I got a phone call from Steve Tomasula when I was accepted last month, then a call last week about the fellowship, plus emails following both calls. Don't give up hope! Like I said, I'm not going, so a spot will open up.
Can I ask what it is about Notre Dame that makes it your first choice? Where else are you waiting to hear from?
Notre Dame is a legacy/family history thing. But besides that and of course, the football, its more of a feeling, I guess.
I wanted to go to Notre Dame for undergrad but ended up staying close to home (in CA), and it only seemed natural to apply for grad school. I got to visit the school in November and actually dropped off my application and met with several people in the Creative Writing dept. and a student as well. It just felt so right.
I also applied to Hunter, U Arizona and Columbia College (rejections)... UNCW and George Mason (waitlists)... Arkansas, Baltimore, Hollins and Notre Dame (no word)
I emailed and asked if there were chances of getting funding if you got in off the waitlist. The director's answer was nice and vague, but was essentially "if you have any other offer, take it as we probably won't have funding for waitlisters."
I know this has nothing to do with anything, but after our discussion about making ethical choices in the last mailbag, I just remembered something:
In law school, I was given all sorts of funding, including a university loan. The loan was one of those honorary payback deals -- no one forced you to pay the school back, but they hoped you would. Something like that. Well, during my final semester, they held an informational meeting of all loanees to discuss how one can pay back and such. I never went to that meeting because I totally forgot about it. Since graduation, I never paid them back. I think I should. Damn. I'm feeling guilty now.
I know I read somewhere along the way on this blog that people had been accepted to Idaho - I was accepted as well and I'm about 99% certain I'm going to go. If you got accepted and want to chat, please email me at kblanton (at) email.arizona.edu. I'm really excited and I'd love to hear what else people think about Moscow...
Are you people wondering/worried about how one actually goes about getting to the campus? I do. I'm not taking my car; I'm flying in. Not only that, I plan to fly back and forth between my home in California and my campus once in a while. For example, I didn't apply to Montana or Idaho, but let's say I got in. How does one "fly into" Missoula, MT or Moscow, ID? I suspect you have to fly in to the nearest airport and then drive 7 hours to the campus. Issues like this bother the hell out of me.
Most universities in the U.S. are really close to airports. But a lot of times, universities will have shuttles available to students. Or you can just ask a friend. But I highly doubt there are any 7 hour drives. The longest I can think of is Notre Dame and it's 3 hours from Indianapolis airport. But there is a really small airport within 30 minutes of the school. It just makes the airline selection a little more scarce.
I'm sort of worried about this too. If I go to SIUC, I'll have to either fly into Chicago and then take Amtrak (5 hr trip but the train stop is practically on campus) or fly into St. Louis and drive for 3 hours. If I go to ND, I'll have to fly to Chicago and either take the metro rail or drive to South Bend.
RE VISITING: There is an airport in Missoula. Check out an airline called Allegiant, it flies there for cheap (from some places). Like sixty bucks cheap.
I'm in LA and the flights to Missoula are scarce. Trying to visit, but the regular airlines are so expensive. Don't know what I'm going to do yet...
@WT, Emma - YES! This is what I'm talking about! Finally, someone gets me.
@Emma - hope you get into Iowa. Iowa is easy. Fly into Cedar Rapids airport via major hubs (Denver, Minneapolis, Chicago, etc.) and then drive 30 minutes to Iowa City. Paradise in Montana is worth it, ttytt. Gainesville is also a problem - Fly into Atlanta, then Jacksonville, then a 2-hr shuttle ride to Gainesville.
@WT - re. South Bend is a biatch. How do the thousands and thousands of undergrads do it? Someone must've figured out how to get them to ND easily.
Yes, it's not like deciding between an expensive program and a fully-funded program, but one is a lot more expensive than the other. Sarah Lawrence has higher tuition than Emerson, and if I get good enough financial aid from Emerson (like I didn't from SLC), then that will bring the price down even lower. And I have a cheap place to live in Boston -- really doubt that I would be able to find a place that cheap in New York. I might have to take loans for Emerson too, depending on what the financial aid package looks like, but even if I did, the difference in debt between Emerson and SLC would be huge, because at SLC I would also have to take out loans for living expenses on top of the high tuition, at Emerson I wouldn't.
Yes, the Sarah Lawrence faculty is amazing (Amanda, I also think Marie Howe is a goddess!) and I would love to work with them, but when it comes down to it, I can't find a way to rationalize a huge amount of debt for a degree in poetry, no matter how much I try to think of one!
Aside from being less expensive, I really do also love the program at Emerson. There are actually more things I love about it than things I love about Sarah Lawrence -- SLC, it pretty much comes down to the faculty, and some things about the SLC program I don't especially like (like the lack of college-level teaching experience). Emerson, there are many things I like about it, and the faculty there are also great, and the students I've talked to say that they are great teachers.
Oh dear, I'm sorry for taking up so much blog space with my rambling indecisiveness...
Wow, traveling to Gainesville sounds like a total nightmare! And I assume that my stipend at Montana would include my own horse, so travel should be no problem. Once again, decision problems solved!
@WT - they really should put that on their website for laughs. LOL! Although I imagine the higher ups in the administration will fire all their asses if they did.
I share your sentiments. I sat all day in my cubicle staring at my cell phone, answering the work phone with unusual eagerness. I'm more and more discouraged by the hour, though I'm not sure how appropriate that is.
Congrats to everyone that heard good news today!!!
The teaching assistantship comes with it a nine thousand dollar stipend. In addition, upon completion of one satisfactory semester of coursework, all students will be fitted with a pair of leather chaps and given a horse. Students selected for the prestigious John Wayne Fellowship will be given a wild stallion to break in themselves...
For those who applied to Mills College: I contacted the program office today and Jess Heaney said e-mail notifications will go out in late March/early April.
Attention, people waiting to hear from Boise State in fiction:
I got an email from them today letting me know I'm on the waitlist! Yay! Here's the really interesting part, though- they told me they are only accepting TWO students with a waitlist of six students. The two offers, both with a TA, have gone out, and they're waiting to hear back. As my grandparents would say, well I'll be.
So if you're wondering about your status, email Professor Mitchell Weiland at mweiland@boisestate.edu.
@ MissKitch123
I'm been accepted to Idaho and am also an Arizona alum- small world! I would love to attend Idaho if I can get off the TA waitlist. What's your funding situation and genre? (I'm fiction.) I'm at searchoflosttime at gmail, if you want to chat off blog.
@Emma - re. Gainesville. In all fairness, Gainesville has a regional airport, but flights are more expensive and so infrequent that you'll find yourself waiting at the connecting airport for hours and hours. It would almost be like an international flight, what with all the hours elapsed.
I've been told the key is to get to Atlanta, then fly into Jacksonville, followed by the 2-hr shuttle ride. Still, not easy.
As if I couldn't feel worse with all this MFA rejection and soon-to-be rejection, I came hope from work to discover I accidentally locked my cat in the bathroom all day... the one without the litter box. On top of being a terrible writer, I am also a terrible pet owner.
Received an unexpected call from one of the fiction students @ Columbia College (while at my birthday dinner with Dad, no less). I asked some questions and we talked for a little while about the program. Now I'm even more excited to visit.
These next 13 days are going to go by so slowly...
@red Don't be silly. The Stipend Horse probably wouldn't fit through your bathroom doorway, and in the event it did get locked in, it'd kick it's way out to freedom in no time.
Gainesville, as I told you before, has flights that mainly connect to Charlotte and ATL. ATL is the busiest US airport, and I know you can go direct from where you are to ATL.
re: finding out how to get from airport to school: check each school's propsective students/visiting campus page. Trust me, this is info they regularly have to provide people. and they want to make things easy on visiting students or those students won't apply. :-)
Congrats to Dry Leaves-- good day on the CNF front!
For anyone in a state of perpetual silence from GMU, I emailed and heard back something along the lines of: "Hey, sorry about the wait, but there are a lot of applications that don't have a decision attached yet. Yours is one of those." But more polite, of course. So... kind of a secondary waitlist while they watch everything else shake out? Ugh for holding cells.
@koru - it almost sounds like you're scolding me. "...as I told you before...dammit..."
I got my intel directly from MFA students and a forum frequented by many UF students. Any major hub to Jacksonville. For me, it's Atlanta to Jacksonville and 2-hr shuttle ride to Gainesville. I don't need to get to Charlotte, because I've got more options to Atlanta.
yes, i was scolding you. :-) because you asked the same questions/made the same complaints earlier, and we had tried to sort you then.
regarding Gainesville or Jacksonville: You can get flights into Gainesville just fine. They connect to either Charlotte or Atlanta. They sometimes/usually cost a bit more for the convenience. But they certainly exist. Jacksonville is the cheaper option. You get to choose convenience or price. Orlando is a further-flung option still, but with even better connections.
@U Washington, Seattle poetry people: I just found out that I'm on a waitlist for a TA position, and my girlfriend got into their PhD program today for English. If you are accepted and you plan on taking another offer, please have mercy so we don't have to live a country away from each other! :)
Still no word from FSU, NYU (pretty sure that's a dud), Indiana, or Columbia. If Seth was right, Maurice Manning is leaving Indiana anyways, so that would be a heart-breaker.
@koru - I was not complaining about Gainesville. I was merely trying to dissuade Emma from committing to Florida. I know all about how to get to Gainesville from where I am. I won't ever take a flight directly into Gainesville regional airport because of the added expense and unacceptable wait times due to infrequent flights. Sheesh! It was just a play vs. Emma.
