Have been lurking here for some time! I tried to avoid this site and just drown myself in t.v. watching and audiobook listening sessions, but I am no longer able to tamp down the mania! It's been particularly nerve wracking, since I'm in Korea and snail-mail takes perhaps a week extra to arrive here.
Congratulations to all who've been accepted to their schools!
And for all of those still waiting... let us resume hyperventilating into our paper bags.
All I know is that I've been denied by UT-Austin. But that's not so bad... I'm secretly praying for an acceptance from LSU though!
Hey, where in Korea are you? I'm in Seoul. Man, this whole process has been more difficult than it should have been. Simple things, like mailing the apps out, became almost impossible because my Korean abilities are strictly for survival (food, bathroom, costs, etc.). It also costed a small fortune because I did everything EMS. Then there were the time differences I've had to deal with whenever I wanted to call. Also, many of my app deadlines fell during my sacred vacation block so I spent some time sending out the online apps from various hostels throughout China. Guess I should have prepared better. Where and in what genre are you applying?
My list:
Arizona State Brooklyn College Colorado State U of Florida. UCNG Hunter Iowa Michigan Minnesota Notre Dame NYU UCNW Rutgers
Haven't heard anything from any of them yet. Good luck to you and to everyone, as well.
I had a dream that I got into Arizona even though I didn't apply. I was so excited and then I thought, "Hey wait, I don't really want to live in Arizona. I hate hot weather." But they sent me all sorts of nifty brochures and things, and I looked through them and decided that living in Arizona might not be so bad after all.
I choose to take this as some kind of weird omen that UMass will call today. Yep.
Alabama McNeese Louisiana State Brown Cornell U-Texas Austin (rejected) Alabama Florida Hollins Virginia U.Mass.Amherst Oregon Syracuse Bowling Green
I totally understand with the EMS fees... it was so expensive. The people at the post office knew me by sight and probably also thought I was a bit cracked for cradling my application packets as if they were infants! Also because I kept double-checking "You're sending that to America, right? U.S.??" lol... Good luck to you too!
I'm in Busan too! I had to print a lot of the application material at pc bangs, and kept bumping into my students who are like... "Teacher..? Play computer games with us!!!" Oh dear.
Finding the post wasn't as big a problem as getting there and back on my lunch break. My co-workers seemed to think that the whole thing was frivolous. I think they want me to stay in Korea forever. How's the weather in Busan? Seoul can't make up its mind. It snowed again last night.
Yeouch. I applied from Prague and thought that was hard, but at least it wasn't too expensive once I figured out the system. I actually liked the time difference: being able to call and email until 11pm was great! Spotty Internet at the expat cafe with printer wasn't.
Here's a new tactic for MFA waiting-game success: utter denial.
Yesterday my UT status finally went from "we've got everything we need" to "you're in committee."
I know this change has preceded the rejection closely, and I'm really not feeling a rejection right now.
So I'm playing a little game of will with myself and seeing how long I can go without checking my status. I've decided I like not knowing better than knowing - and, since I decided in an earlier post that, like a lotto ticket, my $50 didn't really buy a chance to go to a dream writing program so much as the fantasy of imagining myself at a dream program (just as a lotto ticket allows you to buy the dream of yourself as rich), I'm going to get the most out of my $50. My anxiety about this will keep my mind focused on the Mitch, and in that process I can imagine myself there, getting feted in literary circles, driving out to Enchanted Rock, eating BBQ at Ruby's, and all those other Austinoid fantasies.
Another element in this is, I put some effort into applying, and I resent the idea that I will be (likely have been) rejected via a little blue box on a Web page. I will take my rejection on a proper letter with a longhorn logo on top, thank you.
I wonder how long my little glory ride of denial will last...
@Jamie - You should just wait a week and say you haven't heard anything. If they say check the online status, say your computer isn't working. If they tell you that you've been rejected, tell them that you will need that information in writing, on official letterhead. Otherwise, you plan to show up for classes on August xx.
Vandy's done with their acceptances and waitlist, and Brown doesn't usually notify until early March! There have been whispers of them getting back earlier, but no one on here has posted anything yet!
@ Trilbe much love for the personal bodyguard offer!! i actually didn't apply to lsu though...baton rouge sucks ace right now...and i want out of louisiana! it's my home, but i want to pull a joyce and get the hell out of here!
hmmm...i have not heard a peep from vandy--phone call, letter, email??? sorry to pester--i know my chances of getting in there are the same as pigs flying...but i can hope, right???
Christina, I haven't heard a peep yet either, but apparently in the notices they sent out to those accepted and waitlisted, they confirmed that all had been accepted and/or waitlisted. BUT you're right, a rejection isn't a rejection until it's a rejection.
Violating my no internet during the day rule for this blog has increased my fatassery by 89%.
That's a scientific calculation.
So if I have the discipline from here on out, I'm staying away unless it's early morning or later in the evening.
Good luck everyone, and congratulations all acceptees/waitlisters, and congratulations in advance to people I miss when I cruise here during my internet ontime. You all have my sincerest best wishes.
Well obviously my opinion is jaded by the fact I wasn't admitted :p But it's a good, small program with an excellent funding package and a great location, and it's ranked as one of the best of the smaller programs.
I had a dream last night about getting accepted (or maybe rejected? It was about getting letters) that was all mixed up with alpine skiing. Obviously I've been spending too much time worrying and watching the Olympics...haha.
This might be a silly question, but what time of day do programs usually notify? I've been noticing on here that it's often after what I would assume were "regular business hours" that they call, email, etc. But sometimes during the day, too.
@ amanda - I too enjoyed reading the first half of "The Cowboy Tango." I also appreciated VQR's sneaky model. You get to read half the story, then you get to the good part (the clothes come off), and you get the offer to subscribe (did they learn this from porn sites?). As a reader, a buzzkill. As a publisher, a well-executed pay-for-content model.
The writer is several orders of magnitude better than me. And I honestly enjoyed her story (and want to read it through). However, it doesn't go to the highest level for me - beyond the satisfying. I prefer a little more weirdness (or feel that more "weirdness" is more accurate to my experience of life). I can't quite say if it's the uncanny I like in a story. But this so far had so many ingredients of a "good" story - an epic landscape, a wry humor, characters with clear motivations and long-supressed desires, a semi-mystical connection to nature - that I found it slightly annoying.
My personal aesthetic, such as it is, was offended; this did not interfere with my greatly enjoying the story. I'm OK with the contradiction.
I really, really wanted Vanderbilt (fiction). I can't go anywhere without Super Funding, I really like Nashville,and even thug the program is young, i feel like a Good School with Great Funding is serious about its MFA program-- it's not like they needed it, they have plenty else going for them. So the program strikes me as both supportive and ambitious.
I knew it was a lost cause though, bc that's the program that received the SOP with a typo. You know how you recycle your SOP for the most part, changing some key details? Well, the last I app i sent before Vandy was the University of Massachusettes, and i missed the THE in my edit. So it said, basically, "I really really really wanna go to the Vanderbilt."
Your typo story really made me smile. I found two in my writing sample -- maybe three, if you wanna be picky. But the first one was, like, page one, line one. And I know editors who read only the first lines of poems before deciding whether or not someone is worth their time.
I must hav read and re-read that thing a million times and not caught it. But it's nerve-racking, and when you're nervous like that, there's enough neurochemistry going on to really pick up details like that. Now that I'm all Xanaxed out, I see it and think: "Christ. They must have thought I was *testing* them or something."
Typos happen. I doubt rejections happen because of the occasional typo (recurring and pervasive mistakes are another thing though). If a committee is using your statement to compare you to another applicant, you've probably already got one foot in the door.
Honestly, I don't even know if it would matter if there were people making stuff up because all of the systems seem so convoluted to begin with! In any case, I am willing to bet that the majority of reports are genuine.
In other news, I am still in Michener limbo and it seems that a bunch of my Michener limbo buddies have left me for committee or rejection. Anyone still there? I still haven't decided whether I should be worrying about this or not.
Every time I've told my husband, parents, therapist, friends, etc. that someone has posted an acceptance to a school I applied to, they always ask, "Are you sure these people are telling the truth?" and I always defend you guys, even though I don't even know you. But it just feels like a den of honesty (and anxiety) here. If it were a new poster reporting an acceptance, then I might question it. But out of those of us who've been posting consistently about our crazy dreams and fears and oh-my-god-I-hope-it-doesn't-come-to-that Plan Bs, I'm going to trust that whatever is posted is true.
Going crazy today. I can completely relate to whoever posted earlier about being noticeably anxious and on-edge at work yet being unable to tell anyone at work about it (I don't have time right now - at work - to look up whose post that was). Yikes.
@ coughdrop. I was in limbo for longer than seemed possible w the Mitch. Now I'm in committee, and I am determined to stay in committee (ie, not check my status), until Vera Farmiga flies to my door and tells me otherwise.
In that case, let's just both be completely ridiculously hopeful and say we'll meet for drinks in Austin in August, yes? hahaha The idea even makes me laugh but I'm going with it.
@RugbyToy -- I sometimes have that exact thought re. posters fabricating acceptances. To this day, I still don't trust anything posted by a certain someone from Brown over at P&W Speakeasy. I don't believe she's a Brown MFA student. Then there are posters who you CAN'T believe ever got into some of the better-rep places. There was one girl from Cornell last year. She posted her SOP and it was the worst thing I've ever read. I thought, "How the hell did she get into Cornell?" But I believe 95% of the posts are genuine. The one post that I doubted this year was from a poster (forgot the name) who posted an early ND acceptance. People questioned it a bit and then finally it was confirmed, even by Seth himself.
Re. Posters from Korea. What's with all the posters from Korea? Is it the latest craze to live and work in Korea these days?
I'm not sure I buy the fake acceptance theory. As someone who lurked for a very long time before posting, I can easily see how you could just wait until you were accepted somewhere to "introduce" yourself to the blog - if even then. Besides, it will all come out in the wash.
phillywriter, I feel you. I applied to 14 (rejections from Mitch and, I'm assuming, Vandy) and my friends/family/co-workers (very supportive co-workers) all think I'm a freak for being so pessimistic and perpetually panic-attack-ready. I just want to be like, you really don't understand. Stop talking to me like I'm a child, telling me "Pshh, you know you'll get in, stop freaking out... damn."
You would be surprised how bad some of the writers who find their way into MFA programs are. I've done workshops at conferences and elsewhere with a number of them. They definitely weren't fabricating their enrollment in or graduation from top-tier programs, but their writing did not reflect (to me or anyone else in the workshop) the kind of talent, promise or proficiency one would expect from a person who attended such a program.
Not to say this happens all the time, just to say that it does happen.
Yeah. I guess it doesn't matter in the scheme oif things. But when someone says they're accepted to Brown or Cornell or Iowa or Columbia or NYU or any of them top picks and ain't nobody else heard word one ... I start to wonder if there's something fishy going on. And then i wonder if I'm the only one who can see the post -- if I've *invented* the post, hallucinated it ... for some sick reason of my own.
I dunno. I just don't want people f*uckin' with my hopes and dreams! GIMME MY DREAMS, MAN! THEY IS ALL I GOTS!
I know it's been said better by others before, but I HATE it when people say, "You know you'll get in." No, I don't. And I probably won't. And it's not just that I'm being pessimistic. I'm actually trying very hard (and it's not really in my nature) to be realistic. But people just don't get it. At all.
I think T-shirts projecting this message (as someone proposed) are a good idea - although I'd have to be careful that no one from my office saw me wearing one.
I read that girls SOP and wondered the same thing. Then, though I don't remember how it happened, i found youtube video of a Cornel MFA reading, and there she was. Assuming were talking about the same girl. Her story was pretty scandalous, too. Good, but scandalous.
About Korea. It's like an MFA program. An EFL teacher's pay is pretty good, as well as the benefits, and it seems like a haven for artists and the like whose passions don't pay for their costs of living. Though many of them seem to become too complacent and two years becomes ten. If you can handle living just a bit outside of your comfort zone and would like time to write, I think it's an option.
I have felt the same way, Rugby. And I dont think I should skirt around it either. I saw the Iowa post and went back and forth between believing it and not believing it. But then I just figured that it doesn't really matter if someone makes up an acceptance or not. I will find out when it is my time to find out. That could be between now and April. If Iowa is indeed notifying people of acceptances now, then woo hoo, bring them on! If not, I can wait. I have been waiting. No acceptances/rejections yet
Jamie, if you don't get in anywhere (assuming you applied to even 5+ programs), I'll really question the quality of the reading that admissions committees are giving samples.
