[Fall 2017 MFA]

On 2/10/2017 at 11:21 PM, aheather said:

I feel like I could see 6-7 out of 9 doing that, but 100% of the remaining slots being filled without a peep seems unlikely, especially because that'd have to be true for all of the fiction people except for the one who posted their results on here and on Draft. 18/20 people not saying they've been accepted seems improbable to me. So, like, maybe not everyone's been notified?

I'm at AWP and I'll hunt down their booth tomorrow and ask, if possible, just because the wait is killing me

Hey,

I'm currently at UMass for fiction. The professors divvy up the accepted students and give them a call. So it is quite possible that some profs. have started calling but others haven't. Also, this weekend was AWP and a lot of our professors were either at the conference and super busy or on sabbatical and equally busy. For additional perspective I got my call on the 10th of Feb but another person go theirs on the 14th.

Hope this helps in some way!

 

[Fall 2017 MFA]

MFA programs don't care about your CV or your extracurricular activities unless your applying for a TA-ship and then they only care about teaching experience. They don't care if you've been published or what school you went to or your grades unless your grades are so low you obviously wouldn't survive in grad school. Your writing will make or break your application and if you and another applicant happen to be equally desirable they will look at your personal statement and letters of rec. I'd focus on finding recommenders who are excited about you as a student and human being and will have something unique to say because the schools don't care how famous your recommender is and choosing a well known person over someone who knows you and will put a lot of heart into the letter they write for you will ultimately hurt your application. 

If you are choosing those schools simply because they appear to be the Ivy Leagues of MFA programs you might want to expand your list. There are several dozen schools that have amazing programs. Ask yourself if you want a two year or three year program. Do you want a TA-ship. Do you want the opportunity to work on a literary mag. You said you've published poetry and Creative nonfiction so would you prefer a program that encourages cross genre exploration and even lets you produce a mixed-genre thesis. Which cities or states would you be happy living in. Does the program have visiting writers or writers in residence. Do they have a student run reading series. What sort of career guidance do they have. Do they bring in publishers and agents. Are they truly fully funded. Iowa doesn't guarantee funding for the last year and some programs claim to be fully funded but the TA-ship or fellowship isn't enough for the city. Some don't waive tuition but rather make you eligible for in state tuition.

So many people get sucked into the glamorous Iowa/Cornell vortex, but many people who went to those schools don't publish, don't get teaching jobs, don't produce anything remarkable and plenty of people from other programs write woundingly gorgeous books. You only get an MFA once so choose the program that suits you not the fanciest program. 

[Fall 2017 MFA]

On 7/16/2015 at 8:06 PM, kaiphi said:

Hi!

I saw a "Fall 2016 MFA" board and thought to start another with a twist.

I'm not applying JUST yet, but I'm working on my manuscript.

Anybody else?

Rising junior, English and Philosophy major.

My CV looks pretty good, but they're mostly editorials for magazines and creative nonfiction. There's some poetry, but literally no fiction and that's what I'm applying for! But I have no idea where to publish fiction as an undergrad (outside of campus lit journals), especially in my city (Baltimore).

Also on my CV is tutoring, teaching, and editing experience (some coming up this year) and a research paper I'm working on. Plus lots of lit-centric extracurriculars and leadership positions. Probably won't add those but should I??? I dunno. Read somewhere that this stuff was relevant and I'm not sure about that but hey, shoot your shot.

I'm currently going to a state school and I'm applying to:

 

- Johns Hopkins University

- Iowa's Writers Workshop 

- Cornell University

- Brown University 

 

I'm only applying to fully-funded programs and I'm aiming high because, wow, that'd be a fantastic education and, wow, a Cornell degree would open some doors (and give my mom bragging rights at work, hehe). If I don't get into any of them, I'm just gonna get a day job, work on my writing, and try again in a few years. Try, try again!

Right now, my GPA sucks. It's about a B- and that might just rule out any chances at Brown or Cornell, but then again apparently MFAs don't rule you out if your GPA is a little low as long as the writing sample is legit? I dunno. Another reason why I'm here.

 

Ah, as far as recommendations go I have two good ones from my uni: One is a nationally-recognized essayist and alum of the Writer's Workshop, the other is a travel writer and head of my uni's creative writing program. I don't know who to choose from for the third. I have a friend/mentor currently studying poetry at Brown's MFA program so that could come in handy. I could ask my school's newspaper advisor; he'd def give a good rec but not for, like, creative writing. Err, I also have a pal at Cornell but she works for their art department. Those are my three options right now.

 

I'm submitting two stories. Working on them with the Iowa alum.

 

Err, I think that's it. I don't know what I'm doing, basically. Anybody applied to these schools? Anybody been through this process? How far are you? Any tips? Help!!

MFA programs don't care about your CV or your extracurricular activities unless your applying for a TA-ship and then they only care about teaching experience. They don't care if you've been published or what school you went to or your grades unless your grades are so low you obviously wouldn't survive in grad school. Your writing will make or break your application and if you and another applicant happen to be equally desirable they will look at your personal statement and letters of rec. I'd focus on finding recommenders who are excited about you as a student and human being and will have something unique to say because the schools don't care how famous your recommender is and choosing a well known person over someone who knows you and will put a lot of heart into the letter they write for you will ultimately hurt your application. 

If you are choosing those schools simply because they appear to be the Ivy Leagues of MFA programs you might want to expand your list. There are several dozen schools that have amazing programs. Ask yourself if you want a two year or three year program. Do you want a TA-ship. Do you want the opportunity to work on a literary mag. You said you've published poetry and Creative nonfiction so would you prefer a program that encourages cross genre exploration and even lets you produce a mixed-genre thesis. Which cities or states would you be happy living in. Does the program have visiting writers or writers in residence. Do they have a student run reading series. What sort of career guidance do they have. Do they bring in publishers and agents. Are they truly fully funded. Iowa doesn't guarantee funding for the last year and some programs claim to be fully funded but the TA-ship or fellowship isn't enough for the city. Some don't waive tuition but rather make you eligible for in state tuition.

So many people get sucked into the glamorous Iowa/Cornell vortex, but many people who went to those schools don't publish, don't get teaching jobs, don't produce anything remarkable and plenty of people from other programs write woundingly gorgeous books. You only get an MFA once so choose the program that suits you not the fanciest program. 

 

 

[Fall 2016 MFA]

4 hours ago, lunardanse said:

Just got official word that University of Arizona Tucson has not made decisions on poetry yet--if that matters to anyone.

 

And yeah, I've been seeing some Iowa's and UMASS Amherst's popping up and it's making me insane

U Mass Amherst has started to notify their Fiction applicants; I got a call on 2/10. Don't lose hope though, they may spread out the acceptances or Poetry may still be deciding. Even if you get in nowhere apply again. Your writing will keep getting better. I was rejected by 12 schools, including UMass, last time I applied and this round UMass accepted me. Good luck and be kind to yourself!!