@koru - when have I not been supportive? I've always been supportive. Like I was telling Arna to go to Cornell or Texas, instead of Iowa. Like I was telling Emma to pick Montana or Iowa (off waitlist). My middle name is Supportive!
i know it's late in the game, but it was for my own mental health. i think you understand.
wondering if i could track down the other LSU fiction folk? looks like i'll be headed down to the bayous come august... would be lovely to (virtually) meet some others headed that direction.
wee meathead? i think i creeped a peep somewhere that you were in?
The theremin cannot be understood or appreciated by reading about it. One must hear it. Upon hearing it, one will exclaim, "Oh, THAT'S the Theremin? I've heard THAT before!"
I won't be attending the program, but I've lived in Idaho for 20 years and have been up to Moscow a few times. I can tell you what I know. I also have a friend from Sandpoint who frequents Moscow. He always flies out of Spokane. I think that's what you'd be doing to get in and out of the area. If you'd like some info, don't hesitate to ask!
I'm accepted for poetry and received a reply to my email today that some people that at least one person that has been offered funding has until March 22 to respond. After that, my take from the email was that they should be notifying the rest of those accepted that theoretically there is no more funding.
At that point, I think there should be a number of spots opening up (that's my guess). I'm leaning very heavily towards a no to UNCW, so someone on the waitlist should be contacted for poetry soon. Hope this helps. Good luck to all this week.
I think MFAguy got into LSU for fiction? Whoever it was posted something about it on the thread (TO me, that's how I remember!). Maybe it was Aaron Apps... ? It would have been around the 7th, 8th, or 9th I'm guessing?
and CONGRATS skip! I am very jealous! Baton Rouge will be awesome, and LSU's funding is sweeeeet.
So the closest thing I've gotten to good news is that I have not (yet) received an email rejection from Purdue, as some others have. It's not much, but I'll take it. If I could walk away from this year knowing I wasn't in all of the lowest piles everywhere, that would be enough to keep me going for another round.
What's the funding like at the University of My Girlfriend's Mom? Because I got into the College of my Grandmother Told Me I'll Be Turning Away 5 of the 6 Schools I Applied To, but their funding really sucks.
Seriously, though. I feel your pain. My only shots at this point are UVA and UNCG - yikes!
Congrats to all of you with good news! I obsessively checked my phone at work today. The silence was crazy.
@Arna Bontemps
Best of luck to you, your list was impressive! You must be a hell of a writer….you have truly earned your spot at Iowa’s workshop! Best of luck in the future.
@Courtney
You also have some also options and I am impressed! If you feel like sharing a portion of a story you sent, I’d love to see what you are writing! I understand everyone feels differently about that though, so no worries. Best of luck in your decision!
@junowind
Congrats on Sarah Lawrence! Gotta love the good letters in conjunction with those dreadful ones.
@Austin
THANK YOU for the UNCG information many of us have been itching for.
@red
Terrible writer and terrible pet owner was the laugh I needed today. Good luck with both!
University of My Girlfriend’s Mom...I've actually been accepted to their brother school, University of My Boyfriend’s Naïve Cheerleadering/Lack of Understanding of MFA Programs.
Is there a reason why I'm not getting email updates from this blog? I guess that shows addiction when I think something's wrong that my email isn't getting updated with new blog posts every couple of minutes.
Does anyone know how that happens, I'm subscribed and all... I think...
@Julia -- Did you click the box to Email follow-up comments to yourself? I've never checked this box because I am an email hermit, but isn't this what you need to do to subscribe?
I like talk about mysterious holding files and the like. I wonder if more applicants are taking the advice to apply to a dozen+ schools, with the very best getting in near everywhere and therefore leaving lots of holes behind them when make their decision. Could this be why schools who made acceptances over a month ago (Illinois, Ohio State, Minnesota) are holding back on sending rejections?
Or it could be that they just haven't gotten around to sending them.
At this point though, I'm comforted by holding on to a bit of fantasy.
Still waiting on Iowa State, Mills, and Chatham, so it may be awhile before I know for sure what's going on with the next two years of my life, but I feel pretty good right now anyway.
@ Kate: How did you find out you are on a waitlist for a TAship for Washington? I got my acceptance in the mail a few days ago with no mention of funding.
HAHA My mom thinks I'm a genius. She's shocked I haven't heard anything. She just chuckles and says God doesn't make mistakes. So I might just be the child genius of a prophet.
Yesterday I emailed Sheryl at Chatham to let her know I will be not be attending at the fall, so I hope that opens some opportunities up for other people in poetry. Even though I was nominated for a fellowship and eligible for an assistantship, assuming I got both would not be nearly enough to cover tuition and living expenses (plus it's no guarantee that I'll have them for both years).
Penn State is giving me an offer that is becoming more and more appealing every day, and I highly doubt if I get into other schools that their offers will be better. However, I'm still going to wait it out and see if anything else happens.
Also, I'm heading up to Penn State for the weekend for their recruitment weekend. I'm really hoping I enjoy my stay while I'm there. Is anyone else attending?
I myself have been accepted by the University of My Husband Who Totally Believes in Me. Which is also swell. He calls me every day at work to ask if I've heard anything today. And I only applied to one school.
Which hasn't turned me down. Yet. And has sent out at least one rejection. To somebody else.
So I must be swell.
Yikes. That's pathetic.
PS. Woon, personally, for me, your little plots are giving this blog some much appreciated levity. I say, have at it.
rejected at irvine for fiction via a scanned copy of snail mail attached to e-mail. they said the reason for e-mailing was the time-sensitive nature of the decision process. can't wait to get rejected again in a few days/weeks!
@Woon - From my research I feel like I will really like the program when I visit. The program is fairly small and apparently very close-knit (I guess I'll find the details out this weekend). I had a really nice and informative conversation with Julia Kasdorf on the phone after I got accepted. If I decide to attend I will still be able to pursue interests in my other major, environmental studies, with one of the faculty who actually attended my college (Washington College) as an undergrad and won the large writing prize the English department offers when he graduated. Such a strange coincidence.
Also, the offer is great. Every person accepted gets full tuition remission, health insurance, and a stipend. Adding in a scholarship I got, my stipend will be around $18,000 a year for both years. Hooray!
@Hullabaloo - as far as the mysterious holding files go... I've totally been rejected from Minnesota, and I don't think I'm alone there. So if you haven't been... then I'd reckon you are indeed in the mysterious holding file! :) Cool. And I like your theory; really, I think that makes a lot of sense.
Congrats @Dry Leaves, Carrie, Rhizobium, and everybody else!
@Kate I will cross all my fingers and toes for you and your lady! I was born and raised in Seattle (and both my parents are UW faculty, though not in departments that could help you out, unfortunately) and it's a great place to live. Good luck!
I posted a couple of times but it's been awhile. I have been peeking once in awhile but I'm really trying, with minimal success, not to obsess.
My status is this (all CNF):
Accepted: WVU Waitlisted: GMU ("very high" on the waitlist)
No word: American, LSU, GCSU, Memphis
The silence is really frustrating, but I would be thrilled to go to WVU. In fact, even if I am accepted at any of the others I am likely to choose WVU.
I am going to withdraw from consideration at Memphis. There is nothing they could offer that would compete with WVU. I think I am going to take me name off GMU's waitlist. I applied there because it is local (and cheap) and I could keep on working part time and go to school part time. But I visited and was very unimpressed. I also think I really want the immersion experience. So I am going to withdraw there -- the rest of you can move up a little!
Congrats to all accepted and waitlisted. I am still waiting...but feeling relieved I didn't apply to UCI or any other school with crappy rejection letters. Who else makes the top ten list of worst rejections? I remember someone remarking about the paper quality, an email link to a posted rejection and an email subject line from donotreply@. I think for $70-100 we should get more than:
Dear Applicant:
We rejected you even before our bulk rejections went out. We were appalled at your writing sample and even had a good laugh about it. If you are interested in our certificate programs or other graduate programs, we look forward to collecting a few more bucks from you.
@Zoulou -- I'm sorry to hear about your Minnesota rejection, but aah geez, I didn't realize others had been rejected also. Now I really want to believe in the mystery holding file, because Minnesota is my first choice of the 13 places I applied.
I'm also conditionally accepted at the University of My Cat's Heart! My acceptance is conditional upon stopping everything to pet the siamese when he suddenly decides to be affectionate, lol!
ASU had the "ASU Deny Letter" from a donotreply@ address.
I also scoffed at my SIUC snail mail rejection because the envelope was barely sealed; another person noted that his envelope from them wasn't sealed at all.
The silver lining: at least it wasn't on a postcard.
It could be a 4x6 with DENY and then a "Very truly yours, Admissions Committee".
Since I haven't heard from any schools yet, I have been shaking out my Penny Saver to make sure it didn't get stuck in there...trust me, I will judge the quality of the rejection and happily post my critique here.
@Sud I am almost jealous of the VCFA closure you have. Someone posted on DH earlier today I think that they were waitlisted for VCFA Summer and guaranteed a spot for the Winter Res. So...I guess that means there will be no more acceptances for VCFA? Is that a decent interpretation?
I'm leaning toward CC. I've got to get back east for personal reasons (read: save relationship) and have yet to so much as hear from 7 other schools. Also, I think it would be a nice place to go to school. I'm very happy about it save for the moving across the continent thing.
If you'd like to share your thoughts or just chat, you can email me at joshua.a.gardner[at]gmail
@Woon- I agree. I almost want to volunteer to re-write VCFA's very condescending letter, even though it was sent to me. Seriously, we are writer's after all.
personally, i want something that's at least creative ...
brown's was almost amusing, since you had to go through a labyrinth online to get your "denied"
maybe a link to a choose-your-own-adventure where every ending is "Deny"?
or origami shapes that when you unfold them, give the dreadful news .... and which then challenge you to find ways to re-fold them to the more beautiful frog or peace crane it originally was?
