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got the call from rutgers-camden, i'm in. 😎

Y'all crazy news: CSU called and offered me a GTA position last night!!! A whole 10 days after I declined my acceptance because they told me all the GTAships had been claimed. I already accepted at NAU so I just withdrew and accepted my offer at CSU because HOLY FUCKING SHIT are you KIDDING me!!! I know I haven't been active lately, I've just been lurking with nothing new to add but I had to update y'all because y'all listened to me be neurotic about this for months.

I just got offered a spot at Irvine!!!!!! 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

It is!!! I'm actually pinching myself, I'm so incredibly grateful and happy. It's a dream program. I love every little detail about it and couldn't imagine myself in a better place this fall. @P i e r r o t You might actually be magic because your prayers worked!!! 🕯️ What a rollercoaster of an application season. I want to thank everyone here for being the supportive, lovely people you are. You made this stressful process feel downright enjoyable and I've loved getting to know you these past few months. I’ll still be on the forum for the next couple weeks. I want to see how the season goes for those of you on waitlists. I’m rooting so hard for you! Remember, anything can happen between now and the end of April.

Story time! In 2014, coming off my first nonfiction book, which was a labor of necessity (a topic I felt needed to be discussed, though I took limited joy in it), and feeling the urgent need to pursue fiction (My True Love^TM), I applied to 9 programs and a fellowship. 0a. For ten years thereafter, I studied craft on my own time, wrote stories, then a novella, then a novel, and then sections of two more--none of which I attempted to publish. I was learning and honing my practice. I knew I wasn't ready. I took workshops, and joined a writers group, and then a second; meanwhile, I worked in publishing to support my writing habit (lol), and of course, I continued to learn a great deal from editing and from reading voraciously. I did hella community work related to the stories I want to tell and the folks whose voices I want to champion, and I put out another nonfiction project. The whole time, I knew I wanted to try again, but it was never the RIGHT time. Plus, my work is genre fiction, and niche, and tricky to pitch to literary fiction programs, so I knew the material had to be EPIC to land me a spot. This season, I applied to 9 schools, and got One. Beautiful. Shining. Fully-funded. Offer. It wasn't the school I had initially expected to wind up at. But a funny thing happened that changed my feeling on that, and I am so INCREDIBLY grateful it did. One night, I was sweating the rejections and whether this school was right for me, and totally having an conniption over it, let's be real, and then I went to sleep and had a dream about [author who is head of a major department]. In it, we had lunch, and he extended his considerable wisdom and advice, and when I woke up, I felt weirdly peaceful. I remembered that this was about MENTORSHIP for me, and time to write, and I decided that if this school extended those things, then I was going to accept. LO AND BEHOLD: That morning, I shit you not, the director of the program began to text me. They invited me to lunch. They, in fact, offered me a place to live near their own home, and the possibility of carpooling and gardening together. We talked about common interests and politics--of which we shared many--and in the end, I felt a sense of built-in community. I visited the school shortly thereafter, and let me tell you, that vibe was EVERYWHERE. The faculty spoke of my protagonist by name. They were excited to show me around, to work with me, to answer any question I had, to handle any administrative hurdle that might come my way. The first-years took me to lunch, told me where to hang out, texted me literary jokes, shared my aesthetic. Today, I was waiting to hear from Brown, like fucking everyone here (hug), and I decided I no longer needed to know. Though it's a dream school to basically everyone, there was no way they could offer me what the other school had: A feeling that I was going home to write. May everyone here hold out for that. I really hope you get to go home. ❤️

