It would be interesting to know what would have happened if you had simply asked her "Do you know where the LL Bean store is?" from the outset It's quite possible she would have known where it was even is she wasn't a student in Cambridge. :P
So I broke down and contacted some programs this morning. Here's the info I got (sorry if this is repetitive...it's hard to keep up with every new post). These are for fiction:
Alabama - I was rejected. Apparently, a notification is on the way via snail mail.
Purdue - Application is still being considered.
George Mason - Application is still being considered. The university is on break. Funding is not a possibility at this point, however...making it a non-option for me.
i just sent in my skidmore app yesterday! michael ondaatje is going to be visiting, and mary gaitskill and rick moody are teaching for fiction!! also, i will join your fb group for boston as soon as i finish telling my friends (dont want them to find out on facebook). yeah boston!
Definitely do your research when choosing schools. Last year I applied to 3 (of 7) that absolutely were not a good fit for me. I didn't even like any of the faculty, but I applied because they were big-name schools and I assumed prestige trumps all other factors. It does not. Do your research. This year, I applied to more schools and all for various reasons---but all for reasons I thought were just as important as funding ( certain faculty I love, study abroad options, where my favorite new writer got his MFA from, etc). Don't apply to Michener, for example, JUST because of the funding; if none of the faculty interest you and if none of the alumni write stories that you ABSOLUTELY adore, what's the point? Aesthetics is important.
Also, I actually think for me, besides polishing my writing sample (one of the stories I used this year I also used last year to no success but it was always the best intoduction to my work and after a few revisions, it definitely lived up to that belief this time around), the Personal Statement was CRITICAL. I know that's not what the consensus is on the blog, but I also know it probably made the difference in my case. Last year's PS was very generic and very safe: I want time to write, I'm all for team spirit, blah blah. This year, I used SPECIFICS, I mentioned exactly why I'm "special," exactly what I've done to distinguish myself, just exactly what my creative interests were and what new thing or new viewpoint I would contribute to the program.
Dig deep into your background, I say. There's always something there. An art project I did in my sophomore year truly epitomized the "kind" of writer I am so I mentioned it and I've had some programs comment on that when they notified me of my acceptance. You want to stand out, don't you? Say something about yourself that will do just that. =)
And trust me and trust yourself: A YEAR CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!
I did NYSSWI last summer with Campbell McGrath and Peg Boyers for poetry. Gaitskill and Moody were there for fiction so all my friends had them. MG was quite a trip (reader and teacher). Rick Moody--let's just say you will fervently one way or another about him...(I don't know one person who loved him...as a reader or teacher).
Also insider info: Michael Cunningham will be doing a reading this year. Returning: Pinsky, Bidart, Gluck, RBanks, Ann Beattie, and Joyce Carol Oates among others.
@AnotherJenny: Iowa, Minnesota, Washington University in St. Louis and Ohio State are all top notch. Since you are trying to be area-specific I'd say just tack these onto your list and apply to all 14.
Also, I’d suggest taking some online workshops before you apply and to possibly use the ALC (driftless house) service to make sure your application is all it can be. I didn’t do either but considering how expensive this application process is… I don’t think it is a bad idea.
I'm confused and lost, to be honest. VT and Indiana are, I think, on equal grounds, given everything. I don't know which one is going to give, which one I'm going to give up. And I'm still very curious to hear from my Arizona schools...
If I remember correctly, you were either accepted or WLed at VT, right? You in fiction too?
Okay, so after seriously being ready to throw in the towel and say, maybe it's just not going to happen, at all, with any schools, I was walking out of my best friend's wedding ceremony, and I had a call from Eastern Washington University saying I got into the nonfiction program! I immediately started crying and jumping up and down, and yelling to practically everyone in Balboa Park that I had an acceptance! Sighhhhhhh.
In other words, don't give up hope, acceptances are on their way. :)
moody was one of the people i read a ton of my senior year in high school. cliche as it sounds, "demonology" was what made me actually decide i wanted to write. i would bet he's fairly polarizing, though that's a good sign mostly.
I think one thing I did do that probably resulted in getting into 2 places this year and none last year is tailoring my list with aesthetic in mind. Obviously you should also factor in full-funding and all those other factors Tom and Seth talk about, BUT I think it's naive to believe that ALL kinds of writing are accepted everywhere. Can you judge whether or not Prof./School A will like your story more than Prof./School B? No you cannot. You can't even be sure if a "stronger" story will be taken over a "weaker" story (I use quotation marks here b/c I'm already assuming a certain level of quality for the shorter stack). It's for these reasons that MFA applicants are more likely to have high blood pressure than the comparatively care-free med/law/business school applicants. I do think you can get an IDEA of what some schools are looking for ESP. if you know you write stories or poems that are "a little different". Again, what is "different"? Hard to explain, but try reading faculty like Robert Coover, Brian Evenson, Steve Tomasula, Pinckney Benedict, Kellie Wells, Ben Marcus, Kate Bernheimer, and Shelley Jackson vs. fiction by Charles D'Ambrosio, Eileen Pollack, Marilynne Robinson, David Leavitt, and Lorrie Moore. While labels and categories are subjective to an extent, there will be obvious differences btw. the first group and second group. Trying to compare schools like Iowa, Michigan and Cornell is harder if not impossible which is why the general rule of aesthetics not really mattering for most people still holds true. For me? My writing probably falls more in line with the first group, but I still applied to many of the programs that are home to writers in the second group simply because no one can know for sure what will impress an admissions committee and because I still needed to apply to a min. of 12 programs if I wanted to give myself a decent shot.
Hey, yes, VT waitlisted for fiction; near the top of the list somewhere! Both Indiana and VT are great schools, you have a tough choice! Visiting both places would be your best bet (are you located in Ireland though?).
mfaguy will obvi have more to say than i will as he had moody! let's just say, if he doesn't like your writing, you will know loud and clear! but if he is an influence of yours, i'm sure you will be on the right foot with him.
Congrats, Rachel! I don't know a whole lot about EWU's program but I LOVE Willow Springs. So color me a little jealous that you possibly get to work on it! : - )
WT--Interesting division of aesthetics. I found myself in your second stack--named a couple of my favorite writers, whereas I've read little of the first stack.
Can you follow up with schools that you think lean more one way or another?
Thanks in advance!
And continued congrats to all the great news folks are getting.
i'm also really interested to hear some opinions on aesthetics of particular programs. (a bit late in the game, i know. sigh and on to 2011...) for instance, it's not too terribly difficult to find programs/alum/faculty that lean toward a particular focus or genre -- okay, brown is "experimental" -- but how does one go looking for a more traditional (and therefore less definable) school?
bah. i hope that one of you smarty pants can make more sense out of answering that question than i could asking it. i'm in panera. there's a baby screaming so loud i want to punch him. it's hard to ask intelligent sounding questions when all you can think about is punching a baby.
regarding the aesthetis of particular programmes, my own thought is this: look at the faculty themselves. try to see if you can find something they've written. you'll learn a lot from their style that way. and more importantly, perhaps, is read some interviews they've done. those usually give a clear sense of what they think they do.
then you'll know what they say the themes that interest them are, what their aesthetics are, etc.
that said, just because you're not entirely sure that a place is right for you doesn't mean that you CAN'T apply ... it means though that unless they see some connection you didn't, the chances are slim of you getting in. or at least that's my guess?
i hope that makes some modicum of sense. it's been a really, really long day and my brain's about to retire.
This is probably the dumbest question ever, but...do private schools have in state and out of state tuition, or is the cost the same for everybody? Because Emerson's website indicates the latter, and I wanted to make sure.
$22,000 a year is still a LOT, though. :/ I really want to go to Boston, but I don't want to be in debt for the rest of my life.
koru, dear, that makes a tremendous amount of very logical, helpful sense. i do think i'll try to find some interviews of a few authors -- that's a great alternative way to hear their thoughts and projects that, duh, i hadn't really thought to look for. thank you. and i just threatened to punch a baby, so i understand retiring brain. ;)
I had my first bit of news today -- it's such a relief not to be in the dark and surrounded by silence!
Rejected from UMD...sad, but figured it was coming given the news on this blog.
On the George Mason wait list...and hoping that it moves up. I'm a fan of the program, but concerned about the funding....which, as @ Frankish said, is probably out of the picture at this point....
@jessicaestone, one time at college I'd forgotten to reorder migraine medicine and was on the third day of a monster migraine... all I could think was, I'D EAT BABIES FOR SOME MIDRIN RIGHT NOW. (Midrin are migraine painkillers.) Haha, it wasn't true - oh god, I hope I'd never eat a baby, oh no oh my god! - but I just wanted to say, I understand your baby-punching. Hahaha. And I laughed.
Oh man. Yeah. Guess I better leave at that, because I reckon I am digging a hole!
Good job Anti-, Nathaniel, Matt, Rachel, Kristina, and whoever else I missed this go-around!
Love seeing good news. Especially when it's some place I didn't apply. :). Though, I did apply to GMU and haven't ranked the waitlist... but, eh... I can still dream Tucson, right? Right?!
...You know you're a New Yorker when you've been reading this blog for almost a year, and you only just realize now that every time someone has written about Houston, you've been thinking "How-stun" in your head instead of "Hue-stun."
@smiling raindrops - not a New Yorker, but every time I think of New York, I utter "Long Island" in my head out of habit, but I pronounce it like most locals -- "long-GUY-land."
On another note, I'm still very interested in the conversation about program aesthetics. I made a point of reading quite a few MFA faculty books (or at least starting them for the ones that weren't for me) over the last few months, but still find the whole issue quite elusive.
It does seem that there is a general "MFA aesthetic" (which might not be totally accurate, but I get a sense reading ZZ Packer et al vs. random literary fiction authors that there is some leaning). To be honest, this isn't really my thing. I wouldn't say I'm experimental, but rather a little unconventional. In case things don't work out this year (or in the unlikely event I have to select from more than one program), I'd love more information on which programs have a "house style" for lack of a better term.
It's strange, it didn't hit me until now that, wherever I end up, I'll be outside of New York's orbit for a solid three years. Pardon the whining but it's making me a little sad -- the smell of the subway; grabbing sushi at 3 in the morning east of Herald Square; walking at random into a transvestite bar somewhere south of Houston and discovering your favourite brand of bourbon ever. It's weird the things you take for granted. I'm hoping the Midwest or the South will surprise me. If not, I'll deal.
Thanks for the rankings, Seth! Fascinating to see that VCFA is up at #15 while Warren Wilson is down at #38. Will be very interested to read your methodology!
Vermont College's ranking isn't a total shock, though. The low-residency rankings have VCFA tied for #1 nationally.