I think they should send them out as trading cards. They'd save money on postage and we could have a flickr pool to see how many variations of Deny there are!
Okay, so this isn't really important news, but I just wrote my first piece of writing (that actually turned into something) since I wrote my statement of purpose for all these applications. It's been a long spell of writer's block, and I just karate chopped through it. So relieved.
Just wanted to share. I'm glad MFA notification season is coming to an end. All this stress hasn't been helping my writing.
@Chrissy- I had the same experience, although it was after I wrote the critical essay...nothing would come for a month...the blog didn't help. But I'm writing now and obviously still answering blog posts too. But enjoying the writing like crazy.
I had to take a break from the blog because it was fanning the flames of my naturally occurring hysteria, but I want to say congrats to all the acceptances and waitlist-ers out there. Here are a few of my own:
Poetry Arizona State – denied Arkansas – accepted Illinois – wait-listed Indiana – wait-listed UT-Austin – denied Virginia Tech – accepted Warren Wilson – ?
Bob Hicok actually came out here to Phoenix for a reading, and I had the chance to talk with him about the VTech program. He’s a really friendly, funny, laid-back guy, passionate about teaching. Hello, all you other VTech acceptances (if I remember correctly—cratty, nadiyah, dolores humbert, and ???) let’s exchange notes. Burlaper and I have been in correspondence already. I’m at acupunk[nine] at yahoo.
I am also waiting in line for notice from Pacific - I am poetry.
I applied to a few other low-res programs including VCFA and haven't heard from them either. Maybe the low-res schools get the committee together for a ten day period and if you miss the window, well then, they get to you in 6 months at the next ten day round...
This is the first time I've posted at MFA Blog and reading these mailbags is not doing great things for my self-esteem (or my nerves). Then again, do writers need affirmation of their worth from outside sources? I'm planning on cutting off my ear and mailing it to an ex-lover anyway, so I'm hardly a candidate for success. At any rate, these schools need to get back to me, pronto. My nails are shorter than ever.
I'm poor, so I only had money to apply to three grad schools: Hunter, Brooklyn, and NYU, all in Fiction.
Thus far, I've heard from none of the above. It appears notifications have started going out for NYU in the form of phone calls. Were my confidence of getting into any of them a gas gauge, the needle would probably be on 'E' right now, but I suppose you never know.
I bet my portfolio will be more attractive next year since I'll be done with the first draft of my novel by then. I'm also considering taking off for the Appalachian Trail if things don't work out. Do any grad school rejects want to come with me? We can share books.
@Timothy Marshall Funny thing happened on my way to accepting your offer of Appalachian Trail fellowship. I realized I have not written a novel since about age 16 or so. What kind of fraud am I? No wonder these schools don't want me in their programs. Must have thought it downright rude to apply with a mess of unpublished short stories and hope.
I wish you and your ear luck, my friend. We'll all be hearing soon...ish.
Does anyone know the scoop on Virginia Tech or LSU? Have all of their acceptances and waitlist notifications gone out? Any rejections? Has anyone's online application status changed? I haven't heard back from either one and was getting a little antsy. Thanks!
Well, my friend, this is the first novel I've ever tried to write and I'm almost 26, so you should congratulate yourself on having a little more practice than the rest of us who didn't decide they wanted to be professional writers until it was already time to find real jobs. I think at 16 I mostly watched TV and ate Doritos.
Not to make excuses, but I come from a poor family, a public school education, a mid-college crisis, an aborted college experience, and a BA in English at UMass Boston (granted, I graduated Summa). I think my prospects of getting into an MFA now or ever are pretty much zero, but it's worth a shot, even though I'm sure they screen the dregs like myself out.
Being a huge believer in personal responsibility, most of my faults are due to pure laziness and a lack of discipline. Maybe by age 40 I'll have it all figured out or maybe I'll have the record for most hours logged on the internet, wasting time on MFA Blog and Facebook.
@red The funding profile @ U of my GF Mom is free dinner once a month or so. Better than charging 5 figures a year tuition.
But I think I will pass up her offer in favor of Vodka State University, which makes me feel like a worthwhile human being 5 hours a day for a pittance.
I have you all beat. I was accepted to the University of My Mom Hopes I Don't Get In Anywhere So I Don't Move Across The Country, and was waitlisted at the University of If I Get In Somewhere My Parents Are Going To Pick Up Their Lives And Follow Me.
In regards to getting to campus and around town...I'm from Cali as well and there's no way I'm taking my car to wherever I go if it's out of California. And right now I'm looking at Western Michigan. I'm scared of all the snow. I keep picturing my limp, frozen body iced to some random bush on the side of some random street.
I'm in SoCal, and I can get to Irvine on a good day's walk (Google Map thinks it'll take me 12 hours to walk there). I'm very tempted to do just that... but I'll drive... or just e-mail them...
UCI rejection - sent my letter via email since I don't live in the country, dated March 1st!
Okay what I don't understand is if they already knew they weren't going to accept me on the 1st why the hell did they wait 15 days before informing me?
I'm sorry I can't be more gracious about this but Universities should tell us as soon as they can and put us out of our misery!
@Chrissy, yay for vanquishing your writer's block! I recently finished enough poems to send out a new round of submissions to journals before their reading periods end - because I don't have enough rejections letters already.
On the other hand, I got into My Boyfriend Reads My Poetry Even Though He's a Cryptographer University, and that's pretty swell.
barring some miracle, they won't notify until sometime in april. the only people who read their apps are mfa faculty members in that genre. they make sure every single app gets a good read by a faculty member, and then they have lengthy discussions about their favorites. they're not trying to be jerks/screw everyone else up, they just want to be thorough and fair in an unfair world :)
I know, I know, I keep asking, but the silence is killing me.
Has anyone heard anything from the Hunter College MFA in Poetry Program other than rejections? I understand rejection emails went out on Monday, but I haven't heard anything from them period. I thought we were supposed to find out if we were shortlisted this week. Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?
Hey All -- Even though the schools can't coordinate their news, we could. How about making April 16th the official posting date for our final decisions (barring subsequent waitlist flurry of activity)? It is so fun to hear where everyone gets in -- it would be nice to know (in a semi-clear way) where everyone decides to go!
I know what you mean, in a lot of ways.I come from a similar background(I'm 23.) Hey, at least you've got a draft of a novel. Kudos for that! (I haven't even started mine.)
I only applied to five schools, most of which are CUNYs. Couldn't afford any more than that. Still waiting on two :(
Oh yes, City College people--I finally heard back from the assistant director about the deadline. Here's what he wrote:
"We do not indicate a deadline but we would appreciate a prompt response."
I suspect this means the April 15th date applies; but he's being all moot about it on purpose so that we'd be fooled into thinking we had to accept/decline sooner.
i'd love love love to do a poetry sample swap. i feel like one of the really hard things about the process (for me) was that i really had very little sense of what i should be shooting (or not shooting) for. you know?
i'd love to be in a minipoetry group online. count me in!
@ Matt: I tried to call LSU yesterday to find out whether they were done notifying and got no answer. Maybe you could try emailing?
@ Laura: Congratulations!!!
@ Koru: I say we do it. Ooo and we could also include a free trading card with the initial orders of the MFA Waiting Game baked goods! A sweet helping of indulgence with a side of initial sting, to help you prepare for the road ahead.
Thanks, guys! I was having the most awful morning, and was about to go and have an awful day, but I've changed my mind. This day will be AWESOME.
Good luck to everyone out there in cyberspace! Also, for anyone else who's waiting on UNCG, I know several other people have said it, but I was also told that they would 'definitely' notify this week.
A wise professor once told me any novel written before 25 should be burned. My only novel is about vampires, and I started it long before they were cool. It undoubtably deserves to be burned. I'm only 22, have always known I wanted to be a writer, and have a private school education that has left me in enough debt to cover a nice house in my fave Boston suburb. I looked at UMass Boston for undergrad but couldn't manage to afford living close enough nor make the hour commute from home every day. From all that, I still have 0 acceptances, so the differences don't seem to have effected the outcome.
@Jillian Lauren
I hear you on the parents thing. I was told by my mom that she and my sister don't want me to get accepted to Warren Wilson because it's "too far." For a low residency program. While getting my BA, she used to show up at my dorm on Friday nights to take me home for the weekend, luring me with guilt and the promise of homecooked meals. Note: Refusal was never an option, but the meals were a perk of the kidnapping.
@Ratliff - my first novel is about a Navy Seal operative who goes on a personal mission to free loved ones held captive in North Korea. Needless to say, it stunk. But the one year I wasted to write that crap was invaluable. I learned how NOT to write a novel. Now, it's all about zombies in North Korea. One grows as a writer...
@amanda, haha! i love the idea of the starter pack of rejection trading cards ("Deny card" for ASU!) with the initial order of MFA baked care packages for those beginning the descent into March madness/radness :D
@Woon That reminds me of the recent news story about the teacher that jokingly wrote "Loser" on a student's assignment. To joke or not to joke? Tough call.
Anybody watch "Brotherhood" on Showtime? It was cancelled after three seasons. But it's now available on DVD. I am now watching Season One. So far, I love the show. Anyway, it's about the residents of an Irish district in Providence, RI. My initial reaction: thank god I'm not at Brown.
The only thing I learned is that my current attention span is not enough to follow through with a novel. That'd be my biggest probelm. Things tend to get lost in the middle. I start off strong and somehow end up wandering aimlessly searching for a way to do justice to a halfway decent idea. How uninspired.
