Ugh, bad day for Kay Bay. I got in a tiffy with my boss today because she wanted me to do something I thought was unethical regarding a student's test and I outright refused and she (not exaggerating) started calling me names. I told her that I would be willing to be written up for insubordination and she said I could be fired for it (she's the vice principal so I don't even think she has the right to fire me, but still). I don't think I'll be fired (awfully hard to find a teacher for the last 3 months of the year), but there's a chance my contract might not be renewed which would throw my plan B into a crazy spiral into hell.
Basically, I need everyone's positive energy, and for the religious out there, I'd love a little prayin' cause I'm gonna need whatever I can get. Now I really, really need an acceptance and I'm worried that it has to be one in the state of Florida because I don't know if I could even afford a move outside of the state, which leaves me two competitive schools, FSU and UF, and one is ridiculously competitive and the other is not fully funded. And I don't know what to do and I'm freaking out and I want to cry :"(
@ kaybay - I am so sorry! What an awful position to be in. I've been hoping all along Florida will come through for you - I'll send positive vibes your way.
Good for you, though, standing up for yourself! Way to show some gumption.
If all else fails, I could write a tell-all book about the school I work for, although publishers would question the authenticity (it's that bad!!). I'm just in that whole "is it worth it to be a 'martyr'" situation. It sucks :( I've been trying to find another job for the last two years and I haven't even been able to pick up an interview. Nobody wants a philosophy major, haha...
I was thinking about that Chrissy!! Congrats by the way, on your acceptance ;)
And congrats Laura T! I thought your reaction to Rutgers was right on the money, except that it was coherent; I would totally understand if it was illegible because that's just how cool it is :P
@miss private eye -- I don't even know why people felt sorry for Cinderella. From all versions of the story, she was a hot little number. You knew she would do okay in the grand scheme of things. Even if it wasn't Prince Charming, she would've had a great shot at Jean Baptiste, the son of the finance minister to King Louis XIV. So, like, what's the big whoop?
@kaybay - Damm, that's rough. Sending good wishes.
kaybay, I'm so sorry. You definitely did the right thing by standing up to your boss - everything will work out for you, I know it. I'm sending all the positive vibes I've got, and I'll cross all my fingers and toes.
@kaybay, I'm pretty sure you're confusing me with the other Chrissy on here (she now goes by Chrissy H. because there was confusion...Hi Chrissy H. if you're reading! I forgot to say how nice it was of you to add the H.), and she got a GNE (woo for her!).
But I haven't been accepted anywhere (yet...sigh). If wishing made it so! Still no news on my end, which means bad news...
i feel you on the bad day. (we had a surprise round of layoffs at our already small office today). but keep your head up girl (sorry for the cliche!); you did the right thing. your first job as an educator to minors is to protect the interests of your students, people who can't defend or protect themselves.
you're in my prayers and i am hopeful that some good news will come your way soon!!
Just got home after being out of email contact all afternoon--I'm waitlisted at Wisconsin! I'm so happy to finally hear some good news from somewhere. Congratulations to everyone who has heard good news today!
(M. Swann - I'm extra sorry to see your rejection. I had a little mini-dream that we'd have a Chicago contingent up at Wisconsin. :( )
Wow, I'm assuming Seth is going to be posting the same info here in a second, but I just read on the P&W board that UNCW is going to be dropped from the rankings in all respects starting tonight. Wow!
Awww, kaybay, sorry to hear your bad day. My husband is a HS teacher, and admins make him batshit crazy.
And i will cry with you, since it looks like I'm not into the only school I applied to, and at my age, Plan B's are just plain hard to come by, other than--keep doing what you've done forever...
Kaybay, I'm totally rooting for you. I know I don't post much, but I'm a faithful reader of the blog, even when I wish I could stay away :)
I really hate every day that passes without any news. I've heard from one! place (the Wisconsin rejection) out of 14 applications. A number of my schools have notified others, but no news for me in any form. I'm holding out hope for my March notifiers. Ho hum.
I've been really happy to see others who have not received any news for what seems like forever and then getting hit with an outright acceptance, so I think there's hope! I think March is going to be a good month for a lot of people here.
I've been rude to telemarketers, often hanging up on them in mid-sentence. It shouldn't have come to this. I normally don't pick up my phone, but lately, I can't seem to resist.
Amen LA, you know what I'm talking about!! I guess it's everywhere though. She wouldn't have did what she did to other teachers, just me, because she thinks I'm easy to push around. I think she got upset because I obviously wasn't easy to push around. But the whole thing sucks.
By the way, I've been meaning to ask you what you think about Lake Charles. What's it like?? I've never been, but I've been to Baton Rouge and NO. How does it compare? Is it more Texas-ey?
Yes, Chrissy H. had a GNE but nothing else. Not complaining, though. Not yet anyway!
I see that people have heard from Vanderbilt or assumed rejection. I haven't heard from them either way and my online status doesn't say anything helpful. Did I miss something? Should I resume rejection as well?
Woon, I SO hear you. I'm getting really mad at telemarketer types, who seem to call every single morning as I'm waking up, thereby making me start my day in a panic.
I, too, am really relieved to hear that others have received no notifications. I'm trying not to think too hard about Colorado State. I received a postcard from them recently saying that their financial aid office tried to e-mail me and that the e-mail bounced back. Apparently, they were just trying to communicate that they received my FAFSA but can't do anything with it until an admissions decision has been made. I know someone on the blog got into CSU the other day...tell me it's possible that they tried to contact me but the e-mail bounced back? Please?
I wish I had a better form of comfort to offer, but I really, really hope this all works out for you. I hail from a family of educators, and holy crap, schools are going to hell (and I don't mean that in the fire-eyed-Republican-with-a-Bible-in-hand sort of way). My mom is the best elementary school teacher in the universe and she's had many run-ins with her administration/school-board-higher-ups these past few years. FL schools in particular are royally effed right now. I've heard rumors that Jeb Bush sent out a memo a few years ago that implied that unethical is the new awesome. So not awesome, Jeb. (And your name is Jeb. That coupled with your genetics = you lose in life.)
Kaybay, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that you get into a good program & get great funding.... don't let today get you down!!! Chin up, you probably did that kid a world of good...
Meredith, where are you in FL? Schools are just rife with bad ethics, and I just see the good teachers leaving in droves because of it. The system rewards the shameless ass-kissers, the don't-give-a-craps, and power hungry. In other words, no one normal. It's so depressing!!!
yeah, lake charles is pretty gnarly...it's totally old school louisiana with a shitload of festivals (like catfish, crawfish, watermelon, etc.) and it's pretty cheap to live in...it's got a load of bars too with live music...the atmosphere is really cool...and it's not too far from nola, just a few hours away...it's a great town
I love Cajuns, by the way. I'm not a fan of LSU athletics, but their fans kick ass! Give 'em a can of beer and they don't really car all that much about anything else. I worked as a waitress during a lot of football games at Auburn and the LSU fans managed to be the loudest customers I've ever had without ever complaining about the food/service. I kind of liked them and their purple feather boas ;)
I'm glad to hear it's a cool place, that makes it a little more appealing...
kaybay--Rutgers. It's near where I live, and their TAships woulda made it possible to quit my job. Alas!
Me and husband are now discussing maybe me quitting anyway, and adjuncting like mad (got an MA, so that's possible) so I'd at least have summers off. He says I should get into HS teaching, but, I dunno.......
Leslie, I don't think I could recommend teaching high school right now ;0) I do think it's about being with the right school though, but obviously that's hard to know unless you've been there for a while, so it's kind of tough. Good luck with whatever you decide to do
Congrats to Arna and Julian and anyone else I've missed in my root-canal induced malaise. We have a bunch of seriously talented and deserving people in here, and I wish the best for all of you.
Bard College is considering changinging it's MFA program. I got a survey, because I had requested info from them. (When I looked, the current program doesn't seem like it would be a good fit for me. ) The survey asked if I would be interested in a completely online, mostly online, or traditional program as well as what elements would be necessary for me to be interested.
It will be interesting to see how this shakes out.
I don't know if this affects anyone's decision one way or another, but I wanted to note that as of tonight the University of North Carolina at Wilmington is being dropped altogether from the national MFA rankings. They are being dropped across the board: in funding, in fiction, in poetry, in nonfiction, and in selectivity. The basis for this decision is that the rankings do not -- and will not -- promote any program that does not adhere to the CGSR with respect to funded offers of admission, and in recent days UNCW has admitted publicly and privately that they do not follow the CGSR in any respect whatsoever. They have maintained that they "unofficially" withdrew from the CGSR -- just the MFA program, that is -- and that it will at some point in the future be made an "official" withdrawal (again, only for the MFA program). This justification has been rejected: First, because UNCW is a signatory to the CGSR and the CGSR does not allow individual departments within a university to reject an agreement signed by the university as a whole; second, because UNCW as a whole has announced no plans to withdraw from the CGSR; third, because the MFA at UNCW has made no effort to inform applicants that they have "unofficially" withdrawn from the CGSR, despite a regularly-updated website with a lengthy FAQ for applicants; fourth, because the rankings do not and will condone the unethical practice of giving students "exploding offers" -- that is, offers of admission that effectively require the admittee to immediately withdraw all outstanding applications at other institutions, whether or not any admissions decision has yet been rendered by these other institutions and without regard for how much money the applicant may have spent on these other applications (in many instances, well over $1,000). Those seeking to attend a ranked MFA program should be advised that a) Poets & Writers will be publishing updated rankings in its September/October 2010 issue, and b) the ranking system upon which the Poets & Writers rankings are based (the TSE system) does not rank or otherwise promote CGSR violators.
For those of you waiting to hear something from Iowa, Sam Chang has been out of town the last few days. She's also been sick, but I don't know if that has had any effect on her contacting applicants.
@ kaybay: Really sorry to hear about the awfulness with your boss. :( I think what you did is really admirable, even if you think it seems small.
@ others: Anyone else on here accepted to Memphis? I'm still hoping to get a TAship from them once they've gone over all the apps, but I'm curious if others are considering this Spain summer program to increase their hours so they can start TAing in the spring.
@Laura T, Peter, Julian: HUGE CONGRATS today for being accepted to one of your choice programs!!!
@Wee Meathead, Arna, Lucas, Raine; you guys are awesome for making the Wisconsin waiting list. Don't give up hope - the fact that you made it this far is a testament to your writing. Especially since I got knocked off two weeks ago. :]
@UNCW via Seth's notification Wow. UNCW. Good going.
Whoa, big afternoon! Congrats Laura T, laura, Julian, Arna, and all the other Wisconsin waitlists and acceptances (sorry I can't remember you all...)!
Kaybay, good on you for standing up to the VP. I hope things work out for you, you're in my prayers.
Jake, I'm also in Michener limbo. I'm still expecting rejection, but it's making me ill at this point. I dread refreshing the page, but do so (refresh, though also dread) constantly.
For those of you who heard from George Mason today-- was it over the phone?
I haven't received official rejections from Michigan or Iowa (and didn't apply to UW) and I don't think anyone else has either. I'm sure of a Michigan rejection because one the lovely people on here called the program and reported back that they were done notifying. As far as Iowa goes, though, I'm not getting my hopes up but am also reminding myself not to count anything out until I have an official rejection. Good luck!
Thank you SO MUCH everyone for the congratulations!! I am sending you wishes and hopes for acceptances this week!
I was really hoping to get a voicemail from Rutgers while I was at work, because I still haven't been "officially" accepted by phone or email or mail. Just the online status check. But no call! I checked the website and found out that the school is closed today due to snow, so maybe that's why. I'm dying to get a call!! I also want to know if I got a TAship!
I've also managed to work myself into a frenzy of worry that the online status acceptance was some kind of mistake, or cruel joke. Especially since I tried to log into it again just now and it said "system unavailable." AHH.
I also only applied to one MFA program and didn't get in. I then decided to apply to a PhD program with creative dissertation option. I've been reading several of the texts from two classes they're offering this semester (on my own, for fun), and discovered Lola Ridge as a result. I love her poem "Adelaide Crapsey" and the politics she espoused. I am beginning to think the UMass rejection, however painful, was a blessing in disguise, especially if I get into this other program. Maybe I'll apply again if my plan B school doesnt pan out, but I think I'd more likely apply again to my plan B school or find another Doctoral program. Anyhow, hang in there.
@Kaybay,
your admin sucks and you are super for standing up for the ethical choice.
@Arna,
Are you related somehow to the Arna W. Bontemps of Harlem Renaissance fame?
@Chrissy H. -- if you don't mind my asking, what's your full first name? I'm a Christine. But I've heard some Chrissy's being Christinas. Just curious. I think most Christinas go with "Christy."