Hey guys, mopey ass bummer of a post coming through so if you're feeling fragile like me please ignore lol. I'm just having such a hard time today. Having done this whole shebang last year I knew how competitive it is and I applied to so many programs hoping I would at least end up with a few options. I feel like I don't really have a right to complain since I have a funded offer at NAU, but the stipend simply isn't livable on its own and if I haven't been able to get a job in my current city (I've been unemployed for 5 months) I don't see why it would be easier to get one in flagstaff which is a fraction of the size. I'm just so, so tired of being broke all the time. All I do is apply to jobs and all I hear back, if I'm lucky, is no. My ego is sooo bruised from these applications. I was finally getting to a point in my life/career where I felt like I had a wee bit of credibility as a writer; I finished an mfa in screenwriting, did a cool residency, got some short stories published, etc. But now it's all evaporated and I just feel like I'm in a never ending flop era. On top of all this my cat, my best friend in the world, died unexpectedly on Sunday night. He was kind of all I had going for me and now I'm just sitting here in my empty apartment feeling lost. Sorry to trauma dump, I just don't have anybody irl who really gets how taxing this process is and how it seeps into every other aspect of your life.

screw brown, I just won a $1000 prize for my writing!!! freaking out rn

Well, it's a bust. I cried for a while, including a fair bit in public while eating breakfast, but I'm feeling fine now. Just glad to have the closure. See you all next year for the arc where I get accepted to every program : )

First time poster - despite the rejections, the angst, all the stress, I think this is sort of beautiful and honorable for us all to collectively be fighting for spots to make the world more aware, more conscious, more interesting, and more unique. Cheers to us.

well i’m committed, took myself off all waitlists. feels so good but almost disorienting. i’ll still check the forum tho bc i live for drama

Got in at Ole Miss 🥺🥺

Waitlisted at Iowa omfg please let it turn into an acceptance 😭😭 PLEASE

Well..............I got the call: I'm in at UC Davis! (@zaira **fist bump**) Jesus Christ, this nearly killed me. Second cycle, dozens of rejections, waitlists fell through, seemed like maybe another bust—until now. To anyone in the dumps: wallow as much as you need, for fuck's sake, and by all means take a break from writing if it hurts (I did), but please don't give up. It's practically a cliché in this forum, at this point, but—it only takes one acceptance! I have a few Davis-specific details, for anyone lurking who just wants some fucking clarity already. - The cohort of 8 (2 poets / 6 prose) is now full; I believe I was the first and only waitlist movement for prose (fiction/non-fiction). This year's cohort is prose-heavy because last year's was poetry-heavy. - They may still admit a third poet this year (so 9 total), at the discretion of the department chair. Not sure if they just have extra money or what? It was mentioned in passing. Will be decided shortly, I believe. - The Davis waitlist is unranked, officially, but apparently ranked internally—which makes sense, but is still hella annoying! If you're first on the waitlist (as I just learned that I was), sure would be nice to know! That said, funding is such that an out-of-state acceptance (I'm in PA) costs the school more than an in-stater, so this detail is also a factor in admissions decisions; whomever turned down their acceptance was also an out-of-stater, in other words. (Also, I don't know shit about the area, so hit me up if you're a Davis, CA expert!)

Accepted to Iowa for poetry!!!!!! Just turned down NYU + fellowship so that money should move to other people soon. Deciding between Iowa and Michigan now...but leaning towards Iowa

CSU called, GTA was accepted by someone else they offered a fellowship but I couldn’t take that without tuition remission :,( I’m sad that the door to CSU has closed but very very grateful for my position at NAU and will be committing today! It’s bittersweet but I’m relieved to know ❤️ thank you everyone for the positive vibes you sent my way

I've committed to Michigan!

rutgers-camden lost all funding for (at least) the incoming cohort. we mourn. we cry. we mourn. we cry. we ball. looks like this year will be a bust for me, but still i feel good. i'm really proud of the writing for my portfolio, and over the next year i can do better. Next year i wont apply to many schools. maybe just three. iowa, uc irvine. But i wont build my life around getting in or not any longer. anyway, I'm so happy for everyone here; it's been a wonderful ride. i'll be day dreaming of yall in all your schools, hoping your having a wonderful time. i'm also wishing everyone some good waitlist luck in the next few weeks!!!