Irish living in Providence? Who knew? 4 years living there, and not I. It's the Italians you got to worry about there ;)
I have been checking my online status every day. Today it changed and I got confirmation I'm rejected. Where it used to say "evaluation" it suddenly said "reviewed," and when I clicked on "show more information on status" it said: "Your application for admission was not approved. You will be informed of the decision by mail."
If you're not Irish, today you drink to excess with no qualms, in the spirit of the day, for fun, rather than out of obligation like the Irish blokes who were slurping a Guinness and Jameson last night, and will be tonight. You can call it slumming. It's like trustfunders wearing rags and shoes with holes in them.
@weighs I think you mean were drinking Guinness and Jameson last night, are currently drinking Guinness and Jameson, and will be drinking tonight as well. There is no rest for the celebrating Irish. I wish I could follow suit with some Magners right about now.
Holy crap there are a LOT of comments on here! I'm LOLing at the schools of GF's mom.
@Amanda I am in for poetry and initially received a call that told me they had NO funding to offer anyone (a nice way to say no TAship for Kate). I just received an official letter of admission that says I am on the TAship waitlist, and I emailed the school to doublecheck.
@Hilary Thank you! I know, I would love to live there. My amazing g/f has been accepted to eight programs for a PhD in English, and of course the 2 I was accepted to are either UMASS or UW, maybe without funding! Even our waitlists don't line up. Oh well, I could just be her housewife for a year until I reapply!
I'm sitting on a warehouse full of Guinness, Killians, and Magners, and I just heard news from home there's an envelope for me from VCFA. Sounds like my first rejection has arrived.
@Sandra ... how did you hear from LSU (Louisiana State)? I haven't heard anything from them yet, but had more or less assumed rejection. I applied in fiction.
"I am writing to express my regret that we cannot accept you in the Master of Fine Arts in Writing Program at this time. We accept a very limited number of students and our Faculty Committee felt you could use further preparation in creative writing prior to entering our MFA Program."
Pretty sure I just got told I am underqualified. They go on to refer me to "local colleges or universities that offer creative writing courses" or online courses or conferences or workshops. Dated March 15th.
Sarah Lawrence's was very nice and on good paper. they win for me so far, even telling me to inform them if i apply for 2011 because I guess they keep applications on file?
in my fantasy head they only told me they like me. Sadly, my real-life mind knows that it is a form letter.
The only consolation for that bitchy letter is the fact that you are SURROUNDED BY ALCOHOL. Go console yourself :) And drink one for me. I'm at work. Boo.
I didn't apply to VCFA, but I would be seriously offended if I'd gotten that rejection letter. And it would be condescending even if you were applying straight from undergrad - "assuming you want to continue to improve your work"? Yikes.
@Ratliff-no not really nice enough. Which is a great contrast to their very helpful admin staff who stayed in contact helping me until I sent the final app package. Too bad. Here's my rejection from Oxford, which I think was nice. Also, Iowa's was simple and nice and courteous.
Thank you for your application to read for the above programme of study. We considered your application very carefully but unfortunately we are not able to offer you a place on the MSt in Creative Writing. There were many applications for this programme of study, all of a very high standard, and thus competition for places was intense.
Thank you for your interest in applying for study at the University of Oxford. I am very sorry that the outcome will be disappointing for you, and would like to wish you every success in your future writing career.
I feel better now that it's sunk in that it was an impersonal letter not meant to tell me I'm too young and ignorant for their program, which is how I first took it. No alcohol for now, as I am also at work, and though both my jobs entail encouraging alcohol consumption, they prohibit drinking while on the clock. Don't worry. I'll make up for it tonight. :)
That is also a seriously condescending rejection letter - I don't expect letters to be nice (i.e. tell me what a competitive year it's been, tell me how they had to turn away qualified candidates), but damn...
Wow, that VCFA letter is appalling. Please mutilate it in some way. Paper shredder, scissors, tractor tires... Actually, you'll probably have to throw it into the fires of Mount Doom.
Seriously, that's an evil letter. I don't know what they're thinking.
That's got to be the sloppiest (reported) form letter on this blog. I really think it's reasonable for you to respond with some bridge-burning invective:
"Please understand this email is not meant to influence a reappraisal of my application. I want to address the wording of your form letter. A rejection is enough. Writing the applicant needs 'further preparation in creative writing' isn't helpful. It's unnecessary. I understand the rejection letter tropes--a gradient from hand-holding/coddling to acidic dismissal--but I'm left clueless as to why you included the line. There aren't good, objective metrics for successful MFA applicants An applicant can be rejected from lower-tier programs and get into her top-tier choice. This phenomenon happens frequently enough to challenge a particular program's authority on an applicant's aptitude. Is it useful to urge applicants to seek more training when other programs accept them? Is it ever useful to urge further study in something? We can all do better, as I'm sure you know. We can all work harder. And your program can write a better form rejection letter! [This is where it would be great to include an anecdote of getting into another program. BOOM goes their mindamite.]
2,525 comments:
«Oldest ‹Older 201 – 400 of 2525 Newer› Newest»@ dogfacedgirl
I would kill to study with Janet Fitch! Good luck- I hope your USC funding comes through. Congrats on all your acceptances.
subscribing
@dogfacedgirl
Are you prose or poetry?
@jillian
prose- I applied for fiction, but will probably do USC's non-fiction track.
@Dogfacedgirl
Can I ask how Notre Dame contacted you... when they contacted you... etc. Notre Dame has been my dream school for years and I haven't heard a peep.
@jillian
I got a phone call from Steve Tomasula when I was accepted last month, then a call last week about the fellowship, plus emails following both calls. Don't give up hope! Like I said, I'm not going, so a spot will open up.
Can I ask what it is about Notre Dame that makes it your first choice? Where else are you waiting to hear from?
@Dogfacedgirl
Notre Dame is a legacy/family history thing. But besides that and of course, the football, its more of a feeling, I guess.
I wanted to go to Notre Dame for undergrad but ended up staying close to home (in CA), and it only seemed natural to apply for grad school. I got to visit the school in November and actually dropped off my application and met with several people in the Creative Writing dept. and a student as well. It just felt so right.
I also applied to Hunter, U Arizona and Columbia College (rejections)... UNCW and George Mason (waitlists)... Arkansas, Baltimore, Hollins and Notre Dame (no word)
@dogfacedgirl
Sorry, just realized you asked who I was waiting to hear from, not the whole list. :)
I don't know about you, but I would love to meet dogfacedgirl.
@Woon
Me too... or at least get to read her stuff :)
No, I would like to meet her, face to face.
@JimFifeOH,
re: UNC-W waitlist.
I emailed and asked if there were chances of getting funding if you got in off the waitlist. The director's answer was nice and vague, but was essentially "if you have any other offer, take it as we probably won't have funding for waitlisters."
i've since removed myself from the waitlist.
I know this has nothing to do with anything, but after our discussion about making ethical choices in the last mailbag, I just remembered something:
In law school, I was given all sorts of funding, including a university loan. The loan was one of those honorary payback deals -- no one forced you to pay the school back, but they hoped you would. Something like that. Well, during my final semester, they held an informational meeting of all loanees to discuss how one can pay back and such. I never went to that meeting because I totally forgot about it. Since graduation, I never paid them back. I think I should. Damn. I'm feeling guilty now.
I know I read somewhere along the way on this blog that people had been accepted to Idaho - I was accepted as well and I'm about 99% certain I'm going to go. If you got accepted and want to chat, please email me at kblanton (at) email.arizona.edu. I'm really excited and I'd love to hear what else people think about Moscow...
Accepted to Montana CNF, unfunded, 3/16/10
Are you people wondering/worried about how one actually goes about getting to the campus? I do. I'm not taking my car; I'm flying in. Not only that, I plan to fly back and forth between my home in California and my campus once in a while. For example, I didn't apply to Montana or Idaho, but let's say I got in. How does one "fly into" Missoula, MT or Moscow, ID? I suspect you have to fly in to the nearest airport and then drive 7 hours to the campus. Issues like this bother the hell out of me.
Accepted FIU CNF, mail, 3/16/10
@woon
There are actually airports really close to both cities. In Missoula the closest is about 10 minutes, and in Moscow it's 15.
@Jillian - okay, bad examples. But you get my point.
@Woon
Most universities in the U.S. are really close to airports. But a lot of times, universities will have shuttles available to students. Or you can just ask a friend. But I highly doubt there are any 7 hour drives. The longest I can think of is Notre Dame and it's 3 hours from Indianapolis airport. But there is a really small airport within 30 minutes of the school. It just makes the airline selection a little more scarce.
@Jillian - I think the smaller airports near campuses really don't count because:
(1) they make flights more expensive, and
(2) flights are infrequent (so you have to wait a long time at connecting airports).
The three-hour shuttle service is a bear, to tell you the truth.
Woon,
I'm sort of worried about this too. If I go to SIUC, I'll have to either fly into Chicago and then take Amtrak (5 hr trip but the train stop is practically on campus) or fly into St. Louis and drive for 3 hours. If I go to ND, I'll have to fly to Chicago and either take the metro rail or drive to South Bend.
RE VISITING: There is an airport in Missoula. Check out an airline called Allegiant, it flies there for cheap (from some places). Like sixty bucks cheap.
I'm in LA and the flights to Missoula are scarce. Trying to visit, but the regular airlines are so expensive. Don't know what I'm going to do yet...
@WT, Emma - YES! This is what I'm talking about! Finally, someone gets me.
@Emma - hope you get into Iowa. Iowa is easy. Fly into Cedar Rapids airport via major hubs (Denver, Minneapolis, Chicago, etc.) and then drive 30 minutes to Iowa City. Paradise in Montana is worth it, ttytt. Gainesville is also a problem - Fly into Atlanta, then Jacksonville, then a 2-hr shuttle ride to Gainesville.
