Has anyone accepted an offer from Montana in fiction? I'm still waiting with bated breath about a TA ship so if anyone has turned one down let me know!
I say Arizona. Through and through. At BU you will be rushed through your 1 year (!!!!!!!) program, will have the ridiculous expense of BU tuition AND Boston rent (and T/bus pass, and utilities, and...I live here, have lived here a long time, and the living expenses are insane and can be really stressful if you're trying to also be a student...), and may be facing some really difficult situations with faculty--great reputations, but there are too many cases of people who sort of suffered through their year and then wanted to have as little to do with writing, publishing, and getting to know other writers after being in that program. Arizona is an EXCELLENT program for both fiction and poetry (I do not know your genre), your writing will likely be nurtured more and challenged more, and over the length of that program, you will have far more of a chance to get in touch with you as a writer and start to really consider yourself as a publishable writer than at BU.
One little tidbit, we had a fiction admit visit this week who has been accepted to a number of other programs as well. Word on the street is that he is going to go to elsewhere. I'm 99% sure he was offered a TA so one may very well be opening up. On another note, my first year in the program one of my friends didn't get a TA until, I kid you not, three days before classes started. (Someone backed out at the last moment). You might want to call and see if they can tell you where you are on the TA availability list. Do you have other offers that you need to respond to by the 15th?
Oh, btw, for anyone who got into Montana that might be visiting in the next couple of weeks, we're having the (rather tongue in cheek) MFA Spring Formal (on my lawn, 106 Daly Avenue) on April 21st starting at 7 pm. Y'all are invited. Hell, anyone who reads this is invited.
Yeah I have decided about 400 times now...unfortunately it's different each time. I won't get into it since the people at the blogspot site have already continuously for weeks, but it's between Mr. No Fund Emerson and Bowling Green with a free ride...obviously I'll be choosing Bowling Green real soon. Yay...free poetry MFA!
It's off to Syracuse for me, in poetry. This whole process has worked out pretty well, and I'm excited about where I'm going. If anybody else is headed to SU for poetry or fiction, feel free to drop me a PM--I've been contacting others who I've seen posting acceptance there, but I probably missed a couple people. My final tally:
Accepted: Syracuse (poetry) Wyoming (poetry) School of the Art Institute of Chicago CalArts
Waitlist: NYU (poetry)
Rejected: Brown (fiction) UVA (poetry) Montana (poetry) U-Washington (poetry) Never actually got a letter from them, so I assume I was rejected or on an Infinite Waitlist. Whatever.
I declined @ the schools where I was accepted/waitlisted over the past week, so good luck to anybody who's waiting for acceptance or funding!
Re: [seemingmeaning] Eastern Washington for Poetry
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perhaps this is a stupid question but how do I formally accept an offer? Can I e-mail them by the 15th or did they expect a deposit in their office by Sunday? How much longer do I have??? I'm freaking out....
Anyone accepting to the New School care to share why they've chosen /would choose that over Pittsburgh.. I could really use the help.
Well, I'm in a quandry. I was only accepted to one school and, while I believe it's a great fit for me, the money factor is one I'm just not sure how to address. That's what I get for saying Columbia is too expensive and doesn't have enough aid. I'm in at Cal Arts with a scholarship that would be huge at a state school, or sufficient at NYU, but doesn't cover 1/4 of my tuition. Even after borrowing the max Staffords, I'd be $18.5k short of my budget.
I am absolutely heartbroken. Not only do I have tremendous debt from undergrad, but I've wasted the past 2 years just looking for work and trying to stay afloat, I am not thrilled about wasting another year (I'm in my mid-30s, so getting established, having babies, etc. are all pressures I'm feeling right now).
I haven't found any fellowships I qualify for as yet -- I'm either too young, too old, not undergrad, not established or something silly like that. I am going to ask friends on both coasts to have fundraising concerts for me. I am not sure how much they can raise, but maybe it'll at least cover books or something.
Im going to UMASS AMHERST this fall (fiction) Im 24 years old Female,,,,,,,,,,if anyone else going wants to message me thats cool,,,, we could get to know eachother a tiny bit or trade stories/poems,,, or rent a place together next year,,, is that crazy?
Hi J - This is a bit late, but I went to PSU so if you have questions about the place or program, send me an email off the board and I'll see if I can help.
Re: [tenderloner] Looking for funding miracle
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Cal Arts is a good school but ridiculously expensive. Is there anyway you can hold a full-time job and go to school? There's always the low-res option if you can't at Cal Arts. You might be able to get away with only paying around $15k for it a year, which is below the Stafford max. and tuition at many private schools. There are a number of good low res. programs, and you can spread your net wide. If you've already explored this option, maybe I'm speaking too soon.
Well, after giving up all hope, things finally came together at the last minute and I scored some funding/TA at UNCW. That's where I'll be going this fall.
If anyone else is going this fall, let's chat or whatnot.
Also, anyone who will be coming to IU should feel free to get in touch with me if you have any questions or concerns about Bloomington, Ind. I'm on a recent good karma kick.
If you don't mind me asking -- how did you decide on the New School?? I'm leaning in that direction but I'm worried about everyones comments on the program's "fullness"
Re: [Fear&Loathing] Looking for funding miracle
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Thanks F&L. Your name reminds me that Hunter S. Thompson's widow is a new student at my school at Columbia. There are so many incredible connections in life, things are possible.
I feel confident Cal Arts is the best place for me, largely because it is an all-arts community and also because I am ready to be back in California at this time in my life. Low res might be an option if I'd found a good job in the 2 years since I was supposed to graduate from Columbia, but since I haven't gotten otherwise settled, I'm not sure that's the right plan for me. Maybe if I do find a real job in the next 6 months and funding doesn't work out at Cal Arts, that will be the way to go. I hate to lose yet another year.
We'll see how the fundraising efforts go. I'm going to keep looking for grants as well. There's one I have my eye on that more than makes up the difference, but it seems that most of the past awardees are already post MFA or established artists (not requirements). I'm also trying to sell some of my photos. I am both an optimist and a pessimist. I had a funding miracle at Columbia, even though I was admitted only 3 weeks before classes started. I didn't expect to get that much again (which is why I applied mostly to fully funded and public schools!), but if I were to get about half tuition, I could make up the rest in loans and fellowships. I'm willing to foolishly take out loans for an MFA, since I didn't have to borrow so much for undergrad. Of course, I'd start looking for fellowships much earlier for the 2nd year and with the TAship, it would be manageable. It's mostly a matter of the first year. And I do still have four and a half months.
I'm still waiting to hear from one school, but I've decided to go to Virginia Tech. I can't wait to jump up and down to "Enter Sandman" at Lane Stadium!