The amazing thing is how closely these rankings track -- and thus verify -- all the other rankings. The only three low-residency programs in the top 50 are the top three low-residency programs in the low-residency rankings; the correspondence between the overall top 50 and the placement top 50 -- remember, the former based on applicants' research and opinions (which a small cadre of rankings critics have called "unreliable" and "baseless"), the latter based on indisputable "hard data" -- is a stunning 86%.
Of the seven "new entrants," five are ranked in the top half of programs nationally (all between #51 and #77), and one is an M.A. program. The only real surprise in the whole thing (over ten years!) is Saint Mary's College of California (#87 nationally overall).
As a former East Coaster who moved back to her home region of the Midwest, let me tell you that I would rather live in the Midwest than NYC any day. I've never lived in the South, so I can't speak to that. However, I a firm believer in the magic freshness of the middle of the country.
Cratty - I will be writing you back soon, I promise!
Actually, colonies (Yaddo, MacDowell) were not considered -- because these are not especially targeted toward recent MFA graduates and usually provide a place to sleep but no money (hence, they're not fellowships). In fact, colonies are more likely to accept slightly more established writers.
Top fellowships include the Stegner Fellowship, the Wisconsin Institute of Creative Writing Fellowship, the fellowships at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown (MA), the Stadler Fellowship (Bucknell University), the Hodder Fellowship (Princeton University), the Olive B. O'Connor Fellowship (Colgate University), the Amy Clampitt Residency Fellowship, the Axton Fellowship (University of Louisville), the fellowships at Emory University, &c &c.
P.S. NEA grants are not considered either, as they also are in no way geared particularly toward recent MFA graduates. The goal was to not reward programs (as it were) for poets and writers they graduated decades ago (and NEA grants often go to artists who graduated from MFA programs, if at all, in the 1980s or before). --S.
@ burlaper - I couldn't agree more. I lived in NYC for three years and moved back to the Midwest last fall. I'd had enough. Granted I was working in the ridiculously unstable theatre industry, but still. There is something to be said for fresh air and space.
Seth, I understand that more info on the methodology is forthcoming, but would mind explaining (even in broad terms) what the parenthetical number represents?
I noticed that American University isn't on the placement list anywhere and it seems to have dropped in the Full-Residency program rankings. (I believe it's even lower in the "Programs Bubbling Under" than it was previously.) Do you have any thoughts on that? I applied there and I think the program looks interesting, so I'm just curious. I do know their funding is pretty poor.
To all you TNS-ers: Has anyone received the actual physical admissions packet? When I called Jackson a week ago, he said I should receive a packet within a week or so. I haven't gotten it yet and because I am a paranoid nut, I won't believe I'm in until I have that letter in my hands.
I think American has a pretty well-established place in the pantheon, as it were... since 2007 it's consistently been between #51 and #65 in the rankings. It does better in fiction than poetry, though it's a marginal top 50 entrant (at best) even in fiction. In creative nonfiction it's a reliable top 25 program. I think people like the location but as you said the funding is poor -- plus that general area of the country has a lot of reasonably well-funded programs (Virginia Tech, George Mason, Virginia Commonwealth, Old Dominion, West Virginia, University of Virginia, Johns Hopkins, Hollins, and, at a stretch, Bowling Green, North Carolina State, UNC Greensboro, and UNC Wilmington)... with about a dozen such programs in that swath of the U.S. I think the largely-unfunded programs there (American and Maryland, most notably, but I suppose also University of Baltimore) do suffer. Maryland makes out the best partly because of the lower cost of living (College Park is +8% compared to Providence, RI; Washington, DC is +39% compared to the same constant) but also because it has a slightly more august history in terms of things like placement (as you can see). But mostly, well, it's public, so it's just a heck of a lot less expensive. Looking just at poetry, American's faculty is only so-so; Maryland has Arnold, Collier, Plumly, and Weiner, a pretty strong crew. Off the top of my head those are some explanations.
How's this for a stat: the correspondence between the [hard-data] top 23 full-res programs in Placement and the [applicant-vote] top 23 full-res programs Overall is 87%. Yeah, those applicants really don't know what they're talking about(!) :-)
I haven't gotten the packet either, but I think I read somewhere in Driftless how another TNS-er called admissions and was told they were going to send the packets this week (or next).
Thanks so much, Seth! That all makes a lot of sense. I actually applied in nonfiction and it sounds like that is their strongest genre. Definitely good to know.
Cecil, I'm not quick on the uptake, but I get the impression you're not fond of Oklahoma. Why not? Rodgers and Hammerstein had nothing but praises for the place.
Burlaper, Emily A, I hear ya. People find solace in difference things. I find quiet and open spaces burdensome. I remember when I was on assignment a couple years back in North Carolina, I had to spend a couple nights in this cabin up in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Gorgeous place, but for the life of me I couldn't sleep. I mean, I had never been confronted with silence so absolute. I remember staring at the ceiling thinking, "All I need is one blast of a police siren. Just one." Ahh, good times.
If you write fiction, I definitely recommend using a few complete short stories over a novel excerpt and a story (unlike me most people were probably smart enough to do this their first time around). This year I made an old 30 pg. story 20 pgs. (as a general rule if you're set on using the same story again, I'd cut heavily) and wrote a new chapter from my novelthing that can stand alone; this tandem got me into 2 schools, and I used one of them and a novel excerpt to get accepted at a third school with a more generous page limit (the only instance in which I'd suggest using an excerpt). Also, last year I focused too much on trying to demonstrate diversity or range; this year I said f it, I'm using my best work, even if that meant submitting 2 stories narrated by a young boy involving pets killing rabbits. (But this may be bad advice, and some schools that rejected me probably weren't even interested in a child narrator, so who knows?)
Last year I only applied to top twenty schools; this year I reapplied to some but threw in a few schools ranked a little lower, and these are where I've had success (sort of tell me where I stand, huh? :) I feel like if you only apply to eight schools and they all accept 1-4% you’re setting yourself up for another year of rejections.
SOP, we’ve already discussed tailoring to specific schools. I also Strongly second what Emma said:
"The first time I tried to show how passionate I am about writing, and I don't think that's the right approach. This time I tried to put myself across as a person trying to achieve a practical goal: I am a writer who wishes to get better; to publish, to be read, and to continue to grow. Studying in an MFA program is the next logical step for me."
100% agree - everyone who applies is passionate about writing and too many people try to be cute (not to say that plenty haven't gotten in with cute SOPs). Two examples from MFAers at Cornell and Illinois (I’m sure their samples were awesome and the main thing that got them in). These aren’t necessarily my style, and of course you gotta do you, but they are definitely logical, explanatory, no-nonsense things whose emotions are relatively muzzled:
Finally, this won’t help you get accepted, but I would stress less, which is obviously easier said than done. But really! I avoided the blog, my sample, my SOP until I started hearing from schools. Turns out I had a slight typo in my SOP at one school that accepted me (only at one school, b/c it was in the tailored section). If I had seen this prior to being accepted, I would have gone unnecessarily crazy. Instead, it was something to laugh about.
Amanda - it seems like we are in the same boat but I hope we are both able work it out. I will not be able to go for a visit since I am an international applicant hence out of the country.
I have been waitlisted at one other place so I'm crossing my fingers... and I'm trying not to say the name of the place even to myself!
Ryan - I was going with an assumed rejection with Colorado and called them just to get a confirmation. Desperately needed to scratch them off my list and then I find out that I'm in and that they sent me a letter on the 22nd of February! You should just call them and get it over with. Fingers crossed!
Okay, I am new on here. Just wanted to ask if anyone else is in the same boat as me, that they haven't heard a peep out of the majority of their schools!?!
I got my Michener rejection online awhile back, and a decent email from UNCW. So that is two down. But everyone else has been so quiet, it's like I am out on prairie with only the crickets for company.
Still waiting on: Irvine (ha!) Vanderbilt (double ha!) UofV (dare I triple ha?) John Hopkins New Mexico State Louisiana State U of New Orleans San Diego State
Honestly, I'm okay with getting in nowhere. I JUST WANT TO KNOW. To make matters worse I live in an area where the mail always seems to get lost or delayed. I really want to write every admin office and ask, did you send something for me? Cause, fat or thin envelope, I still haven't gotten it...
I have been moved to post here only once or twice, but here I go:
I would ask you to consider - just consider - the possibility that you don't quite know what you're talking about here. By which I mean: be open to the possibility that you have overlooked an aspect or two of Seth's rankings, or missed his responses to various criticisms, or something of that nature.
While I'm at it, two slightly less reserved - but, I think, uncontroversial - claims:
(1) Seth has done more - or at least publicly evinced more concern - for MFA applicants, as a category, than anyone alive.
(2) Despite skipping over the surface of some serious questions, your post is a jumbled pile of non-thought.
Brad - if that was for me thanks for the correction! I needed that.... This is not an excuse but when you're writing in at 2:30 in the morning sometimes you mess up.
I got a "you have financial aid documents missing" email from McNeese University this morning. I haven't heard from them either way about acceptance-- did anyone else get this email?
so, to ameliorate the waiting, i have started a blog. pls. feel free to read and comment and spread the community beyond application season. http://backwhenweweregrownups-lynn.blogspot.com/
Thank you to: WanderingTree, Dolores Humbert, Emma and threes for your thoughtful advice. Much appreciated.
threes - I'm with you on the stress part. It'll be a big help next application cycle to just get everything out the door and try to stay away from blogs, message boards, or re-reading my samples. No need to further cloud the brain.
I got that email too, but nothing from the actual program about a rejection or acceptance. ... What are you going to do? I'm kind of feeling lazy about it...
I emailed Amy Fleury to just ask her. I have to wait until the end of March to hear from other places before I make a decision, but I'd rather just know about McNeese. I'll let you know what she writes back.
Ok, that was quick, Amy Fleury emailed me back and said I was on the waitlist, and that she is going to send out the "official" waitlist notifications tomorrow. Chances are, if you haven't heard either way, you are on it.
Definitely at my lowest low. I’ve been rather obsessively reading this blog and I wanted to vent my frustration and also see if I could garner some practical wisdom from you all.
I poured my heart into this application season with good reason. I’ve taken six years since undergrad, I’ve worked, I’ve been writing, I’ve taken dozens of classes. I’m married and I have a newborn son. I managed to get my husband on board with spending thousands on writing classes and application fees. I got him excited about up and moving to wherever. I hoped beyond hope I’d get into a school this year. I could have really used the time, motivation, and ideally financial support. It appears though, I’m not getting into any schools. In addition, we just got word our landlord is selling our building and we’re being evicted. So now we have to move, but not for school, just because. This is going to cost more money, consume more time, and take me away from writing in the little space I already have for it.