@WT - re. South Bend is a biatch. How do the thousands and thousands of undergrads do it? Someone must've figured out how to get them to ND easily.
@ Megan and Amanda,
Thank you both so much for your advice!
Yes, it's not like deciding between an expensive program and a fully-funded program, but one is a lot more expensive than the other. Sarah Lawrence has higher tuition than Emerson, and if I get good enough financial aid from Emerson (like I didn't from SLC), then that will bring the price down even lower. And I have a cheap place to live in Boston -- really doubt that I would be able to find a place that cheap in New York. I might have to take loans for Emerson too, depending on what the financial aid package looks like, but even if I did, the difference in debt between Emerson and SLC would be huge, because at SLC I would also have to take out loans for living expenses on top of the high tuition, at Emerson I wouldn't.
Yes, the Sarah Lawrence faculty is amazing (Amanda, I also think Marie Howe is a goddess!) and I would love to work with them, but when it comes down to it, I can't find a way to rationalize a huge amount of debt for a degree in poetry, no matter how much I try to think of one!
Aside from being less expensive, I really do also love the program at Emerson. There are actually more things I love about it than things I love about Sarah Lawrence -- SLC, it pretty much comes down to the faculty, and some things about the SLC program I don't especially like (like the lack of college-level teaching experience). Emerson, there are many things I like about it, and the faculty there are also great, and the students I've talked to say that they are great teachers.
Oh dear, I'm sorry for taking up so much blog space with my rambling indecisiveness...
@ Woon
Wow, traveling to Gainesville sounds like a total nightmare! And I assume that my stipend at Montana would include my own horse, so travel should be no problem. Once again, decision problems solved!
@Emma - re. Montana's horse stipend. LOL!
How to get to our MFA program:
Drive down rural route . . . make a left after the third barn . . . beware bandits . . . have gold coin ready . . .
@WT - they really should put that on their website for laughs. LOL! Although I imagine the higher ups in the administration will fire all their asses if they did.
The key terminology is "rustic."
@Sarah
I share your sentiments. I sat all day in my cubicle staring at my cell phone, answering the work phone with unusual eagerness. I'm more and more discouraged by the hour, though I'm not sure how appropriate that is.
Congrats to everyone that heard good news today!!!
The teaching assistantship comes with it a nine thousand dollar stipend. In addition, upon completion of one satisfactory semester of coursework, all students will be fitted with a pair of leather chaps and given a horse. Students selected for the prestigious John Wayne Fellowship will be given a wild stallion to break in themselves...
For those who applied to Mills College: I contacted the program office today and Jess Heaney said e-mail notifications will go out in late March/early April.
Hopes this helps someone still waiting.
Attention, people waiting to hear from Boise State in fiction:
I got an email from them today letting me know I'm on the waitlist! Yay! Here's the really interesting part, though- they told me they are only accepting TWO students with a waitlist of six students. The two offers, both with a TA, have gone out, and they're waiting to hear back. As my grandparents would say, well I'll be.
So if you're wondering about your status, email Professor Mitchell Weiland at mweiland@boisestate.edu.
@ MissKitch123
I'm been accepted to Idaho and am also an Arizona alum- small world! I would love to attend Idaho if I can get off the TA waitlist. What's your funding situation and genre? (I'm fiction.) I'm at searchoflosttime at gmail, if you want to chat off blog.
@Emma - re. Gainesville. In all fairness, Gainesville has a regional airport, but flights are more expensive and so infrequent that you'll find yourself waiting at the connecting airport for hours and hours. It would almost be like an international flight, what with all the hours elapsed.
I've been told the key is to get to Atlanta, then fly into Jacksonville, followed by the 2-hr shuttle ride. Still, not easy.
As if I couldn't feel worse with all this MFA rejection and soon-to-be rejection, I came hope from work to discover I accidentally locked my cat in the bathroom all day... the one without the litter box. On top of being a terrible writer, I am also a terrible pet owner.
Also, it's a good thing I didn't even think about applying to Montana - I shouldn't be allowed near the stipend horse.
Received an unexpected call from one of the fiction students @ Columbia College (while at my birthday dinner with Dad, no less). I asked some questions and we talked for a little while about the program. Now I'm even more excited to visit.
These next 13 days are going to go by so slowly...
@
Who is thinking of going to Brooklyn for poetry?
@Emma - with all the horse duties, I'm surprised Montana students have time to write.
@red
Don't be silly. The Stipend Horse probably wouldn't fit through your bathroom doorway, and in the event it did get locked in, it'd kick it's way out to freedom in no time.
@ Ratliff
Excellent point. Next year I'll only apply to schools that include livestock as part of the stipend. That way I won't run into this problem again.
Thanks for the laugh - much needed today! Good luck!
@woon ...
Gainesville, as I told you before, has flights that mainly connect to Charlotte and ATL. ATL is the busiest US airport, and I know you can go direct from where you are to ATL.
re: finding out how to get from airport to school: check each school's propsective students/visiting campus page. Trust me, this is info they regularly have to provide people. and they want to make things easy on visiting students or those students won't apply. :-)
Woon
Re: How all the undergrads get to ND
By the will of God.
Congrats to Dry Leaves-- good day on the CNF front!
For anyone in a state of perpetual silence from GMU, I emailed and heard back something along the lines of: "Hey, sorry about the wait, but there are a lot of applications that don't have a decision attached yet. Yours is one of those." But more polite, of course. So... kind of a secondary waitlist while they watch everything else shake out? Ugh for holding cells.
@red
Same here! It's been a long day :) Good luck to you too!
@koru - it almost sounds like you're scolding me. "...as I told you before...dammit..."
I got my intel directly from MFA students and a forum frequented by many UF students. Any major hub to Jacksonville. For me, it's Atlanta to Jacksonville and 2-hr shuttle ride to Gainesville. I don't need to get to Charlotte, because I've got more options to Atlanta.
Yes, I am indeed wondering how Giselle Bundchen goes from model to mom. Stupid yahoo.
@woon,
yes, i was scolding you. :-) because you asked the same questions/made the same complaints earlier, and we had tried to sort you then.
regarding Gainesville or Jacksonville: You can get flights into Gainesville just fine. They connect to either Charlotte or Atlanta. They sometimes/usually cost a bit more for the convenience. But they certainly exist. Jacksonville is the cheaper option. You get to choose convenience or price. Orlando is a further-flung option still, but with even better connections.
@U Washington, Seattle poetry people: I just found out that I'm on a waitlist for a TA position, and my girlfriend got into their PhD program today for English. If you are accepted and you plan on taking another offer, please have mercy so we don't have to live a country away from each other! :)
Still no word from FSU, NYU (pretty sure that's a dud), Indiana, or Columbia. If Seth was right, Maurice Manning is leaving Indiana anyways, so that would be a heart-breaker.
Good luck!
@koru - I was not complaining about Gainesville. I was merely trying to dissuade Emma from committing to Florida. I know all about how to get to Gainesville from where I am. I won't ever take a flight directly into Gainesville regional airport because of the added expense and unacceptable wait times due to infrequent flights. Sheesh! It was just a play vs. Emma.
@Kate,
glad you two got in somewhere together!
and fingers and toes crossed you find some aid!
@Woon,
sorry didn't realise that you were trying to persuade someone to choose against a school ...
but let's not play those mind games, please? it's a tense enough time :)
Oh my god, just kill me now!
It's not even a mind game. Emma knew what I was doing.
Woon
And Emma should ignore you, as anyone being pressured should ignore those doing the pressuring.
@koru - when have I not been supportive? I've always been supportive. Like I was telling Arna to go to Cornell or Texas, instead of Iowa. Like I was telling Emma to pick Montana or Iowa (off waitlist). My middle name is Supportive!
enter: lurker.
i know it's late in the game, but it was for my own mental health. i think you understand.
wondering if i could track down the other LSU fiction folk? looks like i'll be headed down to the bayous come august... would be lovely to (virtually) meet some others headed that direction.
wee meathead? i think i creeped a peep somewhere that you were in?
Yeah, like Emma will do what I say. Looooook into my eyes, Emma...(eerie theremin music playing in background)
re. theremin
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theremin
We studied the theremin in physics class... and watched a clip of a woman playing one with her breasts.
@red - yes, that TOTALLY sounds like my physics class.
The theremin cannot be understood or appreciated by reading about it. One must hear it. Upon hearing it, one will exclaim, "Oh, THAT'S the Theremin? I've heard THAT before!"
The Fitness Made Simple theme song from that John Basedow commercial makes me laugh.
@Idaho people
I won't be attending the program, but I've lived in Idaho for 20 years and have been up to Moscow a few times. I can tell you what I know. I also have a friend from Sandpoint who frequents Moscow. He always flies out of Spokane. I think that's what you'd be doing to get in and out of the area. If you'd like some info, don't hesitate to ask!
scholarseeker at yahoo dot com
@ UNCW Waitlisters
I'm accepted for poetry and received a reply to my email today that some people that at least one person that has been offered funding has until March 22 to respond. After that, my take from the email was that they should be notifying the rest of those accepted that theoretically there is no more funding.
At that point, I think there should be a number of spots opening up (that's my guess). I'm leaning very heavily towards a no to UNCW, so someone on the waitlist should be contacted for poetry soon. Hope this helps. Good luck to all this week.
