I know a guy who is a very talented writer. He was in my writing group for some time before he quit. He applied to some MFA programs several years ago before Kealey's book and this forum helped with the MFA application process. He applied to seven programs and was rejected by all of them, much to his surprise (and mine!). That setback soured him on the MFA and he pretty much gave up writing. That's also when he quit our writing group. But he was really really talented.
That's another thing you've got to have if you want to be a writer: stick-to-it-iveness.
Even Stephen King mentioned that the world of published writers is not filled with mega-talents; rather, it's littered with those who stuck to it and hammered out those pages upon pages of prose.
I can't tell you how much I love the fact that you just referenced Iron Chef! I used to watch that show religiously. Not that I cook. Ever. I only own one pan, in fact, and I've never used it... but still.
MissEsquire---thank you for the reminder and you are absolutely right. It's easy to be swept up in my 1st year let down misery with all of the good news floating around on the boards. I'm definitley going to stick to it, apply again, and hope for a better hand next year. I think there are a lot of Fortune Tellers sitting on these application panels. (Remember that fortune teller judge from the original Iron Chef?? So picky! So discerning and sharp-tongued! Everything was too salty, too spicy, too sweet, too greasy! I loved her/hated her.) Ok, I feel better. I'll get there. Chug-a-lug.
Iron Chef is amazing. I live with a chef, so we watch it all the time. It gets really exciting when there are chefs from our city on the show. Has anyone ever beaten the Maestro Battaglia? I was going to reference Henry Fielding, but Battaglia just sprung to mind more easily. How literary of me.
And, yeah, Raysen's absolutely right about sticking to it. Steven King can weave a story because the man never stops. He's a well-oiled machine. I went to a talk he gave where he said that he spends his days working on new material and his evenings revising. Somewhere in there he fits in eating and, presumably, sleep. Michael Chabon writes for 7 hours a day. That's a lotta raw material being produced, crap or Pulitzer Prize-worth.
I e-mailed Houston and found out I was rejected and called LSU and found out I was rejected. Good to know, at least. I think their letters should be arriving soon, but I'm impatient.
That leaves for me, so far, 1 acceptance, 1 waitlist, a slew of rejections, and officially waiting on Oregon, UNCG, UNO, Rutgers, and ASU for responses.
I called notre dame and the woman said 'nope'. but she was also rather agitated with the program and told me to send her a note about which school I'm going too and why because Notre Dame has to turn away too many good writers and they're trying to get a list together to bring to the board or whomever to ask for more money.
thanks for the info! Do you happen to know if all the letters going out are rejections? Or will there be any waitlists in there? I'm almost positive there won't be any acceptances. They seem to call people for those.
I've only heard of one unofficial waitlist notification so far, so I bet some of those will be waitlists. I'm guessing acceptances have all gone out already.
Rejection letter from Johns Hopkins, finally, via mail. By all accounts, the letter seems to be personalized, which is very nice. I've peered at the signature, and it actually looks signed, with real ink and everything. It's a nice touch.
Ouch-- sorry to hear that. I suspect mine will show up in a day or two.
I just got off the phone with the folks at Western Washington and learned that I was not chosen for a TA position. She went on for a bit about possibly things opening up in the future, but I don't understand... am I supposed to accept their offer and then hope for the best? That seems kind of crazy. Hmm.
I was rejected this year. Does anyone know how spring enrollment works? Are there the same number of openings? How about applying to the same schools next year? There were some faculty I wanted to learn from at my rejected schools, but they've seen my work and read my bleeding heart story in my SOP....and said no. Wouldn't re-applying seem redundant?
Generally there are no spring courses. You need to wait til the same time next year.
This was my second time applying, I don't think I got in anywhere. I'm doing it again next year. They may as well let me in now, because I'm not giving up. You shouldn't either.
I was rejected by Houston last year and this year I was accepted with a fellowship and TAship. It's very common to not get in one year and get in another, so I wouldn't dismiss the notion of reapplying to a program you didn't get into this year.
Well, hoping to avoid the award for the dumbest questions ever posted in this forum, but did you submit the same stories, with editing, or entirely new stories? And does anyone ever get personal feedback on why they were rejected (I sent an email asking for any kind of notes as to what I can do better next time, but haven't heard back)?
I applied for poetry, so I had more space to revise. Depending on the page limit, I kept anywhere between 1-4 of my poems from last year. My Houston portfolio only recycled one work and the rest were new. I have heard of several people getting into places like Iowa who used the exact same portfolio to get into schools that rejected the same portfolio last year. It all comes down to who reads your work. Also, MFAs have never given feedback to my knowledge. If they do it for one person, they have to do it for everyone, so it's kinda a universal rule not to ask because they won't do it.
Totally new material, both the statement and the writing sample. I would expect that if you're writing at all during the year between now and next time you apply, you're likely to have better, more experienced material.