Whaaaaat? You doubted the Iowa post? I mean, I wasn't ... saying anything like that.
Again, it doesn't matter -- you're right. It doesn't affect what *happens*. And, anyway, all we can do is trust people say what they mean and mean what they say.
I just don't like the idea of someone being cruel :( You see how high-strung people are here? Is this a group whose feelings you wanna play like some sick banjo?
I tend to believe early acceptances just based on the fact that programs DO notify certain people with special fellowships earlier (and I'm sure there are other reasons). Re: crappy SOP - I'm sure a crappy statement of purpose never stopped an applicant with a brilliant sample from getting in. I'm sure it can go both ways depending on the program/person.
I hear you. I have only recently found this blog, and been so glad to have found such a community that understands exactly what I am going through. I think that helps guard against cruelty in such things. So, all I can do is trust. And I do. I really really do trust that everyone here is honest about being accepted and whatnot.
Just saw that my Texas application has finally been sent to review. It happened sometime in the last 3 days.
But here's hope that I no longer qualify for: I had previously googled the phrasing and found someone [in another department] who had an acceptance letter in hand but whose status was never updated. So, you never know :-)
I think the significance of the SOP really, really depends on the admissions committee.
That said, I think the best way to go with SOPs is the cut and dried route. I ended up sending about equal amounts of those and some more touchy-feely ones, depending on the program.
In the end, I regret the touchy-feely ones. They were of the 'here's a brief anecdote about what writing means to me, as well as something about my background and my plans.'
When I stack those up against the more cut and dried ones, which essentially just say who I am, what I've done, how I see myself contributing to a program, and what I would do with the degree after, it's clear to me that almost every school (with maybe 2 exceptions) was asking for the cut and dried.
So if I had to apply again, that's probably one thing I would change. Write the SOPs exclusively to call attention to my experiences and my talents, and not try to stylize it.
There's so much hysteria. This kind of process can turn good people into monsters. I've heard stories about all kinds of friends and lovers being torn apart by the petty competitiveness of this process, the neediness, the insecurity, the mean-ness. I've seen it happen. It's exhausting, and consuming. And sad.
I had successfully cut back to reading this blog only once per day, in the early morning. But with the Iowa poetry acceptance posted yesterday WHO AM I KIDDING?! I'm going to be on this blog at every opportunity until there are more acceptances or until my phone rings.
Where is this Cornell SoP that you're talking about? Can you post a link to it?
I'm hoping that my crappy SOP won't prevent me from getting accepted! (That's the one part of my application I wish I could do over. At the time, it seemed OK - and there aren't any typos in it - but it's pretty darn boring and trite.)
OK, I really need to get back to work now. I had promised myself that I wouldn't even check this blog at work today, and not only am I checking it constantly, but I've already posted several times. I wish the entire world around me could become suspended in time (including my job) while I'm in this agonzing state of MFA limbo.
i was so grateful when one of my friends responded to my anxiety with "Yeah, you might not get in. That would suck." i wanted to thank her for not dismissing my fears. So fragile these days!
I sometimes worry about revealing too much info here. I wonder if the MFA programs that sent me GNEs are mad at me for disclosing said GNEs. "Jesus, Woon, why'd you have to go and do something like that! Christ almighty!" I can just sense the veins bursting in the grad coordinator's temples.
I think that is exactly what it is: petty competitiveness. I will be sorely disappointed to not get into an MFA program this year, but I won't let it stop me from writing or for pursuing it next year. I know it's hard and that a lot of people do not understand what this process is like, but most are coming from good places when they think we will get in. My girlfriend is a little more realistic with me, which I like, but most everyone else gives me the "Oh, you'll get in. You're fantastic" routine. And I appreciate that. I do. Just as much as I appreciate everyone's camaraderie here.
Yeah, the process sucks. But it's not really anything new. It's reflective of and similar to just about everything that artists go through to earn some form of outside recognition. Authors submitting to lit journals or lit agents. Musicians sending out demos to record labels. Painters trying to get their work into decent galleries. The process is largely the same across media in terms of the level of competition and the absolute crazy-making that competition causes.
Success really is its own art form and for a lot of artists the work that goes into success negatively affects their ability to continue doing the work that goes into making their art. And that's unlikely to change in a significant way during our lifetimes.
I found the SOP just by googling "MFA writing Statement" or something along those lines. Some girl on a blog had linked to it from another forum like this one. I thought the organization and structure of it were a bit mediocre, but she was pretty well credentialed, academically. Plus she wasn't white. And white committees love things that aren't white.
They could be personalized with photos of your very own maniacal, bloodlust eyes.
It's still hushes on my front, also. No calls, emails, letters. I'm "in review" at two schools who've already posted acceptances. And Vanderbilt is an assumed rejection.
I know exactly what you're going through. My GNE turned two weeks old today, and there's no indication of when it might become an official acceptance (which I'm trying to remain optimistic it will, otherwise why hit me with a totally transparent GNE?)
It's like Chinese water torture, especially considering the fact that I am without an official acceptance. Every day I am tempted to call up the program and just say "hey, let me explain to you how insane I am right now" and beg them to just make the official offer. But then I remember that telling someone you're batshit crazy isn't a good way to get them to put you on their payroll, haha.
I keep my phone on vibrate at work, and every time it buzzes, I jump out of my chair like I've just been spooked.
It's not helping that the gas company keeps auto-calling me this week for some damn reason. Each time they do, I see it's a random number I don't recognize, and I freak out and answer it and hear "Hello! This is an important message from your gas company. Please stay on the line!"
I'm afraid I'll throw my phone against a wall next time I get faked out like that. Which will be sad, because then my programs won't be able to call me on the off chance they've accepted me.
I think my Michener SOP was my best--because it was my shortest. The 350 word limit forced me to edit and distill for salient information. I received a Michener rejection two days ago.
I rambled in other SOPs and aestheticized ideas when I should have left them bare.
That said, committees know the SOP makes people uncomfortable and affects unnatural writing. This is why the SOP isn't too important.
Yeah, my high school English students routinely turn in better writing than was contained in that SOP.
That said, it did do a good job of offering lots of information about the applicant, which I believe should be your primary goal in writing your SOP.
As someone already said, the committees know that the SOPs will often be terribly written, even if the writer is a talented author. So what you want to do is use it as a platform upon which you can display the facts/information about yourself you'd like the committee to know. Sure, if you can do that brilliantly, do it. But I think if you accomplish that much, even if your SOP is poorly written it will still have a leg-up on a brilliantly-written SOP that contains very little concrete info on the applicant.
Hey, I see we have some Busan people here. That's awesome!
I lived in Hwamyeong and worked in an evil hogwon (KJC)for my first year, but my second year I had a great time living in seomyeon. I actually made a documentary while I was there!
That SOP is so very Purposeful, as opposed to a Personal Statement. My SOP had a distinctly PS flavor to it because i sued parts of it for both requests. I didn't talk about what my writing is about though --i figured they'd see that for themselves.
The only PS where i got really Personal was for Michigan. Something in their wording seemed to crave scandal. Did anyone else think so? I did my best to give it to them. Probably a terrible impulse, but what can i say? Those were crazy days.
Well, I didn't even want to admit I got one until other people had heard from them. But now that the school I have a GNE from has done plenty of notifying, I don't have a problem discussing it. But I also don't want to name names until I officially get in. Because as of right now, there's really nothing to report. Other people have already gotten more definitive answers than I. The timing of the GNE as compared to the notifications makes it pretty clear I'm still in the running, but I refuse to count this egg until it hatches.
After days of being presumptively rejected from Iowa's Nonfiction Writing Program, I just got my official rejection letter. All I can think about is that they could've used nicer paper.
One other reason Vandy has so much attention/so many applicants... it's free to apply online. So I assume some people were like me -- I wasn't really planning on applying there, but when I learned it was free, I was like, well, what's to lose (besides time, energy, dignity, hope, etc.) and sort of tacked it on the end of my school list. And the funding's great, Nashville's great, etc etc
That said, I kind of don't like the idea of them getting the "We're the most competitive program!!" claim to fame. Whateva, Vandy
I think the question was legit, having heard pretty much nothing but acceptances via email and phone to this point. So suck it.
--
As for SOPs, I went almost totally tongue-in-cheek with a lot of mine. I figured I'd go with my strength. It was just too hard to be direct, so I went funny and brought it back around to serious by the end. I believe I referenced Pol Pot in one...
A GNE that doesn't turn into an acceptance immediately when others are being admitted would make me nervous. It's probably just the paperwork shuffle though because it would be really cruel to not admit someone who received a GNE. I mean, what program would be so heartless? "Oops, my bad, dude. Spoke too soon. We totally don't have a spot for you. Party on though, seriously..."
I posted this yesterday but I just can't help but laugh at it, and be amazed at my brilliance for making he connection. I'm a really funny guy, trust me. Anyway, I'm gonna post it again. It's way to apt.
My general feelings about whether the programs care if you keep their correspondence in confidence is pretty dual.
On the one hand, I'm sure they'd prefer folks don't post anything on here that leads to people getting really worked up, not only because it's not the most considerate thing to do, but because it might lead to a bunch of anxiety-ridden phonecalls on the programs' end.
On the other hand, not only do I think there's a very limited amount of faculty lurking on here, but I think the faculty are pretty aware of how nutty people get over MFA admissions season (and rightfully so). They know people open their hearts, souls, and wallets and end up with 20+ rejections to show for it in some cases. So they probably take whatever people say and do in the context of forums like this one with a pretty large grain of salt. After all, everyone on here has subjected a lot of their hopes for the near future to being forced through a very small aperture. That's hard on anybody.
Well, the GNE came AFTER they admitted some people. And when I talked to the PD I said "do you still have spots?"
PD said "eh, well..."
Seemed like that was something they didn't want to answer. So I just asked point blank "is there a spot for me? Am I being considered for admission? For waitlist?"
PD said "You are being considered for admission with funding."
So it's pretty clear that my app didn't fall through the cracks or anything. The PD essentially said some Ts had to be crossed, some Is dotted before they could give me an official response. So it won't do me much good to speculate. I'm just waitin' it out.
Me too. I'm not going to call though. Too nervous! I figure if they just started notifying yesterday, then they're probably not done yet. I hope.
I am staring at my phone. Its battery is dying right now and I won't be home to charge it for a few hours, which is very annoying. Not like staring at it is helping me at all, but I feel like I can't do anything else.
I was offered a place at The Iowa Writers' Workshop (Poetry) yesterday by phone around 4 p.m. EST.
This is my first year of application there, but my third in total going through these MFA applications, and during my first year was completely rejected by every university I went for, so I kept on writing, got a few good breaks on residencies etc., and brought myself, at a young 26, to a place where my poetry is decent enough, but not "perfect" in any sense.
Although I'm delighted, I want to make it clear that I am sympathetic for those waiting to hear from other programs (as I am) - I still feel it from a few years ago, and no doubt I will find rejections this time too. Nevertheless, it's important, if this whole process doesn't work out this year, to keep on writing, to network if you need to (even if it sometimes doesn't feel natural), and sacrifice where you can. However, over the last year I've met several individuals who have gone on to great things without an M.F.A., and got a degree in Hard Grit and Graft instead.
I meant to say yesterday evening, but waited until the questioning of Fish's offer on the notification board (where I will go immediately after this).
I'll be around to answer any questions. Sorry for the delay in paralleling Fish's story.
I was offered a place at The Iowa Writers' Workshop (Poetry) yesterday by phone around 4 p.m. EST.
This is my first year of application there, but my third in total going through these MFA applications, and during my first year was completely rejected by every university I went for, so I kept on writing, got a few good breaks on residencies etc., and brought myself, at a young 26, to a place where my poetry is decent enough, but not "perfect" in any sense.
Although I'm delighted, I want to make it clear that I am sympathetic for those waiting to hear from other programs (as I am) - I still feel it from a few years ago, and no doubt I will find rejections this time too. Nevertheless, it's important, if this whole process doesn't work out this year, to keep on writing, to network if you need to (even if it sometimes doesn't feel natural), and sacrifice where you can. However, over the last year I've met several individuals who have gone on to great things without an M.F.A., and got a degree in Hard Grit and Graft instead.
I meant to say yesterday evening, but waited until the questioning of Fish's offer on the notification board (where I will go immediately after this).
I'll be around to answer any questions. Sorry for the delay in paralleling Fish's story.
I was offered a place at The Iowa Writers' Workshop (Poetry) yesterday by phone around 4 p.m. EST.