@ skiptomylou
I think MFAguy got into LSU for fiction? Whoever it was posted something about it on the thread (TO me, that's how I remember!). Maybe it was Aaron Apps... ? It would have been around the 7th, 8th, or 9th I'm guessing?
and CONGRATS skip! I am very jealous! Baton Rouge will be awesome, and LSU's funding is sweeeeet.
So the closest thing I've gotten to good news is that I have not (yet) received an email rejection from Purdue, as some others have. It's not much, but I'll take it. If I could walk away from this year knowing I wasn't in all of the lowest piles everywhere, that would be enough to keep me going for another round.
Here's my situation so far (fiction):
Rejected:
Wisconsin
Michener
WUSTL
Syracuse
Montana
Iowa
Brown
Michigan
Amherst
Johnnie Hopkins
Cornell
Minnesota
No word:
Illinois
Ohio State
Purdue
Indiana
Oregon (rejection coming soon, I take it)
Virginia (shoo-in, of course)
Accepted:
University of My Girlfriend's Mom, who thinks I'm swell.
@Meredith,
Thank you! I'll look for that..
@bbartok
What's the funding like at the University of My Girlfriend's Mom? Because I got into the College of my Grandmother Told Me I'll Be Turning Away 5 of the 6 Schools I Applied To, but their funding really sucks.
Seriously, though. I feel your pain. My only shots at this point are UVA and UNCG - yikes!
Congrats to all of you with good news! I obsessively checked my phone at work today. The silence was crazy.
@Arna Bontemps
Best of luck to you, your list was impressive! You must be a hell of a writer….you have truly earned your spot at Iowa’s workshop! Best of luck in the future.
@Courtney
You also have some also options and I am impressed! If you feel like sharing a portion of a story you sent, I’d love to see what you are writing! I understand everyone feels differently about that though, so no worries. Best of luck in your decision!
@junowind
Congrats on Sarah Lawrence! Gotta love the good letters in conjunction with those dreadful ones.
@Austin
THANK YOU for the UNCG information many of us have been itching for.
@red
Terrible writer and terrible pet owner was the laugh I needed today. Good luck with both!
Oh, and Bbartok,
University of My Girlfriend’s Mom...I've actually been accepted to their brother school, University of My Boyfriend’s Naïve Cheerleadering/Lack of Understanding of MFA Programs.
So I feel ya.
Is there a reason why I'm not getting email updates from this blog? I guess that shows addiction when I think something's wrong that my email isn't getting updated with new blog posts every couple of minutes.
Does anyone know how that happens, I'm subscribed and all... I think...
@Julia -- Did you click the box to Email follow-up comments to yourself? I've never checked this box because I am an email hermit, but isn't this what you need to do to subscribe?
I like talk about mysterious holding files and the like. I wonder if more applicants are taking the advice to apply to a dozen+ schools, with the very best getting in near everywhere and therefore leaving lots of holes behind them when make their decision. Could this be why schools who made acceptances over a month ago (Illinois, Ohio State, Minnesota) are holding back on sending rejections?
Or it could be that they just haven't gotten around to sending them.
At this point though, I'm comforted by holding on to a bit of fantasy.
@ Hullabaloo
I like that fantasy. I will join you.
In at University of Montana, unfunded.
Still waiting on Iowa State, Mills, and Chatham, so it may be awhile before I know for sure what's going on with the next two years of my life, but I feel pretty good right now anyway.
@ Kate: How did you find out you are on a waitlist for a TAship for Washington? I got my acceptance in the mail a few days ago with no mention of funding.
HAHA My mom thinks I'm a genius. She's shocked I haven't heard anything. She just chuckles and says God doesn't make mistakes. So I might just be the child genius of a prophet.
Yesterday I emailed Sheryl at Chatham to let her know I will be not be attending at the fall, so I hope that opens some opportunities up for other people in poetry. Even though I was nominated for a fellowship and eligible for an assistantship, assuming I got both would not be nearly enough to cover tuition and living expenses (plus it's no guarantee that I'll have them for both years).
Penn State is giving me an offer that is becoming more and more appealing every day, and I highly doubt if I get into other schools that their offers will be better. However, I'm still going to wait it out and see if anything else happens.
Also, I'm heading up to Penn State for the weekend for their recruitment weekend. I'm really hoping I enjoy my stay while I'm there. Is anyone else attending?
Congrats to the good news happening every day!
I myself have been accepted by the University of My Husband Who Totally Believes in Me. Which is also swell. He calls me every day at work to ask if I've heard anything today. And I only applied to one school.
Which hasn't turned me down. Yet. And has sent out at least one rejection. To somebody else.
So I must be swell.
Yikes. That's pathetic.
PS. Woon, personally, for me, your little plots are giving this blog some much appreciated levity. I say, have at it.
@Rhizobium - Congrats on Penn State! I don't know why I never thought about that program.
rejected at irvine for fiction via a scanned copy of snail mail attached to e-mail. they said the reason for e-mailing was the time-sensitive nature of the decision process. can't wait to get rejected again in a few days/weeks!
@Woon - From my research I feel like I will really like the program when I visit. The program is fairly small and apparently very close-knit (I guess I'll find the details out this weekend). I had a really nice and informative conversation with Julia Kasdorf on the phone after I got accepted. If I decide to attend I will still be able to pursue interests in my other major, environmental studies, with one of the faculty who actually attended my college (Washington College) as an undergrad and won the large writing prize the English department offers when he graduated. Such a strange coincidence.
Also, the offer is great. Every person accepted gets full tuition remission, health insurance, and a stipend. Adding in a scholarship I got, my stipend will be around $18,000 a year for both years. Hooray!
Any other Penn State people?
@Hullabaloo - as far as the mysterious holding files go... I've totally been rejected from Minnesota, and I don't think I'm alone there. So if you haven't been... then I'd reckon you are indeed in the mysterious holding file! :) Cool. And I like your theory; really, I think that makes a lot of sense.
Congrats @Dry Leaves, Carrie, Rhizobium, and everybody else!
And lol @Woon and the theremin.
Ditto, quincy. Just got rejected from Irvine via email/scanned letter.
Hey, nope I didn't apply to LSU!
FYI... NMSU (F/P)
@Kate I will cross all my fingers and toes for you and your lady! I was born and raised in Seattle (and both my parents are UW faculty, though not in departments that could help you out, unfortunately) and it's a great place to live. Good luck!
I have been accepted into the University of My Cat's Heart. It's a conditional offer: treats are mandatory, twice daily.
I posted a couple of times but it's been awhile. I have been peeking once in awhile but I'm really trying, with minimal success, not to obsess.
My status is this (all CNF):
Accepted: WVU
Waitlisted: GMU ("very high" on the waitlist)
No word: American, LSU, GCSU, Memphis
The silence is really frustrating, but I would be thrilled to go to WVU. In fact, even if I am accepted at any of the others I am likely to choose WVU.
I am going to withdraw from consideration at Memphis. There is nothing they could offer that would compete with WVU.
I think I am going to take me name off GMU's waitlist. I applied there because it is local (and cheap) and I could keep on working part time and go to school part time. But I visited and was very unimpressed. I also think I really want the immersion experience. So I am going to withdraw there -- the rest of you can move up a little!
Oregon
Arizona
ASU
Hollins
Brooklyn
Columbia
anyone been officially rejected by these programs for fiction? thanks dudes and dudettes.
Congrats to all accepted and waitlisted. I am still waiting...but feeling relieved I didn't apply to UCI or any other school with crappy rejection letters. Who else makes the top ten list of worst rejections? I remember someone remarking about the paper quality, an email link to a posted rejection and an email subject line from donotreply@. I think for $70-100 we should get more than:
Dear Applicant:
We rejected you even before our bulk rejections went out. We were appalled at your writing sample and even had a good laugh about it. If you are interested in our certificate programs or other graduate programs, we look forward to collecting a few more bucks from you.
Soulless Admissions Committee
New Mexico State acceptance via phone this morning.
@Zoulou -- I'm sorry to hear about your Minnesota rejection, but aah geez, I didn't realize others had been rejected also. Now I really want to believe in the mystery holding file, because Minnesota is my first choice of the 13 places I applied.
@MFAguy,
I'm also conditionally accepted at the University of My Cat's Heart! My acceptance is conditional upon stopping everything to pet the siamese when he suddenly decides to be affectionate, lol!
Speaking of whom .... gtg!
ASU had the "ASU Deny Letter" from a donotreply@ address.
I also scoffed at my SIUC snail mail rejection because the envelope was barely sealed; another person noted that his envelope from them wasn't sealed at all.
Eating squid tonight. Anyone else?
@ Hullabaloo
The silver lining: at least it wasn't on a postcard.
It could be a 4x6 with DENY and then a "Very truly yours, Admissions Committee".
Since I haven't heard from any schools yet, I have been shaking out my Penny Saver to make sure it didn't get stuck in there...trust me, I will judge the quality of the rejection and happily post my critique here.
@Sud I am almost jealous of the VCFA closure you have. Someone posted on DH earlier today I think that they were waitlisted for VCFA Summer and guaranteed a spot for the Winter Res. So...I guess that means there will be no more acceptances for VCFA? Is that a decent interpretation?
@Ali -- Hah! I think I wouldn't mind a denial postcard, so long as it was hand-signed.
These MFA programs should really workshop their rejections letters before they send them out. Hell, they've got enough workshop experts on faculty!
Talk about not putting their expertise to good use.
Hi has anyone heard from Antioch and Pacific Oregon Low residency programs???
@ Burly Bird, Lexie
I'm leaning toward CC. I've got to get back east for personal reasons (read: save relationship) and have yet to so much as hear from 7 other schools. Also, I think it would be a nice place to go to school. I'm very happy about it save for the moving across the continent thing.