I want to say a massive ✨Thank You💫 to everybody who responded to my tiny wee crash out post the other day: @exvat, @curfew, @zaira, @everything bagel lover, @Sumire11, @Tuxedocat, @Chex. I'm so sorry if I missed anyone but I read them all with so much gratitude. Your words were so kind and I'm just really grateful for this community. edit: And for reporting purposes I also got my Brown rejection today. Taking Ls left and right and still we rise lol

the email from vanderbilt's program director finally came, it was so sweet and personal. i had a little cry about it because i was so, so close. but really grateful at the same time.

Happy D-Day, y'all! 🥂 Here's to good news and bright futures no matter the outcome! xo

well everybody i think im calling it for myself 🫡 rejected from rutgers-camden and havent heard anything from brown (nor the multiple other soft rejections but whatever)-- ik technically brown's still up in the air but based on my stats so far i don't think it'll be happening for me. good luck to everybody still waiting on the last few schools and pls pls pls tell the thread where u end up accepting!! i'll definitely still be lurking out of curiosity. will update if i get off the university of florida waitlist-- not much abt UF on the spreadsheet nor on the draft fb group for some reason. i wonder why. it's fully funded, 27k/yr stipend, 1:1 teaching load, fab faculty, 3 yr program. do people just not want to move to florida that bad lol??

Just got home from work and saw that I got a letter from UC Irvine--still rejected, but it had a very lovely handwritten note on it from Michelle Latiolais. Sort of mood-bolstering in its own way.

Well, that's that I guess? I know not everyone is out of limbo, unfortunately, but I'm finally getting my head around being committed to my top choice program that I've daydreamed about for so long. It's crazy! It's incredible! I could cry just thinking about it! I feel so incredibly lucky and grateful and I'm so happy I got to be neurotic here with you guys. Those of you applying again next year, I wish you the best of luck! Those of you throwing in the towel for MFA apps (even if it's just for now, as I too took a couple years off between my first application cycle and this one), take it easy and keep writing. This shit is exhausting y'all. For those of y'all heading to an MFA, congratulations! To neurotic freaks in the future reading through all of the previous years cycles, hi! ❤️ Take a deep breath! Nothing that's meant for you will pass you by. I'm so grateful I didn't get into anywhere my first cycle, genuinely. I wouldn't have my partner, my dog, or the direction I currently do if I had gotten into my dream program last time. ❤️ Also, the time will pass! You will know eventually! In the meantime, lean on your support systems, irl or on here. Thanks for everything guys ❤️

I just got an email that I got accepted off the waitlist at Arkansas 😵‍💫 I already accepted NAU and I'm feeling a little frazzled/overwhelmed. The stipend they offered is about the same or a wee bit more than what I got at NAU, but COL in Fayetteville is soooo much lower than Flagstaff. It's also a 4 year program vs NAU's 2. Idk just feeling major decision fatigue and needed to vent

Got accepted to UNLV off the waitlist for fiction.

Congrats to those selected, to the rest of us, keep grinding. Good luck in yall's PhDs.

Good morning, my little forum friends. I had several dreams about getting in off of waitlists for programs and then ended off with a dream about a zombie apocalypse so I think this week will be fruitful. Tomorrow is the decision deadline for who whoever has the gta at csu. I’m feeling optimistic because of what the professor said but they could also totally award it to someone else. How are y’all on waitlists feeling going into this week? Also, since it’s two weeks before decision day, I feel like UNLV sent out acceptances and the people are just not on draft or here.

Just got my UF decision. They didn’t accept me, so guess who’s going to England!