This is my first year of application there, but my third in total going through these MFA applications, and during my first year was completely rejected by every university I went for, so I kept on writing, got a few good breaks on residencies etc., and brought myself, at a young 26, to a place where my poetry is decent enough, but not "perfect" in any sense.
Although I'm delighted, I want to make it clear that I am sympathetic for those waiting to hear from other programs (as I am) - I still feel it from a few years ago, and no doubt I will find rejections this time too. Nevertheless, it's important, if this whole process doesn't work out this year, to keep on writing, to network if you need to (even if it sometimes doesn't feel natural), and sacrifice where you can. However, over the last year I've met several individuals who have gone on to great things without an M.F.A., and got a degree in Hard Grit and Graft instead.
I meant to say yesterday evening, but waited until the questioning of Fish's offer on the notification board (where I will go immediately after this).
I'll be around to answer any questions. Sorry for the delay in paralleling Fish's story.
Congratulations WreckingLight! What a wonderful story. I am glad that after all of your persistence you have found yourself accepted by one of the best programs in the country!
Sounds like they were making fiction rounds this morning. And last night's notifications were somewhat unofficial. So I don't know where they're at!! Maybe I'll wait until 4PM EST and then give them a call.
I felt really lucky to be within driving distance of UMass-Amherst. I love Lisa Olstein's book Radio Crackling, Radio Gone. I read Tate's, Gizzi's and Wier's poetry, and found things that resonate and echo with my own work, so I thought that maybe I could find a place there.
My mom's comment was, "I guess it's not meant to be. You have a lot on your plate already."
Yeah, mom, but you don't understand... I'd give up a bunch of that to be able to get my MFA there with THOSE poets.
I know it's not over 'til I get the actual rejection, but I am very depressed right now. And no one I know really understands. I've been working on my own for so long that I really wanted to find a community where I could share my writing and get feedback from people who care as much as I do. I love my family dearly, but I need more intellectual stimulation and a creative community too. And I'm not getting that in any part of my life right now. Even the grad program I'm in now ... it's special education ...
I turned down a job in Korea last year around this time. I forget what city. I got nervous because when I tried to confirm the salary and the hours, the details were not what I originally was told. Nine hours a day of kindergarten with no break? And for less money than I was told? Uh, no. I was also, according to you guys, apparently misled about how easy it would be to apply to grad schools from Korea. Hard to find a working printer? I think I dodged a bullet, but I have also heard great stories of people who were not jerked around at all.
But because I was certain I was going, I started learning a little Korean. I had this book that included phrases helpful for dating. One of the phrases was "Easy, Tiger!" I made a point to learn that one. And kondom was a pretty easy one to learn too. :)
I haven't had time to read through the last 65 posts yet, but I just wanted to share that in my anxiety dream last night, it wasn't about rejections or acceptances, BUT it was about getting fired (I think while I was naked) and having to climb down a charred ravine that turned into a tree over dead bodies and black snakes...I think my subconscious is over all this frettin'.
Don't give up!! I've really been hoping that UMass is going to call you, because of how much you want to go there! Like Chrissy just wrote, only fiction acceptances have been posted today, and the poetry acceptances yesterday were unofficial. They told the people accepted yesterday that they weren't finished. There could be a spot for you still!
I also appreciate this chance to combine your screennames. I don't know whether use them to start an Indy film production company, a Scandanavian rock band, a vintage clothing boutique, or do all three and get some mad synergy going.
Thanks, Kerry! I'm using the same internal monologue that you suggested-
I just keep telling myself that no one is that cruel that they would email me and talk to me on the phone about how great my sample was unless they intended to admit me, barring any unforeseen craziness on their end. Hopefully we're right about that. Because if not, the resulting rejection would sting a lot more than the rest of them.
Okay, I have to get away from this blog for a while. Portland is having some rare sun this week. It's like a Virgin-Mary-on-the-Dorito type of miracle. I must replenish my vitamin D. Later, y'all!
Because announcing good news is the possible bearing of bad news for others. I'm delighted, as I said, but half of me is reserved for those I know who'll be disappointed - for example, I was rejected from Amherst a couple of years ago, and was hearing of possible rejections here too at the moment, together with the fact that it's been a long process for me over the last few years, questioning my own work in the slightly unnatural light that M.F.A. rejections cast.
I'm sorry to hear today isn't that great of a day for you. I understand that there are really only two options to be playing with right now... extreme anxiety or depression.
I'm keeping you in my thoughts and hope you do get that call you so badly want/need. And I'll cheer you on, regardless of the outcome.
It really is too bad wishing and wanting something isn't enough to get what you want here.
I've heard the horror stories. I work for a public school so things are a little more stable. Though, last year the notified 100 or so new teachers that they wouldn't be needing them, the day before their flight. This is the Seoul Education Office.
But on a side note, I've heard that business, in general, is tough all over asia, for westerners and other asians. They just operate using a different paradigm. If you aren't savvy to the tricks, then you shouldn't be here, type mentality. Fortunately, I've had a great principal and awesome co-workers.
Going back just a little, but I've been having to work really hard at "expectation management," as I've come to call it. I found Seth's tidbit on having better odds at getting into Harvard Law School a very quick, easy way to prepare everyone for what - at this point - looks to be a season of rejections for yours truly.
Lately, I've been thinking a ton about what Plan B looks like, and I can't decide. Plan B would probably be stay put and keep teaching while I apply all over again. Applying all over again is a given, non-negotiable. I think I'm getting burnt out on teaching here in sunny AZ, though, especially when next year's budget projections - while not yet final - are ranging somewhere between cataclysmic and apocalyptic.
I'd love to hear ideas, even those involving teaching abroad (with reputable agencies).
I know I need cheering up, too, and on that front, I'm willing to consider anything short of a sunshine enema.
Well a few more details on that... I was told that they had just finished up in whatever room they'd be deliberating in "fifteen minutes ago" (at 4 p.m. EST).
Actually, I missed the original call, which was to my home number and asked me to call back about the financial form I'd submitted - Connie, the woman I spoke to, just asked if I wanted to put Fellowships as my first choice (as I had done), or to switch to a teaching-based source of funding...because I'd been accepted. I just said back that whatever would allow me to survive would be the good thing, and goofballed my way through a conversation.
Congrats to all the new acceptances (since I posted last)!!!
@Dreux & Woon (can I just call you Droon or Weux for short?) - You always confuse me. Might be a GNE, the PG read my sample and said GMWAS, dude, and asked me to call him on his satellite phone - he's not reading anyone else's manuscripts want brought mine with him on his expedition to the source of the Orinoco. Another mentioned to me that he thought my sample was so great that he'd like me to sleep with his wife - his sperm has low motility, you see, and they'd be honored to have such brilliant writer seed in their only child....
Dude, you seem to have a better handle on it than I do. Any of those scenarios, however ridiculous, would at least be somehow conclusive. As of right now, without any further news (regarding insemination, acceptance, etc.) all I know is that someone liked my writing. Which, you know, is great, especially when that someone runs an MFA program. But if I don't hear back, it's really not any better than Jimmy-Joe or Bobby-Frank liking my story in the workshop down at Tommy-Bill's General Store.
Thanks for that! I needed a laugh, and your inspired bit of insanity caused me to laugh out loud at work. Really loud, and it must have been an odd laugh, too. My students, all working on writing an essay, turned to stare in an eerie unison. You have my gratitude.
Check this out.This is the government program I work for. Generally, Korea and Taiwan pay the best and offer the best benefits. Korea's currency follows the dollar and is never far off, so that's helpful if you're thinking about money. I would go into the immaterial benefits of the experience but there are far too many to list.
If you want to learn more about teaching abroad, check out:
www.eslcafe.com
The forums are super useful. You can talk to people who are in country. Research, research, research. Research.
So ... any clues about ... I mean, like ... any real clues about if they'd notified everybody?
And, please, no 'it ain't over til it's over' stuff. Please. No more. Just give it to me straight so I can ... go home and pull the thumbtack out of Iowa City on my wall map ...
LOL Rugby. I don't think there's really any clear line on the UNCs. They both are consistently saying this year that they're taking it slow and probably won't get to official decisions for a while.
And there's very little info out there to contradict that, as both seem to be sailing past their usual notification dates without much fanfare.
I honestly don't have any idea about their notifications - there was no hint about whether I was notified first, last, or whether they were staggering it. I did gain the sense, from what was said, that all decisions on acceptances had been made though - that's just a sense.
As for further comments on funding - I mean, I honestly again don't know what I'll be given, for the packets wouldn't be mailed out "for a couple of weeks".
Thanks for the info. I'm going to look into this more since I'm qualified at Level A, and it looks like I'd actually get paid more in Korea than Arizona. I have a new research obsession! Yes!
I'm glad I'm not the only one freaking about my GNE that hasn't turned into a concrete acceptance. I was so happy when I first got it. I was ecstatic. I called my sister and woke her up with my screeching. Now, the excitement has halted, and I'm just nervous. I want an official acceptance. I want to request time off work for an open house, I want to buy some plane tickets, I want to move on with my life!
Glad I could help. The Koreans are crazy about English, less for practical reasons, and more because it is a status symbol. English is a luxury item here. Weird.
I didn't post to the acceptance tally blog because I forgot and was, surprise, excited and not thinking solely about my "duties" on the Internet. Also, I'm not a new poster. I had asked a question before, but I don't hang out here and post all day about how nervous I am or what I may or may not be baking because that isn't the purpose of this blog for me (I'm not criticizing those who do, but just saying that's not me). I come here to read when acceptances occur; I skip everything else.
And so I posted the basics people report on their acceptances here. I also just posted the basics because I don't want to post the details. I feel weird enough posting the acceptance and sharing that they said they aren't done reading for fiction; I don't really want to go into the details of everything else. I don't really get why that's strange. I thought I'd share the acceptance because I figured anyone who was truly dying to know about whether Iowa was contacting people would appreciate that. But that's it.
Thanks to those who have offered congrats. And best of luck to everyone.
@frankish -- what's GMWAS? Also, how could you confuse me with Dreux? I thought Dreux was the former-bad-guy-now-reformed-good-guy. Me? I'm the guy who tells people to "Calm down!" and gets psyched by non-acceptance GNEs. Also, not a baker, butcher, or candlestick maker.
I'm still cheering for you. I loved reading your sample, and I hope they did, too. Maybe they'll call tomorrow to provide a strong finish to the week. They're waiting to call their favorite as the last call they make on Friday.
go_fish, thanks for informing us. Don't take the reaction too personally; people are just desperate to hear what they want to hear right now. I won't even begin to describe the mental contortions I've been going through in response to an odd email or two over the past few weeks. We'll go far - sometimes too far - to maintain hope.
The Real World DC has been totally terrible, but last night's episode was really funny. It was like an extended version of an American Idol audition gone wrong. One of the housemates who considers himself a musician turns out to be totally tone deaf, a display compounded (in hilarity) by the fact that he clearly has Napoleon syndrome about his singing ability and spent plenty of time in the confessional talking about how awesome he is.
Oh, and deciding his new band should be called 'Wicked Liquid.'
I think the hubbub stemmed from the tone of your post. No "I'm really excited" or "good luck to you all." When you say you were doing what everyone else does, it's not quite on the ball ... because everyone else would know that the first acceptance to the Iowa Workshop would be the most anticipated post of the season and set a firestorm of hearts aflutter. To offer so little info and so little recognition for how freaked and desperate people are seems out of character for this blog. That's why it looked weird.
On the other hand, yes, people do want whatever info they can get, and you did do us a great service. You owe us absolutely nothing. But please understand the reaction, the confusion was based on an apparent insensitivity to blog tenor and custom.
Jesus, that last line was terrible. Maybe such is the stuff that justifies why I didn't get into Iowa, tho ;)
I do wish you well. Sincerely. Especially because each of us knows what it is to be doubted.
Yeah, no hard feelings. It's just a blog. But I guess that's my point. I was saying I posted the minimum of what people post about these things: School, genre, day, method of notification. Of course I was excited, but as I'm not the kind of poster who hangs out here, I didn't see the need to share my excitement with strangers in the form of saying how happy I was. That's what my friends and family are for. I can see why people would find it unusual compared to how most people are on this blog but to think that meant it was made up just seems odd to me, that's all. All right, I'm done posting on this. Best of luck to everyone.
i'm a part time lurker who posts here and there, mostly when i'm absolutely losing it, like, um, right now.
i'm the one who posted the note about minnesota notifying on monday. this is what i was told when i called last week. however, it's thursday, and not a peep. so frustrating.
i was wondering if anyone else has called or heard anything? i tried calling again, but got voicemail. don't know why i even bother -- probably because i feel helpless and it's some sort of "action," even if it is a totally useless one.
also, tried calling iowa to find out if they were done notifying CNF acceptances and, if so, when they'll be getting to wait list and rejected folks.