@Laura T. -- if I were you, I'd take a screenshot of the online status as concrete proof. I'd print it out and pin it on my wall and then do a little dance. So psyched for you!!
Thanks for the comments, MommyJ. I was following your story cuz it was so similar to my own. I'm still thinking... don't think there's any PhD close to me with a writing concentration, though I'll research more. I might look in to low res, maybe that's a way to go, but they're mostly unfunded, and I'd use all my vacation time up (and more) attending the residencies.
Lots to think on...probably just have another glass of wine tonight.
Best of luck to you; thanks again for your kind words. (I'll look for that poem you mentioned.)
Proof this is all getting to me...I just made brownies! Not necessarily a bad thing, but I normally don't bake. Very happy, though, to have the chocolatey goodness!!
I'm SO glad that you have turned your UMass rejection into a good thing! I also got rejected by UMass, so who needs them? (No offense to anyone who got in!!) Just skip right over the MFA and go for the PhD! I really hope you get into the PhD program.
@ Chrissy,
Taking a screenshot right now! Hahaha!
@ Leslie,
Your Rutgers status said "no decision," right?? I wouldn't give up hope yet! Especially because it seems like they've barely started notifying... maybe they haven't even finished accepting yet. But if not, I wish you the best of luck, whether your next plan is a PhD program or low-res, or something else entirely.
You have to put in ten of your fifteen schools and submit the FAFSA. After you submit it, usually within a couple of days, you will get an email saying it's been processed.
After it's been processed, go on the website and log onto the page that allows you to make changes to your submitted FAFSA. Delete five of the ten schools, and put in the other five of your total fifteen. Then submit it again.
Once it's been processed, that means it's been sent to all the schools, so deleting some won't affect anything. And when you submit it again it will just get sent to the next five.
I know this sounds really odd and roundabout, but this was the way they told me to do it!
So I just noticed that the poetry acceptance for Rutgers on DH was from 2/16, and by email. I want one of those emails too! Just having the online status acceptance is starting to make me anxious. I'm debating emailing the program and asking if I am really accepted... heheh. I don't know, though. Should I just wait? I'm very impatient.
hahaha kaybay, I know. I'm so neurotic. I just want some official communication from someone in the program! Without it I feel like the acceptance isn't completely real and could be taken away at any moment. :P
lol... I don't think grad programs are allowed to do take-backs... that would be breaking some sort of holy rule!
@Chrissys
This problem of two Chrissys seems even funnier to me since my name used to be Chrissy... if I hadn't gone to court to change it, there would've been 3... oh lord.
I'm in Tallahassee!! I lived in Tampa until the late '90s, and my pop still lives down there. Where are you??
Ugh, the Tampa school system wasn't awesome by any means, but Tallahassee's is damn near po-dunk. I mean, I like the country-bumpkin folk and all, but... eeeeehh.
Two more days until March! I'm keeping my fingers crossed for all of us! (especially you, kaybay! you deserve it!!)
You're in my exact same position (1 official rejection and nothing else; 14 schools). Now, you'll be happy to know, that the last person I said that to was Laura T. So... please accept my pre-congratulations for your pending acceptances
:)
(Really: fingers crossed for you! and myself! and all of us applicants-chillin-in-torturous-silence)
@ Chrissy with no H
team silence, wooooooooooo!!!! I'm torn between making team t-shirts for us and... just crying (more).
Hi! As a long-time lurker I thought I would shout out congratulations to all those with acceptances!
Also I received word that Brown will be sending out acceptances at the end of the coming week if everything goes to schedule and the week after if it doesn't.
I'm in Lakeland! So, close to Tampa. I'm not even at a public school here, apparently our private schools suck just as much as our public ones :) Seriously though there are some real problems with our schools. I had a conversation with a woman at Walmart the other day. She drove a schoolbus in the morning (starting at 5:30 AM) and then worked at Walmart from 5:00 at night to 10:00 FIVE days a week! She said that kids have fought on the bus and cursed her out without any repercussion. That's just wrong, plain wrong.
I hear you about Tallahassee being a little country, most of Florida is pretty country, something a lot people aren't aware of. I could totally live there though if FSU wanted me and gave me a teaching position ;)
I received my very first official correspondence today: snail mail from Brooklyn College. I opened it casually, having resigned myself to another year of fail, and the top third of the letter (it was folded in thirds) read my name and "Dear Briana: I am pleased to inform you that your application to the 324 Fiction program for the Fall 2010 semester has been"
My heart stopped.
I read on "forwarded to the department you selected for official review and decision."
Does this mean *big whoop* that my GPA and GRE and shit were sufficient for admission to BC? WHY WOULD THEY SEND ME THIS.
Has anyone else gotten one? Mine's postmarked 2/23 (I live in Brooklyn, tho).
Official rejection from Alabama in the mail today! Postmarked 2/24 if anyone cares to know. What a splendid way to start the weekend...0/1 with 10 to go...
Briana, it likely means they have rolling admissions and the adcom is about to start looking at your work. As has been said here, GRE scores are a minute detail in the process.
Sorry Little Poet, it really seemed like EVERYONE applied to Alabama. It hurt for me too (I emailed them and got the bad news), but I remembered how many apps they had and felt better. 10 is a good number to have left to notify!
@ kaybay - Yeah, Lakeland! I know that whole area fairly well, but I've never driven the area, so I have a weird map in my mind as to where exactly each little outer-Tampa borough is. My pop lives in Brandon; my aunt and uncle in Valrico... but yeah, the FL public schools are FUCKED. I mean, in lots of parts, it's just making sure the kids don't hurt one another! And up here, the funding is uber-bleak (it's bleak-ish everywhere).... especially the rural counties. Oy. Teachers are always under-appreciated, but when my mom talks about quitting.... it's time to change some major things.
Tallahassee is beautiful! It is quite country! Lots of reallllly thick accents. That always amazed me about Florida, the more north you go, the more "Southern" everyone sounds. I'm trying to send "pick kaybay" vibes in the direction of FSU. oh, and "fund kaybay" vibes, too :)
@ Dee -- there were notifications from VTech in nonfiction and poetry yesterday, and an arizona state confirmation in poetry earlier this month (like...quite awhile ago, so it was probably some kind of fluke/special case)
hope that helps! for either school and whatever your genre, I doubt notifying is over.... although if you're in fiction, you're golden -- looks like neither has started (that's an assumption, though)
Thanks Meredith! I also think Tallahassee and Gainesville are beautiful, prettier than the swamps here in Central Florida. Lakeland is actually not that bad, it's a little Southern town with a great downtown, cool older houses, and a little more hills than other parts of the state. But it's got some problems too.
I'm hoping all the positive vibes come through!! Heyo universe!!!
Thanks, Meredith! Same to you! It's nice to know I'm not the only one sitting with this silence. The presumed rejections (Indiana, Ohio State, Minnesota, Michigan, Illinois? Maybe? Iowa? We don't know?) without really knowing for sure are almost more irritating than waiting for the ones that haven't notified anyone (to my knowledge). Are you dealing with those, as well?
Dear Bowling Green: Please accept me next month. Thanks! XOXO
I'm glad (is that the word?) to see I'm not the only one worrying about when the programs I applied to are going to notify me about my acceptance/rejection. I'm doubting I'll get into any, but I've been working like crazy on my resume and on sample cover letters just to cover my bases (boy am I tired).
Still, it's only an MFA. Life will go on, and I'll probably wind up mopping floors at a community college in some dead-end town.
In any case, here are the school's I've applied to. I've received nothing from them.
University of Iowa Columbia Brooklyn College Hunter College Queens College CCNY (CUNY) New School School of the Art Institute of Chicago
I applied to schools in the city because I go crazy in suburban or rural areas. I need urban. I grew up in the inner-city, and go to college in the most underrated cities in U.S. (Philly, yo!).
You guys are awesome. Best of luck to you all, acceptance or not.
I found this blog and its comments section a week ago on the day Michigan started notifying, and I asked then if people found this blog to be more relieving or heightening for their anxieties about MFA applications, and I got some interesting and varied responses. And I keep lurking around here and checking on in things, even after Michigan apparently sent out their last notifications on Monday -- yes I too was among the 1100+ who applied there, and I still haven't even gotten an anonymous rejection letter from them.
But I have been accepted somewhere, to study fiction at Chatham University in Pittsburgh - their program administration are very good communicators, their program is rather unique (and of interest to me in theory anyway) with its nature/travel/place writing focus, they seem to have a high acceptance rate (50% by their admission), and I'm assuming very low app. rate as it's a small program. However it's around $14,000/year tuition and fees and funding there is not so good, some exists but far from full. I'm actually also a finalist for a teaching fellowship but that only provides a stipend and NOT tuition remission, so not the best deal in the universe...or the worst.. Anyway, I'm wondering if anyone on here knows anything about Chatham's MFA program they could share with me...
Also, did anyone else on here apply to Portland State University? And apply for a teaching assistantship? I did because I'm a west coaster (northern Cali mostly) and like the city and area and have friends and relations there. And my application round was done so last minute half of programs had deadlines past before I could get together the materials together too (especially all the University of Cali programs who have very early deadlines). Anyway, on Seth's new and not final ratings Portland State has moved from #100 up into the 40's, and wondering if anyone has insights into why folks are applying there, if it's something with the program or just the city. Seth doesn't know much.
Oh, and BTW I'm waiting to hear from Univ. of Florida too, and good luck to all of us with that! Gainesville seems like a nice little liberal college town for that state, with manatees AND alligators not far away! I mean come on, who doesn't want to have manatees and alligators within reach for 3 years anyway!
Meredith - VTech was actually one of the earliest notifiers. Cratty posted that he got in sometime in early Feb. So did Dolores Humbert (and someone else I'm forgetting). Woon had an interview 2 weeks ago, I think. And MFAGuy was told he was high on the waitlist. So, yeah, I think VTech is pretty much spent. Which is one of the reasons I have gin.
I don't know -- that's a long time for me to spend answering your private query to me on this very subject to now be told I don't know anything. Here's what I actually wrote you:
***
Hi Dan,
You've put your finger on the one program placement that, at the moment, is still something of a mystery to me. A few [speculative] notes to [perhaps] help explain it:
1. Yes, as you've suggested, a precipitous fall for PSU is imminent, and while I doubt it will drop as far as 78th it may drop to around 60th. While that's still a large gain for just one year (from 100th to 60th), keep in mind that the lower one gets in the rankings the easier it is to move up--there are actually a number of much-lower-ranked programs that will be moving up dozens of spots this year: e.g., Kansas, Temple, Otis College of Art & Design, Old Dominion, North Carolina State, Miami, and a couple others. Last year a mere ten-vote swing (out of thousands of individual votes cast by 500+ applicants) could take a program from 100th to 70th, so it was never that long of a leap to make, relatively speaking.
2. The lower a program is in the ranking the easier it is for it to "stand out" as being an "undervalued" program. Portland is one of the top five most-desired destinations nationally for poets and writers (it was recently named a top-five "gay friendly" city in the U.S., a designation that does have real meaning and weight in the American writing community); when folks saw PSU at #100 last year, surrounded by programs in Camden NJ, Baltimore MD, Ames IA, Akron OH, Lawrence KS and the like it is understandable that many would have thought, "Hmm, something's not right here..." It's like the old Sesame Street song (perhaps from before your time), "One of These Things Is Not Like the Other."
3. If I understand right, PSU is a fairly new program, at least as an MFA (don't quote me on that; info on this isn't easy to find online). Newer programs have much more volatile rankings.
4. Portland's applications are heavily weighted toward one genre--when I looked briefly at the partial breakdowns I believe it was fiction, but I'm not certain. What this means is that the phenomenon we're seeing isn't as widespread as the overall rankings would make it appear; whatever is happening is happening, really, in one genre only.
5. Portland is one of the few programs to offer a degree in "Book Publishing" and "Technical Writing" as well, so there's the added attraction at PSU of being able to take courses in these somewhat rare (for an MFA-hosting university) fields of study.
6. PSU is super cagey about their funding, so applicants may well be rolling the dice on the possibility that there's more funding there than they let on on their website.
7. With applicants being more and more conscious of the low acceptance rates in this field, more applicants are dipping lower in the rankings for their tenth and eleventh (or, as the case may be, thirteenth and fourteenth) programs on their application list. That means that if a single school stands out at that much lower point in the numerical rankings (see #2 above), it's going to be a major beneficiary of this new trend.
8. It could just be a statistical anomaly. Given that it's the only one I can presently identify in the whole of the rankings, that ain't too shabby.
9. When I see a one-genre leap like this, I tend to wonder if there's a new faculty member in that genre that folks have gotten particularly excited about for some reason (and if it's in fiction, which isn't my primary genre of expertise, I'm less likely to know about it/see it as quickly as some others for whom that's their bread and butter).
