[New blog about MFA programs]

New year, new contributors

 

Hope this site has been helpful!

[Fall 2015 MFA]

The MFA Years is taking first year blogger applications until June 1st. If anyone is starting their MFA in the fall and is interested click here. We're taking four each in poetry, fiction and non fiction.

[Fall 2016 MFA]

If anyone has questions about UVA let me know

[Fall 2015 MFA]

On its website UVA implied that it would be notifying accepted applicants this week. Has anyone heard? Can anyone recommend other forums which I can check for further info?

 

Thanks. And good luck/congrats/condolences to all.

 

They've sent out decisions to all applicants, I believe.

[Fall 2015 MFA]

To those of you who received acceptances this year, can you weigh in on whether publication history matters? 

 

It doesn't matter.

[Fall 2015 MFA]

Any news on the FB Draft about Indiana or UC Irvine (poetry)? I saw on Gradcafe there was a rejection by email to Irvine which seemed strange, both because it came so early and by email, when in years past all rejections were by mail, and following the acceptances. 

 

UC Irvine asks applicants not to post about acceptances online so it's hard to know.

[Fall 2015 MFA]

From UVA: "We are unlikely to make admissions offers before March 16, and we have made no admissions notifications to any applicant at this time."

[MFA Waitlists]

Thank you, Sarahwakes--good to know I'm not alone in looking up apartment costs/etc. for places! Hard to resist. At least Oregon notifies by mid-March, so you should know relatively soon.

 

And thank you for the advice and hope, samson36, since you're at a great program now! I think I'll do that. Thought maybe I should wait before bothering the schools, but now I'm realizing that if a spot does open up, there might not be a lot of time to deliberate after that. 

 

I would contact schools now but that's just me. You're welcome! Yep, and I was on the waitlist at UVA before I was accepted. Crossing my fingers for you!

[MFA Waitlists]

Thought I'd open up this board, to see how others are faring. For those of you who are on wait-lists, how are you using your time? Are you researching the program(s) in the meantime, or are you trying to put the subject out of mind?

 

I'm finding it surprisingly difficult not to obsess. I've spent more time than I probably should comparing different programs for which I'm wait-listed, so that I'm fully versed in the pros and cons of each. In reality, I might not get an offer from any one of them. 

 

I guess a better use of time might be planning what I'll do if I DON'T go to school this fall, but that's not as enjoyable :-)

 

I was wait listed at four programs last year. Possibly five but it wasn't official. See if you can talk to current students! That was incredibly helpful for me.

[Fall 2015 MFA]

UIUC didn't call wait listers last year. At least not in poetry. Congrats! I had a great experience talking with UIUC last year (I was waitlisted in poetry). I've heard great things about fiction too.

[Fall 2015 MFA]

I'd love to know how many of the Iowa acceptances posted here are true. I heard today (from someone in the industry who has no reason to lie) that Iowa generally doesn't start calling their accepted applicants until March (consistently). I was also warned that every year people (trollers) get on forums and claim to have received acceptances from the most popular programs.

 

Of course, this doesn't mean Iowa, for example, didn't start a couple of weeks early this year, but my point is that we really just have to wait and see (especially when it comes to the super popular programs). Should we start demanding an uploaded photo of the acceptance email? LOL I'm kidding. 

 

Iowa has started contacting accepted people in February since at least 2012 and rejections went out last year in early March. They started notifications a little later in 2012 so some of them might have went out in March then.

[Fall 2015 MFA]

I agree. I wouldn't worry about people being too supportive in workshop to the point where they are no longer being critical. I have heard good things about Iowa from current students who are in Draft. I would definitely ask the department if you can talk to a few

[Fall 2015 MFA]

Thanks Samson36 —how's UVA?

 

It's great! Love the community here, and the energy. Everyone is very supportive of one another (the program is big on non-competitiveness). Can't say too much about the fiction side but the visiting writers they've had this year have been great—James Salter, Meg Wolitzer, Caryl Phillips, and others.

[Fall 2015 MFA]

On 2/23/2015 at 7:22 PM, HeyIowa said:

Do you guys know roughly when Syracuse or UVA will announce results?

 

UVA is any where from late March to early April. Last year acceptances and waitlists went out on March 18th.