Since I can't get folks on the phone and even if I did I probably wouldn't get a real answer to my question (really...i shouldn't be calling in the first place), I was wondering if anyone on here has news with regard to Iowa or Minnesota, re: CNF. Pulease! Anything!
Thanks. I will go back to silent freaking out once more...
I feel a little exhausted really, somewhat for me, somewhat for others - this isn't a fair process, and, at times, I felt let down by it. I'm sure everybody here feels that they just want to wring the potential in their writing into the open, or for those involved in judging to do so (in the way a committee should) - I feel for that gap between what's submitted on paper, and what's submitted in spirit.
I've always said that poetic maturity comes about as a matter of projecting your writing a couple of years ahead of itself, and it's an important notion to come to terms with if you have the next year to face applications again, that there's a certain amount of violence to employ against your own work. In essence, my personal statement came to deal closely with such development, and what it's like to have to re-stage yourself time and time again, and what comes out as a result. In time I will post it for you all - it's personal to me, perhaps even disarmingly lost, but I think more mature for it.
As you say too, vindicated - I had a core band of referees and institutions who believed in my writing, and helped me when I was very much in the doldrums between applications. This was, incidentally, to be the last year of M.F.A. applications, for I was to go it alone for the duration of the book, and was ready for it, no matter the further sacrifices I would have had to have made (they were mounting).
As a few helpful pointers for others, some that may cheer you, I have never properly published (I'm not ready), come from a lower-class background, have had experience on several residencies (some "minor", some well-known), attended a good school (but didn't really often hit a good gear there), fought hard for funding, taught where I could, got rejected at times where I thought I was good enough, gained some confidence for operating publicly, made calls I wouldn't have a year previously, but, most importantly, kept refusing to be beaten by the process.
There's every chance that I'll find the next several application results to be rejections, but I'll be very glad to see others get in, and I'm looking forward to hearing of those over the next month or so.
I know Iowa CNF has finished notifying acceptances (and, I'd assume, waitlisters). I got my rejection letter from them in the mail today. They told me when I called two days ago that if you haven't heard anything, you're rejected and the letter is in the mail.
Sorry. I know it's a terrible feeling. But I think it's better to know now than have to wait for the letter.
Good luck with your other programs! I didn't apply to Minn, so I don't know about them.
Here's a good way to distract yourself: find someone you're interested in. Spend an inordinate amount of time with them, but make it a goal to keep it platonic even though endless flirtation ensues. Try not to succumb to the charms of said chocolatier interest.
That's what I'm doing, and it works. We stay up way too late at night making chocolates and not talking about MFAs and I'm a better human being for it.
Wrecking - great post. I agree with everything you said, right down to that frustrating gap between what's on the page, and what you feel capable of in the long-term. after some truly terrible sleepless nights I've reconciled myself to the idea that given the insane hypercompetitiveness in fiction this year, I may not have done an adequate job of showing not only my talent, but the nascent potential behind that talent. I'm sure that comes into consideration as well.
in the interest of furthering anxiety amongst Iowa-applying poets, i've just received an email from the program (in response to my own) to inform me that the committee hasn't finished choosing poets yet.
Way to go, Rose :) I really hope you enjoy this moment, because ... how quickly it is that we all get back down on ourselves after good news. Don't let go of your joy.
Fedex just came to my door. Er, rather, Fedex came to my house. I met the delivery person in my driveway. She said, "Uhhh. I have a package for Laura?" And since I have 4 roommates, I threw my hands up in the air and cried, "YES!"
Squinting to read the sender's name (Fedex forms have ridiculously dim lettering, they used to drive me crazy when I worked in a mail room), I finally deciphered it. My uncle's name.
Okay, I gave into the temptation and called UMass. The woman said that they started notifying people today, and that she didn't know if they were done yet (she seemed to feel really bad that she didn't know more because I kept asking "Are they done? Do you know when they will be?"). Sounds like decisions have been made, and we'll just have to wait it out. If I don't hear by the end of the day, I'm calling again tomorrow to ask if they're done. So impatient!!
I think I have lost track of others accepted. Wrecking? Yes? Congratulations!! Golden Something or Other? Congratulations! And congrats to anyone else I have missed!
Newly healed from the walk in the sun I am ready for another day of waiting for more news...
Kudos to you for being so persistent, and congrats on your acceptance.
For all of you veteran applicants, do you go back to the same people for recommendations year after year? I would love to re-apply later on, but I'd hate to inconvenience my professors by asking them to write me more. =(
Yes, this is probably the most competitive year on record.
I would offer other condolences, but it seems a little premature for that and I'm also not very good at that sort of thing. There's nothing I can say that would help you get up from a blow like the one you're fearing if you didn't already have it in you.
But I will offer the same general advice you've probably run across already: February 18th is NOT panic button time.
Many of us will indeed be hitting the panic button eventually. There's no doubt about that. But this is way too early.
Besides the fact that plenty of your schools haven't notified, anyone who's been through this process before can tell you that some serious shell games start taking place in late March/early April.
While some schools are very prompt with their waitlist notifications, others are much less organized, leading people to get offers well up to the April 15th decision date.
So your panic button may get some use this year, but not yet. You can probably take it out of the box and plug it in on March 20th, and maybe start practicing your push technique (yuck, that sounded like a birthing reference) on the 25th, but those dates are a month and change away.
@ laura. hilarious. maybe he wanted you to have something to wear for your victory lap, when you get into ALL the programs. even ones you didn't apply to.
Such great advice, RugbyToy. Hold onto that precious feeling of accomplishment! Congratulations Rose! (And everyone rocking acceptances this week!) It's so easy to discount ourselves. I know the majority of the schools I applied to have traditionally notified the first week in March. I'm bracing myself! It feels like we've been waiting forever, but this will be over so fast. Here's hoping!
Time-wasters: went to a punk/hardcore show last night and one of the bands totally blew my mind. Bought a demo, am reading their lyrics now, and they're a serious cut above the standard macho bullshit those kinds of bands usually fall into:
"I am a witness, not a believer. And in my short life I've only witnessed night. The dawn you've seen is a myth to me, a soothing dream draped in impossible light. I've seen too many lives wasted running blindly in the darkness, too many lives lived in nonstop flight.
I haven't seen the lonesome valley -- I don't know what it looks like. But everyone I know tries to board that plane, wants to take that nonstop flight.
You've got to walk that lonesome valley. You've got to walk it on your own. You've got to walk that lonesome valley carrying a fragile heart that weighs like lead on the groaning frame of your wary, buried bones."
1,757 comments:
«Oldest ‹Older 1201 – 1400 of 1757 Newer› Newest»Oh, and congratulations to everybody who has heard. What a relief it must be!
This blog has been invaluable to me!
Have been lurking here for some time! I tried to avoid this site and just drown myself in t.v. watching and audiobook listening sessions, but I am no longer able to tamp down the mania! It's been particularly nerve wracking, since I'm in Korea and snail-mail takes perhaps a week extra to arrive here.
Congratulations to all who've been accepted to their schools!
And for all of those still waiting... let us resume hyperventilating into our paper bags.
All I know is that I've been denied by UT-Austin. But that's not so bad... I'm secretly praying for an acceptance from LSU though!
@Mila
Hey, where in Korea are you? I'm in Seoul. Man, this whole process has been more difficult than it should have been. Simple things, like mailing the apps out, became almost impossible because my Korean abilities are strictly for survival (food, bathroom, costs, etc.). It also costed a small fortune because I did everything EMS. Then there were the time differences I've had to deal with whenever I wanted to call. Also, many of my app deadlines fell during my sacred vacation block so I spent some time sending out the online apps from various hostels throughout China. Guess I should have prepared better. Where and in what genre are you applying?
My list:
Arizona State
Brooklyn College
Colorado State
U of Florida.
UCNG
Hunter
Iowa
Michigan
Minnesota
Notre Dame
NYU
UCNW
Rutgers
Haven't heard anything from any of them yet. Good luck to you and to everyone, as well.
@mila/spencer...ha, I'm in Korea too (Busan). most anoying part of applications for me was finding a place to print everything out!
does anyone know the rate of acceptance for SIU Carbondale?
I had a dream that I got into Arizona even though I didn't apply. I was so excited and then I thought, "Hey wait, I don't really want to live in Arizona. I hate hot weather." But they sent me all sorts of nifty brochures and things, and I looked through them and decided that living in Arizona might not be so bad after all.
I choose to take this as some kind of weird omen that UMass will call today. Yep.
@Spencer
I applied for poetry at...
Alabama
McNeese
Louisiana State
Brown
Cornell
U-Texas Austin (rejected)
Alabama
Florida
Hollins
Virginia
U.Mass.Amherst
Oregon
Syracuse
Bowling Green
I totally understand with the EMS fees... it was so expensive. The people at the post office knew me by sight and probably also thought I was a bit cracked for cradling my application packets as if they were infants! Also because I kept double-checking "You're sending that to America, right? U.S.??" lol... Good luck to you too!
@amanda
I'm in Busan too! I had to print a lot of the application material at pc bangs, and kept bumping into my students who are like... "Teacher..? Play computer games with us!!!" Oh dear.
@amanda
Finding the post wasn't as big a problem as getting there and back on my lunch break. My co-workers seemed to think that the whole thing was frivolous. I think they want me to stay in Korea forever. How's the weather in Busan? Seoul can't make up its mind. It snowed again last night.
I've applied for fiction in
IOWA
NYU
UNCW
BROWN
OXFORD
EDINBURGH
GLASGOW (Acceptance)
Would love to be accepted in the States somewhere, I just love travelling, and already am getting restless.
Hopefully we will all hear good news by the end of the week!
@amanda and Milan: whereabouts in busan? i was there for two years.
also, has anyone else NOT heard from wash u yet?
I had a dream I got into Michigan!! And then I woke up...
First grad school dream! That's like a rite of passage, isn't it?
@Mike
I'm in Haeundae/Jangsan. Did you teach in Korea as well?
@amanda Spencer & Mila
Yeouch.
I applied from Prague and thought that was hard, but at least it wasn't too expensive once I figured out the system. I actually liked the time difference: being able to call and email until 11pm was great! Spotty Internet at the expat cafe with printer wasn't.
@Milan
that's a nice part of town, especially in the summer.
yeah, i taught high school and lived in seomyeon.
@all you korea people, you're better men/woment than me for applying from there. i speak korean and i didn't even consider it.
Ryan,
The most recent data for Southern Illinois is 13.43% (9/67) but I imagine that a ton more people applied this year.
Here's a new tactic for MFA waiting-game success: utter denial.
Yesterday my UT status finally went from "we've got everything we need" to "you're in committee."
I know this change has preceded the rejection closely, and I'm really not feeling a rejection right now.
So I'm playing a little game of will with myself and seeing how long I can go without checking my status. I've decided I like not knowing better than knowing - and, since I decided in an earlier post that, like a lotto ticket, my $50 didn't really buy a chance to go to a dream writing program so much as the fantasy of imagining myself at a dream program (just as a lotto ticket allows you to buy the dream of yourself as rich), I'm going to get the most out of my $50. My anxiety about this will keep my mind focused on the Mitch, and in that process I can imagine myself there, getting feted in literary circles, driving out to Enchanted Rock, eating BBQ at Ruby's, and all those other Austinoid fantasies.
Another element in this is, I put some effort into applying, and I resent the idea that I will be (likely have been) rejected via a little blue box on a Web page. I will take my rejection on a proper letter with a longhorn logo on top, thank you.
I wonder how long my little glory ride of denial will last...
@Jamie - You should just wait a week and say you haven't heard anything. If they say check the online status, say your computer isn't working. If they tell you that you've been rejected, tell them that you will need that information in writing, on official letterhead. Otherwise, you plan to show up for classes on August xx.
Voila!
Good luck!
has anyone heard from brown, vanderbilt, or emerson yet??? i am getting antsy over here...
Vandy's done with their acceptances and waitlist, and Brown doesn't usually notify until early March! There have been whispers of them getting back earlier, but no one on here has posted anything yet!