10. PSU is one of only 40 or 50 programs nationally to "officially" offer a nonfiction track--that's out of 143 programs in the U.S., so much less than half make this genre available in this way. While so far only one nonfiction app to PSU has been reported, it's entirely possible that a handful of those fiction apps I mentioned above are at least partially informed by writers wanting to have nonfiction workshops available to them also (there's much cross-fertilization and cross-curricular activity between fictioneers and CNFers, and almost none between poets and CNFs, so a spike in PSU's reported fiction pool could definitely be related to the presence of a CNF track). And keep in mind, at this point in the polling (using updated data I haven't posted on TSE yet) PSU losing even, say, 7 votes--or having 7 of its votes be explicable by any of the unique phenomena referenced above--would drop it to 65th nationally, which would then make its ascension thus far not necessarily very statistically noteworthy (given how many other programs will make a similar trek from 90th-110th to 60th-80th this year).
All of those are possibilities. Hope this makes sense! Be well,
Cheers, Seth
***
I'd add to the above the fact that no one even knew Portland State had a program until they learned so in the article I wrote for the November/December 2009 issue of Poets & Writers -- which constituted the first ever comprehensive listing of national MFA programs. That's also a factor -- i.e., answer #11 to your query is the "Wait, Portland State has an MFA?" scenario. Of course I don't know why eleven answers would satisfy when clearly ten did not.
Bad form, man. Not sure why I spend so much time responding to private queries when they basically are just going to get ignored.
today feels like the accumulation of a superbly long week.
finding out that both hunter and brooklyn have reached out to fiction folks for acceptances (or very favorable interviews) makes me feel a combination of happiness for their success and sadness for the ever-present silence on this front.
the 9 to 5 i work at (and have worked at for awhile now) had a surprise round of layoffs this afternoon. i was fortunate but this was our fourth round in the past year and a half. strangely enough, you never get used to it.
anxiety and stress seem to have overwhelmed my future endeavors, present situations, and possible hopes.
i am tired today guys. sigh.
for some level of comfort, i made a huge thing of bacon mac and cheese and drank half a bottle of reisling.
now i just feel full and somewhat tipsy while still maintaining the anxiety levels.
P.S. Checked my e-mail -- can't even find a response to my note to you. So you asked a question backchannel, got a 10,000 character response offering ten possible answers to your question, didn't reply, and then came on here to say I didn't know anything. Wow. --S.
Ha, I just read your first line as "Seth works hard for the U.S." and added to the subliminal crime-fighting tilt of your pseudonym, my mind decided Seth was in the FBI. Given, only for the split second between complete plausibility of unicorns and the inevitability of microbial decay, but that was a fun split second.
Yeah, just looked at their site again and it doesn't say anything. Obviously I'm a little anxious. I haven't received anything from Brooklyn other than FOEs/Fake Out Letter... is it FOL? Fake Out Snail Mail? FOSM? I just don't know anymore.
I remember e-mailing them over the summer and asking whether the GREs were necessary. They said no.
Hunter requires GREs, but you can take them after they accept you. That's so awesome. I'll take that test in a heartbeat if they offered me a spot (hint, hint).
@ Julian Congrats on Wisconsin! I didn't think anyone would get in there.
@ Laura your rutgers story cracked me up. It's like something that would happen to me, minus the acceptance part.
Congrats to everyone else who got good news.
I finally got my Oregon fake out housing information in the mail. I was beginning to think I was in the pile of "Never." Such tragic wording: "I am so pleased" that you submitted your application... Why do programs do that? WHY?
Lurker here, but I wanted to show Seth some appreciation. His research was indispensable in my selecting which schools to apply to. I hate to see him not getting the credit he deserves, though it was fun to see him so thoroughly own Dandelion.
Since I haven't posted before, my baker's dozen in fiction:
UT Austin (rejected) Minnesota Illinois Ohio State Arizona State Colorado State Iowa Florida UNLV SIUC Idaho SDSU UNCW
A few presumed rejections in there, but haven't heard officially from anywhere but Texas. I'm ready for March.
i did as well (fiction) and aside from the request for more financial information that came a few weeks ago i haven't heard a peep, from them or from most people on these boards.
i'm sure their application numbers are still up though, just like...everywhere else.
No, they don't...I was just rationalizing why they would be "pleased" to inform me of something that was GOING TO HAPPEN ANYWAY. I thought it meant that like, the regular school had said "Okay, guys, this girl isn't failing life and she has higher than a 3.0 GPA. Send 'er on over to Fiction."
Sorry. Not much sense being made. Would love to say I'm drunk, but in all reality I've spent the past four hours (on a Friday night) playing Bloons.
In other news: Brooklyn College, your ass is mine*.
*In the best, most "please accept me" way possible. Like, by "ass" I mean "wish" and by "mine" I mean "command."
@adam - I paraphrased incorrectly the exact wording Brown provided was 'notifications will follow the review or recommendations provided to the graduate school'. What form this 'notification' takes is anyones guess.
So...I was following this blog constantly and feeling my heart chipped away a little each time a school of mine started accepting. Then, on Tuesday, after word that Hunter called at least 1 person to interview/visit, my heart just completely stopped. And I quit the blog.
Today, Colum McCann called. Now, bloggers have reported GNEs and FOEs and all that, but this was something like a GNBNP (good-n-bad news phonecall). He didn't say anything about an interview or visit, so that seems like bad news. But I'm still in the running for the 6 fiction spots that are up for grabs (seriously, SIX? I thought there were at least...8!) I don't know how many are still in the race or if I have any chance at all...his tone was encouraging but cautious. So I'm feeling bittersweet about this, my only good news of the season. At the very least, I can take it as a positive sign that one of these schools had real interest in me and use that as fuel if I need to reply again. To anyone waiting on Hunter, I didn't find out if they are done notifying short-listers and I definitely don't want my news to send anyone into a tailspin, as happened with me just 3 days ago.
Also, because I'm catching up on 3 days of MFA-blogging, I want to add my word usage annoyances: I really dislike it when people use the word "disconnect" as a noun. And "borrow" as a substitute for "lend." As in "Would you borrow me that book on literacy theory? I'm studying the disconnect between 1st wave and 2nd wave feminisms." Reasons being that everrrryone in my undergrad English classes used disconnect as though it added intellectual weight to their opinions, and an ex-boyfriend always asked me to borrow him things. Blah.
girl, knowing you're still in the running is good news right? i def think it's worth a congrats!! i mean freaking colum mccann called you; that's pretty awesome in itself. :)
wow, can i tell you how bad i want to be able to say "today, colum mccann called", lol.
Hi Seth, I've got a quick question about the rankings. If I remember correctly, when you first began doing the rankings, you would double Wisconsin's vote count to make up for the fact that they only took one genre per year (which makes sense). But then I was wondering if that might skew Wisconsin: that is, since there seem to be, generally, more fiction applicants than poetry applicants to any given program, a fiction year for UW will skew it up (and, then alternatively, a poetry year might skew it down). Is this something that you think will correct itself with the accumulation of data (over a five year spread, for instance)? Anyway, I'm sure you've already addressed this...but it was something I wondered about.
Congrats! I am a WVU alum and West Virginia native. Our people love to expound upon the unique culture and natural beauty of our state. If you're unfamiliar with Morgantown and want some advice, please drop me a line :)
You've got it a little twisted, so let me clarify. During the 2007-8 and 2008-9 application cycles, data was collected re: Wisconsin's actual poetry and fiction applicant-pool sizes. It was determined that Wisconsin's fiction pool is (oddly enough) precisely twice the size of its poetry pool. Consequently, in poetry years each vote for Wisconsin is multiplied by three (i.e. 1 vote is counted as 3, instead), and in fiction years (like this one) each vote is multiplied by one and a half (i.e., each vote is treated as 1.5 votes). At the end of each two-year cycle Wisconsin's fiction-to-poetry ratio will be re-assessed to see whether these multipliers need to be changed. So, for instance, Wisconsin had 629 fiction applicants this year; if next year it has 315 poetry applicants, the multipliers will stay the same. If it's more or less the multiplier will be changed accordingly. Hope this makes sense.
I'm so relieved to have one acceptance. Still waiting for the other 5, but I feel incredibly lucky that the first was a yes.
@kaybay this is going back a bit, but I just wanted to say good for you for standing up for what you know is right. I've probably been walking the earth longer than you, so I will add that in my experience, doing what is right can be painful but is almost always worth it in the end.
@Jarsh I would love to ask you questions. Thanks for offering your wisdom (or partying tips). I have been online checking out Morgantown -- I visited there last summer and loved the town. Could you email me at ositacolleen@yahoo.com?
Congrats to everyone who gotten good news. For anyone who is feeling really frustrated, just imagine being a US Senator right now. THAT's frustration.
I thought I would hold up a lot better, but this lack of good news for me personally is kind of tough. I would share my history of disappointment but that seems too pathetic.
Pretty tired of failure and rejection.
On the flipside, I'm pulling for you Jenna!! McCann's the man.
I just sent you an email clarifying/explaining. For the general public's information though, I think I may have mischaracterized the Hunter situation as an "interview". They were pretty vague about how it works getting the short list down to the final six spots. It's not so much sketchy as just confusing, if you're a finalist.
@g.jackson...thanks so much for the TED link. After that clip I watched this one of Elizabeth Gilbert: http://www.ted.com/talks/elizabeth_gilbert_on_genius.html (not sure how to make that a hyperlink). She has a lot of interesting things to say about where creativity and genius come from, and the best bit at the end is about showing up and doing the job. While I've been obsessing all week about acceptances, I've been ignoring the important work that all of this is about, that is, writing. So that will be my day today. Getting some work done. Enjoy the weekend all.
@Sud - I agree, love her talk. Funny I wasn't as big a fan of her E, P, L, as much as others, but I really like her and I think I've watched this talk maybe a dozen times.
Did you see the video of J.K. Rowling giving a TED-sponsored talk at Harvard. It's all about the fringe benefits of failure. Also wonderful.
@g.jackson. Thanks, the J.K. Rowling was great. I also watched Isabel Allende: http://www.ted.com/talks/isabel_allende_tells_tales_of_passion.html Really liked that one too. Might spend the day on TED instead of writing:) How did you make the hyperlink?
I have a basic question re. TA-ship lingo. I sometimes see 1/1, 1/2. 2/1, and the like referenced here. What do these terms mean? Does 1/2 mean teaching one section for every two classes you take?
Re: Portland State. Just to jump in on yesterday's discussion, I'd like to point out that PSU added Tom Bissell to the faculty this year. Maybe it's not such a big deal for others, but I know if I wasn't committed to east coast schools I would have added Portland State to the list just for the chance to work with Bissell. That guy's great.
I've watched all those before, but last weekend when I was feeling low, I went back and watched the J. K. Rowling one on failure. Definitely a pick me up. I cried like, four times during it.
Also, everyone should go find the John Hodgman TED talk. I don't have access to it right now to link you to it, but it was beautiful, wonderful, and creatively told.
Also, if you get the chance, watch the one on 4AM (I can't remember the name of the guy who did it, but it was also pretty awesome).
Obviously, I wasted a lot of time on TED during my last semester of undergrad last year. Haha.
@Woon - I just tried to look it up to confirm, but my google-fu is failing me. I'm pretty sure each number is the number of classes taught per semester. So a 1/1 teaching load means you'd teach one class each semester, 1/2 means you'd teach one class the first semester and two the second, etc.
Hi Seth, Thanks for the clarification. I assume you're using those ratios for both the application data (from the department) and from the polling? Anyway, was just curious--thanks for the response, and for the work you do.
@Chrissy- thanks for those suggestions. It's raining here, and i"m in avoidance mode, so a day of TED is just perfect!
@katie booms-glad you liked it too. I think it was a wonderful talk. I heard a talk by Joyce Carol Oates. She runs every day and said that the story would come to her each day as she went up this certain hill at Princeton.
@Sud -- re. Joyce Carol Oates and running. I too run every day and get all my best ideas during this time. I guess it's the blood coursing through my arteries and into my brain. Spurs some sort of activity therein. Other times, I go for long walks during the revision stage to fix craft problems or get more ideas.
@wandering tree- She said that was her routine. Maybe not everyday now.
@Woon- I don't run, but I do walk, and walking is almost necessary to writing for me. I walk and find the story. However, it's raining today, so I'm watching TED and blogging instead:)
no, I can't move at this point. I have family, financial, and property encumbrances that have tied me where I am.
@all,
I have an absolutely fascinating book I'm reading right now that I highly recommend: Syncopations: The Stress on Innovation in Contemporary American Poetry (Rasula, 2004). For all you Alabama applicants, it's from the university press there. I'm supposed to be writing a paper for my special education class or at least readin that text. Ugh.
