News, of some rather indistinct sort...

And I quote:

I'm writing to inform you that you have been placed on the wait list for the MFA program at Oregon State University. The Graduate Committee was very impressed with your work, but we have a limited number of available positions, and offers have been made to a few writers ahead of you. We had a record number of applicants this year, so acceptances were extremely competitive. Should any of our initial offers decline (the final deadline for acceptances is April 12), and it becomes possible for us to offer you a position for next year, we will let you know right away.

In the meantime, if you accept an offer elsewhere, we would appreciate your letting us know. Thank you for your patience.

Don't hesitate to get in touch with me if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

Keith Scribner
Director, MFA Program

Well, since Oregon is #7 in the 7 schools I applied to, this news is less than heartening. Wait-listed at #7. Not that I wouldn't want to go there or that I underappreciate the gesture. No, it's just that I have no idea how to feel about this information until I get further information from numbers 1-5 (Iowa being out as well). And it just makes me all the more anxious to see what's up with Providence, Baltimore, Tuscaloosa, Seattle, and Anchorage. I feel like the old, raisined woman at the linoleum retirement home that keeps asking, "Why don't they write?" Because, they don't like you, Mrs. Gnomey, says the orderly. Because they don't like you.