@ Trilbe
much love for the personal bodyguard offer!!
i actually didn't apply to lsu though...baton rouge sucks ace right now...and i want out of louisiana! it's my home, but i want to pull a joyce and get the hell out of here!
hmmm...i have not heard a peep from vandy--phone call, letter, email??? sorry to pester--i know my chances of getting in there are the same as pigs flying...but i can hope, right???
@ frankish - Yes! I like the go to classes anyway option. You can get real far in Texas these days by showing that you've got "heart."
Christina, I haven't heard a peep yet either, but apparently in the notices they sent out to those accepted and waitlisted, they confirmed that all had been accepted and/or waitlisted. BUT you're right, a rejection isn't a rejection until it's a rejection.
Violating my no internet during the day rule for this blog has increased my fatassery by 89%.
That's a scientific calculation.
So if I have the discipline from here on out, I'm staying away unless it's early morning or later in the evening.
Good luck everyone, and congratulations all acceptees/waitlisters, and congratulations in advance to people I miss when I cruise here during my internet ontime. You all have my sincerest best wishes.
I read somewhere that the only thing Vanderbilt has to recommend itself is the school's name and sturdy funding. What do you Vandy-lovers think?
Well obviously my opinion is jaded by the fact I wasn't admitted :p But it's a good, small program with an excellent funding package and a great location, and it's ranked as one of the best of the smaller programs.
I had a dream last night about getting accepted (or maybe rejected? It was about getting letters) that was all mixed up with alpine skiing. Obviously I've been spending too much time worrying and watching the Olympics...haha.
@ Amanda: Enjoying "The Cowboy Tango"
http://www.vqronline.org/articles/2009/fall/shipstead-cowboy-tango/
Thanks for the link.
This might be a silly question, but what time of day do programs usually notify? I've been noticing on here that it's often after what I would assume were "regular business hours" that they call, email, etc. But sometimes during the day, too.
Are there any trends?
Count me among those who've promised themselves they'd stay off this blog....but I was wondering:
Should I even bother anxiously waiting for the mail? Do schools actually notify that way these days?
Jarsh--I got an acceptance by mail last year.
@ amanda - I too enjoyed reading the first half of "The Cowboy Tango." I also appreciated VQR's sneaky model. You get to read half the story, then you get to the good part (the clothes come off), and you get the offer to subscribe (did they learn this from porn sites?). As a reader, a buzzkill. As a publisher, a well-executed pay-for-content model.
The writer is several orders of magnitude better than me. And I honestly enjoyed her story (and want to read it through). However, it doesn't go to the highest level for me - beyond the satisfying. I prefer a little more weirdness (or feel that more "weirdness" is more accurate to my experience of life). I can't quite say if it's the uncanny I like in a story. But this so far had so many ingredients of a "good" story - an epic landscape, a wry humor, characters with clear motivations and long-supressed desires, a semi-mystical connection to nature - that I found it slightly annoying.
My personal aesthetic, such as it is, was offended; this did not interfere with my greatly enjoying the story. I'm OK with the contradiction.
I really, really wanted Vanderbilt (fiction). I can't go anywhere without Super Funding, I really like Nashville,and even thug the program is young, i feel like a Good School with Great Funding is serious about its MFA program-- it's not like they needed it, they have plenty else going for them. So the program strikes me as both supportive and ambitious.
I knew it was a lost cause though, bc that's the program that received the SOP with a typo. You know how you recycle your SOP for the most part, changing some key details? Well, the last I app i sent before Vandy was the University of Massachusettes, and i missed the THE in my edit. So it said, basically, "I really really really wanna go to the Vanderbilt."
The Vanderbilt.
Jarsh,
Most schools fax acceptances.
UCSD Poetry rejection via email today.
Boo. No acceptances here. And this was probably one of the smallest applicant pools given the program is only 1 year old.
But MFA or not, I'm quitting my job and moving come summer.
Best wishes for everyone else still waiting for that phone call.
Don't know if folks saw this. Seth just posted a new link to the most recently (and continually) updated response data:
http://driftless-house.blogspot.com/2010/02/2010-cw-mamfaphd-application-responses.html
Wee Meat,
Your typo story really made me smile. I found two in my writing sample -- maybe three, if you wanna be picky. But the first one was, like, page one, line one. And I know editors who read only the first lines of poems before deciding whether or not someone is worth their time.
I must hav read and re-read that thing a million times and not caught it. But it's nerve-racking, and when you're nervous like that, there's enough neurochemistry going on to really pick up details like that. Now that I'm all Xanaxed out, I see it and think: "Christ. They must have thought I was *testing* them or something."
Sorry the duchess. It's still arbitrary - a matter of making the artistic connection - regardless of applicant pool size.
Anybody ever think certain people or persons make stuff up on this blog? Where they're applying, where they got accepted, what they've heard and how?
You pickin' up what I'm puttin down? Any of the above ever ... nag at you?
Wee meat,
Typos happen. I doubt rejections happen because of the occasional typo (recurring and pervasive mistakes are another thing though). If a committee is using your statement to compare you to another applicant, you've probably already got one foot in the door.
I don't think there's much fabrication going on. Too easy to vet.
I just got an msnbc update on my iphone: "Small plane crashes into building in Austin, Texas."
My first thought was: I bet that was a rejected MFA applicant crashing into Michener. My second thought was: I know how you feel, bro.
Honestly, I don't even know if it would matter if there were people making stuff up because all of the systems seem so convoluted to begin with! In any case, I am willing to bet that the majority of reports are genuine.
In other news, I am still in Michener limbo and it seems that a bunch of my Michener limbo buddies have left me for committee or rejection. Anyone still there? I still haven't decided whether I should be worrying about this or not.
@RugbyToy:
Every time I've told my husband, parents, therapist, friends, etc. that someone has posted an acceptance to a school I applied to, they always ask, "Are you sure these people are telling the truth?" and I always defend you guys, even though I don't even know you. But it just feels like a den of honesty (and anxiety) here. If it were a new poster reporting an acceptance, then I might question it. But out of those of us who've been posting consistently about our crazy dreams and fears and oh-my-god-I-hope-it-doesn't-come-to-that Plan Bs, I'm going to trust that whatever is posted is true.
Going crazy today. I can completely relate to whoever posted earlier about being noticeably anxious and on-edge at work yet being unable to tell anyone at work about it (I don't have time right now - at work - to look up whose post that was). Yikes.
@ coughdrop. I was in limbo for longer than seemed possible w the Mitch. Now I'm in committee, and I am determined to stay in committee (ie, not check my status), until Vera Farmiga flies to my door and tells me otherwise.
Yeah. That's just it. Brand new posters. Who post their acceptance here and nowhere else. Strange.
@Jamie
In that case, let's just both be completely ridiculously hopeful and say we'll meet for drinks in Austin in August, yes? hahaha The idea even makes me laugh but I'm going with it.
@ coughdrop, Vera and myself will see you there!
@RugbyToy -- I sometimes have that exact thought re. posters fabricating acceptances. To this day, I still don't trust anything posted by a certain someone from Brown over at P&W Speakeasy. I don't believe she's a Brown MFA student. Then there are posters who you CAN'T believe ever got into some of the better-rep places. There was one girl from Cornell last year. She posted her SOP and it was the worst thing I've ever read. I thought, "How the hell did she get into Cornell?" But I believe 95% of the posts are genuine. The one post that I doubted this year was from a poster (forgot the name) who posted an early ND acceptance. People questioned it a bit and then finally it was confirmed, even by Seth himself.
Re. Posters from Korea. What's with all the posters from Korea? Is it the latest craze to live and work in Korea these days?
I'm not sure I buy the fake acceptance theory. As someone who lurked for a very long time before posting, I can easily see how you could just wait until you were accepted somewhere to "introduce" yourself to the blog - if even then. Besides, it will all come out in the wash.
phillywriter, I feel you. I applied to 14 (rejections from Mitch and, I'm assuming, Vandy) and my friends/family/co-workers (very supportive co-workers) all think I'm a freak for being so pessimistic and perpetually panic-attack-ready. I just want to be like, you really don't understand. Stop talking to me like I'm a child, telling me "Pshh, you know you'll get in, stop freaking out... damn."
I. can't. do. this. much. longer.
Woon,
You would be surprised how bad some of the writers who find their way into MFA programs are. I've done workshops at conferences and elsewhere with a number of them. They definitely weren't fabricating their enrollment in or graduation from top-tier programs, but their writing did not reflect (to me or anyone else in the workshop) the kind of talent, promise or proficiency one would expect from a person who attended such a program.
Not to say this happens all the time, just to say that it does happen.
Yeah. I guess it doesn't matter in the scheme oif things. But when someone says they're accepted to Brown or Cornell or Iowa or Columbia or NYU or any of them top picks and ain't nobody else heard word one ... I start to wonder if there's something fishy going on. And then i wonder if I'm the only one who can see the post -- if I've *invented* the post, hallucinated it ... for some sick reason of my own.
I dunno. I just don't want people f*uckin' with my hopes and dreams! GIMME MY DREAMS, MAN! THEY IS ALL I GOTS!
I know it's been said better by others before, but I HATE it when people say, "You know you'll get in." No, I don't. And I probably won't. And it's not just that I'm being pessimistic. I'm actually trying very hard (and it's not really in my nature) to be realistic. But people just don't get it. At all.
I think T-shirts projecting this message (as someone proposed) are a good idea - although I'd have to be careful that no one from my office saw me wearing one.
I'm totally freaking out.
@woon
I read that girls SOP and wondered the same thing. Then, though I don't remember how it happened, i found youtube video of a Cornel MFA reading, and there she was. Assuming were talking about the same girl. Her story was pretty scandalous, too. Good, but scandalous.
About Korea. It's like an MFA program. An EFL teacher's pay is pretty good, as well as the benefits, and it seems like a haven for artists and the like whose passions don't pay for their costs of living. Though many of them seem to become too complacent and two years becomes ten. If you can handle living just a bit outside of your comfort zone and would like time to write, I think it's an option.
I have felt the same way, Rugby. And I dont think I should skirt around it either. I saw the Iowa post and went back and forth between believing it and not believing it. But then I just figured that it doesn't really matter if someone makes up an acceptance or not. I will find out when it is my time to find out. That could be between now and April. If Iowa is indeed notifying people of acceptances now, then woo hoo, bring them on! If not, I can wait. I have been waiting. No acceptances/rejections yet
I'll know I've hit the big time on this blog when I post my Michener rejection and you people don't believe me.
Jamie, if you don't get in anywhere (assuming you applied to even 5+ programs), I'll really question the quality of the reading that admissions committees are giving samples.
@phillywriter. Chin up, if you can. We will get in somewhere :-) ... but if not, we might as well have AWESOME tshirts!
Whaaaaat? You doubted the Iowa post? I mean, I wasn't ... saying anything like that.
Again, it doesn't matter -- you're right. It doesn't affect what *happens*. And, anyway, all we can do is trust people say what they mean and mean what they say.
I just don't like the idea of someone being cruel :( You see how high-strung people are here? Is this a group whose feelings you wanna play like some sick banjo?
I think someone on the response page is actually calling the Iowa acceptance out.
Shnap.
@rugbytoy
I would have gone with lute
I tend to believe early acceptances just based on the fact that programs DO notify certain people with special fellowships earlier (and I'm sure there are other reasons). Re: crappy SOP - I'm sure a crappy statement of purpose never stopped an applicant with a brilliant sample from getting in. I'm sure it can go both ways depending on the program/person.
I hear you. I have only recently found this blog, and been so glad to have found such a community that understands exactly what I am going through. I think that helps guard against cruelty in such things. So, all I can do is trust. And I do. I really really do trust that everyone here is honest about being accepted and whatnot.
@ Dreux - Thanks so much.
Coughdrop,
Just saw that my Texas application has finally been sent to review. It happened sometime in the last 3 days.
But here's hope that I no longer qualify for: I had previously googled the phrasing and found someone [in another department] who had an acceptance letter in hand but whose status was never updated. So, you never know :-)
I think the significance of the SOP really, really depends on the admissions committee.
That said, I think the best way to go with SOPs is the cut and dried route. I ended up sending about equal amounts of those and some more touchy-feely ones, depending on the program.
In the end, I regret the touchy-feely ones. They were of the 'here's a brief anecdote about what writing means to me, as well as something about my background and my plans.'
When I stack those up against the more cut and dried ones, which essentially just say who I am, what I've done, how I see myself contributing to a program, and what I would do with the degree after, it's clear to me that almost every school (with maybe 2 exceptions) was asking for the cut and dried.
So if I had to apply again, that's probably one thing I would change. Write the SOPs exclusively to call attention to my experiences and my talents, and not try to stylize it.