@Leslie,
wouldn't you be able to commute into the city if you can get to Rutgers? and don't give up hope yet. Who knows, you and Laura T may end up as classmates.
I'm actually afraid to post the name of the phd program where I've applied like I'd jinx it or something. Weird.
MommyJ--yeah, I could. You're right; I think NJ, but NYC is possible (though those are also pretty darn tough programs to get into!) I'll look into writing conentrations; I really didn't know they much existed outside of actual CW Ph.Ds)
This is the first year they've offered an MFA. Prior to this, it was only an MA.
In addition to Tom Bissell, they've also added Charles D'Ambrosio!! Both began with the program this year, and I imagine as they dig their feet in, the program will continue to improve exponentially.
As far as funding, there are ways to find money outside the department and some money from within (only one fully funded position)--but there's no guarantee. There are some other drawbacks, too, in all honesty. I think quarter systems are hard, and the school has a real commuter feel to it.
Portland has a great literary scene, though, and what's missing as far as community goes within the department, can be found elsewhere.
I'm in the MFA program currently, so I'd be happy to answer any other questions.
Wow. Shit. Terrible word choice. Bad bad bad proofreading on my part. I decided not to use message boards over 10 years ago when I was a teenager back when they were on dial-up BBS's and there wasn't much internet to speak of because of the miscommunications that tend to happen. I really should have stuck to that old decision.
At the time I was writing that message last night I was slightly buzzed (like many people I've seen posting on here) and I meant to say that Seth had some various theories but wasn't entirely certain about the reasons, which is what I had gotten out of your response when I initially read it.
I hadn't expected much response to my brief original query to you, Seth, actually, and I was very surprised at the detail of your original personal response, as well as appreciative, but unsure how to respond. I apologize that I didn't thank you, I didn't even realize that I hadn't actually.
I also didn't digest the long response well in my head, I believe, on initially reading it. But in re-reading your response posted on here, I realize that you make a cogent sensible argument for a statistical anomaly based around new-ness and location and total lack of clarity around funding, in results that are far from complete.
Anyway, I'm sorry I offended by writing terrible wording in the rough draft of the message and not being in the correct state when I wrote it to correct it in revision.
I did not mean to say Seth doesn't know anything, I only meant to say that I was trying to see if anyone else had any more information.
If I could erase the original offending message from here and your sight, I would, but the interface does not seem to allow me to erase a day old personal posting.
Nonetheless I will cease to cause any more problems by self exiling and from this moment on will not POST to y'all's blog!
Good luck with your grad school apps. and have a nice life!
For the data, my list, for fiction: Texas-austin Univ of Michigan Iowa WW Univ of wisconsin-madison Syracuse Vanderbilt Alabama Arkansas Louisiana State UMass Amherst
I decided yesterday that I am going to go work on a ranch out West if/when I don't get in anywhere. Got excited enough about that that it wouldn't seem like such a bad thing (almost) not to get in anywhere! And next year, I will do my application list completely differently.
I run too sometimes and it has helped spark ideas. However, I recently started doing Bikram Yoga and have found that at the end of each session (in the cool down period) I've had serious breakthroughs in a couple different stories I've been jammed on. I don't know if it's the effort, or the relaxation or the endorphin rush or what, but it has definitely happened a few times now.
@Dandelion - okay, seriously, do not be so hard on yourself for your original post! When I read it, I realized pretty quickly that you probably didn't mean to insult Seth and I anticipated an apology would be forthcoming. The post was somewhat rambling and it looked like a sloppily worded offhand comment that was probably inadvertent. So please don't beat yourself up over it!
@all of us - I think we all need to calm down when someone says something that might or does critique Seth's (or anybody else's) work for that matter. For God sakes, this is not a cult, right!? Healthy debate is good.
As has been said before, Seth, you do great work that is invaluable to the MFA applicant community. I know it's helped me tremendously and I also know that I would not be as generous with my time as you are with yours - and I truly admire you for it.
But okay, and here's the thing, I don't always 100% agree with your methodology (someone get the pitch forks!). And I contend that this is okay and even healthy. Of course your methodology can be questioned - whose the f--- can't? That's statistics for you. Studies' methodologies are questioned all the time, and I think they are ultimately stronger for it.
Bottom line is, we're all adults who should be able to exchange ideas. It's possible to err on the side of being too mean-spirited and aggressively confrontational, but it's also possible to err on the side of not pushing each other enough. In my opinion, finding the right balance is a constant tight rope we all must walk.
Even in the best forums, at times, someone will say something they don't mean or even offer a criticism that isn't entirely constructive. If everyone tries to contribute constructively and in good faith, then I think understanding missteps is an essential part of our exchange. I don't mean to be preachy on this, but I have seen this issue as a recurring theme, and I do think it was important to address - in part because I have been so impressed by everyone on this forum's kindness and understanding.
@Dan I second that--don't leave. I appreciated your note, above. It looked bad from the outside, but I'm certainly willing to accept your explanation. And I'm glad the OP was able to shed some additional light on PSU--both for your sake and mine. Be well, Seth
So, what the hell is up with Montana? Doesn't their website praise themselves on the fact that they let you know both acceptances and rejections at the same time? Doesn't it also say that we should know either way by end of February?
Jen, Of course disagreement's fine. And I agree with much of what you say. I was only annoyed because I try to squeeze in time to answer queries when I can, from people I don't know, and my answers are long and detailed. It's hard to find the time between working a job and being in a Ph.D. program and running a business and being a freelance writer and trying to write poems and organizing daily updates of the rankings. Not getting a response to something I took a lot of time to write backchannel--that's fine, I can deal with it. But then having (as I thought was happening) my knowledge mocked also seemed a bit much to me. And it's not like I went crazy or anything--I just said it was bad form. Doesn't seem an unreasonable response. And when Dan clarified I came right down off the high horse. No harm, no foul. S.
@Seth - I saw your response after I posted mine; no question it was a solid gesture. I also understand the impetus for your initial response and don't know that I'd have responded too differently if I were in your shoes. Still, your initial posting was pretty intense and when I read it my instincts to stand up for the 'underdog' in the exchange got the better of me.
PS: No idea how you find the time to do half the things on your list. Wow.
Huh, I just found out that one of my upstairs neighbors is a 2nd-year fiction MFA student at Columbia. I thought that might be relevant for some people here because it means MFA students at Columbia are eligible for couples' housing in the university-owned apartment buildings, which can take a significant bite out of the expense of living in NY.
PS: Just got my giant manila envelope housing FOE from Oregon. My roommate called me screaming, 'YOU'RE IN OREGON," and I said, "No I'm not. Open it. No I'm not." And I wasn't.
2,504 comments:
«Oldest ‹Older 401 – 600 of 2504 Newer› Newest»Wednesday night--severe vomiting. Thursday--fever, ache, and chills. Friday--accepted to Wisconsin.
I have rarely felt so happy and ill at the same time. Best of luck to everyone.
Does anyone else irrationally wish they would have applied to all 130-odd ranked programs? Hehe.
@ Julian - congratulations!
Congrats to Julian! One of the lucky six...truly an honor.
And congrats to the Wisconsin wait-listers! And Arna (holy shit!), and all the others that I'm forgetting...
I've developed a severe cold in the past 24 hours, and it's making my head all fuzzy. Luckily, this is making my MFA-obsessing less acute.
@Arna -- Congrats! Brooklyn's faculty is amazing! Any word on where they are in the process? Funding?
is that the same lucas that traded samples with me? if so, congratulations man!
Courtney,
YES. I would do this is I could afford it. It would also make a great experiment and I could blog about it. :)
@Arna: Congrats! I think we might in the same issue of Bat City - here's hoping that Issue 5 = good luck! :)
@Arna -- Congrats! Iowa, Cornell, and now a waitlist at Wisconsin! Are you leaning toward any particular school?
@arna
congrats!!
pettily, i am a lil sad because both hunter and brooklyn are two of my top choices and here i sit, phone just as eerily silent as coreyann's. lol.
Ugh, bad day for Kay Bay. I got in a tiffy with my boss today because she wanted me to do something I thought was unethical regarding a student's test and I outright refused and she (not exaggerating) started calling me names. I told her that I would be willing to be written up for insubordination and she said I could be fired for it (she's the vice principal so I don't even think she has the right to fire me, but still). I don't think I'll be fired (awfully hard to find a teacher for the last 3 months of the year), but there's a chance my contract might not be renewed which would throw my plan B into a crazy spiral into hell.
Basically, I need everyone's positive energy, and for the religious out there, I'd love a little prayin' cause I'm gonna need whatever I can get. Now I really, really need an acceptance and I'm worried that it has to be one in the state of Florida because I don't know if I could even afford a move outside of the state, which leaves me two competitive schools, FSU and UF, and one is ridiculously competitive and the other is not fully funded. And I don't know what to do and I'm freaking out and I want to cry :"(
@ Laura T
Congrats! And only yesterday you were worried about resorting to Plan D - funny how things change, huh?
@Laura T
it's like the MFA cinderella story!! woo hoo!! congrats!
@ kaybay - I am so sorry! What an awful position to be in. I've been hoping all along Florida will come through for you - I'll send positive vibes your way.
Good for you, though, standing up for yourself! Way to show some gumption.
@kaybay
I'm so sorry. You got all my positive energy going towards you and a few prayers as well.
I hate to say it, but bad days are always something to write about, yes? I know I've had my fair share...
Thanks Pequah! You're too nice, I swear!!
If all else fails, I could write a tell-all book about the school I work for, although publishers would question the authenticity (it's that bad!!). I'm just in that whole "is it worth it to be a 'martyr'" situation. It sucks :( I've been trying to find another job for the last two years and I haven't even been able to pick up an interview. Nobody wants a philosophy major, haha...
I was thinking about that Chrissy!! Congrats by the way, on your acceptance ;)
And congrats Laura T! I thought your reaction to Rutgers was right on the money, except that it was coherent; I would totally understand if it was illegible because that's just how cool it is :P
@miss private eye -- I don't even know why people felt sorry for Cinderella. From all versions of the story, she was a hot little number. You knew she would do okay in the grand scheme of things. Even if it wasn't Prince Charming, she would've had a great shot at Jean Baptiste, the son of the finance minister to King Louis XIV. So, like, what's the big whoop?
@kaybay - Damm, that's rough. Sending good wishes.
kaybay, I'm so sorry. You definitely did the right thing by standing up to your boss - everything will work out for you, I know it. I'm sending all the positive vibes I've got, and I'll cross all my fingers and toes.
It's so funny that when I got home my first thought was, "I need to vent to my peeps on the blog" :P
@kaybay, I'm pretty sure you're confusing me with the other Chrissy on here (she now goes by Chrissy H. because there was confusion...Hi Chrissy H. if you're reading! I forgot to say how nice it was of you to add the H.), and she got a GNE (woo for her!).
But I haven't been accepted anywhere (yet...sigh). If wishing made it so! Still no news on my end, which means bad news...
all my love and positivity is coming at you kaybay!!!!! I'll get my mom started on another rosary!
xoxoxoxo
Sorry Chrissy! I hope you get some good news soon, the next few weeks are going to be C-R-A-Z-Y
Courtney ♥
Sending positive vibes your way, Kaybay. And kudos to you for not backing down in a tough situation. Sounds like your students are lucky to have you.
@kaybay
i feel you on the bad day. (we had a surprise round of layoffs at our already small office today). but keep your head up girl (sorry for the cliche!); you did the right thing. your first job as an educator to minors is to protect the interests of your students, people who can't defend or protect themselves.
you're in my prayers and i am hopeful that some good news will come your way soon!!
@kaybay and anyone else who might need cheering up, I suggest Hark, A Vagrant. This is a recent one featuring Edward Gorey book covers!
http://www.harkavagrant.com/index.php?id=247
Hilary, haha, so random :) KIERKEGAARD!!
Ugh, now I'm paranoid. I'm going to delete that...
Don't read "Jude the Obscure" if you need a good pick-me-up.
I always like Family Guy parodies for a quick laugh. Youtube.
Just got home after being out of email contact all afternoon--I'm waitlisted at Wisconsin! I'm so happy to finally hear some good news from somewhere. Congratulations to everyone who has heard good news today!
(M. Swann - I'm extra sorry to see your rejection. I had a little mini-dream that we'd have a Chicago contingent up at Wisconsin. :( )
Wow, I'm assuming Seth is going to be posting the same info here in a second, but I just read on the P&W board that UNCW is going to be dropped from the rankings in all respects starting tonight. Wow!
RAINE! Awesome!!! CONRATS! That's an ammmmaaaaazing program!