I felt like this was sort of the year. The year when we could move freely, the year I could spend the most time devoted to applications. And while I’ll keep writing and reading and learning, and while in many ways the rejection has been humbling and illuminating and infuriating, and ultimately motivating, I’m also just very tired. Next year, the reality simply is I won’t be applying to 14 schools, if any. I just don’t know that I have it in me to do all this shit again.
But here’s my question to any who are still reading this awfully depressing rant, I was wondering if you kindly people could weigh in on something practical:
we’re trying to make an educated guess re: assumed rejections in light of moving and signing a year lease before potentially getting the hard cold copy in the mail.
Do we agree that it’s safe to assume (if I haven’t heard anything), that Minnesota Twin Cities, Hunter, Brooklyn, and UCI are done notifying their admits and waitlists?
I’ve tried calling but to no avail. Thank you. Finally, big huge congrats to all who are getting admitted and waitlisted, take it from me, a lone pony, it’s really wonderful news. People are enjoying your writing and believe in your potential. And a special shout out to my Sackett Street writing buddies, you guys are so amazing and your success is well deserved.
I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and say that I'm sure you are just joking about your comments on Oklahoma, because if you aren't, I'd say that – as someone born and raised there who now lives in Brooklyn – I'm astounded that someone from such a culture-rich city as NYC (do I have that right? are you from NYC?) could be so closed-minded about other places. I am aware though, that New Yorkers are notorious for having no knowledge of any place outside of the tri-state area, so maybe I shouldn't be surprised. But time and again we "Okies" hear about the hospitality and kindness of Oklahomans, from people passing through on the way to somewhere else. Like I said, I'm sure you're just playing, but if you're not...well then you're probably too far gone to help.
* I feel compelled to stand up for Oklahoma at times, when people who don't know what they're talking about try and disparage it. I'm sure everyone here from other less "glamorous" states can understand.
@K, I'm so sorry you're feeling down. Don't feel like this has to be it! I know you're exhausted and stressed out now, but that doesn't mean in a year or two you'll feel ready to try again. It also doesn't mean you have to stop writing and won't put out amazing work just because you're not in an MFA program. I don't have any information on your schools, but I wanted to let you know that I'm pulling for you, and I hope everything works out with the move.
no no, i'm far from institutionalized in NY. i travel often, and just from personal experience and preference (and try to not take this as a personal attack), but the state of oklahoma is the most retarded place i've been. nothing there makes any logical sense (buildings, highways, stores, fast food joints are combined with gas stations, etc)
i love culture. i love people from other cultures. most of my writing is about other cultures because i love to 'writing about what i don't know.' that's all.
K - I'm sorry you're having such a tough time. The only bit of information I can offer you is regarding UCI - to the best of my knowledge UCI has been known to identify people as late as end of March. I don't know if this is going to help.
Accepted in poetry! The way the counselor, Jeanine, made it sound was that those accepted are being notified numerically, according to their overall ranking amongst the students.
Unofficial acceptance; pending hard copy in mail supposedly being sent out today [:
GL to all still waiting to hear!!! And I'll admit, I'm a bit embarassed I couldn't wait for the school to call me.. it's just these nerves are, oftentimes, too much to handle!
Describing a place as "retarded" is ignorant and offensive. It's the equivalent of using "gay" to mean stupid.
In general, I think it's pretty unfair to publicly denigrate any particular city/state/whatever just because of your personal opinion, however entitled we all are to have them. For example, there are lots of places I can't stand, and some of them have been mentioned on this blog as cities that people are excited to move to- but it would be rude of me to speak up and make those people feel stupid to be excited just because I personally find those cities vile. To each his/her own.
On a more MFA-related note, when the eff are Colorado State/Boise State going to put me out of my misery?!
no no, stop being silly, and the offensive use of words is nonsense when referring to a place. people who are going to pack up and move across the country need to hear stuff like this, especially for a situation like a northeasterner moving to a place the likes of oklahoma. settle down. chill out. i could care less if someone hated our state of NY. it's not for me to sway/determine someones opinion.
a walgreen's 20% off coupon is really good. you can buy replacement heads for your electric toothbruth. Those are so pricey... i am sure i negate the good work of my electric toothbrush by using elderly heads. ewww.
What Pony means is, saying "retarded" when referring to something "bad" which you are (you're saying that the state is bad) is not cool. Yes, many people are careless with the usage but it's something we should consciously think about. You're speaking about a place is completely irrelevant to the wrongness of calling something retarded.
Are there any Florida admits here? I remember a flurry of Florida acceptances and waitlists a few days ago, except that I can't remember any of the names. It's a blur. Anyway, if any of you are here, could you identify yourselves and share some intelligence with me? Thank you!
(Florida, not Florida State. If I had meant to say Florida State, I would've said "Florida State.")
Fiction. I called Jeanine, who was very pleasant. I knew something was up when I told her my name, which is very long and confusing, and she said, "Oh yes. I'm familiar." Jeanine, you are an angel! So no official calls, but when it happens I'm going to have to ask questions...No giggling in delight, I guess...So off to do research.
This usage war going on right now* reminds me of a classic Louis C.K. routine about the word "faggot." Required viewing for prescriptive language nerds:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-otAJrtY-w
*to be clear, I agree that a BLOG comment section is not the BEST place to throw "retarded" around because tone, ironic distance, and playfulness are hard to communicate to strangers.
maybe it's because i'm currently writing a story from the POV of a kid who refers to himself / is called retarded by the townies. perhaps i'm 'in character.' and i love gay people. i love saying to my gay friends, 'oh dude, that is so gay.' good times.
The use of non-PC words/phrases/ content will always be subject to scrutiny. In one of my workshop classes, a classmate's story contained stereotypical depictions of certain races. To me, it's okay because it's the classmate's literary work. You can have anything you want -- no matter how tasteless -- in your own literary work. To some of my classmates, however, they didn't want to see it at all. There's something wrong when people are telling you what you can and can't put in your OWN work.
i throw around these words all the time, though usually only with those i know well. I especially toss out offensive words that might refer to my own demographic. Maybe i'm contrary, but i also believe that the only way to diminish the hurtful effects of single words is to use them with abandon. So no, you won't offend me in the least if you call me a retarded cow dyke.
but i will get my hackles up if you say "irregardless."
@cratty, burlaper, emily a - next wednesday is my 9th anniversary in new york, and next saturday i move back to the midwest. i thought it would be temporary, a few months with my family before heading off to school. now it's looking a little more... permanent. so, small as it might seem, reading your little notes on how much you've enjoyed returning to the open air of the middle states after a period of time in vibrant, wonderful, exciting, creative, exhausting, hard, demanding, curmudgeonly new york has me feeling okay about things. thanks. and cratty, i've spent many a christmas holiday in my childhood bedroom (that still has the glow-in-the-dark solar system on the ceiling, in no particular order) just wishing... praying... begging for a siren or a fight. even a recycling truck. something. anything. ;)
@any of you two (or more) timers - just a random curious thought with all the talk lately about revising your PS/SoP. i'm wondering if you acknowledged that you'd applied in years past? can anyone who's been through the process more than once tell me?
Though I am still not sure of my status at UNH (called and left a voicemail), I just found out that I am "waitlisted" at Montana for CNF. I thought they didn't have a waitlist! So, CNFers, relinquish your offers! Ha ha, no, I'm serious..
@ North Texas people: Emailed/called UNT. Got this resonse:
"Dr. McCutchan asked me to get back to you about when you will hear from our department. Letters will be going in the mail tomorrow, so you should receive your letter by next Monday or Tuesday."
To which I responded (possibly a little to quickly): Are you sending both acceptances and rejections?
It makes me nervous that her admin asst. responded.
Assumed rejection; although, I thought that was the school I had the highest chance of being accepted in. Sad...
DU=supposedly the department is making decisions this week, but the woman on the phone said, "But, it's the English department... so you're going to have to add at least a few weeks on that..." At least she's in a good mood!
I notice some people have been sharing URL's here. If you like, you can also make clickable links (so people won't have to cut and paste into the browser).
It's pretty easy. Look here to see an example of how to create hyperlinked text.
@LHH
You're the one with a Boston-area facebook page, right? Or maybe you meant a specific school. I'm in Boston, may not get into an MFA program this year, but if you're trying to connect fledgling writers in the area I'm game for joining (if you'll kindly tell me how to find you).
I still don't get how to do the link, but yes, you should join my facebook group for MFA students in the area! "Writers getting their MFA in Boston" or here is the link
So I'm going to Boston tomorrow to visit my boyfriend, and he might end up having to physically restrain me from showing up at Emerson and begging to know if they've made poetry decisions, or sneaking into UMass Boston's office and clandestinely slipping my application from the waitlist pile into the acceptance pile (maybe they just wouldn't notice if they end up accepting six instead of five poets this year... I am very quiet, after all :P)
Just a small bit of news people might be interested in. I got an email from SFSU informing me that it will still be 1-2 weeks until they announce their decisions for fiction and poetry. Also, has anyone heard from CalArts? Does anyone know what the funding opportunities are like there?
Thanks a lot for the encouragement, kind words and UCI updates. There's more than one way to skin a cat, I'll keep writing even if no one wants me (sob, sob).
I just received an electric toothbrush as a gift - which I was excited about, because I really care about my oral hygiene, but, as you noted, they are devilishly expensive. The only thing is, when I use it, it vibrates my whole head so much it kind of makes me feel sick. Does this go away after a while?
thanks for the info about the walgreens coupons, too.
Thank you for the well wishes. It's my first acceptance. I'd throw on tap shoes and dance around if I could [:
@megan
Yes, I called on my own. Jeanine made it sound like calls are going out today..so if you're patient..wait. If not, call ;)
@hilary
I'm still waiting on half a dozen schools and I'm becoming (strangely) comfortable w/ the notion of using/offering my body to get some answers. Cheers!
So sorry you're feeling so down - it's understandable, because you obviously have put so much into this. But I hope you won't give up.
I'm in a similar situation - I took several years between undergraduate and applying to MFAs, and used that time well (I thought) - dedicated myself to writing and taking classes, really pushed my work, made a lot of financial sacrifices. As the days go by and more and more people hear positive things from schools I applied to (and I hear nothing, even weeks later), I am starting to assume that this year might not be my year, after all.
But even though it's so much harder to gear up for a big change when you have lots going on (job, family, etc), remember that "harder" doesn't mean "impossible." You got your husband on board and supporting the idea of a major change - now the two of you just have to reframe that a little, and think of it as a major change possibly postponed.
Take some time to be sad & feel frustrated, maybe take some more time to write before you do this process again (I personally am not sure I can handle it, emotionally or financially, two years back-to-back), but don't lose sight of the goal. If this year wasn't the year, then maybe next year, or the year after will be. Regroup & try again if you have to.
