I have to agree. It is really easy these days to send out a mass of emails at the same time. The emails all say the same thing except for minor changes like names and award levels. I would guess all the emails went out Wednesday, and maybe the calling of Finalists is still ongoing (though I would expect the Finalists all received emails Wednesday too). I think it’s a shame they aren’t more upfront about the process so they could avoid false hope and stringing people along. I expect the list to be published today - at least that is what they should do if they want to be kind and compassionate to those still waiting.
@SpartanDrew I don’t know for sure if everyone has been notified, but for sure there is in error in what they are saying. They say on Twitter they will notify everyone by 12/1, yet they are going to release the list on 11/28, They wouldn’t release the list before notifying everyone. My daughter was a Merit winner in Voice/Singer Songwriter last year and this year. She had a friend that was HM in Cinematic last year and she hasn’t heard anything this year. I haven’t seen anyone post about Cinematic, so holding out hope for her.
@MelSmythe the list will be published on November 28th because that’s when the official press release and winners’ announcement is. sorry i know the wait is brutal
I just spoke with them. They are still notifying. Sit tight everyone. It usually takes them several days to get through everyone.
Maybe you’re right. My daughter got her email Wednesday, but I really feel for all the people still waiting and wondering. I really hope they just put the list out instead of dragging things out anymore. It’s not nice to do that to all the young talented kids who worked hard to submit their work. For me, it’s hard to feel happy for my daughter when I know so many others are still anxiously waiting. Just know that anyone who doesn’t win is not defined by this. The most successful people have endured a lot of losses before they succeeded.
@MelSmythe and @fan4luc I agree with you both. This is the third year my daughter applied and has won something every year but it’s been bizarre. 2 years ago finalists were not called and they just released the list on the 16th. I frantically scrolled the list looking for my daughter’s name and found it then an email went to her saying she won after the list came out. Last year finalists were called the week prior to Thanksgiving, other level winners were NOT emailed at the same time and we all waited in agony for the list which was published on 11/29. Once again I frantically scrolled looking for my D’s name. Found it but not in the category she had won merit in the prior year. Then she got an email within 5 minutes after the list was published. And yes in this day and age those emails likely all went out in mass at the same time on Wednesday. SO last year she won HM in Pop voice, zilch in jazz voice. This year she applied for 3 different categories, jazz voice (won merit), Pop voice which I thought those video submissions were far better (seemingly got zilch) and singer songwriter (zilch). It’s all so weird. Vocally she is even better this year than last year so I am scratching my head how she goes from HM in Pop last year to nothing this year. But I’ve known other kids that have had the same thing happen so maybe her song choices weren’t the best this year. Who knows. It would be great to get feedback but I’ve never ever seen them do that.
Bottom line to all of the kids who submitted and don’t win…DO NOT let this discourage you!!! I know my D’s talent has improved from last year to this year and she is doing exceptionally well in jazz voice/contemporary music in college right now. This is an amazing competition but at the same time it’s so random who wins and why. Keep on with your art! Thank goodness JK Rowlings did or none of us would have Harry Potter! Our family’s personal favorite. 
@SpartanDrew Yes my daughter is very disappointed that she got Merit again. She feels like she improved so much and I totally agree with her. But she feels they think she has not improved. She has one more year to try again. The good news is she got into her First Choice college Belmont University in Nashville, TN. So they think she has potential! Not sure how we are gonna pay for it yet. But just knowing she got in, makes her happy. Oh and I am dying to see the list, to see who got what from her school. Last year it was just her and her friend, but this year several kids applied.
Yayyy @fan4luc Congrats to your D on both the YA win as well as Belmont! Hopefully she will get some good merit money at Belmont as well. Is she a vocalist?
@SpartanDrew Thank you! Congrats to your daughter as well. Where is she going to college? She isn’t going to get any merit money. She only has a 3.6 GPA. It was a reach school for her. I can’t even believe she got in! But so happy she did. I am going to try my best to make sure she gets to go. She is a Singer Songwriter. She plays guitar and piano as well. Her music is mostly Country with a little Pop.
@fan4luc I just sent you a PM!
i agree that most/all finalists have been called. bc the finalists on this thread said that to attend national YA week you have to call back by the 21, which means that ya is probably calling all finalists before the 21, and i’d guess they’d leave 4 to 5 days in between so ppl have time to decide if they want to attend or not. so i think either yesterday or today is the last day they’re notifying finalists
has anyone heard of any finalists in short story?
@icravedeath I thought I saw one post on twitter maybe?
Yeah, I’m assuming all the finalists have been called.
According to YA, they have not all been notified. I was told notifications will “definitely” go in to next week.
@scientia3 Ohhh okay. That’s nice to hear. Is it for ALL categories and subcategories? Cause I submitted to Writing: Short Story and I’ve alrwady given up, because I feel like all Finalists and winners have been called for that category. Or have all the Finalists and winners not been called for even Short Story?
@scientia3 Oh and where do they say that they’re defineitly going to notify people going into next week? Did you Email them?
The person I spoke with did not clarify which categories. He just said they were definitely going in to next week. They don’t have very many staff and over 800 winners so it takes time. It will be done soon because the list will be posted on the 28th. According to another person, the deadline to let them know about January week is the 28th, not the 21st. In times like this, when everyone is so anxious, misinformation can spread fast. Try to stay calm. It’s so hard. This is our third year doing this and every year there is so much stress. I wish they did this differently but this is what we have. We will know soon. You are all amazing and your gifting is not tied to this one award. I know you all know that.?
Ugh, I don’t know how to feel. I submitted to Writing: Script but I haven’t seen any other script writers noticed… I’m not sure if I’m just stringing along until next week or there’s a chance that script actually hasn’t been notified. I’m so confused, aha.
@scientia3 you’re right. I need to get off my phone and do something to ease my nerves. Thankfully I’m going out with friends tomorrow, so that will definitely be a distraction.