Awww, kaybay, sorry to hear your bad day. My husband is a HS teacher, and admins make him batshit crazy.
And i will cry with you, since it looks like I'm not into the only school I applied to, and at my age, Plan B's are just plain hard to come by, other than--keep doing what you've done forever...
How many people does Brooklyn accept total?
Ooh, Leslie, that sucks!! Where did you apply? I'm so sorry :(
Kaybay,
I'm totally rooting for you. I know I don't post much, but I'm a faithful reader of the blog, even when I wish I could stay away :)
I really hate every day that passes without any news. I've heard from one! place (the Wisconsin rejection) out of 14 applications. A number of my schools have notified others, but no news for me in any form. I'm holding out hope for my March notifiers. Ho hum.
Also, congratulations to everyone who's been accepted and waitlisted to some wonderful programs!!!! I am thoroughly envious.
I've been really happy to see others who have not received any news for what seems like forever and then getting hit with an outright acceptance, so I think there's hope! I think March is going to be a good month for a lot of people here.
I've been rude to telemarketers, often hanging up on them in mid-sentence. It shouldn't have come to this. I normally don't pick up my phone, but lately, I can't seem to resist.
Amen LA, you know what I'm talking about!! I guess it's everywhere though. She wouldn't have did what she did to other teachers, just me, because she thinks I'm easy to push around. I think she got upset because I obviously wasn't easy to push around. But the whole thing sucks.
By the way, I've been meaning to ask you what you think about Lake Charles. What's it like?? I've never been, but I've been to Baton Rouge and NO. How does it compare? Is it more Texas-ey?
Speaking of Lake Charles, can we have a McNeese waitlist tally? I think there's a crazy number of us on the boards.
*raises hand* One!
Julian!!!! Congratulations!!!! Get Better!
Yes, Chrissy H. had a GNE but nothing else. Not complaining, though. Not yet anyway!
I see that people have heard from Vanderbilt or assumed rejection. I haven't heard from them either way and my online status doesn't say anything helpful. Did I miss something? Should I resume rejection as well?
Guys, this is hard.
Woon, I SO hear you. I'm getting really mad at telemarketer types, who seem to call every single morning as I'm waking up, thereby making me start my day in a panic.
I, too, am really relieved to hear that others have received no notifications. I'm trying not to think too hard about Colorado State. I received a postcard from them recently saying that their financial aid office tried to e-mail me and that the e-mail bounced back. Apparently, they were just trying to communicate that they received my FAFSA but can't do anything with it until an admissions decision has been made. I know someone on the blog got into CSU the other day...tell me it's possible that they tried to contact me but the e-mail bounced back? Please?
@ kaybay
I wish I had a better form of comfort to offer, but I really, really hope this all works out for you. I hail from a family of educators, and holy crap, schools are going to hell (and I don't mean that in the fire-eyed-Republican-with-a-Bible-in-hand sort of way). My mom is the best elementary school teacher in the universe and she's had many run-ins with her administration/school-board-higher-ups these past few years. FL schools in particular are royally effed right now. I've heard rumors that Jeb Bush sent out a memo a few years ago that implied that unethical is the new awesome. So not awesome, Jeb. (And your name is Jeb. That coupled with your genetics = you lose in life.)
Kaybay, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that you get into a good program & get great funding.... don't let today get you down!!! Chin up, you probably did that kid a world of good...
TWO!
Oh, and Chrissy! You're welcome. I'm usually the only Chrissy around so it's kind of fun to add the H. :)
Meredith, where are you in FL? Schools are just rife with bad ethics, and I just see the good teachers leaving in droves because of it. The system rewards the shameless ass-kissers, the don't-give-a-craps, and power hungry. In other words, no one normal. It's so depressing!!!
yeah, lake charles is pretty gnarly...it's totally old school louisiana with a shitload of festivals (like catfish, crawfish, watermelon, etc.) and it's pretty cheap to live in...it's got a load of bars too with live music...the atmosphere is really cool...and it's not too far from nola, just a few hours away...it's a great town
I love Cajuns, by the way. I'm not a fan of LSU athletics, but their fans kick ass! Give 'em a can of beer and they don't really car all that much about anything else. I worked as a waitress during a lot of football games at Auburn and the LSU fans managed to be the loudest customers I've ever had without ever complaining about the food/service. I kind of liked them and their purple feather boas ;)
I'm glad to hear it's a cool place, that makes it a little more appealing...
kaybay--Rutgers. It's near where I live, and their TAships woulda made it possible to quit my job. Alas!
Me and husband are now discussing maybe me quitting anyway, and adjuncting like mad (got an MA, so that's possible) so I'd at least have summers off. He says I should get into HS teaching, but, I dunno.......
Plan B's make more sense in the abstract.
@raine: so happy for you! congrats on making the waitlist.
@kaybay: sending good vibes.
Leslie, I don't think I could recommend teaching high school right now ;0) I do think it's about being with the right school though, but obviously that's hard to know unless you've been there for a while, so it's kind of tough. Good luck with whatever you decide to do
Julian! wanted to high-five you publicly.
Congrats to Arna and Julian and anyone else I've missed in my root-canal induced malaise. We have a bunch of seriously talented and deserving people in here, and I wish the best for all of you.
Bard College is considering changinging it's MFA program. I got a survey, because I had requested info from them. (When I looked, the current program doesn't seem like it would be a good fit for me. ) The survey asked if I would be interested in a completely online, mostly online, or traditional program as well as what elements would be necessary for me to be interested.
It will be interesting to see how this shakes out.
Hi all,
I don't know if this affects anyone's decision one way or another, but I wanted to note that as of tonight the University of North Carolina at Wilmington is being dropped altogether from the national MFA rankings. They are being dropped across the board: in funding, in fiction, in poetry, in nonfiction, and in selectivity. The basis for this decision is that the rankings do not -- and will not -- promote any program that does not adhere to the CGSR with respect to funded offers of admission, and in recent days UNCW has admitted publicly and privately that they do not follow the CGSR in any respect whatsoever. They have maintained that they "unofficially" withdrew from the CGSR -- just the MFA program, that is -- and that it will at some point in the future be made an "official" withdrawal (again, only for the MFA program). This justification has been rejected: First, because UNCW is a signatory to the CGSR and the CGSR does not allow individual departments within a university to reject an agreement signed by the university as a whole; second, because UNCW as a whole has announced no plans to withdraw from the CGSR; third, because the MFA at UNCW has made no effort to inform applicants that they have "unofficially" withdrawn from the CGSR, despite a regularly-updated website with a lengthy FAQ for applicants; fourth, because the rankings do not and will condone the unethical practice of giving students "exploding offers" -- that is, offers of admission that effectively require the admittee to immediately withdraw all outstanding applications at other institutions, whether or not any admissions decision has yet been rendered by these other institutions and without regard for how much money the applicant may have spent on these other applications (in many instances, well over $1,000). Those seeking to attend a ranked MFA program should be advised that a) Poets & Writers will be publishing updated rankings in its September/October 2010 issue, and b) the ranking system upon which the Poets & Writers rankings are based (the TSE system) does not rank or otherwise promote CGSR violators.
Best of luck to everyone,
Seth
For those of you waiting to hear something from Iowa, Sam Chang has been out of town the last few days. She's also been sick, but I don't know if that has had any effect on her contacting applicants.
Hope this helps!
@ kaybay: Really sorry to hear about the awfulness with your boss. :( I think what you did is really admirable, even if you think it seems small.
@ others: Anyone else on here accepted to Memphis? I'm still hoping to get a TAship from them once they've gone over all the apps, but I'm curious if others are considering this Spain summer program to increase their hours so they can start TAing in the spring.
@Laura T, Peter, Julian: HUGE CONGRATS today for being accepted to one of your choice programs!!!
@Wee Meathead, Arna, Lucas, Raine; you guys are awesome for making the Wisconsin waiting list. Don't give up hope - the fact that you made it this far is a testament to your writing. Especially since I got knocked off two weeks ago. :]
@UNCW via Seth's notification
Wow. UNCW. Good going.
Whoa, big afternoon! Congrats Laura T, laura, Julian, Arna, and all the other Wisconsin waitlists and acceptances (sorry I can't remember you all...)!
Kaybay, good on you for standing up to the VP. I hope things work out for you, you're in my prayers.
Jake, I'm also in Michener limbo. I'm still expecting rejection, but it's making me ill at this point. I dread refreshing the page, but do so (refresh, though also dread) constantly.
For those of you who heard from George Mason today-- was it over the phone?
@ Cat
I haven't received official rejections from Michigan or Iowa (and didn't apply to UW) and I don't think anyone else has either. I'm sure of a Michigan rejection because one the lovely people on here called the program and reported back that they were done notifying. As far as Iowa goes, though, I'm not getting my hopes up but am also reminding myself not to count anything out until I have an official rejection. Good luck!
I'm back from work!
Thank you SO MUCH everyone for the congratulations!! I am sending you wishes and hopes for acceptances this week!
I was really hoping to get a voicemail from Rutgers while I was at work, because I still haven't been "officially" accepted by phone or email or mail. Just the online status check. But no call! I checked the website and found out that the school is closed today due to snow, so maybe that's why. I'm dying to get a call!! I also want to know if I got a TAship!
I've also managed to work myself into a frenzy of worry that the online status acceptance was some kind of mistake, or cruel joke. Especially since I tried to log into it again just now and it said "system unavailable." AHH.
Ok, it let me log in this time. Still says "admitted!" I'm just going to stare at it for a while and convince myself I'm not hallucinating...
@Laura T
CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!! I was SO rooting for you.
@Leslie,
I also only applied to one MFA program and didn't get in. I then decided to apply to a PhD program with creative dissertation option. I've been reading several of the texts from two classes they're offering this semester (on my own, for fun), and discovered Lola Ridge as a result. I love her poem "Adelaide Crapsey" and the politics she espoused. I am beginning to think the UMass rejection, however painful, was a blessing in disguise, especially if I get into this other program. Maybe I'll apply again if my plan B school doesnt pan out, but I think I'd more likely apply again to my plan B school or find another Doctoral program. Anyhow, hang in there.
@Kaybay,
your admin sucks and you are super for standing up for the ethical choice.
@Arna,
Are you related somehow to the Arna W. Bontemps of Harlem Renaissance fame?
@Laura T
Congratulations on living a day well dreamt!
@Chrissy H. -- if you don't mind my asking, what's your full first name? I'm a Christine. But I've heard some Chrissy's being Christinas. Just curious. I think most Christinas go with "Christy."
@Laura T. -- if I were you, I'd take a screenshot of the online status as concrete proof. I'd print it out and pin it on my wall and then do a little dance. So psyched for you!!
Thanks for the comments, MommyJ. I was following your story cuz it was so similar to my own. I'm still thinking... don't think there's any PhD close to me with a writing concentration, though I'll research more. I might look in to low res, maybe that's a way to go, but they're mostly unfunded, and I'd use all my vacation time up (and more) attending the residencies.
Lots to think on...probably just have another glass of wine tonight.
Best of luck to you; thanks again for your kind words. (I'll look for that poem you mentioned.)
@MommyJ -- I guess moving is not an option?
Proof this is all getting to me...I just made brownies! Not necessarily a bad thing, but I normally don't bake. Very happy, though, to have the chocolatey goodness!!
Thank you MommyJ, Jeremy, and Chrissy!
@ MommyJ,
I'm SO glad that you have turned your UMass rejection into a good thing! I also got rejected by UMass, so who needs them? (No offense to anyone who got in!!) Just skip right over the MFA and go for the PhD! I really hope you get into the PhD program.
@ Chrissy,
Taking a screenshot right now! Hahaha!
@ Leslie,
Your Rutgers status said "no decision," right?? I wouldn't give up hope yet! Especially because it seems like they've barely started notifying... maybe they haven't even finished accepting yet. But if not, I wish you the best of luck, whether your next plan is a PhD program or low-res, or something else entirely.
@ Michelle,
For the FAFSA:
You have to put in ten of your fifteen schools and submit the FAFSA. After you submit it, usually within a couple of days, you will get an email saying it's been processed.
After it's been processed, go on the website and log onto the page that allows you to make changes to your submitted FAFSA. Delete five of the ten schools, and put in the other five of your total fifteen. Then submit it again.
Once it's been processed, that means it's been sent to all the schools, so deleting some won't affect anything. And when you submit it again it will just get sent to the next five.
I know this sounds really odd and roundabout, but this was the way they told me to do it!
Got my rejection letter in the mail from Southern Illinois (fiction). Oh, SIUC, we could have been great together.
Ten schools left to hear from. Come on, March!
@Chrissy - I'm a Christine too! I get called Christy a lot. Fir a long time I thought I had a lisp. Not so!