Although I have plenty of my own "assumed rejections" that I feel very certain are real, I do think it's wise to tell yourself you don't know what's going to happen until you know for SURE. Maybe you have to mentally prepare yourself for the worst, but don't give up completely - or make unchangeable plans - until you have the actual rejection letters in your hands.
Hang in there. UCI is not done yet. There may still be hope for Minnesota; I got my rejection weeks ago. And there could be spots opening up in Brooklyn or Hunter as people receive other offers. I haven't heard about a waitlist for those schools.
If you're interested in a NYC writing group, I think Coreyann is putting one together. Also Zoetrope Virtual Studio is free, and the online workshops at Mid American Review and American Short Fiction are pretty reasonable.
Someone posted on DH that their friend was accepted to JHU in fiction last week. But you're right that no one has personally written here. I'd like to hang on the the hope too, though! I've just decided I can't go home anymore. Best of luck to you and everyone on here.
I've never posted here before, but I thought those of you who are waiting might be interested in these two pieces of news:
Hopkins-received rejection yesterday by mail (I live in Baltimore)
Minnesota-could not log on to check my status, so I emailed and received this bounceback: "The Creative Writing Program Office will be closed March 11-16. MFA Program acceptances and wait list offers have been sent out. We will respond to your message when we return."
CalArts sent out a few acceptances via snail mail last Friday.
In the packets there was no information on funding and in my emailing with the school, I have not been able to really get a great grasp on an answer for that either.
...in a fit of march-madness why-hasn't-anybody-called-me craziness I just spent more money than I should have buying copies of the journal that one of my poems appears in, even though I get a bunch of freebies. I told myself I was "supporting the journal" but really it was just a frantic last-ditch effort to buy some self-esteem. glug.
To follow up on Mr. Hemlock's workshop suggestions:
The Writer's Center!!!
www.writer.org (sorry I haven't read that article thingy yet, but at least this one is easy to remember).
For those in the DC-area there are tons of workshops/readings and the like, and they also have some great internet courses. Plus, they're very reasonably priced in comparison to a bunch of other workshops out there.
It's a shame that more people don't know about them... I interned there last winter and they've got a lot to offer.
I got an email from Stony Brook Southampton on Monday that has me pretty confused. It says: "Thank you for your interest in the MFA in Writing and Literature program at Stony Brook Southampton. Your application is now complete and has been forwarded to the Admissions Committee.
Please call or email if you have any questions. You should be hearing from us shortly."
I don't get it. I'd applied back in January, and they already notified acceptances back in February. What does this email mean????
I heard my tag mentioned concerning self-censorship and figured I'd add that as much as I always appreciate the offers to have my wayward mouth redirected to other, more "suitable", words, I have this terrible habit of refusing - I just don't like visiting the Office of Offensive words each month to pick up the latest P.C. Portfolio. I prefer to go and feed my muse her customary onion and potato stew - what can I say? She's a gourmand.
Perhaps we can ban "muse" too though, for the simple reason that it implies a power imbalance created and abused by poets, writers, musicians, and all of those other creative racists.
Not that I know of. I'm awaiting a decision too and saw the DH poetry news today.
It does seem odd that some accepted Columbia College fiction people were called and some were accepted by letter and some were rejected by letter. But it all happened in a week so I'm hoping to have some closure soon.
Thanks for the heads up! I've never been a big fan of inconsistency.. so to know they're using so many vehicles of notification..makes my eye twitch a bit, haha.
@ megan The vibrating may be unbearable at first, but then it becomes engaging and finally, necessary. Next time you have to use a still toothbruth your mouth will feel as though you merely swished some stale water around in it.
Thanks guys! I'm going to be visiting Eastern Washington, Idaho, Minnesota, and possibly Montana near the end of this month - so if any of you are interested in these programs, let me know and I'll be happy to report my campus/program visit (pictures, e-mail, whatever).
I hope the weekend brings more good news for everyone!
First, I got my rejection letter from Columbia College yesterday for those interested. I'm in Chicago though, so it probably got here rather quickly. It was dumb and stupid with circles on it because they are artsy and stupid and everyone there is probably ugly. I'm just bitter. The circles were great. I loved the circles.
Second, if anyone else is getting rejected across the board and is interested in working on some sort of forum/blog/group of some kind to stay in contact with other writers during this next year in regard to critiquing work/prepping for reapplying next year/general support, I'd be interested. I don't really know the best way to go about such a thing, but if anyone has suggestions I would be willing to work on it with others.
One more thing, for all you dirty buttholes headed to Austin (you're not dirty buttholes, really, you're talented writers), the Ransom Center at UT got control of David Foster Wallace's manuscripts and notebooks, including a super sweet viking poem he wrote as a kid. The article was in the New Yorker and is on their website if anyone is interested. Not included is anything related to The Pale King.
@ Rose (and anyone else visiting Montana, McNeese, Wyoming, or Texas State)
I'd love to see pictures or hear about your trip. I've thoroughly stalked their websites and flickr! If it helps anyone, I have some pics of *and love for* U Michigan.
I spoke to someone over at SDSU maybe...2 weeks ago? She said that they should have their decisions sometime mid-April. Which is late. Very late. I don't even know what to say/think about that.
Thanks! March radness has been sort crappy for me until today. My first two notices in March were rejections to schools I was very excited about. Since then: one admit and two waitlists. Two schools to go!
@Zoulou
If I decide on Alaska, we should definitely chat. What's your genre?
2,265 comments:
«Oldest ‹Older 1201 – 1400 of 2265 Newer› Newest»@Woon - Heh. Funny story.
It would be interesting to know what would have happened if you had simply asked her "Do you know where the LL Bean store is?" from the outset It's quite possible she would have known where it was even is she wasn't a student in Cambridge. :P
Cheers!
So I broke down and contacted some programs this morning. Here's the info I got (sorry if this is repetitive...it's hard to keep up with every new post). These are for fiction:
Alabama - I was rejected. Apparently, a notification is on the way via snail mail.
Purdue - Application is still being considered.
George Mason - Application is still being considered. The university is on break. Funding is not a possibility at this point, however...making it a non-option for me.
I'll post if I hear back from any other programs.
Cheers!
@ LHH
i just sent in my skidmore app yesterday! michael ondaatje is going to be visiting, and mary gaitskill and rick moody are teaching for fiction!!
also, i will join your fb group for boston as soon as i finish telling my friends (dont want them to find out on facebook). yeah boston!
Jake-up,
Definitely do your research when choosing schools. Last year I applied to 3 (of 7) that absolutely were not a good fit for me. I didn't even like any of the faculty, but I applied because they were big-name schools and I assumed prestige trumps all other factors. It does not. Do your research. This year, I applied to more schools and all for various reasons---but all for reasons I thought were just as important as funding ( certain faculty I love, study abroad options, where my favorite new writer got his MFA from, etc). Don't apply to Michener, for example, JUST because of the funding; if none of the faculty interest you and if none of the alumni write stories that you ABSOLUTELY adore, what's the point? Aesthetics is important.
Also, I actually think for me, besides polishing my writing sample (one of the stories I used this year I also used last year to no success but it was always the best intoduction to my work and after a few revisions, it definitely lived up to that belief this time around), the Personal Statement was CRITICAL. I know that's not what the consensus is on the blog, but I also know it probably made the difference in my case. Last year's PS was very generic and very safe: I want time to write, I'm all for team spirit, blah blah. This year, I used SPECIFICS, I mentioned exactly why I'm "special," exactly what I've done to distinguish myself, just exactly what my creative interests were and what new thing or new viewpoint I would contribute to the program.
Dig deep into your background, I say. There's always something there. An art project I did in my sophomore year truly epitomized the "kind" of writer I am so I mentioned it and I've had some programs comment on that when they notified me of my acceptance. You want to stand out, don't you? Say something about yourself that will do just that. =)
And trust me and trust yourself: A YEAR CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!
@Dolores,
Do you know which way you're leaning with your choices?
@Algae
I did NYSSWI last summer with Campbell McGrath and Peg Boyers for poetry. Gaitskill and Moody were there for fiction so all my friends had them. MG was quite a trip (reader and teacher). Rick Moody--let's just say you will fervently one way or another about him...(I don't know one person who loved him...as a reader or teacher).
Also insider info: Michael Cunningham will be doing a reading this year. Returning: Pinsky, Bidart, Gluck, RBanks, Ann Beattie, and Joyce Carol Oates among others.
SEE YOU THIS SUMMER!
@LHH
I had Moody last summer, he was awesome! I might go again this summer. Who were your friends in the class?
AAAHHH I'm so sorry--when I tell you my friends in your class you will know why--let's do this off the blog though?
@AnotherJenny: Iowa, Minnesota, Washington University in St. Louis and Ohio State are all top notch. Since you are trying to be area-specific I'd say just tack these onto your list and apply to all 14.
Also, I’d suggest taking some online workshops before you apply and to possibly use the ALC (driftless house) service to make sure your application is all it can be. I didn’t do either but considering how expensive this application process is… I don’t think it is a bad idea.
Best,
Aaron
covboy [@] hotmail [.] com
MFAguy,
I'm confused and lost, to be honest. VT and Indiana are, I think, on equal grounds, given everything. I don't know which one is going to give, which one I'm going to give up. And I'm still very curious to hear from my Arizona schools...
If I remember correctly, you were either accepted or WLed at VT, right? You in fiction too?
Okay, so after seriously being ready to throw in the towel and say, maybe it's just not going to happen, at all, with any schools, I was walking out of my best friend's wedding ceremony, and I had a call from Eastern Washington University saying I got into the nonfiction program! I immediately started crying and jumping up and down, and yelling to practically everyone in Balboa Park that I had an acceptance! Sighhhhhhh.
In other words, don't give up hope, acceptances are on their way. :)
@ LHH, mfaguy,
moody was one of the people i read a ton of my senior year in high school. cliche as it sounds, "demonology" was what made me actually decide i wanted to write.
i would bet he's fairly polarizing, though that's a good sign mostly.