Will add for myself: I am still waiting to commit, based on and at the encouragement of conversations with schools and their current/past MFAs. They have told me that, for my individual circumstances, waiting and gathering more data is the best strategy for me right now. The thought of a rescinded acceptance because of funding issues, politics, etc. does not frighten me, even if I assume it's a realistic possibility. My life collapsed in 2023; I lost much, nearly died, and miraculously recovered. An MFA is what I want to do next with my life, and I am thrilled to have been accepted to 2 amazing programs in my dream city. But if the rug gets pulled out from under me by a rescinded acceptance—even if it's partly because I waited to confirm my slot—then, as I shared here in a story like six weeks ago, "Oh! Okay, bye bye." I have survived far, far worse. I have lost much, much more valuable things than a slot at a vaunted MFA program. If I lose this too, then I will pivot and figure something else out. I learned that I had resilience beyond anything I could have imagined, and I suspect many here would find the same in such circumstances, either in the midst of or after the suffering. I will not let the specter of one possible future haunt my present. It took me 39 years to learn that, but that lesson alone has reduced my own suffering in this application cycle enormously. May you all be at ease 🙏

What I keep telling myself is that I will know eventually. Like they (the schools) can't just not tell me anything ever again lol I remember at the beginning of notification season looking ahead at the calendar and feeling like March was a million years away and now it's nearly April. I have really appreciated y'all and this community and being on this journey together ❤️

Claiming University of Notre Dame acceptance off the waitlist. To everyone waiting--stay strong.

received my Brown rejection. season done for me. Thank you all, and good luck for everyone waiting on news! Fingers crossed for all of you!!!

I'm committing to NAU @everything bagel lover can't wait to get bagels with you in flag!

Hey, friends! I attended the admit session tonight for GW. It was truly inspiring to me (I'm not inspired so easily). The messaging from GW on the importance, at this time, of public health and public health leadership was moving. To paraphrase, anyone can sail a ship on calm waters, but it takes leadership to navigate a storm. I think that being forged during hard times makes for resilient public health practitioners. Good luck, and take good care of yourselves.

Ok finally got my Montana R. Now just waiting on my NYU soft R but after turning them down last year… even if something crazy happened and I got in again I probably wouldn’t go so I guess that’s it for me this season! Thanks for the camaraderie party people

wishing the best for all fellow brown rejections ❤️ it has been a long cycle and congrats to everyone for making it this far regardless of outcomes

hey folks, i've been stalking this forum/resisting stalking this forum for about 3 years now (this is my third app cycle, but first in fiction) and i've been accepted to sarah lawrence (can't afford it even w/ max stipend) and eastern washington (no info on funding yet) and am also waiting on brown and notre dame. so far i've got 11 R's (from the top 10 or whatev) but it's definitely been cool to see everyone else celebrate/commiserate. prob will take the eastern offer and never do this ever again (because fuck, three is enough) but figured id say hey first 🙂 thanks for sharing all your experience and good luck gamers.

I actually don't want Brown to come out tomorrow because I'm chaperoning a field trip with 30 high school kids all day, so good news guys, it'll probably happen tomorrow.

just turned down an offer that I really wanted to make work, in literally my dream location and with a lot of really great program components… but ultimately I didn’t think that the faculty there were the right fit for me and my work and I believe I’ll get more/better support and mentorship at a different program. on paper this program was perfect but I just can’t for some reason look past these weird vibes with the faculty. it’s bittersweet, especially not knowing where I’ll be ending up but I hope I made the right call because it’s so hard to feel good about any of this or know what’s “right” sigh. 😔😫

May tomorrow be the day Brown puts us out of our misery. 🕯️

Re: waitlists, I did some astrology forecasting, tarot readings, and I Ching readings to (fruitlessly and unscientifically) try to figure out what would happen, and they were all along the lines of, "Be patient, things are moving around behind the scenes, but not in the manner in which you might think, so be prepared for change but also be not prepared for it, patience is a virtue, blah blee." This is true of the waitlist process as well as millions of other processes, including photosynthesis. I'm trying to focus on writing and my daily grind, but I'm just not that virtuous.