So I just noticed that the poetry acceptance for Rutgers on DH was from 2/16, and by email. I want one of those emails too! Just having the online status acceptance is starting to make me anxious. I'm debating emailing the program and asking if I am really accepted... heheh. I don't know, though. Should I just wait? I'm very impatient.
Laura T, you are cracking me up, YOU WERE ACCEPTED, DEAL WITH IT :P I mean that lovingly ;)
@Chrissy H. -- My sister, who's a year older than me, couldn't say "Christine" when I was born, so she called me "Kissy." Thus, I became Chrissy. Gah.
My brother wanted to name me Christopher Robin, though. So I'm pretty satisfied with Chrissy. :)
hahaha kaybay, I know. I'm so neurotic. I just want some official communication from someone in the program! Without it I feel like the acceptance isn't completely real and could be taken away at any moment. :P
@LauraT
lol... I don't think grad programs are allowed to do take-backs... that would be breaking some sort of holy rule!
@Chrissys
This problem of two Chrissys seems even funnier to me since my name used to be Chrissy... if I hadn't gone to court to change it, there would've been 3... oh lord.
rejected by Syracuse by email
@ kaybay
I'm in Tallahassee!! I lived in Tampa until the late '90s, and my pop still lives down there. Where are you??
Ugh, the Tampa school system wasn't awesome by any means, but Tallahassee's is damn near po-dunk. I mean, I like the country-bumpkin folk and all, but... eeeeehh.
Two more days until March! I'm keeping my fingers crossed for all of us! (especially you, kaybay! you deserve it!!)
@ Elissa Cahn
You're in my exact same position (1 official rejection and nothing else; 14 schools). Now, you'll be happy to know, that the last person I said that to was Laura T. So... please accept my pre-congratulations for your pending acceptances
:)
(Really: fingers crossed for you! and myself! and all of us applicants-chillin-in-torturous-silence)
@ Chrissy with no H
team silence, wooooooooooo!!!! I'm torn between making team t-shirts for us and... just crying (more).
Hi! As a long-time lurker I thought I would shout out congratulations to all those with acceptances!
Also I received word that Brown will be sending out acceptances at the end of the coming week if everything goes to schedule and the week after if it doesn't.
Good luck!
I'm in Lakeland! So, close to Tampa. I'm not even at a public school here, apparently our private schools suck just as much as our public ones :) Seriously though there are some real problems with our schools. I had a conversation with a woman at Walmart the other day. She drove a schoolbus in the morning (starting at 5:30 AM) and then worked at Walmart from 5:00 at night to 10:00 FIVE days a week! She said that kids have fought on the bus and cursed her out without any repercussion. That's just wrong, plain wrong.
I hear you about Tallahassee being a little country, most of Florida is pretty country, something a lot people aren't aware of. I could totally live there though if FSU wanted me and gave me a teaching position ;)
i wrk like 7 days a week, unfortunately i cnt keep up with the blog. any word frm VTech, Arizona State?
subscribing.
and hoping March brings ANY kind of news. Though I'd prefer good news.
Also, I noticed there are two Michelle's on here. Does anyone know if/how I can change my name?? I don't even remember making this one.
I received my very first official correspondence today: snail mail from Brooklyn College. I opened it casually, having resigned myself to another year of fail, and the top third of the letter (it was folded in thirds) read my name and "Dear Briana: I am pleased to inform you that your application to the 324 Fiction program for the Fall 2010 semester has been"
My heart stopped.
I read on "forwarded to the department you selected for official review and decision."
Does this mean *big whoop* that my GPA and GRE and shit were sufficient for admission to BC? WHY WOULD THEY SEND ME THIS.
Has anyone else gotten one? Mine's postmarked 2/23 (I live in Brooklyn, tho).
Official rejection from Alabama in the mail today! Postmarked 2/24 if anyone cares to know. What a splendid way to start the weekend...0/1 with 10 to go...
Briana, it likely means they have rolling admissions and the adcom is about to start looking at your work. As has been said here, GRE scores are a minute detail in the process.
Sorry Little Poet, it really seemed like EVERYONE applied to Alabama. It hurt for me too (I emailed them and got the bad news), but I remembered how many apps they had and felt better. 10 is a good number to have left to notify!
And Briana, those fake-outs are CRUEL!
@ caitlin - thanks for the news!
@ kaybay - Yeah, Lakeland! I know that whole area fairly well, but I've never driven the area, so I have a weird map in my mind as to where exactly each little outer-Tampa borough is. My pop lives in Brandon; my aunt and uncle in Valrico... but yeah, the FL public schools are FUCKED. I mean, in lots of parts, it's just making sure the kids don't hurt one another! And up here, the funding is uber-bleak (it's bleak-ish everywhere).... especially the rural counties. Oy. Teachers are always under-appreciated, but when my mom talks about quitting.... it's time to change some major things.
Tallahassee is beautiful! It is quite country! Lots of reallllly thick accents. That always amazed me about Florida, the more north you go, the more "Southern" everyone sounds. I'm trying to send "pick kaybay" vibes in the direction of FSU. oh, and "fund kaybay" vibes, too :)
@ Dee -- there were notifications from VTech in nonfiction and poetry yesterday, and an arizona state confirmation in poetry earlier this month (like...quite awhile ago, so it was probably some kind of fluke/special case)
hope that helps! for either school and whatever your genre, I doubt notifying is over.... although if you're in fiction, you're golden -- looks like neither has started (that's an assumption, though)
Thanks Meredith! I also think Tallahassee and Gainesville are beautiful, prettier than the swamps here in Central Florida. Lakeland is actually not that bad, it's a little Southern town with a great downtown, cool older houses, and a little more hills than other parts of the state. But it's got some problems too.
I'm hoping all the positive vibes come through!! Heyo universe!!!
Thanks, Meredith! Same to you! It's nice to know I'm not the only one sitting with this silence. The presumed rejections (Indiana, Ohio State, Minnesota, Michigan, Illinois? Maybe? Iowa? We don't know?) without really knowing for sure are almost more irritating than waiting for the ones that haven't notified anyone (to my knowledge). Are you dealing with those, as well?
Dear Bowling Green: Please accept me next month. Thanks! XOXO
Well, good night lovelies!! I hope everyone has a bountiful week next week!!
Accepted, George Mason, Poetry, 02/25 via email.
Briana, I got that letter from Brooklyn too! Mine came about a month ago, but I submitted my application pretty early.
@Vanni congrats that's great news
@caitlin: You've just made it official. After about a week of dormancy, CRAZY ADAM will return some time around this coming Thursday.
Did Brown say "sending out" notifications? As in snail or e-mail?
Lurker. Subscriber.
I'm glad (is that the word?) to see I'm not the only one worrying about when the programs I applied to are going to notify me about my acceptance/rejection. I'm doubting I'll get into any, but I've been working like crazy on my resume and on sample cover letters just to cover my bases (boy am I tired).
Still, it's only an MFA. Life will go on, and I'll probably wind up mopping floors at a community college in some dead-end town.
In any case, here are the school's I've applied to. I've received nothing from them.
University of Iowa
Columbia
Brooklyn College
Hunter College
Queens College
CCNY (CUNY)
New School
School of the Art Institute of Chicago
I applied to schools in the city because I go crazy in suburban or rural areas. I need urban. I grew up in the inner-city, and go to college in the most underrated cities in U.S. (Philly, yo!).
You guys are awesome. Best of luck to you all, acceptance or not.
Greetings -
I found this blog and its comments section a week ago on the day Michigan started notifying, and I asked then if people found this blog to be more relieving or heightening for their anxieties about MFA applications, and I got some interesting and varied responses. And I keep lurking around here and checking on in things, even after Michigan apparently sent out their last notifications on Monday -- yes I too was among the 1100+ who applied there, and I still haven't even gotten an anonymous rejection letter from them.
But I have been accepted somewhere, to study fiction at Chatham University in Pittsburgh - their program administration are very good communicators, their program is rather unique (and of interest to me in theory anyway) with its nature/travel/place writing focus, they seem to have a high acceptance rate (50% by their admission), and I'm assuming very low app. rate as it's a small program. However it's around $14,000/year tuition and fees and funding there is not so good, some exists but far from full. I'm actually also a finalist for a teaching fellowship but that only provides a stipend and NOT tuition remission, so not the best deal in the universe...or the worst.. Anyway, I'm wondering if anyone on here knows anything about Chatham's MFA program they could share with me...
Also, did anyone else on here apply to Portland State University? And apply for a teaching assistantship? I did because I'm a west coaster (northern Cali mostly) and like the city and area and have friends and relations there. And my application round was done so last minute half of programs had deadlines past before I could get together the materials together too (especially all the University of Cali programs who have very early deadlines). Anyway, on Seth's new and not final ratings Portland State has moved from #100 up into the 40's, and wondering if anyone has insights into why folks are applying there, if it's something with the program or just the city. Seth doesn't know much.
Oh, and BTW I'm waiting to hear from Univ. of Florida too, and good luck to all of us with that! Gainesville seems like a nice little liberal college town for that state, with manatees AND alligators not far away! I mean come on, who doesn't want to have manatees and alligators within reach for 3 years anyway!
Ciao,
Dan Dylan
Meredith - VTech was actually one of the earliest notifiers. Cratty posted that he got in sometime in early Feb. So did Dolores Humbert (and someone else I'm forgetting). Woon had an interview 2 weeks ago, I think. And MFAGuy was told he was high on the waitlist. So, yeah, I think VTech is pretty much spent. Which is one of the reasons I have gin.
Goodnight world!
@Dan
Re: "Seth doesn't know much."
I don't know -- that's a long time for me to spend answering your private query to me on this very subject to now be told I don't know anything. Here's what I actually wrote you:
***
Hi Dan,
You've put your finger on the one program placement that, at the moment, is still something of a mystery to me. A few [speculative] notes to [perhaps] help explain it:
1. Yes, as you've suggested, a precipitous fall for PSU is imminent, and while I doubt it will drop as far as 78th it may drop to around 60th. While that's still a large gain for just one year (from 100th to 60th), keep in mind that the lower one gets in the rankings the easier it is to move up--there are actually a number of much-lower-ranked programs that will be moving up dozens of spots this year: e.g., Kansas, Temple, Otis College of Art & Design, Old Dominion, North Carolina State, Miami, and a couple others. Last year a mere ten-vote swing (out of thousands of individual votes cast by 500+ applicants) could take a program from 100th to 70th, so it was never that long of a leap to make, relatively speaking.
2. The lower a program is in the ranking the easier it is for it to "stand out" as being an "undervalued" program. Portland is one of the top five most-desired destinations nationally for poets and writers (it was recently named a top-five "gay friendly" city in the U.S., a designation that does have real meaning and weight in the American writing community); when folks saw PSU at #100 last year, surrounded by programs in Camden NJ, Baltimore MD, Ames IA, Akron OH, Lawrence KS and the like it is understandable that many would have thought, "Hmm, something's not right here..." It's like the old Sesame Street song (perhaps from before your time), "One of These Things Is Not Like the Other."
3. If I understand right, PSU is a fairly new program, at least as an MFA (don't quote me on that; info on this isn't easy to find online). Newer programs have much more volatile rankings.
4. Portland's applications are heavily weighted toward one genre--when I looked briefly at the partial breakdowns I believe it was fiction, but I'm not certain. What this means is that the phenomenon we're seeing isn't as widespread as the overall rankings would make it appear; whatever is happening is happening, really, in one genre only.
{Cont.}
5. Portland is one of the few programs to offer a degree in "Book Publishing" and "Technical Writing" as well, so there's the added attraction at PSU of being able to take courses in these somewhat rare (for an MFA-hosting university) fields of study.
6. PSU is super cagey about their funding, so applicants may well be rolling the dice on the possibility that there's more funding there than they let on on their website.
7. With applicants being more and more conscious of the low acceptance rates in this field, more applicants are dipping lower in the rankings for their tenth and eleventh (or, as the case may be, thirteenth and fourteenth) programs on their application list. That means that if a single school stands out at that much lower point in the numerical rankings (see #2 above), it's going to be a major beneficiary of this new trend.
8. It could just be a statistical anomaly. Given that it's the only one I can presently identify in the whole of the rankings, that ain't too shabby.
9. When I see a one-genre leap like this, I tend to wonder if there's a new faculty member in that genre that folks have gotten particularly excited about for some reason (and if it's in fiction, which isn't my primary genre of expertise, I'm less likely to know about it/see it as quickly as some others for whom that's their bread and butter).