Jake-up (and maybe Another Jenny),
I think one thing I did do that probably resulted in getting into 2 places this year and none last year is tailoring my list with aesthetic in mind. Obviously you should also factor in full-funding and all those other factors Tom and Seth talk about, BUT I think it's naive to believe that ALL kinds of writing are accepted everywhere. Can you judge whether or not Prof./School A will like your story more than Prof./School B? No you cannot. You can't even be sure if a "stronger" story will be taken over a "weaker" story (I use quotation marks here b/c I'm already assuming a certain level of quality for the shorter stack). It's for these reasons that MFA applicants are more likely to have high blood pressure than the comparatively care-free med/law/business school applicants. I do think you can get an IDEA of what some schools are looking for ESP. if you know you write stories or poems that are "a little different". Again, what is "different"? Hard to explain, but try reading faculty like Robert Coover, Brian Evenson, Steve Tomasula, Pinckney Benedict, Kellie Wells, Ben Marcus, Kate Bernheimer, and Shelley Jackson vs. fiction by Charles D'Ambrosio, Eileen Pollack, Marilynne Robinson, David Leavitt, and Lorrie Moore. While labels and categories are subjective to an extent, there will be obvious differences btw. the first group and second group. Trying to compare schools like Iowa, Michigan and Cornell is harder if not impossible which is why the general rule of aesthetics not really mattering for most people still holds true. For me? My writing probably falls more in line with the first group, but I still applied to many of the programs that are home to writers in the second group simply because no one can know for sure what will impress an admissions committee and because I still needed to apply to a min. of 12 programs if I wanted to give myself a decent shot.
@Dolores
Hey, yes, VT waitlisted for fiction; near the top of the list somewhere! Both Indiana and VT are great schools, you have a tough choice! Visiting both places would be your best bet (are you located in Ireland though?).
@algae
mfaguy will obvi have more to say than i will as he had moody! let's just say, if he doesn't like your writing, you will know loud and clear! but if he is an influence of yours, i'm sure you will be on the right foot with him.
@Algae
Moody is by far the best instructor I've encountered!
@Rachel,
Aww, congrats!!!
@Algae
like i said, one way or another!
@ Rachel Hurn
That is an awesome story- congrats!
@Rachel Hurn
congrats!!
Congrats, Rachel! I don't know a whole lot about EWU's program but I LOVE Willow Springs. So color me a little jealous that you possibly get to work on it! : - )
You rock, Dolores! You cahn doo diis. Muscle Puhwah!
Congratulations, Rachel!
@anotherjenny
Maybe Notre Dame?
WT--Interesting division of aesthetics. I found myself in your second stack--named a couple of my favorite writers, whereas I've read little of the first stack.
Can you follow up with schools that you think lean more one way or another?
Thanks in advance!
And continued congrats to all the great news folks are getting.
i'm also really interested to hear some opinions on aesthetics of particular programs. (a bit late in the game, i know. sigh and on to 2011...) for instance, it's not too terribly difficult to find programs/alum/faculty that lean toward a particular focus or genre -- okay, brown is "experimental" -- but how does one go looking for a more traditional (and therefore less definable) school?
bah. i hope that one of you smarty pants can make more sense out of answering that question than i could asking it. i'm in panera. there's a baby screaming so loud i want to punch him. it's hard to ask intelligent sounding questions when all you can think about is punching a baby.
Got into City College, fiction.
Anyone have insider dirt on CCNY, TNS or SAIC?
@jessicaestone,
regarding the aesthetis of particular programmes, my own thought is this: look at the faculty themselves. try to see if you can find something they've written. you'll learn a lot from their style that way. and more importantly, perhaps, is read some interviews they've done. those usually give a clear sense of what they think they do.
then you'll know what they say the themes that interest them are, what their aesthetics are, etc.
that said, just because you're not entirely sure that a place is right for you doesn't mean that you CAN'T apply ... it means though that unless they see some connection you didn't, the chances are slim of you getting in. or at least that's my guess?
i hope that makes some modicum of sense. it's been a really, really long day and my brain's about to retire.
This is probably the dumbest question ever, but...do private schools have in state and out of state tuition, or is the cost the same for everybody? Because Emerson's website indicates the latter, and I wanted to make sure.
$22,000 a year is still a LOT, though. :/ I really want to go to Boston, but I don't want to be in debt for the rest of my life.
koru, dear, that makes a tremendous amount of very logical, helpful sense. i do think i'll try to find some interviews of a few authors -- that's a great alternative way to hear their thoughts and projects that, duh, i hadn't really thought to look for. thank you. and i just threatened to punch a baby, so i understand retiring brain. ;)
I had my first bit of news today -- it's such a relief not to be in the dark and surrounded by silence!
Rejected from UMD...sad, but figured it was coming given the news on this blog.
On the George Mason wait list...and hoping that it moves up. I'm a fan of the program, but concerned about the funding....which, as @ Frankish said, is probably out of the picture at this point....
@Rosie
I'm pretty sure it's the same for most private institutions, but you're bound to get more Grant $ if you're in state.
The school I go to for undergrad is private, but if it weren't for my scholarship and the state grants, I wouldn't be able to afford it.
Hope this helps.
Thanks, Anti! I guess I won't cross my fingers, LOL.
@jessicaestone, one time at college I'd forgotten to reorder migraine medicine and was on the third day of a monster migraine... all I could think was, I'D EAT BABIES FOR SOME MIDRIN RIGHT NOW. (Midrin are migraine painkillers.) Haha, it wasn't true - oh god, I hope I'd never eat a baby, oh no oh my god! - but I just wanted to say, I understand your baby-punching. Hahaha. And I laughed.
Oh man. Yeah. Guess I better leave at that, because I reckon I am digging a hole!
Also -
@Anti-, a big, big congratulations! :)
Oh, thanks Zoulou! I really like your name. Zoo-Loo. It's very science fiction-y, in a good way.
Good job Anti-, Nathaniel, Matt, Rachel, Kristina, and whoever else I missed this go-around!
Love seeing good news. Especially when it's some place I didn't apply. :). Though, I did apply to GMU and haven't ranked the waitlist... but, eh... I can still dream Tucson, right? Right?!
or Houston. or Norfolk. or Charlottesville.
SOMEONE PLEASE LOVE ME is rarely subtle. Sigh.
@ BOSTON PEOPLE
please join my fbook group. it's sad that i'm the only one in it...
Writers getting their MFA in Boston
DO IT
...You know you're a New Yorker when you've been reading this blog for almost a year, and you only just realize now that every time someone has written about Houston, you've been thinking "How-stun" in your head instead of "Hue-stun."
@smiling raindrops - ahh so true!
yeah, i usually let the NYer thing slide (being a new yorker myself) but even if you're from mongolia you should know how to pronounce houston.
:)
Accepted to Carlow University's low-res program today via email. In fiction. :) :) :)
@ smiling raindrops
Actually, down here in Georgia it's "How-stun" County. My ex is from Houston and it used to drive him INSANE to hear it pronounced that way, lol.
@smiling raindrops - not a New Yorker, but every time I think of New York, I utter "Long Island" in my head out of habit, but I pronounce it like most locals -- "long-GUY-land."
London too. :D
On another note, I'm still very interested in the conversation about program aesthetics. I made a point of reading quite a few MFA faculty books (or at least starting them for the ones that weren't for me) over the last few months, but still find the whole issue quite elusive.
It does seem that there is a general "MFA aesthetic" (which might not be totally accurate, but I get a sense reading ZZ Packer et al vs. random literary fiction authors that there is some leaning). To be honest, this isn't really my thing. I wouldn't say I'm experimental, but rather a little unconventional. In case things don't work out this year (or in the unlikely event I have to select from more than one program), I'd love more information on which programs have a "house style" for lack of a better term.
Cheers!
Thank you Anti-! Back at you :)
Rankings Update.
National placement rankings are now here.
{NB: These are the first national rankings since 1996 to include low-residency and full-residency programs in the same ranking.)
It's strange, it didn't hit me until now that, wherever I end up, I'll be outside of New York's orbit for a solid three years. Pardon the whining but it's making me a little sad -- the smell of the subway; grabbing sushi at 3 in the morning east of Herald Square; walking at random into a transvestite bar somewhere south of Houston and discovering your favourite brand of bourbon ever. It's weird the things you take for granted. I'm hoping the Midwest or the South will surprise me. If not, I'll deal.
Thanks for the rankings, Seth! Fascinating to see that VCFA is up at #15 while Warren Wilson is down at #38. Will be very interested to read your methodology!
Forgive my ignorance, but what are some of the "top post-MFA fellowships in the United States"?
just steer clear of oklahoma. i've never been to prison or hell but i can't imagine oklahoma being much worse.
especially for a new yorker, stay away from oklahoma, you'll have continuous panic attacks until you leave. that place doesn't understand logic.
cratty,
yaddo, fine arts at provincetown, macdowell, NEA grants, fellowships to bread loaf, sewanee, etc
oooh, and the biggie, a stegner
SR,
Thanks!
Vermont College's ranking isn't a total shock, though. The low-residency rankings have VCFA tied for #1 nationally.
The amazing thing is how closely these rankings track -- and thus verify -- all the other rankings. The only three low-residency programs in the top 50 are the top three low-residency programs in the low-residency rankings; the correspondence between the overall top 50 and the placement top 50 -- remember, the former based on applicants' research and opinions (which a small cadre of rankings critics have called "unreliable" and "baseless"), the latter based on indisputable "hard data" -- is a stunning 86%.
Of the seven "new entrants," five are ranked in the top half of programs nationally (all between #51 and #77), and one is an M.A. program. The only real surprise in the whole thing (over ten years!) is Saint Mary's College of California (#87 nationally overall).
S.
As a former East Coaster who moved back to her home region of the Midwest, let me tell you that I would rather live in the Midwest than NYC any day. I've never lived in the South, so I can't speak to that. However, I a firm believer in the magic freshness of the middle of the country.
Cratty - I will be writing you back soon, I promise!
Cecil,
Actually, colonies (Yaddo, MacDowell) were not considered -- because these are not especially targeted toward recent MFA graduates and usually provide a place to sleep but no money (hence, they're not fellowships). In fact, colonies are more likely to accept slightly more established writers.
Top fellowships include the Stegner Fellowship, the Wisconsin Institute of Creative Writing Fellowship, the fellowships at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown (MA), the Stadler Fellowship (Bucknell University), the Hodder Fellowship (Princeton University), the Olive B. O'Connor Fellowship (Colgate University), the Amy Clampitt Residency Fellowship, the Axton Fellowship (University of Louisville), the fellowships at Emory University, &c &c.
S.
P.S. NEA grants are not considered either, as they also are in no way geared particularly toward recent MFA graduates. The goal was to not reward programs (as it were) for poets and writers they graduated decades ago (and NEA grants often go to artists who graduated from MFA programs, if at all, in the 1980s or before). --S.
@ burlaper - I couldn't agree more. I lived in NYC for three years and moved back to the Midwest last fall. I'd had enough. Granted I was working in the ridiculously unstable theatre industry, but still. There is something to be said for fresh air and space.
Seth, I understand that more info on the methodology is forthcoming, but would mind explaining (even in broad terms) what the parenthetical number represents?
If I missed it, sorry.
Thanks!
