-esque feel that reminds me a lot of Conan in his late nineties, early 00s prime.
And his monologue is unscripted!
I read about the novel, but wasn't sure if Ferguson could crack it as a writer. I guess I was totally wrong.
Crap...now I have that stupid Kraftwerk-inspired Twitter song in my head...GAH!
YEAH, AB!!! so happy for you! and see, now i can take over that mother hen position on the blog next year unless i receive some kind of miracle. :) also, does this mean you will get to work with zz packer, or is she only a visiting writer for spring 2010? if you do get to work with her ... *dies*
also congrats to peter, kitty, courtney and benjamin! so much good news. keep it comin'.
Congrats to everyone who has received good news today and happiness for all those who still will!! :)
For those accepted into Texas State for fiction: when you spoke to someone did they mention how many people they were accepting? Did they mention if they were notifying more people soon? (hopefully?)
I'm feeling utterly dejected. Texas State was the only school who hadn't made any notifications yet...and now...sigh.
@ Benjamin and Courtney: YAAAY! March radness indeed! Big congrats to both of you!
@ Henry:
I have a Nook. Everyone said not to get it because it's "first generation" technology, but Barnes and Noble WAS my cute local bookstore before they turned into a monster chain, so I've always been more comfortable with their website, etc (as opposed to amazon or some of the others).
I'm a total technophobe - I still use CDs in my car, I've never owned a digital camera, I only JUST learned how to back up my files to one of those little key-chain type thingies... so I wasn't sure at all about making the jump to electronic books. But I've had it for over a month now and so far there's nothing I don't like about it. I love that I can bring five books with me on a weekend trip without actually having to carry five books. I love that if I finish one book at 2 am and really NEED to start another one I can buy a new one without leaving my bed. Etc. etc. I was a huge skeptic but now I'm converted.
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