There's so much hysteria. This kind of process can turn good people into monsters. I've heard stories about all kinds of friends and lovers being torn apart by the petty competitiveness of this process, the neediness, the insecurity, the mean-ness. I've seen it happen. It's exhausting, and consuming. And sad.
I had successfully cut back to reading this blog only once per day, in the early morning. But with the Iowa poetry acceptance posted yesterday WHO AM I KIDDING?! I'm going to be on this blog at every opportunity until there are more acceptances or until my phone rings.
Where is this Cornell SoP that you're talking about? Can you post a link to it?
Here is a link to poems from the Cornell MFAers:
http://www.cornell.edu/humanities/features/docs/PIYP-Book-PoetrySection.pdf
Re: crappy SOPs:
I'm hoping that my crappy SOP won't prevent me from getting accepted! (That's the one part of my application I wish I could do over. At the time, it seemed OK - and there aren't any typos in it - but it's pretty darn boring and trite.)
OK, I really need to get back to work now. I had promised myself that I wouldn't even check this blog at work today, and not only am I checking it constantly, but I've already posted several times. I wish the entire world around me could become suspended in time (including my job) while I'm in this agonzing state of MFA limbo.
i was so grateful when one of my friends responded to my anxiety with "Yeah, you might not get in. That would suck." i wanted to thank her for not dismissing my fears. So fragile these days!
I sometimes worry about revealing too much info here. I wonder if the MFA programs that sent me GNEs are mad at me for disclosing said GNEs. "Jesus, Woon, why'd you have to go and do something like that! Christ almighty!" I can just sense the veins bursting in the grad coordinator's temples.
(Note: "Woon" is not my real name.)
I think that is exactly what it is: petty competitiveness. I will be sorely disappointed to not get into an MFA program this year, but I won't let it stop me from writing or for pursuing it next year. I know it's hard and that a lot of people do not understand what this process is like, but most are coming from good places when they think we will get in. My girlfriend is a little more realistic with me, which I like, but most everyone else gives me the "Oh, you'll get in. You're fantastic" routine. And I appreciate that. I do. Just as much as I appreciate everyone's camaraderie here.
Yeah, the process sucks. But it's not really anything new. It's reflective of and similar to just about everything that artists go through to earn some form of outside recognition. Authors submitting to lit journals or lit agents. Musicians sending out demos to record labels. Painters trying to get their work into decent galleries. The process is largely the same across media in terms of the level of competition and the absolute crazy-making that competition causes.
Success really is its own art form and for a lot of artists the work that goes into success negatively affects their ability to continue doing the work that goes into making their art. And that's unlikely to change in a significant way during our lifetimes.
@Trilbe
I found the SOP just by googling "MFA writing Statement" or something along those lines. Some girl on a blog had linked to it from another forum like this one. I thought the organization and structure of it were a bit mediocre, but she was pretty well credentialed, academically. Plus she wasn't white. And white committees love things that aren't white.
@phillywriter: I'll wear that damned t-shirt.
They could be personalized with photos of your very own maniacal, bloodlust eyes.
It's still hushes on my front, also. No calls, emails, letters. I'm "in review" at two schools who've already posted acceptances. And Vanderbilt is an assumed rejection.
Good luck, comrades.
Woon,
I know exactly what you're going through. My GNE turned two weeks old today, and there's no indication of when it might become an official acceptance (which I'm trying to remain optimistic it will, otherwise why hit me with a totally transparent GNE?)
It's like Chinese water torture, especially considering the fact that I am without an official acceptance. Every day I am tempted to call up the program and just say "hey, let me explain to you how insane I am right now" and beg them to just make the official offer. But then I remember that telling someone you're batshit crazy isn't a good way to get them to put you on their payroll, haha.
I keep my phone on vibrate at work, and every time it buzzes, I jump out of my chair like I've just been spooked.
It's not helping that the gas company keeps auto-calling me this week for some damn reason. Each time they do, I see it's a random number I don't recognize, and I freak out and answer it and hear "Hello! This is an important message from your gas company. Please stay on the line!"
I'm afraid I'll throw my phone against a wall next time I get faked out like that. Which will be sad, because then my programs won't be able to call me on the off chance they've accepted me.
The SoP in question (top entry):
http://mramireztalusan.blogspot.com/
I saw her read on the youtube video as well, and really liked her novel excerpt. Futuristic gay sex - how can you go wrong?
I liked the SoP, actually. A good example of the laid-back style a la Tom Kealey for Stegner. Not exactly the route I went either.
@go fish
You are amazing! Congrats.
Thank you Spencer and Jamie!
I think my Michener SOP was my best--because it was my shortest. The 350 word limit forced me to edit and distill for salient information. I received a Michener rejection two days ago.
I rambled in other SOPs and aestheticized ideas when I should have left them bare.
That said, committees know the SOP makes people uncomfortable and affects unnatural writing. This is why the SOP isn't too important.
@rugbytoy
Oh dang! NIce.
What, exactly, makes a GNE a GNE? I could use some GN these days.
Yeah, my high school English students routinely turn in better writing than was contained in that SOP.
That said, it did do a good job of offering lots of information about the applicant, which I believe should be your primary goal in writing your SOP.
As someone already said, the committees know that the SOPs will often be terribly written, even if the writer is a talented author. So what you want to do is use it as a platform upon which you can display the facts/information about yourself you'd like the committee to know. Sure, if you can do that brilliantly, do it. But I think if you accomplish that much, even if your SOP is poorly written it will still have a leg-up on a brilliantly-written SOP that contains very little concrete info on the applicant.
Hey, I see we have some Busan people here. That's awesome!
I lived in Hwamyeong and worked in an evil hogwon (KJC)for my first year, but my second year I had a great time living in seomyeon. I actually made a documentary while I was there!
I don't miss Korea but god I miss the food.
My GNE came from the PD (go go acronyms) and essentially said:
"Rad writing sample! Call me up, dude!"
Well, not in dude speak, but you get the idea.
So I called 'em up, had a little chat where they said essentially,
"Rad writing sample! Our town and our program are pretty rad, too. Here's why."
And now I'm just waiting to hear something official.
I think Woon had his own variety of GNEs in different shapes and sizes.
Spencer, shhhhh ...
I deleted that for a reason. Apparently, we're not discussing GNEs for fear of ... well, for fear.
Crap, now I'm anxious :(
That SOP is so very Purposeful, as opposed to a Personal Statement. My SOP had a distinctly PS flavor to it because i sued parts of it for both requests. I didn't talk about what my writing is about though --i figured they'd see that for themselves.
The only PS where i got really Personal was for Michigan. Something in their wording seemed to crave scandal. Did anyone else think so? I did my best to give it to them. Probably a terrible impulse, but what can i say? Those were crazy days.
Wait ... we're not saying *who* we got the GNEs from, right?
@Dreux
Right on. Thanks for the info/translation. Simpletons like myself are grateful for the little favors. : )
Well, I didn't even want to admit I got one until other people had heard from them. But now that the school I have a GNE from has done plenty of notifying, I don't have a problem discussing it. But I also don't want to name names until I officially get in. Because as of right now, there's really nothing to report. Other people have already gotten more definitive answers than I. The timing of the GNE as compared to the notifications makes it pretty clear I'm still in the running, but I refuse to count this egg until it hatches.
After days of being presumptively rejected from Iowa's Nonfiction Writing Program, I just got my official rejection letter. All I can think about is that they could've used nicer paper.
Someone named Golden Afternoon has just reported a fiction acceptance phone call from UMass Amherst over at Driftless House.
massachussetts acceptance in fiction at drifting house - i didn't apply, but sending good thoughts to all y'all who are waiting <33
from awhile back:
One other reason Vandy has so much attention/so many applicants... it's free to apply online. So I assume some people were like me -- I wasn't really planning on applying there, but when I learned it was free, I was like, well, what's to lose (besides time, energy, dignity, hope, etc.) and sort of tacked it on the end of my school list. And the funding's great, Nashville's great, etc etc
That said, I kind of don't like the idea of them getting the "We're the most competitive program!!" claim to fame. Whateva, Vandy
@M.Swann
Golly, and me without a fax machine.
I think the question was legit, having heard pretty much nothing but acceptances via email and phone to this point. So suck it.
--
As for SOPs, I went almost totally tongue-in-cheek with a lot of mine. I figured I'd go with my strength. It was just too hard to be direct, so I went funny and brought it back around to serious by the end. I believe I referenced Pol Pot in one...
A GNE that doesn't turn into an acceptance immediately when others are being admitted would make me nervous. It's probably just the paperwork shuffle though because it would be really cruel to not admit someone who received a GNE. I mean, what program would be so heartless? "Oops, my bad, dude. Spoke too soon. We totally don't have a spot for you. Party on though, seriously..."
I posted this yesterday but I just can't help but laugh at it, and be amazed at my brilliance for making he connection. I'm a really funny guy, trust me. Anyway, I'm gonna post it again. It's way to apt.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9t5ZqeHcYk
Anyone else dying to call UMass now and ask if they're done notifying accepted applicants? I applied in poetry, and I'm dying to know!
My general feelings about whether the programs care if you keep their correspondence in confidence is pretty dual.
On the one hand, I'm sure they'd prefer folks don't post anything on here that leads to people getting really worked up, not only because it's not the most considerate thing to do, but because it might lead to a bunch of anxiety-ridden phonecalls on the programs' end.
On the other hand, not only do I think there's a very limited amount of faculty lurking on here, but I think the faculty are pretty aware of how nutty people get over MFA admissions season (and rightfully so). They know people open their hearts, souls, and wallets and end up with 20+ rejections to show for it in some cases. So they probably take whatever people say and do in the context of forums like this one with a pretty large grain of salt. After all, everyone on here has subjected a lot of their hopes for the near future to being forced through a very small aperture. That's hard on anybody.
Has anyone heard anything from UNCW?
Hey Everyone when do you expect Iowa to bring out their fiction acceptances?? Any guesses??
@ Kerry,
Well, the GNE came AFTER they admitted some people. And when I talked to the PD I said "do you still have spots?"
PD said "eh, well..."
Seemed like that was something they didn't want to answer. So I just asked point blank "is there a spot for me? Am I being considered for admission? For waitlist?"
PD said "You are being considered for admission with funding."
So it's pretty clear that my app didn't fall through the cracks or anything. The PD essentially said some Ts had to be crossed, some Is dotted before they could give me an official response. So it won't do me much good to speculate. I'm just waitin' it out.
CONGRATS Golden Afternoon - that's wonderful, must be so so destressing....
@Spencer - Brilliant clip! So appropriate on so many levels. "I have been chosen. Farewell my friends, I go on to a better place." LOL!
@ Chrissy,
Me too. I'm not going to call though. Too nervous! I figure if they just started notifying yesterday, then they're probably not done yet. I hope.
I am staring at my phone. Its battery is dying right now and I won't be home to charge it for a few hours, which is very annoying. Not like staring at it is helping me at all, but I feel like I can't do anything else.
I was offered a place at The Iowa Writers' Workshop (Poetry) yesterday by phone around 4 p.m. EST.
This is my first year of application there, but my third in total going through these MFA applications, and during my first year was completely rejected by every university I went for, so I kept on writing, got a few good breaks on residencies etc., and brought myself, at a young 26, to a place where my poetry is decent enough, but not "perfect" in any sense.
Although I'm delighted, I want to make it clear that I am sympathetic for those waiting to hear from other programs (as I am) - I still feel it from a few years ago, and no doubt I will find rejections this time too. Nevertheless, it's important, if this whole process doesn't work out this year, to keep on writing, to network if you need to (even if it sometimes doesn't feel natural), and sacrifice where you can. However, over the last year I've met several individuals who have gone on to great things without an M.F.A., and got a degree in Hard Grit and Graft instead.
I meant to say yesterday evening, but waited until the questioning of Fish's offer on the notification board (where I will go immediately after this).
I'll be around to answer any questions. Sorry for the delay in paralleling Fish's story.
I was offered a place at The Iowa Writers' Workshop (Poetry) yesterday by phone around 4 p.m. EST.
This is my first year of application there, but my third in total going through these MFA applications, and during my first year was completely rejected by every university I went for, so I kept on writing, got a few good breaks on residencies etc., and brought myself, at a young 26, to a place where my poetry is decent enough, but not "perfect" in any sense.