[Fall 2015 MFA]

There have been a few Iowa poetry acceptances today on Draft. Maybe someone on here will get good news!

[Fall 2015 MFA]

On 2/20/2015 at 4:13 AM, HeyIowa said:

Despite the Iowa acceptance, I've gotten rejects so far from Washington University in St. Louis, U Minnesota, Cornell, and Michener. You never know how things shake out.

Still have 7 more decisions to wait for, including UCI, Syracuse, Brown, Virginia, and Vanderbilt. Only really interested in Vanderbilt, UVA, and Syracuse at this point, more for the external validation than any real desire to go. But honestly I wouldn't be surprised if I got rejections from 10-12 of the 14 I applied to

 

UVA is an awesome program Congrats on Iowa. Hope you and everyone else hears good news from their programs.

[Fall 2015 MFA]

Wait, can someone please clarify the Iowa acceptances on Draft? I'm not on Facebook. People are saying it's over. How many acceptances were there?

 

Like 2 or 3 fiction acceptances, I think? Have not seen any poetry.

[Fall 2015 MFA]

Bunch of fiction and poetry acceptances for Michigan today on Draft. Haven't seen any waitlists yet.

[Fall 2015 MFA]

Someone on Draft said most (but not all) Iowa fiction acceptances have gone out. Poetry had their final list ready last week so I imagine at least some calls have gone out.

[Fall 2015 MFA]

Cornell fiction waitlists on Draft. Most likely that call last week was real.

[Fall 2015 MFA]

So apparently that Cornell accept was a hoax??

 

Is the Iowa one a hoax too?? Who would play these types of games????

 

I also get the feeling that this coming week is gonna be a big one in terms of contact from programs, so fingers crossed for all!

 

Iowa and Cornell notified around this time last year so they may be real. A person showed up in Draft and claimed the Cornell acceptance but then deleted their comment and left the group.

[Fall 2015 MFA]

Sometime at the very end of January, Meowlly.

 

I don't know if anyone will post acceptances/rejections on the MFA blog, but we have a post where people can: [removed.]

 

If I see anything on the blog, I'll post it here.

[Fall 2015 MFA]

Hello, everyone! May I join in your freak-outs?

 

A little about me: I'm a Senior in English Ed waiting to hear back from the 5 MFA programs I applied to. Even though I'm pretty confident in my writing, I'm nervous that I won't be accepted because I'm applying straight from my undergrad to grad school. Does anyone have any experience with this? 

 

I mostly applied to small programs because I really want that community feel from my MFA program. I've heard that bigger, more prestigious universities can be very competitive, and this does not sound appealing to me. Am I crazy for only applying to 5? (Well, 4, if we're being serious. Vanderbilt? lolz.)

 

Vanderbilt (because why not.)

U Colorado (because Boulder.)

U Oregon (because Eugene.)

U Miami (small, diverse, pretty excellent funding if they offer it.)

Florida Atlantic University (small, pretty setting, respectable faculty.)

 

I have heard next to nothing in the forums about U Miami and FAU, and I think I'm actually the most excited and hopeful about these 2, so if anyone has any tidbits of info at all, I owe you my first born son.

 

Not sure what your genre is but there's been one poetry acceptance from FAU on Draft.

 

I applied straight out of undergrad and was accepted/waitlisted at quite a few places. Age really won't matter for most programs—your sample is what matters. I also attend a program that is considered "prestigious" and it is not at all competitive amongst the MFA students. It depends on the program and the cohort.

[Fall 2015 MFA]

On 1/23/2015 at 9:00 PM, Kaitipoola said:

Does anyone know whether there is an interview stage for top 50 MFA programs? If so, any clue what the interviews are like? Just saw someone on the Facebook MFA Draft who was invited to interview with a school.

I'm applying to the following MFAs: Washington U in St. Louis, U Virginia, Cornell, Vanderbilt, Brown, U Michigan, U Wyoming, U Florida, Louisiana State U.

The following MA programs with a Creative Writing emphasis: U Maine, U Missouri.

Any interview knowledge to share regarding these schools? I was kind of hoping there was nothing to do but wait for acceptance/rejection at this point...

 

UVA and WashU don't conduct any interviews.