The Michigan rejection came in the mail today, and like the Washington University rejection, this one is very kind, very gracious. A snippet: "Please know that our decision is meant to negate neither your talent nor your prospects -- it is simply our collective judgment that others have first claim on our attention at present... We wish you every success in pursuing further study." I know a rejection by any other name is still a rejection, but I am nonetheless incredibly grateful for the supportive and kind words, even if they are in stock letter form.
Also interesting, the letter quoted that "this was among the most impressive group of applicants in the program's history, and also the most numerous," accepting fewer than "5% of our applicants." I'm sure they say that every year is among their "most impressive group of applicants," but in terms of pure numbers, I had heard that Michigan had received more than 700 applications this year, which, of course, goes hand in hand with plummeting acceptance rates. With application numbers being quoted as being up across the board anywhere from 50-100%, it shouldn't be a surprise to anyone how competitive this year is and will continue to be in comparison to years past.
At any rate, it's good to finally know about Michigan. That brings my batting average to one out of three, which I fully expect to get much worse in the coming days:
University of Illinois - accepted
University of Michigan - rejected
Washington University - rejected
Schools that I expect rejections from, based on news/already notified acceptances/general pessimism:
University of Iowa
Ohio State University
Indiana University
Purdue University
John Hopkins
And the rest (schools that have had little to no acceptance news as of yet):
University of Notre Dame
Syracuse University
Western Michigan University
Columbia College (Chicago)
Roosevelt University (Chicago)
About Me
- Eric
- My name is Eric, and I'm currently attending the University of Illinois for an MFA in Creative Writing. This blog is an attempt to shed light on the often obscured side of the writing life: publication. It is here that I hope to share my experiences and lessons learned in the writer's life outside of craft.
Contact me at: etanyavutti [ at ] gmail [ dot ] com
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10 comments:
Hey Eric--
I'm also in at the University of Illinois, but for poetry. Are you planning on visiting soon, or will you wait to hear from a few more schools?
Hi Sara,
Congrats on the U of I acceptance! I'm thinking I won't be able to make it out in the near future -- my work schedule for the month of March is unfortunately very tight. So I'll probably be waiting to hear from a few more schools out of necessity rather than desire in the near future.
(Also, I've been to Champaign many times as an undergrad, so I'm pretty familiar with the campus and what it has to offer as a town.)
What about yourself?
I found your page while searching for Notre Dame acceptance letters. I did a shotgun application and have little to no chance of getting in, but that doesn't mean I don't want to know the final results.
Congratulations on the U of I acceptance and, if it's not too much trouble, let me know if you hear anything from ND this week.
Good luck.
Hi Eric--
I'm headed out to visit U of I in two weeks. I wish they were having an open house for accepted students, but alas, the trip will have to do.
Any advice for a New Englander who has never seen small town Illinois?
Hi Eric-
I linked to your blog off the P&W Speakeasy. I too got rejected from Michigan (my first one - still waiting on 4 other schools) and am expecting the Iowa letter this week.
Good luck!
Kenneth,
I'll definitely post my Notre Dame information as I get it -- rejection or acceptance -- as I intend to do for all the schools I've applied to this year. Here's hoping you hear some good news from Notre Dame as well!
Sara,
Champaign's a typical small Midwest college town, much like Purdue's West Lafayette, where I did my undergraduate work. I'm not sure if you've ever visited a small Midwest college town before, but it's very different from urban/suburban sprawl you might be used to in New England or Chicago, where I currently live, for that matter. The town holds a population of 50-75 thousand, is relatively small, and is surrounded by lots (and I mean lots) of cornfields. Once you reach the edges of the city (which can happen really fast), the density just drops off. It's like this in most of the Midwest, except for the biggest cities (Chicago, etc.).
The nice thing about Champaign is that the heart of the campus is really close to downtown, which is actually really nice. Lots of great places to eat -- I ate at a Thai place that was a total hole in the wall, my kind of eats -- their rec center is great, a great gigantic library, a nice downtown area, good public transportation, etc. West Lafayette actually had a really nice downtown too, but it was set apart from the campus by a river, which made it hard to get to without a car.
Anyway, just my impressions from the dozen or so times I've visited. If you're going to be there for more than a day, I definitely suggest putting some time aside to go out and just walk around for an hour or two, and see what you can see.
Hi Eric!
I think you left a comment on TSE about Purdue.. but now maybe I'm not so sure. In any case, I see that you're still waiting to hear from them, too. I've spotted some concrete rejections on TSE, but I have not heard one peep. (My online application portal still tells me my application is "under review.") Have you had any contact?
I would love, love, love to go there, and have heard nothing but wonderful things about West Lafayette from a co-worker/friend of mine who used to live there. But, of course, if those who have been accepted already realize how great a full ride, small classes, and Marianne Boruch are, I fear there's little chance of me squeaking in.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed. My eyes, too.
Liz
oh, I've also applied to Ohio State. Did you get that financial aid email yesterday? I was really excited about it, thinking it may have implied an acceptance or at least a spot on the waitlist. I think it was definitely just a mass email, though...
Hi Liz,
That was indeed me on TSE; thanks for finding the blog and posting -- I was unsure how to get in contact with you regarding Purdue's acceptances.
I haven't received rejection notice from either OSU or Purdue. But I also didn't get that financial aid email from OSU, so that sounds like potentially good news for you there.
But regarding Purdue (and most of my recent research is about Purdue), it seems to me that in previous years, taken from the P&E forums, that the pattern for acceptances has been to call two or so prospective students early in the season (their top picks, probably), and then sit on the rest of the picks for a while. Then, usually around the first or second week of March, they proceed to contact their remaining students -- as if they had come to consensus on the small pool of applicants that they did not yet outright reject.
A couple of caveats: First, I've counted, based on posting data from TSE, two individual offers in fiction from Purdue. They normally accept four. And I've also seen someone on the MFA Blog (like you and me) say that while they haven't received a rejection yet, but that the school did email them a day ago telling her that her application was under heavy consideration, and to, in essence, sit tight. So that's probably a third slot. Basically, it seems to me that Purdue doesn't utilize a waitlist in the official sense -- they don't notify anyone who could be on the list -- rather, they use a sort of rolling acceptance method. Accept the top people first, suss out exactly who the remaining people will be in the interim, then eventually accept the rest. That we haven't heard anything from Purdue yet is probably not a bad thing, but it's also probably not a great thing... who knows how long this supposed list is -- 5 people? 20? 30? -- for two spots. Additionally, I've seen other people post on other sites the same question: where's my Purdue rejection letter too?
Note that most of this is hearsay on my part, cobbled together from research of other people's acceptance/rejection information of Purdue from previous years, so there's not necessarily any science or fact behind my theories. Hope this info helps, and should you hear back from either of those schools, please give me a heads up! You can contact me at moomoocow42 [ at ] yahoo [ dot ] com, if you wish to keep your correspondence private.
Hey Eric -
Thanks for your fast response. I think I agree with you re: Purdue and their non-official waitlist; similar thoughts.
There was a faculty forum on the MFA blog a while back where Porter Shreve talked about the decision making - I'm pretty sure they widdle the applicants down to about 20. I'm sure having an unofficial list has its advantages - for ex) such a small program, so they ensure all four poets and all four fiction writers are a diverse set of voices and will be compatible with at least one of the faculty members.
Sorry to hear you didn't get the Ohio aid email - but chin up, no news is still good news in my book. I'll keep you posted if I hear from Purdue or Ohio. Have a good day!
Liz
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