Although I'm delighted, I want to make it clear that I am sympathetic for those waiting to hear from other programs (as I am) - I still feel it from a few years ago, and no doubt I will find rejections this time too. Nevertheless, it's important, if this whole process doesn't work out this year, to keep on writing, to network if you need to (even if it sometimes doesn't feel natural), and sacrifice where you can. However, over the last year I've met several individuals who have gone on to great things without an M.F.A., and got a degree in Hard Grit and Graft instead.
I meant to say yesterday evening, but waited until the questioning of Fish's offer on the notification board (where I will go immediately after this).
I'll be around to answer any questions. Sorry for the delay in paralleling Fish's story.
I was offered a place at The Iowa Writers' Workshop (Poetry) yesterday by phone around 4 p.m. EST.
This is my first year of application there, but my third in total going through these MFA applications, and during my first year was completely rejected by every university I went for, so I kept on writing, got a few good breaks on residencies etc., and brought myself, at a young 26, to a place where my poetry is decent enough, but not "perfect" in any sense.
Although I'm delighted, I want to make it clear that I am sympathetic for those waiting to hear from other programs (as I am) - I still feel it from a few years ago, and no doubt I will find rejections this time too. Nevertheless, it's important, if this whole process doesn't work out this year, to keep on writing, to network if you need to (even if it sometimes doesn't feel natural), and sacrifice where you can. However, over the last year I've met several individuals who have gone on to great things without an M.F.A., and got a degree in Hard Grit and Graft instead.
I meant to say yesterday evening, but waited until the questioning of Fish's offer on the notification board (where I will go immediately after this).
I'll be around to answer any questions. Sorry for the delay in paralleling Fish's story.
Congratulations WreckingLight! What a wonderful story. I am glad that after all of your persistence you have found yourself accepted by one of the best programs in the country!
@Laura T
Sounds like they were making fiction rounds this morning. And last night's notifications were somewhat unofficial. So I don't know where they're at!! Maybe I'll wait until 4PM EST and then give them a call.
@Chelsea
I don't think I'm much of a cheerleader today. :<
I felt really lucky to be within driving distance of UMass-Amherst. I love Lisa Olstein's book Radio Crackling, Radio Gone. I read Tate's, Gizzi's and Wier's poetry, and found things that resonate and echo with my own work, so I thought that maybe I could find a place there.
My mom's comment was, "I guess it's not meant to be. You have a lot on your plate already."
Yeah, mom, but you don't understand... I'd give up a bunch of that to be able to get my MFA there with THOSE poets.
I know it's not over 'til I get the actual rejection, but I am very depressed right now. And no one I know really understands. I've been working on my own for so long that I really wanted to find a community where I could share my writing and get feedback from people who care as much as I do. I love my family dearly, but I need more intellectual stimulation and a creative community too. And I'm not getting that in any part of my life right now. Even the grad program I'm in now ... it's special education ...
sorry to be such a downer.
I turned down a job in Korea last year around this time. I forget what city. I got nervous because when I tried to confirm the salary and the hours, the details were not what I originally was told. Nine hours a day of kindergarten with no break? And for less money than I was told? Uh, no. I was also, according to you guys, apparently misled about how easy it would be to apply to grad schools from Korea. Hard to find a working printer? I think I dodged a bullet, but I have also heard great stories of people who were not jerked around at all.
But because I was certain I was going, I started learning a little Korean. I had this book that included phrases helpful for dating. One of the phrases was "Easy, Tiger!" I made a point to learn that one. And kondom was a pretty easy one to learn too. :)
I haven't had time to read through the last 65 posts yet, but I just wanted to share that in my anxiety dream last night, it wasn't about rejections or acceptances, BUT it was about getting fired (I think while I was naked) and having to climb down a charred ravine that turned into a tree over dead bodies and black snakes...I think my subconscious is over all this frettin'.
Lurkers Lurkers - wait wait watch and then announce
congrats Iowa/Amherst acceptances!!
First rejection here, UCSD in poetry. Via very bland e-mail.
ughhhhhhhhhhhh
@MommyJ,
Don't give up!! I've really been hoping that UMass is going to call you, because of how much you want to go there! Like Chrissy just wrote, only fiction acceptances have been posted today, and the poetry acceptances yesterday were unofficial. They told the people accepted yesterday that they weren't finished. There could be a spot for you still!
@woon
Glad you liked it. It's helped me out a bunch, somehow. Cigarettes, too. Don't know what it is about it relaxes me.
Congrats WreckingLight and Golden Afternoon!
I also appreciate this chance to combine your screennames. I don't know whether use them to start an Indy film production company, a Scandanavian rock band, a vintage clothing boutique, or do all three and get some mad synergy going.
Morgan-
Got the same bland email for fiction.
Internal rationalization monologue: "Whatever, I didn't want to live at the edge of the earth anyway."
@Dreux
Fingers crossed for you!
I can't understand why someone would wait to announce good news - I so fail to get it!!!
@Jamie
LOL x 1,000,000,000,000
@Kerry - Sounds like you got an early taste of what it's like to do business in Korea.
Sorry Jarsh! As my brother texted me: "They don't know what they're missing."
my favorite take-away from today's reading so far:
@rugbytoy's philosophy that any typos submitted weren't oversights or accidents, they were "tests" for the adcoms.
we need a little control in this out-of-control process.
well-played.
Thanks, Kerry! I'm using the same internal monologue that you suggested-
I just keep telling myself that no one is that cruel that they would email me and talk to me on the phone about how great my sample was unless they intended to admit me, barring any unforeseen craziness on their end. Hopefully we're right about that. Because if not, the resulting rejection would sting a lot more than the rest of them.
It's even more fun if you mix 'em up:
Wrecking Afternoon and Golden Light
Light Afternoon and Golden Wrecking
The Afternoon of Wrecking Golden Lights
OK, really need to get back to work now.
Okay, I have to get away from this blog for a while. Portland is having some rare sun this week. It's like a Virgin-Mary-on-the-Dorito type of miracle. I must replenish my vitamin D. Later, y'all!
@ Nefrettiti -
Because announcing good news is the possible bearing of bad news for others. I'm delighted, as I said, but half of me is reserved for those I know who'll be disappointed - for example, I was rejected from Amherst a couple of years ago, and was hearing of possible rejections here too at the moment, together with the fact that it's been a long process for me over the last few years, questioning my own work in the slightly unnatural light that M.F.A. rejections cast.
Dear Michigan, let me in please. Thanks.
...a draft of the email I've been tempted to send all day today.
@MommyJ
I'm sorry to hear today isn't that great of a day for you. I understand that there are really only two options to be playing with right now... extreme anxiety or depression.
I'm keeping you in my thoughts and hope you do get that call you so badly want/need. And I'll cheer you on, regardless of the outcome.
It really is too bad wishing and wanting something isn't enough to get what you want here.
@ Kerry
I've heard the horror stories. I work for a public school so things are a little more stable. Though, last year the notified 100 or so new teachers that they wouldn't be needing them, the day before their flight. This is the Seoul Education Office.
But on a side note, I've heard that business, in general, is tough all over asia, for westerners and other asians. They just operate using a different paradigm. If you aren't savvy to the tricks, then you shouldn't be here, type mentality. Fortunately, I've had a great principal and awesome co-workers.
Wreck--
That is absolutely wonderful. I trust you, too :)
They tell you about your funding? Did you, perchance, get a fellowship?
Concerning The Odds and Others:
Going back just a little, but I've been having to work really hard at "expectation management," as I've come to call it. I found Seth's tidbit on having better odds at getting into Harvard Law School a very quick, easy way to prepare everyone for what - at this point - looks to be a season of rejections for yours truly.
Lately, I've been thinking a ton about what Plan B looks like, and I can't decide. Plan B would probably be stay put and keep teaching while I apply all over again. Applying all over again is a given, non-negotiable. I think I'm getting burnt out on teaching here in sunny AZ, though, especially when next year's budget projections - while not yet final - are ranging somewhere between cataclysmic and apocalyptic.
I'd love to hear ideas, even those involving teaching abroad (with reputable agencies).
I know I need cheering up, too, and on that front, I'm willing to consider anything short of a sunshine enema.
Wrecking Golden in the Afternoon Light
The Golden Wreck of the Afternoon Light
Afterlight of the GoldWreck
Nice, philly!
@RugbyToy.
Well a few more details on that... I was told that they had just finished up in whatever room they'd be deliberating in "fifteen minutes ago" (at 4 p.m. EST).
Actually, I missed the original call, which was to my home number and asked me to call back about the financial form I'd submitted - Connie, the woman I spoke to, just asked if I wanted to put Fellowships as my first choice (as I had done), or to switch to a teaching-based source of funding...because I'd been accepted. I just said back that whatever would allow me to survive would be the good thing, and goofballed my way through a conversation.
Congrats to all the new acceptances (since I posted last)!!!
@Dreux & Woon (can I just call you Droon or Weux for short?) - You always confuse me. Might be a GNE, the PG read my sample and said GMWAS, dude, and asked me to call him on his satellite phone - he's not reading anyone else's manuscripts want brought mine with him on his expedition to the source of the Orinoco. Another mentioned to me that he thought my sample was so great that he'd like me to sleep with his wife - his sperm has low motility, you see, and they'd be honored to have such brilliant writer seed in their only child....
Huh?
Rejection from Iowa NWP by mail.
Frankish,
Dude, you seem to have a better handle on it than I do. Any of those scenarios, however ridiculous, would at least be somehow conclusive. As of right now, without any further news (regarding insemination, acceptance, etc.) all I know is that someone liked my writing. Which, you know, is great, especially when that someone runs an MFA program. But if I don't hear back, it's really not any better than Jimmy-Joe or Bobby-Frank liking my story in the workshop down at Tommy-Bill's General Store.
@frankish
Thanks for that! I needed a laugh, and your inspired bit of insanity caused me to laugh out loud at work. Really loud, and it must have been an odd laugh, too. My students, all working on writing an essay, turned to stare in an eerie unison. You have my gratitude.
@Jamie
Lighting the Wreck: Afternoon Gold
@xataro
http://etis.sen.go.kr/
Check this out.This is the government program I work for. Generally, Korea and Taiwan pay the best and offer the best benefits. Korea's currency follows the dollar and is never far off, so that's helpful if you're thinking about money. I would go into the immaterial benefits of the experience but there are far too many to list.
If you want to learn more about teaching abroad, check out:
www.eslcafe.com
The forums are super useful. You can talk to people who are in country. Research, research, research. Research.
@ philly
And that's the match!
Oh, and whoever asked about UNCW -- it's been all quiet on the UNC front so far this year.
Wreck,
Thank you! This is helpful.
So ... any clues about ... I mean, like ... any real clues about if they'd notified everybody?
And, please, no 'it ain't over til it's over' stuff. Please. No more. Just give it to me straight so I can ... go home and pull the thumbtack out of Iowa City on my wall map ...
... and drive it into my aorta.
And in the spirit of the golden rule -- UNCW will start notifying early next week. For sure.
There. I said it.
You're hilarious, man.
I happen to know Jimmy-Joe. Don't knock him. That man's taste is impeccable.
LOL Rugby. I don't think there's really any clear line on the UNCs. They both are consistently saying this year that they're taking it slow and probably won't get to official decisions for a while.
And there's very little info out there to contradict that, as both seem to be sailing past their usual notification dates without much fanfare.
@RugbyToy.
I honestly don't have any idea about their notifications - there was no hint about whether I was notified first, last, or whether they were staggering it. I did gain the sense, from what was said, that all decisions on acceptances had been made though - that's just a sense.
As for further comments on funding - I mean, I honestly again don't know what I'll be given, for the packets wouldn't be mailed out "for a couple of weeks".
@Spencer
Thanks for the info. I'm going to look into this more since I'm qualified at Level A, and it looks like I'd actually get paid more in Korea than Arizona. I have a new research obsession! Yes!
Dreux:
I'm glad I'm not the only one freaking about my GNE that hasn't turned into a concrete acceptance. I was so happy when I first got it. I was ecstatic. I called my sister and woke her up with my screeching. Now, the excitement has halted, and I'm just nervous. I want an official acceptance. I want to request time off work for an open house, I want to buy some plane tickets, I want to move on with my life!
:(
Laura,
Amen. I was browsing my old sent texts because I was bored yesterday, and I found one I sent my girlfriend the day I got my GNE/had my phonecall.
It said: "I think I just got into grad school with a full ride."
Such a bummer to read that now with no official acceptance in hand. I'm hoping for the best for us, though!
If I could get any sort of good news, my mind would be at ease. I think the worst part is not knowing where you stand AT ALL.