If you'd like to share your thoughts or just chat, you can email me at joshua.a.gardner[at]gmail
lotsa luck!
@Woon- I agree. I almost want to volunteer to re-write VCFA's very condescending letter, even though it was sent to me. Seriously, we are writer's after all.
@Nefrettiti- someone posted Sunday that they had gotten a snail mail acceptance from Pacific on Friday the 12th. I haven't heard anything from them.
personally, i want something that's at least creative ...
brown's was almost amusing, since you had to go through a labyrinth online to get your "denied"
maybe a link to a choose-your-own-adventure where every ending is "Deny"?
or origami shapes that when you unfold them, give the dreadful news .... and which then challenge you to find ways to re-fold them to the more beautiful frog or peace crane it originally was?
I think they should send them out as trading cards. They'd save money on postage and we could have a flickr pool to see how many variations of Deny there are!
Okay, so this isn't really important news, but I just wrote my first piece of writing (that actually turned into something) since I wrote my statement of purpose for all these applications. It's been a long spell of writer's block, and I just karate chopped through it. So relieved.
Just wanted to share. I'm glad MFA notification season is coming to an end. All this stress hasn't been helping my writing.
@Sud thanks for the info I guess I'll just have to wait..
@Chrissy- I had the same experience, although it was after I wrote the critical essay...nothing would come for a month...the blog didn't help. But I'm writing now and obviously still answering blog posts too. But enjoying the writing like crazy.
@amanda,
i like the MFA program rejections trading cards idea ... then you can swap them ... an interesting twist on swapping acceptance spots! hehe!
Greetings, All --
I had to take a break from the blog because it was fanning the flames of my naturally occurring hysteria, but I want to say congrats to all the acceptances and waitlist-ers out there. Here are a few of my own:
CNF
Alabama – denied
Iowa – denied
Louisiana State – denied
Minnesota – wait-listed
Houston – ?
Poetry
Arizona State – denied
Arkansas – accepted
Illinois – wait-listed
Indiana – wait-listed
UT-Austin – denied
Virginia Tech – accepted
Warren Wilson – ?
Bob Hicok actually came out here to Phoenix for a reading, and I had the chance to talk with him about the VTech program. He’s a really friendly, funny, laid-back guy, passionate about teaching. Hello, all you other VTech acceptances (if I remember correctly—cratty, nadiyah, dolores humbert, and ???) let’s exchange notes. Burlaper and I have been in correspondence already. I’m at acupunk[nine] at yahoo.
Good luck to everyone!
@ Nefrettiti
I am also waiting in line for notice from Pacific - I am poetry.
I applied to a few other low-res programs including VCFA and haven't heard from them either. Maybe the low-res schools get the committee together for a ten day period and if you miss the window, well then, they get to you in 6 months at the next ten day round...
This is the first time I've posted at MFA Blog and reading these mailbags is not doing great things for my self-esteem (or my nerves). Then again, do writers need affirmation of their worth from outside sources? I'm planning on cutting off my ear and mailing it to an ex-lover anyway, so I'm hardly a candidate for success. At any rate, these schools need to get back to me, pronto. My nails are shorter than ever.
I'm poor, so I only had money to apply to three grad schools: Hunter, Brooklyn, and NYU, all in Fiction.
Thus far, I've heard from none of the above. It appears notifications have started going out for NYU in the form of phone calls. Were my confidence of getting into any of them a gas gauge, the needle would probably be on 'E' right now, but I suppose you never know.
I bet my portfolio will be more attractive next year since I'll be done with the first draft of my novel by then. I'm also considering taking off for the Appalachian Trail if things don't work out. Do any grad school rejects want to come with me? We can share books.
@Sandra: I got in at VTech, but declined their offer several days ago. (I got acceptances in Iowa and Michigan).
But the interaction I had with VT (faculty as well as current students) was fab, it feels/sounds like a really awesome place!
@Timothy Marshall
Funny thing happened on my way to accepting your offer of Appalachian Trail fellowship. I realized I have not written a novel since about age 16 or so. What kind of fraud am I? No wonder these schools don't want me in their programs. Must have thought it downright rude to apply with a mess of unpublished short stories and hope.
I wish you and your ear luck, my friend. We'll all be hearing soon...ish.
Does anyone know the scoop on Virginia Tech or LSU? Have all of their acceptances and waitlist notifications gone out? Any rejections? Has anyone's online application status changed? I haven't heard back from either one and was getting a little antsy. Thanks!
@ Ratliff,
Well, my friend, this is the first novel I've ever tried to write and I'm almost 26, so you should congratulate yourself on having a little more practice than the rest of us who didn't decide they wanted to be professional writers until it was already time to find real jobs. I think at 16 I mostly watched TV and ate Doritos.
Not to make excuses, but I come from a poor family, a public school education, a mid-college crisis, an aborted college experience, and a BA in English at UMass Boston (granted, I graduated Summa). I think my prospects of getting into an MFA now or ever are pretty much zero, but it's worth a shot, even though I'm sure they screen the dregs like myself out.
Being a huge believer in personal responsibility, most of my faults are due to pure laziness and a lack of discipline. Maybe by age 40 I'll have it all figured out or maybe I'll have the record for most hours logged on the internet, wasting time on MFA Blog and Facebook.
Anything is possible!
@red
The funding profile @ U of my GF Mom is free dinner once a month or so. Better than charging 5 figures a year tuition.
But I think I will pass up her offer in favor of Vodka State University, which makes me feel like a worthwhile human being 5 hours a day for a pittance.
I have you all beat. I was accepted to the University of My Mom Hopes I Don't Get In Anywhere So I Don't Move Across The Country, and was waitlisted at the University of If I Get In Somewhere My Parents Are Going To Pick Up Their Lives And Follow Me.
It's annoying as hell.
Ack, is everyone hearing from Irvine but me? I'm beginning to think they lost my application...
@dogfacedgirl
Wow. Congrats on your acceptances & all of that funding! Sooooooo awesome! I wish you a spectacular time in whatever program you decide on.
@Kevin
Waiting for Irvine, too. I live in Seattle. :/
@ Woon
In regards to getting to campus and around town...I'm from Cali as well and there's no way I'm taking my car to wherever I go if it's out of California. And right now I'm looking at Western Michigan. I'm scared of all the snow. I keep picturing my limp, frozen body iced to some random bush on the side of some random street.
@Frogs
I'm in SoCal, and I can get to Irvine on a good day's walk (Google Map thinks it'll take me 12 hours to walk there). I'm very tempted to do just that... but I'll drive... or just e-mail them...
UCI rejection - sent my letter via email since I don't live in the country, dated March 1st!
Okay what I don't understand is if they already knew they weren't going to accept me on the 1st why the hell did they wait 15 days before informing me?
I'm sorry I can't be more gracious about this but Universities should tell us as soon as they can and put us out of our misery!
@Chrissy, yay for vanquishing your writer's block! I recently finished enough poems to send out a new round of submissions to journals before their reading periods end - because I don't have enough rejections letters already.
On the other hand, I got into My Boyfriend Reads My Poetry Even Though He's a Cryptographer University, and that's pretty swell.
has anyone received an official rejection from columbia college in poetry?
re: everyone waiting to hear from virginia
barring some miracle, they won't notify until sometime in april. the only people who read their apps are mfa faculty members in that genre. they make sure every single app gets a good read by a faculty member, and then they have lengthy discussions about their favorites. they're not trying to be jerks/screw everyone else up, they just want to be thorough and fair in an unfair world :)
also, has anyone heard anything from pitt?
I know, I know, I keep asking, but the silence is killing me.
Has anyone heard anything from the Hunter College MFA in Poetry Program other than rejections? I understand rejection emails went out on Monday, but I haven't heard anything from them period. I thought we were supposed to find out if we were shortlisted this week. Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?
Hopefully Irish luck will help us all out today!
Fingers-crossed for a call from Bennington :)
GL everyone!!
hey guys,
if anyone out here is considering U of Arizona lets discuss. i am in for poetry.
theoldboyjatgmaildotcom
Anybody want to do the poetry sample trade again?
@ Zoulou - Sorry to hear about Minnesota. Alaska is still your number one choice, then?
Hey All --
Even though the schools can't coordinate their news, we could. How about making April 16th the official posting date for our final decisions (barring subsequent waitlist flurry of activity)? It is so fun to hear where everyone gets in -- it would be nice to know (in a semi-clear way) where everyone decides to go!
@Timothy Marshall
I know what you mean, in a lot of ways.I come from a similar background(I'm 23.) Hey, at least you've got a draft of a novel. Kudos for that! (I haven't even started mine.)
I only applied to five schools, most of which are CUNYs. Couldn't afford any more than that. Still waiting on two :(
I'm rooting for you!
Oh yes, City College people--I finally heard back from the assistant director about the deadline. Here's what he wrote:
"We do not indicate a deadline but we would appreciate a prompt response."
I suspect this means the April 15th date applies; but he's being all moot about it on purpose so that we'd be fooled into thinking we had to accept/decline sooner.
Tricky tricky...
HOLY CRAP I just got a call from Penn State! I'm in for poetry!!
I was not expecting this at all...I thought since I hadn't heard, they were done notifying!
@umIrenic
i'd love love love to do a poetry sample swap. i feel like one of the really hard things about the process (for me) was that i really had very little sense of what i should be shooting (or not shooting) for. you know?
i'd love to be in a minipoetry group online. count me in!
Oh my god Laura! Congratulations. Way to bang out a Wednesday! Lets hope the rest of us hear some good news too....
@Laura - CONGRATS!! Now that's a good start to the day!!
@ Matt: I tried to call LSU yesterday to find out whether they were done notifying and got no answer. Maybe you could try emailing?