Seth,
I noticed that American University isn't on the placement list anywhere and it seems to have dropped in the Full-Residency program rankings. (I believe it's even lower in the "Programs Bubbling Under" than it was previously.) Do you have any thoughts on that? I applied there and I think the program looks interesting, so I'm just curious. I do know their funding is pretty poor.
Thanks!
To all you TNS-ers:
Has anyone received the actual physical admissions packet? When I called Jackson a week ago, he said I should receive a packet within a week or so. I haven't gotten it yet and because I am a paranoid nut, I won't believe I'm in until I have that letter in my hands.
@frankish
Total 12-Year Placements / Annual Matriculating Cohort Size = Score
S.
Thanks, Seth.
Well, those top numbers sure are impressive then.
Cheers!
Hi Emily,
I think American has a pretty well-established place in the pantheon, as it were... since 2007 it's consistently been between #51 and #65 in the rankings. It does better in fiction than poetry, though it's a marginal top 50 entrant (at best) even in fiction. In creative nonfiction it's a reliable top 25 program. I think people like the location but as you said the funding is poor -- plus that general area of the country has a lot of reasonably well-funded programs (Virginia Tech, George Mason, Virginia Commonwealth, Old Dominion, West Virginia, University of Virginia, Johns Hopkins, Hollins, and, at a stretch, Bowling Green, North Carolina State, UNC Greensboro, and UNC Wilmington)... with about a dozen such programs in that swath of the U.S. I think the largely-unfunded programs there (American and Maryland, most notably, but I suppose also University of Baltimore) do suffer. Maryland makes out the best partly because of the lower cost of living (College Park is +8% compared to Providence, RI; Washington, DC is +39% compared to the same constant) but also because it has a slightly more august history in terms of things like placement (as you can see). But mostly, well, it's public, so it's just a heck of a lot less expensive. Looking just at poetry, American's faculty is only so-so; Maryland has Arnold, Collier, Plumly, and Weiner, a pretty strong crew. Off the top of my head those are some explanations.
Take care,
S.
How's this for a stat: the correspondence between the [hard-data] top 23 full-res programs in Placement and the [applicant-vote] top 23 full-res programs Overall is 87%. Yeah, those applicants really don't know what they're talking about(!) :-)
S.
@Bee
I haven't gotten the packet either, but I think I read somewhere in Driftless how another TNS-er called admissions and was told they were going to send the packets this week (or next).
Thanks so much, Seth! That all makes a lot of sense. I actually applied in nonfiction and it sounds like that is their strongest genre. Definitely good to know.
Cecil,
I'm not quick on the uptake, but I get the impression you're not fond of Oklahoma. Why not? Rodgers and Hammerstein had nothing but praises for the place.
Burlaper, Emily A,
I hear ya. People find solace in difference things. I find quiet and open spaces burdensome. I remember when I was on assignment a couple years back in North Carolina, I had to spend a couple nights in this cabin up in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Gorgeous place, but for the life of me I couldn't sleep. I mean, I had never been confronted with silence so absolute. I remember staring at the ceiling thinking, "All I need is one blast of a police siren. Just one." Ahh, good times.
@LHH
Appreciate the thought, but it seems a little bit premature. Let us all figure out where we're going to be first!
lol here we go again
just keep on posting YOU'RE, ca.
@ Jake-up,
Great question.
If you write fiction, I definitely recommend using a few complete short stories over a novel excerpt and a story (unlike me most people were probably smart enough to do this their first time around). This year I made an old 30 pg. story 20 pgs. (as a general rule if you're set on using the same story again, I'd cut heavily) and wrote a new chapter from my novelthing that can stand alone; this tandem got me into 2 schools, and I used one of them and a novel excerpt to get accepted at a third school with a more generous page limit (the only instance in which I'd suggest using an excerpt). Also, last year I focused too much on trying to demonstrate diversity or range; this year I said f it, I'm using my best work, even if that meant submitting 2 stories narrated by a young boy involving pets killing rabbits. (But this may be bad advice, and some schools that rejected me probably weren't even interested in a child narrator, so who knows?)
Last year I only applied to top twenty schools; this year I reapplied to some but threw in a few schools ranked a little lower, and these are where I've had success (sort of tell me where I stand, huh? :) I feel like if you only apply to eight schools and they all accept 1-4% you’re setting yourself up for another year of rejections.
SOP, we’ve already discussed tailoring to specific schools. I also Strongly second what Emma said:
"The first time I tried to show how passionate I am about writing, and I don't think that's the right approach. This time I tried to put myself across as a person trying to achieve a practical goal: I am a writer who wishes to get better; to publish, to be read, and to continue to grow. Studying in an MFA program is the next logical step for me."
100% agree - everyone who applies is passionate about writing and too many people try to be cute (not to say that plenty haven't gotten in with cute SOPs). Two examples from MFAers at Cornell and Illinois (I’m sure their samples were awesome and the main thing that got them in). These aren’t necessarily my style, and of course you gotta do you, but they are definitely logical, explanatory, no-nonsense things whose emotions are relatively muzzled:
http://mramireztalusan.blogspot.com/2007/11/mfa-statement-of-purpose.html
http://thecreativewritinglife.blogspot.com/
Finally, this won’t help you get accepted, but I would stress less, which is obviously easier said than done. But really! I avoided the blog, my sample, my SOP until I started hearing from schools. Turns out I had a slight typo in my SOP at one school that accepted me (only at one school, b/c it was in the tailored section). If I had seen this prior to being accepted, I would have gone unnecessarily crazy. Instead, it was something to laugh about.
Amanda - it seems like we are in the same boat but I hope we are both able work it out. I will not be able to go for a visit since I am an international applicant hence out of the country.
I have been waitlisted at one other place so I'm crossing my fingers... and I'm trying not to say the name of the place even to myself!
Ryan - I was going with an assumed rejection with Colorado and called them just to get a confirmation. Desperately needed to scratch them off my list and then I find out that I'm in and that they sent me a letter on the 22nd of February!
You should just call them and get it over with. Fingers crossed!
you're = you are
my language pet peeve
Okay, I am new on here. Just wanted to ask if anyone else is in the same boat as me, that they haven't heard a peep out of the majority of their schools!?!
I got my Michener rejection online awhile back, and a decent email from UNCW. So that is two down. But everyone else has been so quiet, it's like I am out on prairie with only the crickets for company.
Still waiting on:
Irvine (ha!)
Vanderbilt (double ha!)
UofV (dare I triple ha?)
John Hopkins
New Mexico State
Louisiana State
U of New Orleans
San Diego State
Honestly, I'm okay with getting in nowhere. I JUST WANT TO KNOW. To make matters worse I live in an area where the mail always seems to get lost or delayed. I really want to write every admin office and ask, did you send something for me? Cause, fat or thin envelope, I still haven't gotten it...
arrggghhhhh.
Thank you for reading!
Hi CA,
Thanks for writing, and for your concern.
S.
@CA
I have been moved to post here only once or twice, but here I go:
I would ask you to consider - just consider - the possibility that you don't quite know what you're talking about here. By which I mean: be open to the possibility that you have overlooked an aspect or two of Seth's rankings, or missed his responses to various criticisms, or something of that nature.
While I'm at it, two slightly less reserved - but, I think, uncontroversial - claims:
(1) Seth has done more - or at least publicly evinced more concern - for MFA applicants, as a category, than anyone alive.
(2) Despite skipping over the surface of some serious questions, your post is a jumbled pile of non-thought.
Brad - if that was for me thanks for the correction! I needed that.... This is not an excuse but when you're writing in at 2:30 in the morning sometimes you mess up.
I got a "you have financial aid documents missing" email from McNeese University this morning. I haven't heard from them either way about acceptance-- did anyone else get this email?
cratty,
pick a mid summer day and drive through oklahoma. oh how quickly you'll see that it's the worst place on earth.
"jumbled pile of non-thought"
I will def. use this phrase in workshop. I think that will make me some friends.
so, to ameliorate the waiting, i have started a blog. pls. feel free to read and comment and spread the community beyond application season.
http://backwhenweweregrownups-lynn.blogspot.com/
Thank you to: WanderingTree, Dolores Humbert, Emma and threes for your thoughtful advice. Much appreciated.
threes - I'm with you on the stress part. It'll be a big help next application cycle to just get everything out the door and try to stay away from blogs, message boards, or re-reading my samples. No need to further cloud the brain.
I also appreciate the advice re: applying again.
For poets who reapplied - did you submit a new portfolio entirely or did you keep one or two poems that you still felt were strong?
@kitty in a cathouse
I got that email too, but nothing from the actual program about a rejection or acceptance. ... What are you going to do? I'm kind of feeling lazy about it...
I emailed Amy Fleury to just ask her. I have to wait until the end of March to hear from other places before I make a decision, but I'd rather just know about McNeese. I'll let you know what she writes back.
Ok, that was quick, Amy Fleury emailed me back and said I was on the waitlist, and that she is going to send out the "official" waitlist notifications tomorrow. Chances are, if you haven't heard either way, you are on it.
Definitely at my lowest low. I’ve been rather obsessively reading this blog and I wanted to vent my frustration and also see if I could garner some practical wisdom from you all.
I poured my heart into this application season with good reason. I’ve taken six years since undergrad, I’ve worked, I’ve been writing, I’ve taken dozens of classes. I’m married and I have a newborn son. I managed to get my husband on board with spending thousands on writing classes and application fees. I got him excited about up and moving to wherever. I hoped beyond hope I’d get into a school this year. I could have really used the time, motivation, and ideally financial support. It appears though, I’m not getting into any schools. In addition, we just got word our landlord is selling our building and we’re being evicted. So now we have to move, but not for school, just because. This is going to cost more money, consume more time, and take me away from writing in the little space I already have for it.
I felt like this was sort of the year. The year when we could move freely, the year I could spend the most time devoted to applications. And while I’ll keep writing and reading and learning, and while in many ways the rejection has been humbling and illuminating and infuriating, and ultimately motivating, I’m also just very tired. Next year, the reality simply is I won’t be applying to 14 schools, if any. I just don’t know that I have it in me to do all this shit again.
But here’s my question to any who are still reading this awfully depressing rant, I was wondering if you kindly people could weigh in on something practical:
we’re trying to make an educated guess re: assumed rejections in light of moving and signing a year lease before potentially getting the hard cold copy in the mail.
Do we agree that it’s safe to assume (if I haven’t heard anything), that Minnesota Twin Cities, Hunter, Brooklyn, and UCI are done notifying their admits and waitlists?
I’ve tried calling but to no avail. Thank you. Finally, big huge congrats to all who are getting admitted and waitlisted, take it from me, a lone pony, it’s really wonderful news. People are enjoying your writing and believe in your potential. And a special shout out to my Sackett Street writing buddies, you guys are so amazing and your success is well deserved.
Re: Oklahoma and Cecil...