10. PSU is one of only 40 or 50 programs nationally to "officially" offer a nonfiction track--that's out of 143 programs in the U.S., so much less than half make this genre available in this way. While so far only one nonfiction app to PSU has been reported, it's entirely possible that a handful of those fiction apps I mentioned above are at least partially informed by writers wanting to have nonfiction workshops available to them also (there's much cross-fertilization and cross-curricular activity between fictioneers and CNFers, and almost none between poets and CNFs, so a spike in PSU's reported fiction pool could definitely be related to the presence of a CNF track). And keep in mind, at this point in the polling (using updated data I haven't posted on TSE yet) PSU losing even, say, 7 votes--or having 7 of its votes be explicable by any of the unique phenomena referenced above--would drop it to 65th nationally, which would then make its ascension thus far not necessarily very statistically noteworthy (given how many other programs will make a similar trek from 90th-110th to 60th-80th this year).
All of those are possibilities. Hope this makes sense! Be well,
Cheers,
Seth
***
I'd add to the above the fact that no one even knew Portland State had a program until they learned so in the article I wrote for the November/December 2009 issue of Poets & Writers -- which constituted the first ever comprehensive listing of national MFA programs. That's also a factor -- i.e., answer #11 to your query is the "Wait, Portland State has an MFA?" scenario. Of course I don't know why eleven answers would satisfy when clearly ten did not.
Bad form, man. Not sure why I spend so much time responding to private queries when they basically are just going to get ignored.
{Shakes head}
S.
today feels like the accumulation of a superbly long week.
finding out that both hunter and brooklyn have reached out to fiction folks for acceptances (or very favorable interviews) makes me feel a combination of happiness for their success and sadness for the ever-present silence on this front.
the 9 to 5 i work at (and have worked at for awhile now) had a surprise round of layoffs this afternoon. i was fortunate but this was our fourth round in the past year and a half. strangely enough, you never get used to it.
anxiety and stress seem to have overwhelmed my future endeavors, present situations, and possible hopes.
i am tired today guys. sigh.
for some level of comfort, i made a huge thing of bacon mac and cheese and drank half a bottle of reisling.
now i just feel full and somewhat tipsy while still maintaining the anxiety levels.
awesomeeee.
P.S. Checked my e-mail -- can't even find a response to my note to you. So you asked a question backchannel, got a 10,000 character response offering ten possible answers to your question, didn't reply, and then came on here to say I didn't know anything. Wow. --S.
also-
@dan
seth works really hard (at no cost or sacrifice on our parts) for US as budding aspiring writers and MFA-ers.
i find it personally offensive that anyone would be so bold as to advertise him (on his own blog) as not knowing much.
homie knows more than most of us can even hope to learn.especially when it regards the MFA programs in this country.
Hold up... GRE's weren't req'd for Brooklyn. Please say they weren't.
@Jason
I'm pretty sure they weren't. I had NO TIME to worry about GREs, so none of the programs I applied to required me to take them.
@ miss private eye--
Ha, I just read your first line as "Seth works hard for the U.S." and added to the subliminal crime-fighting tilt of your pseudonym, my mind decided Seth was in the FBI. Given, only for the split second between complete plausibility of unicorns and the inevitability of microbial decay, but that was a fun split second.
You go, Seth. The country needs you.
Yeah, just looked at their site again and it doesn't say anything. Obviously I'm a little anxious. I haven't received anything from Brooklyn other than FOEs/Fake Out Letter... is it FOL? Fake Out Snail Mail? FOSM? I just don't know anymore.
@Jason
I remember e-mailing them over the summer and asking whether the GREs were necessary. They said no.
Hunter requires GREs, but you can take them after they accept you. That's so awesome. I'll take that test in a heartbeat if they offered me a spot (hint, hint).
I have work tomorrow. I should sleep.
@Anti-
Totally feel the same about Hunter (hint hint, McCann).
@ Julian Congrats on Wisconsin! I didn't think anyone would get in there.
@ Laura your rutgers story cracked me up. It's like something that would happen to me, minus the acceptance part.
Congrats to everyone else who got good news.
I finally got my Oregon fake out housing information in the mail. I was beginning to think I was in the pile of "Never." Such tragic wording: "I am so pleased" that you submitted your application... Why do programs do that? WHY?
Lurker here, but I wanted to show Seth some appreciation. His research was indispensable in my selecting which schools to apply to. I hate to see him not getting the credit he deserves, though it was fun to see him so thoroughly own Dandelion.
Since I haven't posted before, my baker's dozen in fiction:
UT Austin (rejected)
Minnesota
Illinois
Ohio State
Arizona State
Colorado State
Iowa
Florida
UNLV
SIUC
Idaho
SDSU
UNCW
A few presumed rejections in there, but haven't heard officially from anywhere but Texas. I'm ready for March.
to those who applied to irvine:
i did as well (fiction) and aside from the request for more financial information that came a few weeks ago i haven't heard a peep, from them or from most people on these boards.
i'm sure their application numbers are still up though, just like...everywhere else.
@Jason
No, they don't...I was just rationalizing why they would be "pleased" to inform me of something that was GOING TO HAPPEN ANYWAY. I thought it meant that like, the regular school had said "Okay, guys, this girl isn't failing life and she has higher than a 3.0 GPA. Send 'er on over to Fiction."
Sorry. Not much sense being made. Would love to say I'm drunk, but in all reality I've spent the past four hours (on a Friday night) playing Bloons.
In other news: Brooklyn College, your ass is mine*.
*In the best, most "please accept me" way possible. Like, by "ass" I mean "wish" and by "mine" I mean "command."
@adam - I paraphrased incorrectly the exact wording Brown provided was 'notifications will follow the review or recommendations provided to the graduate school'. What form this 'notification' takes is anyones guess.
So...I was following this blog constantly and feeling my heart chipped away a little each time a school of mine started accepting. Then, on Tuesday, after word that Hunter called at least 1 person to interview/visit, my heart just completely stopped. And I quit the blog.
Today, Colum McCann called. Now, bloggers have reported GNEs and FOEs and all that, but this was something like a GNBNP (good-n-bad news phonecall). He didn't say anything about an interview or visit, so that seems like bad news. But I'm still in the running for the 6 fiction spots that are up for grabs (seriously, SIX? I thought there were at least...8!) I don't know how many are still in the race or if I have any chance at all...his tone was encouraging but cautious. So I'm feeling bittersweet about this, my only good news of the season. At the very least, I can take it as a positive sign that one of these schools had real interest in me and use that as fuel if I need to reply again. To anyone waiting on Hunter, I didn't find out if they are done notifying short-listers and I definitely don't want my news to send anyone into a tailspin, as happened with me just 3 days ago.
Also, because I'm catching up on 3 days of MFA-blogging, I want to add my word usage annoyances: I really dislike it when people use the word "disconnect" as a noun. And "borrow" as a substitute for "lend." As in "Would you borrow me that book on literacy theory? I'm studying the disconnect between 1st wave and 2nd wave feminisms." Reasons being that everrrryone in my undergrad English classes used disconnect as though it added intellectual weight to their opinions, and an ex-boyfriend always asked me to borrow him things. Blah.
@Jenna
girl, knowing you're still in the running is good news right? i def think it's worth a congrats!! i mean freaking colum mccann called you; that's pretty awesome in itself. :)
wow, can i tell you how bad i want to be able to say "today, colum mccann called", lol.
Hi Seth,
I've got a quick question about the rankings. If I remember correctly, when you first began doing the rankings, you would double Wisconsin's vote count to make up for the fact that they only took one genre per year (which makes sense). But then I was wondering if that might skew Wisconsin: that is, since there seem to be, generally, more fiction applicants than poetry applicants to any given program, a fiction year for UW will skew it up (and, then alternatively, a poetry year might skew it down). Is this something that you think will correct itself with the accumulation of data (over a five year spread, for instance)? Anyway, I'm sure you've already addressed this...but it was something I wondered about.
ositacolleen:
Congrats! I am a WVU alum and West Virginia native. Our people love to expound upon the unique culture and natural beauty of our state. If you're unfamiliar with Morgantown and want some advice, please drop me a line :)
Hi Ben,
You've got it a little twisted, so let me clarify. During the 2007-8 and 2008-9 application cycles, data was collected re: Wisconsin's actual poetry and fiction applicant-pool sizes. It was determined that Wisconsin's fiction pool is (oddly enough) precisely twice the size of its poetry pool. Consequently, in poetry years each vote for Wisconsin is multiplied by three (i.e. 1 vote is counted as 3, instead), and in fiction years (like this one) each vote is multiplied by one and a half (i.e., each vote is treated as 1.5 votes). At the end of each two-year cycle Wisconsin's fiction-to-poetry ratio will be re-assessed to see whether these multipliers need to be changed. So, for instance, Wisconsin had 629 fiction applicants this year; if next year it has 315 poetry applicants, the multipliers will stay the same. If it's more or less the multiplier will be changed accordingly. Hope this makes sense.
Be well,
S.
I'm so relieved to have one acceptance. Still waiting for the other 5, but I feel incredibly lucky that the first was a yes.
@kaybay this is going back a bit, but I just wanted to say good for you for standing up for what you know is right. I've probably been walking the earth longer than you, so I will add that in my experience, doing what is right can be painful but is almost always worth it in the end.
@Jarsh
I would love to ask you questions. Thanks for offering your wisdom (or partying tips). I have been online checking out Morgantown -- I visited there last summer and loved the town. Could you email me at ositacolleen@yahoo.com?
Congrats to everyone who gotten good news. For anyone who is feeling really frustrated, just imagine being a US Senator right now. THAT's frustration.
@Jenna
It's too late. Commencing tailspin.
I thought I would hold up a lot better, but this lack of good news for me personally is kind of tough. I would share my history of disappointment but that seems too pathetic.
Pretty tired of failure and rejection.
On the flipside, I'm pulling for you Jenna!! McCann's the man.
Congrats to everyone on acceptances and for everyone else, hang in there. You are each absolutely deserving.
I saw this video on the TED site this morning and thought it might be a welcome diversion:
http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html
We all need more reasons to nurture our creativity.
Good luck to all!
@caitlin: Thanks for clarifying - that's big news, and it helps me focus my crazy time!
In other news, honeybadger and I are judging the local Poetry Out Loud today! Keep the nervous high schoolers in your thoughts!
@Jenna
I just sent you an email clarifying/explaining. For the general public's information though, I think I may have mischaracterized the Hunter situation as an "interview". They were pretty vague about how it works getting the short list down to the final six spots. It's not so much sketchy as just confusing, if you're a finalist.
@g.jackson...thanks so much for the TED link. After that clip I watched this one of Elizabeth Gilbert:
http://www.ted.com/talks/elizabeth_gilbert_on_genius.html
(not sure how to make that a hyperlink). She has a lot of interesting things to say about where creativity and genius come from, and the best bit at the end is about showing up and doing the job. While I've been obsessing all week about acceptances, I've been ignoring the important work that all of this is about, that is, writing. So that will be my day today. Getting some work done.
Enjoy the weekend all.
One of you screenwriters out there needs to make this blog into a MFA-hopeful reality-TV show. Dead serious. :)
On a more MFA note: I also applied to Irvine. (Poetry) Very excited to hear anything.
And I'm with everyone who's waiting on a rejection (If, in fact, one is decidedly coming--of course). I like the closure.
@Sud - I agree, love her talk. Funny I wasn't as big a fan of her E, P, L, as much as others, but I really like her and I think I've watched this talk maybe a dozen times.
Did you see the video of J.K. Rowling giving a TED-sponsored talk at Harvard. It's all about the fringe benefits of failure. Also wonderful.
It's here:
http://tweetmeme.com/story/557870719/jk-rowling-the-fringe-benefits-of-failure-video-on-tedcom
scratch that. it's here:
http://www.ted.com/talks/jk_rowling_the_fringe_benefits_of_failure.html
@g.jackson. Thanks, the J.K. Rowling was great. I also watched Isabel Allende: http://www.ted.com/talks/isabel_allende_tells_tales_of_passion.html
Really liked that one too. Might spend the day on TED instead of writing:)
How did you make the hyperlink?
@ Sud - thanks I haven't seen that one. Checking it out now.
For hyperlink, use this html code and change the http://... parts to the link you want to insert:
http://www.yoursiteurlhere.com
might be more effort than it's worth? :)
eek, it didn't show the html. i r dumb,
before your URL put
a href ="re-enter your URL between these quotes"
inside these <>
then after your URL put /a inside <>
that should do the trick.
G. Jackson- great, thanks. I have a two word vocabulary by the way...everything's "great" and I can't remember the other word!
I will try the html :)
@Seth
Hi, where do we vote on the rankings??
cuse is going to destroy nova.
sorry, but the world must know.
Sud -
if it's "awkward" or "disaster" then we share 50% of our vocab.
@G. Jackson--Ha!
Hi Daryl,
Just post (here) your application list for this year's admissions cycle, with genre, and you're good to go.