@ Laura: Congratulations!!!
@ Koru: I say we do it. Ooo and we could also include a free trading card with the initial orders of the MFA Waiting Game baked goods! A sweet helping of indulgence with a side of initial sting, to help you prepare for the road ahead.
Thanks, guys! I was having the most awful morning, and was about to go and have an awful day, but I've changed my mind. This day will be AWESOME.
Good luck to everyone out there in cyberspace! Also, for anyone else who's waiting on UNCG, I know several other people have said it, but I was also told that they would 'definitely' notify this week.
Maybe we should swap schools. I'll call your schools if you call mine. Hah.
@Timothy Marshall
A wise professor once told me any novel written before 25 should be burned. My only novel is about vampires, and I started it long before they were cool. It undoubtably deserves to be burned. I'm only 22, have always known I wanted to be a writer, and have a private school education that has left me in enough debt to cover a nice house in my fave Boston suburb. I looked at UMass Boston for undergrad but couldn't manage to afford living close enough nor make the hour commute from home every day. From all that, I still have 0 acceptances, so the differences don't seem to have effected the outcome.
@Jillian Lauren
I hear you on the parents thing. I was told by my mom that she and my sister don't want me to get accepted to Warren Wilson because it's "too far." For a low residency program. While getting my BA, she used to show up at my dorm on Friday nights to take me home for the weekend, luring me with guilt and the promise of homecooked meals. Note: Refusal was never an option, but the meals were a perk of the kidnapping.
Well, everyone, we'll see what news today brings!
A wise professor once told me: F*** 'em if they can't take a joke.
@Woon
Was that your Torts class, or was that Con Law?
@Ratliff - my first novel is about a Navy Seal operative who goes on a personal mission to free loved ones held captive in North Korea. Needless to say, it stunk. But the one year I wasted to write that crap was invaluable. I learned how NOT to write a novel. Now, it's all about zombies in North Korea. One grows as a writer...
@amanda, haha! i love the idea of the starter pack of rejection trading cards ("Deny card" for ASU!) with the initial order of MFA baked care packages for those beginning the descent into March madness/radness :D
@Laura, CONGRATS! :D
@everyone, luck o' the Irish!
@www - Heheh...
@Woon
That reminds me of the recent news story about the teacher that jokingly wrote "Loser" on a student's assignment. To joke or not to joke? Tough call.
What if, like, you're not Irish?
my first novel has been sat in a drawer for ten years.
i actually want to spend time revising it in the MFA. i don't think it sucks, but it needs some careful pruning and sculpting.
maybe i'm just crazy, though ...
@Woon, everyone's irish on st paddy's day. :D
Re. irish.
Anybody watch "Brotherhood" on Showtime? It was cancelled after three seasons. But it's now available on DVD. I am now watching Season One. So far, I love the show. Anyway, it's about the residents of an Irish district in Providence, RI. My initial reaction: thank god I'm not at Brown.
Yes, I believe everything I see on TV.
@ Woon, more recently
The only thing I learned is that my current attention span is not enough to follow through with a novel. That'd be my biggest probelm. Things tend to get lost in the middle. I start off strong and somehow end up wandering aimlessly searching for a way to do justice to a halfway decent idea. How uninspired.
Irish living in Providence? Who knew? 4 years living there, and not I. It's the Italians you got to worry about there ;)
Attention all Ohio State applicants:
I have been checking my online status every day. Today it changed and I got confirmation I'm rejected. Where it used to say "evaluation" it suddenly said "reviewed," and when I clicked on "show more information on status" it said: "Your application for admission was not approved. You will be informed of the decision by mail."
Finally! My first official rejection.
If you're not Irish, today you drink to excess with no qualms, in the spirit of the day, for fun, rather than out of obligation like the Irish blokes who were slurping a Guinness and Jameson last night, and will be tonight. You can call it slumming. It's like trustfunders wearing rags and shoes with holes in them.
Erin go bragh!
Woon, it sounds like you were hoping for a Steven Segall film out of your first novel : - 9
Subscribe.
@weighs
I think you mean were drinking Guinness and Jameson last night, are currently drinking Guinness and Jameson, and will be drinking tonight as well. There is no rest for the celebrating Irish. I wish I could follow suit with some Magners right about now.
"Ireland sober is Ireland stiff."
oh ... someone said Magners! i'm back! :D
@all--currently making Ink and Beans Irish Soda bread, want some?
You guys are making me want a drink...
sarah lawrence rejection via post.
@coreyann-so sorry:(
Holy crap there are a LOT of comments on here! I'm LOLing at the schools of GF's mom.
@Amanda I am in for poetry and initially received a call that told me they had NO funding to offer anyone (a nice way to say no TAship for Kate). I just received an official letter of admission that says I am on the TAship waitlist, and I emailed the school to doublecheck.
@Hilary Thank you! I know, I would love to live there. My amazing g/f has been accepted to eight programs for a PhD in English, and of course the 2 I was accepted to are either UMASS or UW, maybe without funding! Even our waitlists don't line up. Oh well, I could just be her housewife for a year until I reapply!
Good luck, everyone! Happy Holidays!
You guys are such stereotypes: writers who drink. D'uh!
I'm sitting on a warehouse full of Guinness, Killians, and Magners, and I just heard news from home there's an envelope for me from VCFA. Sounds like my first rejection has arrived.
@coreyann :(
@Sud
I was thinking about doing that when I get out of work!!
If anyone here wants to be my Facebook "friend," send me a PM.
@Sandra ... how did you hear from LSU (Louisiana State)? I haven't heard anything from them yet, but had more or less assumed rejection. I applied in fiction.
@Ratliff-I really hope it's not a rejection, but if it is, let's compare letters.
"I am writing to express my regret that we cannot accept you in the Master of Fine Arts in Writing Program at this time. We accept a very limited number of students and our Faculty Committee felt you could use further preparation in creative writing prior to entering our MFA Program."
Pretty sure I just got told I am underqualified. They go on to refer me to "local colleges or universities that offer creative writing courses" or online courses or conferences or workshops. Dated March 15th.
@ratliff
what school was that letter from???
@Coreyann VCFA
At least it was nice enough.
Sarah Lawrence's was very nice and on good paper. they win for me so far, even telling me to inform them if i apply for 2011 because I guess they keep applications on file?
in my fantasy head they only told me they like me. Sadly, my real-life mind knows that it is a form letter.
@Ratliff
The only consolation for that bitchy letter is the fact that you are SURROUNDED BY ALCOHOL. Go console yourself :) And drink one for me. I'm at work. Boo.
I didn't apply to VCFA, but I would be seriously offended if I'd gotten that rejection letter. And it would be condescending even if you were applying straight from undergrad - "assuming you want to continue to improve your work"? Yikes.
@Ratliff-no not really nice enough. Which is a great contrast to their very helpful admin staff who stayed in contact helping me until I sent the final app package. Too bad.
Here's my rejection from Oxford, which I think was nice. Also, Iowa's was simple and nice and courteous.
Thank you for your application to read for the above programme of study. We considered your application very carefully but unfortunately we are not able to offer you a place on the MSt in Creative Writing. There were many applications for this programme of study, all of a very high standard, and thus competition for places was intense.
Thank you for your interest in applying for study at the University of Oxford. I am very sorry that the outcome will be disappointing for you, and would like to wish you every success in your future writing career.
@ Sud, Coreyann, Jillian
Thanks for the support :)
I feel better now that it's sunk in that it was an impersonal letter not meant to tell me I'm too young and ignorant for their program, which is how I first took it. No alcohol for now, as I am also at work, and though both my jobs entail encouraging alcohol consumption, they prohibit drinking while on the clock. Don't worry. I'll make up for it tonight. :)
:( @Ratliff and coreyann
That is also a seriously condescending rejection letter - I don't expect letters to be nice (i.e. tell me what a competitive year it's been, tell me how they had to turn away qualified candidates), but damn...
@ratliff--I know you've probably told me, but I'm old and have a lousy memory. Where else did you apply?
@Sud No problem :)
Warren Wilson and Bennington.
What does VCFA stand for?
Vermont College of Fine Arts
@SUD!
When did you get a letter from Oxford?
Was it a letter? I havn't heard anything, are you in Europe yeah?
Thanks a mil!
Wow, that VCFA letter is appalling. Please mutilate it in some way. Paper shredder, scissors, tractor tires... Actually, you'll probably have to throw it into the fires of Mount Doom.
Seriously, that's an evil letter. I don't know what they're thinking.
Anyone have an Illinois rejection yet?
@Ratliff
That's got to be the sloppiest (reported) form letter on this blog. I really think it's reasonable for you to respond with some bridge-burning invective:
"Please understand this email is not meant to influence a reappraisal of my application. I want to address the wording of your form letter. A rejection is enough. Writing the applicant needs 'further preparation in creative writing' isn't helpful. It's unnecessary. I understand the rejection letter tropes--a gradient from hand-holding/coddling to acidic dismissal--but I'm left clueless as to why you included the line. There aren't good, objective metrics for successful MFA applicants An applicant can be rejected from lower-tier programs and get into her top-tier choice. This phenomenon happens frequently enough to challenge a particular program's authority on an applicant's aptitude. Is it useful to urge applicants to seek more training when other programs accept them? Is it ever useful to urge further study in something? We can all do better, as I'm sure you know. We can all work harder. And your program can write a better form rejection letter! [This is where it would be great to include an anecdote of getting into another program. BOOM goes their mindamite.]
You are a bunch of jerks,
Samwise Gamgee"
Happy St. Paddy's Day EVERYONE!!
LET'S GET DRUNK- IRISH STYLE!!
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