I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and say that I'm sure you are just joking about your comments on Oklahoma, because if you aren't, I'd say that – as someone born and raised there who now lives in Brooklyn – I'm astounded that someone from such a culture-rich city as NYC (do I have that right? are you from NYC?) could be so closed-minded about other places. I am aware though, that New Yorkers are notorious for having no knowledge of any place outside of the tri-state area, so maybe I shouldn't be surprised. But time and again we "Okies" hear about the hospitality and kindness of Oklahomans, from people passing through on the way to somewhere else. Like I said, I'm sure you're just playing, but if you're not...well then you're probably too far gone to help.
* I feel compelled to stand up for Oklahoma at times, when people who don't know what they're talking about try and disparage it. I'm sure everyone here from other less "glamorous" states can understand.
Has anyone heard from City College ? (Fiction.) Do you happen to know what is the deadline to accept/reject an offer?
@K, I'm so sorry you're feeling down. Don't feel like this has to be it! I know you're exhausted and stressed out now, but that doesn't mean in a year or two you'll feel ready to try again. It also doesn't mean you have to stop writing and won't put out amazing work just because you're not in an MFA program. I don't have any information on your schools, but I wanted to let you know that I'm pulling for you, and I hope everything works out with the move.
Sorry, typo - "doesn't mean in a year or two you won't feel ready"
heath,
no no, i'm far from institutionalized in NY. i travel often, and just from personal experience and preference (and try to not take this as a personal attack), but the state of oklahoma is the most retarded place i've been. nothing there makes any logical sense (buildings, highways, stores, fast food joints are combined with gas stations, etc)
i love culture. i love people from other cultures. most of my writing is about other cultures because i love to 'writing about what i don't know.' that's all.
K - I'm sorry you're having such a tough time. The only bit of information I can offer you is regarding UCI - to the best of my knowledge UCI has been known to identify people as late as end of March. I don't know if this is going to help.
@hilary
that dream is hilarious. they will notify the next few end of month! Pinsky is in England right now, so no phone calls til he comes back!
fingers crossed!
Hey guys. Sorry, I've been away.
Has there been any update on NYU?
@UNH
So I took the bait... I called.
Accepted in poetry! The way the counselor, Jeanine, made it sound was that those accepted are being notified numerically, according to their overall ranking amongst the students.
Unofficial acceptance; pending hard copy in mail supposedly being sent out today [:
GL to all still waiting to hear!!! And I'll admit, I'm a bit embarassed I couldn't wait for the school to call me.. it's just these nerves are, oftentimes, too much to handle!
K,
Sorry to hear about your troubles. Not sure about the other schools, but UCI is definitely not done. I wish you the best of luck with moving!
@ cecil peoples
Describing a place as "retarded" is ignorant and offensive. It's the equivalent of using "gay" to mean stupid.
In general, I think it's pretty unfair to publicly denigrate any particular city/state/whatever just because of your personal opinion, however entitled we all are to have them. For example, there are lots of places I can't stand, and some of them have been mentioned on this blog as cities that people are excited to move to- but it would be rude of me to speak up and make those people feel stupid to be excited just because I personally find those cities vile. To each his/her own.
On a more MFA-related note, when the eff are Colorado State/Boise State going to put me out of my misery?!
@Michelle J
From way back--like three pages ago--thanks for the info!
pony,
no no, stop being silly, and the offensive use of words is nonsense when referring to a place. people who are going to pack up and move across the country need to hear stuff like this, especially for a situation like a northeasterner moving to a place the likes of oklahoma. settle down. chill out. i could care less if someone hated our state of NY. it's not for me to sway/determine someones opinion.
Woke up to FIVE (5) new emails in my Inbox. I was so excited! Turned out to be:
Walgreens 20% off coupon
Borders Reward promotion
Baja Fresh coupon
Two spam mail
Jesus H!!
a walgreen's 20% off coupon is really good. you can buy replacement heads for your electric toothbruth. Those are so pricey... i am sure i negate the good work of my electric toothbrush by using elderly heads. ewww.
can i have it?
What Pony means is, saying "retarded" when referring to something "bad" which you are (you're saying that the state is bad) is not cool. Yes, many people are careless with the usage but it's something we should consciously think about. You're speaking about a place is completely irrelevant to the wrongness of calling something retarded.
please don't grind your teeth on elderly heads. it's unethical
@Wee Meathead -- you're right. What am I thinking? How silly of me to belittle such a valuable coupon.
I've never been to Oklahoma.
I got into UNH. Maybe no funding, but maybe some. I am quite delighted!
@Georgie
Congrats! What genre, and how were you notified?
Are there any Florida admits here? I remember a flurry of Florida acceptances and waitlists a few days ago, except that I can't remember any of the names. It's a blur. Anyway, if any of you are here, could you identify yourselves and share some intelligence with me? Thank you!
(Florida, not Florida State. If I had meant to say Florida State, I would've said "Florida State.")
@Georgie and all UNH admittees - Congrats!!
@Chelsea and Georgie
Congrats!! I don't blame you for calling Chelsea.
Congrats UNHers
@Georgie, what did they say about funding?
Fiction. I called Jeanine, who was very pleasant. I knew something was up when I told her my name, which is very long and confusing, and she said, "Oh yes. I'm familiar."
Jeanine, you are an angel!
So no official calls, but when it happens I'm going to have to ask questions...No giggling in delight, I guess...So off to do research.
@MFAguy
No denial of funding yet. But I'm still in the running, if one of the top spots decides to go somewhere else. I'm going to take that as good news...
Congratulations Georgie and Chelsea!
This usage war going on right now* reminds me of a classic Louis C.K. routine about the word "faggot." Required viewing for prescriptive language nerds:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-otAJrtY-w
*to be clear, I agree that a BLOG comment section is not the BEST place to throw "retarded" around because tone, ironic distance, and playfulness are hard to communicate to strangers.
maybe it's because i'm currently writing a story from the POV of a kid who refers to himself / is called retarded by the townies. perhaps i'm 'in character.' and i love gay people. i love saying to my gay friends, 'oh dude, that is so gay.' good times.
@M. Swann -- that Louis C.K. bit was funny!
The use of non-PC words/phrases/ content will always be subject to scrutiny. In one of my workshop classes, a classmate's story contained stereotypical depictions of certain races. To me, it's okay because it's the classmate's literary work. You can have anything you want -- no matter how tasteless -- in your own literary work. To some of my classmates, however, they didn't want to see it at all. There's something wrong when people are telling you what you can and can't put in your OWN work.
i throw around these words all the time, though usually only with those i know well. I especially toss out offensive words that might refer to my own demographic. Maybe i'm contrary, but i also believe that the only way to diminish the hurtful effects of single words is to use them with abandon. So no, you won't offend me in the least if you call me a retarded cow dyke.
but i will get my hackles up if you say "irregardless."
I object to the use of the word "cow." It's just not right.
@LHH - thanks for the info! I'm glad my crazy subconscious can supply some amusement :)
I feel like I'm getting so neurotic about this, I've just been rejected everywhere else and I'm so in love with that program...
@woon - baja fresh for me, please.
@cratty, burlaper, emily a - next wednesday is my 9th anniversary in new york, and next saturday i move back to the midwest. i thought it would be temporary, a few months with my family before heading off to school. now it's looking a little more... permanent. so, small as it might seem, reading your little notes on how much you've enjoyed returning to the open air of the middle states after a period of time in vibrant, wonderful, exciting, creative, exhausting, hard, demanding, curmudgeonly new york has me feeling okay about things. thanks. and cratty, i've spent many a christmas holiday in my childhood bedroom (that still has the glow-in-the-dark solar system on the ceiling, in no particular order) just wishing... praying... begging for a siren or a fight. even a recycling truck. something. anything. ;)
@any of you two (or more) timers - just a random curious thought with all the talk lately about revising your PS/SoP. i'm wondering if you acknowledged that you'd applied in years past? can anyone who's been through the process more than once tell me?
Though I am still not sure of my status at UNH (called and left a voicemail), I just found out that I am "waitlisted" at Montana for CNF. I thought they didn't have a waitlist! So, CNFers, relinquish your offers! Ha ha, no, I'm serious..
Well, everywhere except Columbia. Hear that Columbia? I'm still available. And I put out.
Poems, that is.
I'm sorry, maybe I'm remembering something totally wrong, but wasn't it you, Cecil, who told Wrecking Light not to say slave a few bags back?
First post after lurking for several days.
I'm headed to VCFA this summer. Who else is going?
@ North Texas people: Emailed/called UNT. Got this resonse:
"Dr. McCutchan asked me to get back to you about when you will hear from our department. Letters will be going in the mail tomorrow, so you should receive your letter by next Monday or Tuesday."
To which I responded (possibly a little to quickly): Are you sending both acceptances and rejections?
It makes me nervous that her admin asst. responded.
Assumed rejection; although, I thought that was the school I had the highest chance of being accepted in. Sad...
DU=supposedly the department is making decisions this week, but the woman on the phone said, "But, it's the English department... so you're going to have to add at least a few weeks on that..." At least she's in a good mood!
Back to waiting...
I notice some people have been sharing URL's here. If you like, you can also make clickable links (so people won't have to cut and paste into the browser).
It's pretty easy. Look here to see an example of how to create hyperlinked text.
@LHH
You're the one with a Boston-area facebook page, right? Or maybe you meant a specific school. I'm in Boston, may not get into an MFA program this year, but if you're trying to connect fledgling writers in the area I'm game for joining (if you'll kindly tell me how to find you).
@ Ink and Beans
I still don't get how to do the link, but yes, you should join my facebook group for MFA students in the area!
"Writers getting their MFA in Boston" or here is the link
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=353336919380&ref=mf
So I'm going to Boston tomorrow to visit my boyfriend, and he might end up having to physically restrain me from showing up at Emerson and begging to know if they've made poetry decisions, or sneaking into UMass Boston's office and clandestinely slipping my application from the waitlist pile into the acceptance pile (maybe they just wouldn't notice if they end up accepting six instead of five poets this year... I am very quiet, after all :P)
@Laura T - yes, that will work. I see no flaws in the strategy.
haha, of course. Seems perfect. ;)
Just a small bit of news people might be interested in. I got an email from SFSU informing me that it will still be 1-2 weeks until they announce their decisions for fiction and poetry. Also, has anyone heard from CalArts? Does anyone know what the funding opportunities are like there?
@Laura T, I will totally assist you in your clandestine-but-wholly-legitimate undertaking.
jasmine,
that was the other cecil peoples
;)
@Hilary, Perpetua and Morgan,
Thanks a lot for the encouragement, kind words and UCI updates. There's more than one way to skin a cat, I'll keep writing even if no one wants me (sob, sob).