S.
@ G. Jackson
that Ken Robinson TED lecture just made my morning. thank yoooou!
@ Sud
Love the TED Elizabeth Gilbert link. I thought of posting it here as well.
Purdue: you can stop sending me emails about how great your funding is unless you're also going to accept me.
@Sud - watched Isabel. Where she talks about being between Sophia Loren's legs. here it comes ... DISASTER. So magnif.
@Meredith - glad you liked!
I have a basic question re. TA-ship lingo. I sometimes see 1/1, 1/2. 2/1, and the like referenced here. What do these terms mean? Does 1/2 mean teaching one section for every two classes you take?
Re: Portland State.
Just to jump in on yesterday's discussion, I'd like to point out that PSU added Tom Bissell to the faculty this year. Maybe it's not such a big deal for others, but I know if I wasn't committed to east coast schools I would have added Portland State to the list just for the chance to work with Bissell. That guy's great.
Just adding to the TED love:
I've watched all those before, but last weekend when I was feeling low, I went back and watched the J. K. Rowling one on failure. Definitely a pick me up. I cried like, four times during it.
Also, everyone should go find the John Hodgman TED talk. I don't have access to it right now to link you to it, but it was beautiful, wonderful, and creatively told.
Also, if you get the chance, watch the one on 4AM (I can't remember the name of the guy who did it, but it was also pretty awesome).
Obviously, I wasted a lot of time on TED during my last semester of undergrad last year. Haha.
@Woon - I just tried to look it up to confirm, but my google-fu is failing me. I'm pretty sure each number is the number of classes taught per semester. So a 1/1 teaching load means you'd teach one class each semester, 1/2 means you'd teach one class the first semester and two the second, etc.
I'm not positive about this, though.
Raine is right.
Thanks Seth!
@Raine, @Seth -- Thanks, guys! It was a lot simpler than I thought.
Hi Seth,
Thanks for the clarification. I assume you're using those ratios for both the application data (from the department) and from the polling? Anyway, was just curious--thanks for the response, and for the work you do.
@ G.Jackson-too funny, I know
@Chrissy- thanks for those suggestions. It's raining here, and i"m in avoidance mode, so a day of TED is just perfect!
@katie booms-glad you liked it too. I think it was a wonderful talk. I heard a talk by Joyce Carol Oates. She runs every day and said that the story would come to her each day as she went up this certain hill at Princeton.
She runs everyday? Wow. I can only hope to be so active (intellectually and physically) at her age.
@Sud -- re. Joyce Carol Oates and running. I too run every day and get all my best ideas during this time. I guess it's the blood coursing through my arteries and into my brain. Spurs some sort of activity therein. Other times, I go for long walks during the revision stage to fix craft problems or get more ideas.
@wandering tree- She said that was her routine. Maybe not everyday now.
@Woon- I don't run, but I do walk, and walking is almost necessary to writing for me. I walk and find the story. However, it's raining today, so I'm watching TED and blogging instead:)
I'm also a runner/writer. Just finished my first marathon!
For other runner/writers, Haruki Murakami's new memoir, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, is excellent!
@Woon,
no, I can't move at this point. I have family, financial, and property encumbrances that have tied me where I am.
@all,
I have an absolutely fascinating book I'm reading right now that I highly recommend: Syncopations: The Stress on Innovation in Contemporary American Poetry (Rasula, 2004). For all you Alabama applicants, it's from the university press there. I'm supposed to be writing a paper for my special education class or at least readin that text. Ugh.
@Leslie,
wouldn't you be able to commute into the city if you can get to Rutgers? and don't give up hope yet. Who knows, you and Laura T may end up as classmates.
I'm actually afraid to post the name of the phd program where I've applied like I'd jinx it or something. Weird.
@Wee Meathead,Lucas, Raine and all others who recently got acceptances a big congrats to you.
@Arna congrats I now need an autograph from you!!
MommyJ--yeah, I could. You're right; I think NJ, but NYC is possible (though those are also pretty darn tough programs to get into!) I'll look into writing conentrations; I really didn't know they much existed outside of actual CW Ph.Ds)
RE: Portland State
This is the first year they've offered an MFA. Prior to this, it was only an MA.
In addition to Tom Bissell, they've also added Charles D'Ambrosio!! Both began with the program this year, and I imagine as they dig their feet in, the program will continue to improve exponentially.
As far as funding, there are ways to find money outside the department and some money from within (only one fully funded position)--but there's no guarantee. There are some other drawbacks, too, in all honesty. I think quarter systems are hard, and the school has a real commuter feel to it.
Portland has a great literary scene, though, and what's missing as far as community goes within the department, can be found elsewhere.
I'm in the MFA program currently, so I'd be happy to answer any other questions.
Big thanks, Seth.
Good luck to all!
Wow. Shit. Terrible word choice. Bad bad bad proofreading on my part. I decided not to use message boards over 10 years ago when I was a teenager back when they were on dial-up BBS's and there wasn't much internet to speak of because of the miscommunications that tend to happen. I really should have stuck to that old decision.
At the time I was writing that message last night I was slightly buzzed (like many people I've seen posting on here) and I meant to say that Seth had some various theories but wasn't entirely certain about the reasons, which is what I had gotten out of your response when I initially read it.
I hadn't expected much response to my brief original query to you, Seth, actually, and I was very surprised at the detail of your original personal response, as well as appreciative, but unsure how to respond. I apologize that I didn't thank you, I didn't even realize that I hadn't actually.
I also didn't digest the long response well in my head, I believe, on initially reading it. But in re-reading your response posted on here, I realize that you make a cogent sensible argument for a statistical anomaly based around new-ness and location and total lack of clarity around funding, in results that are far from complete.
Anyway, I'm sorry I offended by writing terrible wording in the rough draft of the message and not being in the correct state when I wrote it to correct it in revision.
I did not mean to say Seth doesn't know anything, I only meant to say that I was trying to see if anyone else had any more information.
If I could erase the original offending message from here and your sight, I would, but the interface does not seem to allow me to erase a day old personal posting.
Nonetheless I will cease to cause any more problems by self exiling and from this moment on will not POST to y'all's blog!
Good luck with your grad school apps. and have a nice life!
Dan Dylan
For the data, my list, for fiction:
Texas-austin
Univ of Michigan
Iowa WW
Univ of wisconsin-madison
Syracuse
Vanderbilt
Alabama
Arkansas
Louisiana State
UMass Amherst
Thanks, Seth!
Hi everyone, obsessive lurker here, emerging for Seth's data--
UNCG
NYU
Hunter
Brooklyn
Minnesota
Columbia
Congrats to everybody who's heard good news and best of luck to the rest!
Oh, I applied in fiction. Thanks Seth!
I decided yesterday that I am going to go work on a ranch out West if/when I don't get in anywhere. Got excited enough about that that it wouldn't seem like such a bad thing (almost) not to get in anywhere! And next year, I will do my application list completely differently.
Anyone want to come be a cowgirl with me?
@Tracy -- sounds exciting. Good for the Personal Statement. As long as you keep writing.
I run too sometimes and it has helped spark ideas. However, I recently started doing Bikram Yoga and have found that at the end of each session (in the cool down period) I've had serious breakthroughs in a couple different stories I've been jammed on. I don't know if it's the effort, or the relaxation or the endorphin rush or what, but it has definitely happened a few times now.
Also, I applied in Fiction:
Texas State
Florida
Oregon
Hopkins
Denver (PhD CW)
Nebraska (PhD CW)
@Chrissy -
on the low note + pick-me-ups. The Where the Hell is Matt? video also works for me every time.
http://vimeo.com/1211060
I'm cheesy, I know. :)
@Dandelion - okay, seriously, do not be so hard on yourself for your original post! When I read it, I realized pretty quickly that you probably didn't mean to insult Seth and I anticipated an apology would be forthcoming. The post was somewhat rambling and it looked like a sloppily worded offhand comment that was probably inadvertent. So please don't beat yourself up over it!
@all of us - I think we all need to calm down when someone says something that might or does critique Seth's (or anybody else's) work for that matter. For God sakes, this is not a cult, right!? Healthy debate is good.
As has been said before, Seth, you do great work that is invaluable to the MFA applicant community. I know it's helped me tremendously and I also know that I would not be as generous with my time as you are with yours - and I truly admire you for it.
But okay, and here's the thing, I don't always 100% agree with your methodology (someone get the pitch forks!). And I contend that this is okay and even healthy. Of course your methodology can be questioned - whose the f--- can't? That's statistics for you. Studies' methodologies are questioned all the time, and I think they are ultimately stronger for it.
Bottom line is, we're all adults who should be able to exchange ideas. It's possible to err on the side of being too mean-spirited and aggressively confrontational, but it's also possible to err on the side of not pushing each other enough. In my opinion, finding the right balance is a constant tight rope we all must walk.
Even in the best forums, at times, someone will say something they don't mean or even offer a criticism that isn't entirely constructive. If everyone tries to contribute constructively and in good faith, then I think understanding missteps is an essential part of our exchange. I don't mean to be preachy on this, but I have seen this issue as a recurring theme, and I do think it was important to address - in part because I have been so impressed by everyone on this forum's kindness and understanding.
Hi everyone. Congrats to all who have had good news. And thanks Seth for your hard work on this blog and the rankings.
Here's my application list for fiction:
Madison - (rejected)
Minnesota - (rejected)
Syracuse - (rejected)
UNCG - (GNE)
Still pending:
Iowa
Virginia
Oregon
Columbia
Brooklyn
Arizona State
Florida State
@Dan
I second that--don't leave. I appreciated your note, above. It looked bad from the outside, but I'm certainly willing to accept your explanation. And I'm glad the OP was able to shed some additional light on PSU--both for your sake and mine.
Be well,
Seth
So, what the hell is up with Montana? Doesn't their website praise themselves on the fact that they let you know both acceptances and rejections at the same time? Doesn't it also say that we should know either way by end of February?
Blah, false advertising, me no likes it.
Jen,
Of course disagreement's fine. And I agree with much of what you say. I was only annoyed because I try to squeeze in time to answer queries when I can, from people I don't know, and my answers are long and detailed. It's hard to find the time between working a job and being in a Ph.D. program and running a business and being a freelance writer and trying to write poems and organizing daily updates of the rankings. Not getting a response to something I took a lot of time to write backchannel--that's fine, I can deal with it. But then having (as I thought was happening) my knowledge mocked also seemed a bit much to me. And it's not like I went crazy or anything--I just said it was bad form. Doesn't seem an unreasonable response. And when Dan clarified I came right down off the high horse. No harm, no foul.
S.
@Seth - I saw your response after I posted mine; no question it was a solid gesture. I also understand the impetus for your initial response and don't know that I'd have responded too differently if I were in your shoes. Still, your initial posting was pretty intense and when I read it my instincts to stand up for the 'underdog' in the exchange got the better of me.
PS: No idea how you find the time to do half the things on your list. Wow.
een a quiet week on my end. A lot of the programs I have left are March notifiers (some late March).
Anyone else waiting on any of these schools?
New School
School of the Art Institute of Chicago
New Mexico State
Houston
North Dakota (MA)
Texas A&M (MA)
Virginia
Notre Dame
Arizona State
Also, have not received a rejection letter from Vanderbilt. Have you?
Fiction, btw.
Huh, I just found out that one of my upstairs neighbors is a 2nd-year fiction MFA student at Columbia. I thought that might be relevant for some people here because it means MFA students at Columbia are eligible for couples' housing in the university-owned apartment buildings, which can take a significant bite out of the expense of living in NY.
Man, guys, I believe I mentioned that I am also a runner... and a coach!!
I want to coach you guys!! It would be fun.
Fiction
Miami
Sarah Lawrence
Adelphi
Brooklyn
New Hampshire
Brown
New School
Columbia
I would join your running team, Jason. Team MFA Blog? I assure you all I will be the caboose....
Reeling from Wisconsin two-week limbo and subsequent (summary) rejection, I've got a couple questions:
1. Anyone else waiting for Amherst/Syracuse rejections/notices? I haven't heard anything.
2. Were the Montana GNEs official acceptances or casual GNEs?
For those also reeling in the MFA flux, this cute kitten gif turned a bad day into a bad day WITH a cute kitten gif:
http://i46.tinypic.com/29en0c0.jpg
A ray of cute kitten gifs on an otherwise cloudy day.
I know that Iowa and UNCW are done with notifying, but are they?
Have people got rejection letters/emails or anything yet..
Am I pathetic... probably!
I wan't to hear news, anything, just something!!
PS: Just got my giant manila envelope housing FOE from Oregon. My roommate called me screaming, 'YOU'RE IN OREGON," and I said, "No I'm not. Open it. No I'm not." And I wasn't.
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