Jarsh,
No hard feelings. Heart centers open! Acceptance methods are posted on the Driftless House blog. A few programs notify by mail (m).
Xataro
Glad I could help. The Koreans are crazy about English, less for practical reasons, and more because it is a status symbol. English is a luxury item here. Weird.
I didn't post to the acceptance tally blog because I forgot and was, surprise, excited and not thinking solely about my "duties" on the Internet. Also, I'm not a new poster. I had asked a question before, but I don't hang out here and post all day about how nervous I am or what I may or may not be baking because that isn't the purpose of this blog for me (I'm not criticizing those who do, but just saying that's not me). I come here to read when acceptances occur; I skip everything else.
And so I posted the basics people report on their acceptances here. I also just posted the basics because I don't want to post the details. I feel weird enough posting the acceptance and sharing that they said they aren't done reading for fiction; I don't really want to go into the details of everything else. I don't really get why that's strange. I thought I'd share the acceptance because I figured anyone who was truly dying to know about whether Iowa was contacting people would appreciate that. But that's it.
Thanks to those who have offered congrats. And best of luck to everyone.
@frankish -- what's GMWAS? Also, how could you confuse me with Dreux? I thought Dreux was the former-bad-guy-now-reformed-good-guy. Me? I'm the guy who tells people to "Calm down!" and gets psyched by non-acceptance GNEs. Also, not a baker, butcher, or candlestick maker.
@ WreckingLight
That's fantastic news. I can't imagine how relieved you feel right now.. vindicated, even.
You sound like a nice person too.. which makes me even more happy for you. Big Congrats!
Still catching up...
@MommyJ
I'm still cheering for you. I loved reading your sample, and I hope they did, too. Maybe they'll call tomorrow to provide a strong finish to the week. They're waiting to call their favorite as the last call they make on Friday.
Congratulations to the Iowa acceptees!
go_fish, thanks for informing us. Don't take the reaction too personally; people are just desperate to hear what they want to hear right now. I won't even begin to describe the mental contortions I've been going through in response to an odd email or two over the past few weeks. We'll go far - sometimes too far - to maintain hope.
In the realm of distractions--
The Real World DC has been totally terrible, but last night's episode was really funny. It was like an extended version of an American Idol audition gone wrong. One of the housemates who considers himself a musician turns out to be totally tone deaf, a display compounded (in hilarity) by the fact that he clearly has Napoleon syndrome about his singing ability and spent plenty of time in the confessional talking about how awesome he is.
Oh, and deciding his new band should be called 'Wicked Liquid.'
dreux,
not to mention when erika snuck in to STEAL HIS BAND while he was on the phone
go_fish,
I think the hubbub stemmed from the tone of your post. No "I'm really excited" or "good luck to you all." When you say you were doing what everyone else does, it's not quite on the ball ... because everyone else would know that the first acceptance to the Iowa Workshop would be the most anticipated post of the season and set a firestorm of hearts aflutter. To offer so little info and so little recognition for how freaked and desperate people are seems out of character for this blog. That's why it looked weird.
On the other hand, yes, people do want whatever info they can get, and you did do us a great service. You owe us absolutely nothing. But please understand the reaction, the confusion was based on an apparent insensitivity to blog tenor and custom.
Jesus, that last line was terrible. Maybe such is the stuff that justifies why I didn't get into Iowa, tho ;)
I do wish you well. Sincerely. Especially because each of us knows what it is to be doubted.
You get the last laugh. :)
I am sorry. I mean that.
Congrats WreckingLight! It's wonderful that your years of work are paying off in the best way.
Yeah, no hard feelings. It's just a blog. But I guess that's my point. I was saying I posted the minimum of what people post about these things: School, genre, day, method of notification. Of course I was excited, but as I'm not the kind of poster who hangs out here, I didn't see the need to share my excitement with strangers in the form of saying how happy I was. That's what my friends and family are for. I can see why people would find it unusual compared to how most people are on this blog but to think that meant it was made up just seems odd to me, that's all. All right, I'm done posting on this. Best of luck to everyone.
hey there:
i'm a part time lurker who posts here and there, mostly when i'm absolutely losing it, like, um, right now.
i'm the one who posted the note about minnesota notifying on monday. this is what i was told when i called last week. however, it's thursday, and not a peep. so frustrating.
i was wondering if anyone else has called or heard anything? i tried calling again, but got voicemail. don't know why i even bother -- probably because i feel helpless and it's some sort of "action," even if it is a totally useless one.
also, tried calling iowa to find out if they were done notifying CNF acceptances and, if so, when they'll be getting to wait list and rejected folks.
Since I can't get folks on the phone and even if I did I probably wouldn't get a real answer to my question (really...i shouldn't be calling in the first place), I was wondering if anyone on here has news with regard to Iowa or Minnesota, re: CNF. Pulease! Anything!
Thanks. I will go back to silent freaking out once more...
Dreux:
I know! I mean. My birthday is tomorrow, and a real acceptance would be the best birthday present ever! Even better if I get funding. :-X
If I read my old text messages, I'd probably give up on myself entirely. Haha. "Oh god, stop typing "you" as "u"! Lazy bum!"
@Brad Smith.
I feel a little exhausted really, somewhat for me, somewhat for others - this isn't a fair process, and, at times, I felt let down by it. I'm sure everybody here feels that they just want to wring the potential in their writing into the open, or for those involved in judging to do so (in the way a committee should) - I feel for that gap between what's submitted on paper, and what's submitted in spirit.
I've always said that poetic maturity comes about as a matter of projecting your writing a couple of years ahead of itself, and it's an important notion to come to terms with if you have the next year to face applications again, that there's a certain amount of violence to employ against your own work. In essence, my personal statement came to deal closely with such development, and what it's like to have to re-stage yourself time and time again, and what comes out as a result. In time I will post it for you all - it's personal to me, perhaps even disarmingly lost, but I think more mature for it.
As you say too, vindicated - I had a core band of referees and institutions who believed in my writing, and helped me when I was very much in the doldrums between applications. This was, incidentally, to be the last year of M.F.A. applications, for I was to go it alone for the duration of the book, and was ready for it, no matter the further sacrifices I would have had to have made (they were mounting).
As a few helpful pointers for others, some that may cheer you, I have never properly published (I'm not ready), come from a lower-class background, have had experience on several residencies (some "minor", some well-known), attended a good school (but didn't really often hit a good gear there), fought hard for funding, taught where I could, got rejected at times where I thought I was good enough, gained some confidence for operating publicly, made calls I wouldn't have a year previously, but, most importantly, kept refusing to be beaten by the process.
There's every chance that I'll find the next several application results to be rejections, but I'll be very glad to see others get in, and I'm looking forward to hearing of those over the next month or so.
@Denise
I know Iowa CNF has finished notifying acceptances (and, I'd assume, waitlisters). I got my rejection letter from them in the mail today. They told me when I called two days ago that if you haven't heard anything, you're rejected and the letter is in the mail.
Sorry. I know it's a terrible feeling. But I think it's better to know now than have to wait for the letter.
Good luck with your other programs! I didn't apply to Minn, so I don't know about them.
Here's a good way to distract yourself: find someone you're interested in. Spend an inordinate amount of time with them, but make it a goal to keep it platonic even though endless flirtation ensues. Try not to succumb to the charms of said chocolatier interest.
That's what I'm doing, and it works. We stay up way too late at night making chocolates and not talking about MFAs and I'm a better human being for it.
And I'm in deep, deep denial (see above).
I can't believe I'm actually one of those people who gets to make this kind of post, but I've just been accepted into Minnesota for fiction.
Congrats Rose!!! I'm really jealous. I want to be one of those people really badly, too... SOON? Please, schools of my dreams, PLEASE?
Yaaaaay Rose yaaaaaaay
Wrecking - great post. I agree with everything you said, right down to that frustrating gap between what's on the page, and what you feel capable of in the long-term. after some truly terrible sleepless nights I've reconciled myself to the idea that given the insane hypercompetitiveness in fiction this year, I may not have done an adequate job of showing not only my talent, but the nascent potential behind that talent. I'm sure that comes into consideration as well.
and congrats Rose!!
in the interest of furthering anxiety amongst Iowa-applying poets, i've just received an email from the program (in response to my own) to inform me that the committee hasn't finished choosing poets yet.
your friendly lurker,
carolynem
@ carolynem: THANK YOU SO MUCH. I really appreciate that news.
Anyone heard any more from Boulder?
@Carolynem.
I guess I interpreted "finished up" as completely finished - perhaps it was finished for the day.
Rose, congrats! I'm totally jealous.
Way to go, Rose :) I really hope you enjoy this moment, because ... how quickly it is that we all get back down on ourselves after good news. Don't let go of your joy.
Fedex just came to my door. Er, rather, Fedex came to my house. I met the delivery person in my driveway. She said, "Uhhh. I have a package for Laura?" And since I have 4 roommates, I threw my hands up in the air and cried, "YES!"
Squinting to read the sender's name (Fedex forms have ridiculously dim lettering, they used to drive me crazy when I worked in a mail room), I finally deciphered it. My uncle's name.
He sent me a tracksuit for my birthday.
:(
Okay, I gave into the temptation and called UMass. The woman said that they started notifying people today, and that she didn't know if they were done yet (she seemed to feel really bad that she didn't know more because I kept asking "Are they done? Do you know when they will be?"). Sounds like decisions have been made, and we'll just have to wait it out. If I don't hear by the end of the day, I'm calling again tomorrow to ask if they're done. So impatient!!
Congratulations, Rose!
I think I have lost track of others accepted. Wrecking? Yes? Congratulations!! Golden Something or Other? Congratulations! And congrats to anyone else I have missed!
Newly healed from the walk in the sun I am ready for another day of waiting for more news...
WreckingLight,
Kudos to you for being so persistent, and congrats on your acceptance.
For all of you veteran applicants, do you go back to the same people for recommendations year after year? I would love to re-apply later on, but I'd hate to inconvenience my professors by asking them to write me more. =(
Hey Kara,
Yes, this is probably the most competitive year on record.
I would offer other condolences, but it seems a little premature for that and I'm also not very good at that sort of thing. There's nothing I can say that would help you get up from a blow like the one you're fearing if you didn't already have it in you.
But I will offer the same general advice you've probably run across already: February 18th is NOT panic button time.
Many of us will indeed be hitting the panic button eventually. There's no doubt about that. But this is way too early.
Besides the fact that plenty of your schools haven't notified, anyone who's been through this process before can tell you that some serious shell games start taking place in late March/early April.
While some schools are very prompt with their waitlist notifications, others are much less organized, leading people to get offers well up to the April 15th decision date.
So your panic button may get some use this year, but not yet. You can probably take it out of the box and plug it in on March 20th, and maybe start practicing your push technique (yuck, that sounded like a birthing reference) on the 25th, but those dates are a month and change away.
@ laura. hilarious. maybe he wanted you to have something to wear for your victory lap, when you get into ALL the programs. even ones you didn't apply to.
@carolynem
"in the interest of furthering anxiety amongst Iowa-applying poets..."
AHHHHH WELL YOU CERTAINLY DID DO THAT! AHHHHHH!!!!
@ phillywriter: hi friend! i have also been rejected from wash-u/wisc/texas. i also applied to a "buttload" of schools. here's to you and me.
@mj
I started to ask whether you were fiction, too - then realized you applied to Wisconsin, so that makes you fiction. Duh.
Here's hoping for good news for all of us soon!
Such great advice, RugbyToy. Hold onto that precious feeling of accomplishment! Congratulations Rose! (And everyone rocking acceptances this week!) It's so easy to discount ourselves. I know the majority of the schools I applied to have traditionally notified the first week in March. I'm bracing myself! It feels like we've been waiting forever, but this will be over so fast. Here's hoping!
Time-wasters: went to a punk/hardcore show last night and one of the bands totally blew my mind. Bought a demo, am reading their lyrics now, and they're a serious cut above the standard macho bullshit those kinds of bands usually fall into:
"I am a witness, not a believer. And in my short life I've only witnessed night. The dawn you've seen is a myth to me, a soothing dream draped in impossible light. I've seen too many lives wasted running blindly in the darkness, too many lives lived in nonstop flight.
I haven't seen the lonesome valley -- I don't know what it looks like. But everyone I know tries to board that plane, wants to take that nonstop flight.
You've got to walk that lonesome valley. You've got to walk it on your own. You've got to walk that lonesome valley carrying a fragile heart that weighs like lead on the groaning frame of your wary, buried bones."
Thank you Dreux. You put things in perspective. I appreciate it!
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