Good morning, bagel friend! Really hope you get good news on the CSU front today or tomorrow. I'm feeling cautiously optimistic about my waitlist because I saw someone say they turned down a fiction offer at UVA. There's a chance! I've decided I'm happy no matter the outcome though. I'd be completely thrilled to get off the waitlist, but I also know there are others on the waitlist with me so I'm not getting my hopes up too high. We might see quite a bit of waitlist movement this week from a number of schools! Seems like some folks are making decisions now. Fingers crossed.

Good morning, you freaks that are left. The forum has felt a little more quiet since so many decisions have gone out and we all more or less have all the info, and those of us left are either here out of habit/addiction or waitlist nonsense. Anyway, I wish us all a prosperous week of good news and good food. Manifesting CSU GTA news and UNLV admission decision this week. 🕯️ Specifically good news on CSU GTA funding please 🕯️ Both schools had spring break this last week so it could be the week

While I'm feeling deeply thankful for my waitlist, I was also hoping to be done with this process by now. It's hard to let it go completely when so much is still up in the air. I'm counting Brown as a rejection, but that leaves Boston (???? No clue what's going on with that) and the UVA waitlist. Realistically I'm looking at another couple weeks of uncertainty before I can finally put the MFA stuff to rest. I'm so tired, y'all!

Welcome to Spring / Late March! Chiming in to say I'm happy with the results of my second application cycle, and incredibly grateful that I took time after the first season to live my life as a person and a writer before applying again. Made all the difference in readiness, focus, and discernment. I would have gotten so, so much less out of an MFA had I been accepted my first round. However much I was disappointed back then, now I'm grateful for those straight rejections.

I really appreciate your encouragement! I think I'm down and out for this season but that is okay(not really I've sobbed a lot but it will be okay) It's hard for me because I'm not straight out of undergrad (I've had a career and a masters degree) so it's a little daunting to go through it all over again but I'm glad people like you (and some others) have shared your experience about reapplying.

I am so very sorry for your loss, and for how difficult and frustrating your job search has been. Let it be known that [at least] to myself and many others on here, as well as to so many other faces in the world, you have always been a credible writer. The path is very strange and brindled with mist. An MFA is, really, one of the externalities of writing, like prizes or all the other subjective cosmetic-pieces attached to the real beautiful thing, the practice of writing, a practice which is often lonely and weird to parse through and terrifying and bittersweet. My mentor at my undergrad shared a story once about wanting to win one of the annual prizes while at their MFA [one that is normally ranked near the tippy-top]. They changed their writing style almost completely, then won the prize, then felt empty. The undulating movement in a lot of MFAs is within the current of donors and plastic prestige. There are also wonderful parts about them, yes, which is why we apply, but getting into them or not getting into them does not give a writer any true barometer on his/her writing. You were a writer to me the second you started to write. As long as you just do the thing, you are always going to be a writer, one of the realest of them. I want to read your work at the soonest possible chance, because the empathy and luminosity you've shown to others throughout all of this is a greater measurement of you as an artist than anything related to this uneasy, shadowfaced process. Rooting for you forever.

You have been such a wonderful part of this community, and it hurts my heart to see that you're struggling right now. This is the one thing I absolutely despise about the MFA process. It's almost like it's designed to be an ego-crushing machine, hell bent on making spectacular writers feel unworthy. It tricks us into thinking a spot in a fully-funded program is the only testament to our skill. In truth you have so much going for your writing career. You earned a screenwriting MFA! You got into a residency! You GOT PUBLISHED!! At the end of the day, isn't that the thing that matters most? You're writing, you're putting your work out there, and it's showing up in publications for people to enjoy. What you're doing is working, it's valuable, and I'm so, so proud of you. I know that doesn't ease the pain of rejections or the immense loss of your best friend. Go easy on yourself, your heart's so fragile right now and it needs to be held with care. If you ever need anything, please feel free to reach out. You have this community's support, forever and always.

a poem: I wait around my shit is brown

🤎🟤🟫🕯️🟫🟤🤎