Here's hoping this week brings good news for all!
@ wee meathead re: electric toothbrushes
I just received an electric toothbrush as a gift - which I was excited about, because I really care about my oral hygiene, but, as you noted, they are devilishly expensive. The only thing is, when I use it, it vibrates my whole head so much it kind of makes me feel sick. Does this go away after a while?
thanks for the info about the walgreens coupons, too.
hilary, yay! The mission will be much easier with a partner in crime, haha.
Re: UNH
Congrats Chelsea & Georgie!
It sounds like both of you contacted the school, am I right?
I am anxiously hoping the fact that they haven't contacted me isn't horrible, depressing news...
There was a Johns Hopkins fiction rejection letter post on DH.
I don't want to go home if that's what's waiting for me too...
@hilary and Laura T
yes, and yes.
@all
Thank you for the well wishes. It's my first acceptance. I'd throw on tap shoes and dance around if I could [:
@megan
Yes, I called on my own. Jeanine made it sound like calls are going out today..so if you're patient..wait. If not, call ;)
@hilary
I'm still waiting on half a dozen schools and I'm becoming (strangely) comfortable w/ the notion of using/offering my body to get some answers. Cheers!
@K
So sorry you're feeling so down - it's understandable, because you obviously have put so much into this. But I hope you won't give up.
I'm in a similar situation - I took several years between undergraduate and applying to MFAs, and used that time well (I thought) - dedicated myself to writing and taking classes, really pushed my work, made a lot of financial sacrifices. As the days go by and more and more people hear positive things from schools I applied to (and I hear nothing, even weeks later), I am starting to assume that this year might not be my year, after all.
But even though it's so much harder to gear up for a big change when you have lots going on (job, family, etc), remember that "harder" doesn't mean "impossible." You got your husband on board and supporting the idea of a major change - now the two of you just have to reframe that a little, and think of it as a major change possibly postponed.
Take some time to be sad & feel frustrated, maybe take some more time to write before you do this process again (I personally am not sure I can handle it, emotionally or financially, two years back-to-back), but don't lose sight of the goal. If this year wasn't the year, then maybe next year, or the year after will be. Regroup & try again if you have to.
Although I have plenty of my own "assumed rejections" that I feel very certain are real, I do think it's wise to tell yourself you don't know what's going to happen until you know for SURE. Maybe you have to mentally prepare yourself for the worst, but don't give up completely - or make unchangeable plans - until you have the actual rejection letters in your hands.
@Chelsea - haha, I know - it's a little unsettling. But I reeeeally want some answers!
@red - There haven't been any reported calls from Johns Hopkins yet though.
Matt got in yesterday on the wait list for fiction, via email and letter, but I haven't heard anything of a fiction acceptance.
Maybe this is just my attempt at hanging on to the little hope I have left...
@DryLeaves
How did you hear from Montana on the waitlist thing? Or did you call them?
Not that I have any kind of vested interest....
(of course I do)
@ K
Hang in there. UCI is not done yet. There may still be hope for Minnesota; I got my rejection weeks ago. And there could be spots opening up in Brooklyn or Hunter as people receive other offers. I haven't heard about a waitlist for those schools.
If you're interested in a NYC writing group, I think Coreyann is putting one together. Also Zoetrope Virtual Studio is free, and the online workshops at Mid American Review and American Short Fiction are pretty reasonable.
@rwhitmore
Someone posted on DH that their friend was accepted to JHU in fiction last week. But you're right that no one has personally written here. I'd like to hang on the the hope too, though! I've just decided I can't go home anymore. Best of luck to you and everyone on here.
@ jessicaestone
I wouldn't mention it. Maybe if you're reapplying somewhere you were waitlisted, but otherwise I don't think it's necessary.
I've never posted here before, but I thought those of you who are waiting might be interested in these two pieces of news:
Hopkins-received rejection yesterday by mail (I live in Baltimore)
Minnesota-could not log on to check my status, so I emailed and received this bounceback: "The Creative Writing Program Office will be closed March 11-16. MFA Program acceptances and wait list offers have been sent out. We will respond to your message when we return."
Hope that helps.
@Peter
CalArts sent out a few acceptances via snail mail last Friday.
In the packets there was no information on funding and in my emailing with the school, I have not been able to really get a great grasp on an answer for that either.
...in a fit of march-madness why-hasn't-anybody-called-me craziness I just spent more money than I should have buying copies of the journal that one of my poems appears in, even though I get a bunch of freebies. I told myself I was "supporting the journal" but really it was just a frantic last-ditch effort to buy some self-esteem. glug.
To follow up on Mr. Hemlock's workshop suggestions:
The Writer's Center!!!
www.writer.org (sorry I haven't read that article thingy yet, but at least this one is easy to remember).
For those in the DC-area there are tons of workshops/readings and the like, and they also have some great internet courses. Plus, they're very reasonably priced in comparison to a bunch of other workshops out there.
It's a shame that more people don't know about them... I interned there last winter and they've got a lot to offer.
@ Anti-
Thanks. Just as an update, I received that packet today.
I got an email from Stony Brook Southampton on Monday that has me pretty confused. It says: "Thank you for your interest in the MFA in Writing and Literature program at Stony Brook Southampton. Your application is now complete and has been forwarded to the Admissions Committee.
Please call or email if you have any questions. You should be hearing from us shortly."
I don't get it. I'd applied back in January, and they already notified acceptances back in February. What does this email mean????
I heard my tag mentioned concerning self-censorship and figured I'd add that as much as I always appreciate the offers to have my wayward mouth redirected to other, more "suitable", words, I have this terrible habit of refusing - I just don't like visiting the Office of Offensive words each month to pick up the latest P.C. Portfolio. I prefer to go and feed my muse her customary onion and potato stew - what can I say? She's a gourmand.
Perhaps we can ban "muse" too though, for the simple reason that it implies a power imbalance created and abused by poets, writers, musicians, and all of those other creative racists.
@ Sean re: Columbia, April
Diiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitto.
quick (random) question about Columbia College..
Does anyone know if there's an app status tracking page? I don't remember receiving such an e-mail, but I figured if anybody knew, it'd someone here!
Saw earlier they seem to be doing some notifications today.. so, clearly, they're on mind :\
I just got an acceptance e-mail from the University of Montana for fiction.
I'm sort of in shock. I thought they were finished notifying!
I guess that just goes to show that it really isn't over til the rejection's in your hand.
Congrats Rose! It's heartening to keep hearing these stories!
That's great, Rose! Congrats!
@Chelsea
Not that I know of. I'm awaiting a decision too and saw the DH poetry news today.
It does seem odd that some accepted Columbia College fiction people were called and some were accepted by letter and some were rejected by letter. But it all happened in a week so I'm hoping to have some closure soon.
Congratulations, Rose!
@Duchess
Thanks for the heads up! I've never been a big fan of inconsistency.. so to know they're using so many vehicles of notification..makes my eye twitch a bit, haha.
Good luck to you!! What genre did you apply?
@ Carrie
I emailed Montana to ask if they had received my application, given that I had not heard a thing from them good or bad. That's how I found out.
@k
Hang in there, babe.Let's look into voodoo.
@ megan
The vibrating may be unbearable at first, but then it becomes engaging and finally, necessary. Next time you have to use a still toothbruth your mouth will feel as though you merely swished some stale water around in it.
@Rose - congratulations on Montana!
@Chelsea
I know - I hope the mailed acceptance letter comes with balloons attached to it.
I applied in poetry.
Good luck to you too!! I live in the Chelsea neighborhood of NYC btw. It is quite nice. :)
@Duchess
Applied for poetry,too!
I'm struggling with a hugehugehuge temptation to call and inquire about my application. But! I know people poo poo that practice.
Guess I'll just wait in agony instead. Wee!
Thanks guys! I'm going to be visiting Eastern Washington, Idaho, Minnesota, and possibly Montana near the end of this month - so if any of you are interested in these programs, let me know and I'll be happy to report my campus/program visit (pictures, e-mail, whatever).
I hope the weekend brings more good news for everyone!
@ Rose - congrats on Montana! That's a great program.
@ Rose
Congrats on your string of success along the northern tier. Looks like we won't be Alaska buddies, after all..
@Dry Leaves - ooh, are you going to Alaska? I think I am!
A couple things:
First, I got my rejection letter from Columbia College yesterday for those interested. I'm in Chicago though, so it probably got here rather quickly. It was dumb and stupid with circles on it because they are artsy and stupid and everyone there is probably ugly. I'm just bitter. The circles were great. I loved the circles.
Second, if anyone else is getting rejected across the board and is interested in working on some sort of forum/blog/group of some kind to stay in contact with other writers during this next year in regard to critiquing work/prepping for reapplying next year/general support, I'd be interested. I don't really know the best way to go about such a thing, but if anyone has suggestions I would be willing to work on it with others.
One more thing, for all you dirty buttholes headed to Austin (you're not dirty buttholes, really, you're talented writers), the Ransom Center at UT got control of David Foster Wallace's manuscripts and notebooks, including a super sweet viking poem he wrote as a kid. The article was in the New Yorker and is on their website if anyone is interested. Not included is anything related to The Pale King.
That is all.
@Wee Meathead
"The vibrating may be unbearable at first, but then it becomes engaging and finally, necessary."
that was more than my cracked out, semi-psychotic brain could handle. LOL.
@Dry Leaves - thanks! I should get up the courage to do that.
Which Alaska are you going to? Fairbanks or the low-res program in Anchorage?
@ Rose
(and anyone else visiting Montana, McNeese, Wyoming, or Texas State)
I'd love to see pictures or hear about your trip. I've thoroughly stalked their websites and flickr! If it helps anyone, I have some pics of *and love for* U Michigan.
Thanks! katiebooms (usually at) gmail
@Rose - Congratulations!
Admitted to UNH (checked online status, 3/11), plus "Waitlisted" at Montana for CNF (called to inquire). Woo. A good Thursday.
@ Carrie
I am accepted to UA-Fairbanks, though I have not committed yet. It will be a crazy 3 years though if I do.
@Dry Leaves
On fire much??
Nicely done!
@Rose,
Congratulations! I'm also a fiction admit at Montana, and would love to hear about the campus after your trip! Keep us updated.
@Sara,
I spoke to someone over at SDSU maybe...2 weeks ago? She said that they should have their decisions sometime mid-April. Which is late. Very late. I don't even know what to say/think about that.
@ Chelsea
Thanks! March radness has been sort crappy for me until today. My first two notices in March were rejections to schools I was very excited about. Since then: one admit and two waitlists. Two schools to go!
@Zoulou
If I decide on Alaska, we should definitely chat. What's your genre?
@dry leaves
You've certainly caught the radness fever. Keep up the good work!
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