Beta Mike

Thanks @aridari after another brutal slew of rejections, I got a fully funded offer from Iowa State!!  Still waiting to hear back from a handful of schools, but I'm pretty sure most of them have sent out notifications already...

Thanks!  I'm not thrilled about moving to Ames but I had that big-boy moment with myself before I sent out my apps and asked "If you ONLY got into (XXXX) would you really move there?"

If you don't need loans that makes an enormous difference.  Everyone's financial motivation is different, so I understand that the debt-free MFA isn't a rule for everyone.

@romola, I'm late to this discussion, but one thing I would recommend is putting together a sort of simplified cost-benefit analysis. Essentially, you're weighing the pros and cons for each option:
1. List your various options. From the sounds of it, this would be something like: a.) paying to go to a low-res program, b.) paying to go to a full-res program, c.) applying again to fully funded programs [I know you said you don't plan on this, but it's useful to consider as an alternative for the sake of this exercise], and d.) pursuing writing through other outlets. The final option is the most open-ended and perhaps the most unpredictable; you might consider, for instance, taking workshops through extension programs or at a local college as a non-matriculated student. Or, you might trying to get a job in writing or publishing. But that might not be feasible. I did this exercise recently with the help of my partner, who, bless his heart, suggested "get a job with the New Yorker." Might as well list "get into Michener, Vanderbilt, and Cornell" as one of my options.
2. Look at the costs and benefits of each. There are some costs that are straightforward, like tuition and moving costs, but you will also have more complicated measures like opportunity cost if a scenario requires you to quit your job. Opportunity cost takes into consideration not only lost income but also the repercussions of time outside of the job market, lost interest on your income, and lost benefits.  For both costs and benefits, you might want to break programs down individually.
3. Consider your return on investment. Since the MFA is not a professional degree, any option that ends with you getting an MFA will have virtually no financial ROI, or even a negative one. But there are intangible returns to consider, like self-fulfillment, industry contacts, etc. (Note, however, that you might achieve through means other than an MFA.)
4. Weigh these considerations against each other and pick a course of action. 
Depending on your particular situation, this exercise may reveal that the maxim of never paying for an MFA is not applicable to you. In my case, for instance, quitting my job to be a TA in the deep South with a stipend of $10,000 would be a worse decision than keeping my job and paying $30,000 for a low-res program. Also, it's okay if you aren't able to determine a course of action after weighing every option. I'm still trying to figure it out myself. This exercise is, however, useful for analyzing your different options.

Well, I just heard that my travelogue Van Life was awarded top honors in the Northwest Book Awards Festival! Grand winner! So happy...

@Sleam @badeyebrows New member (been lurking for a couple months) and fellow nonfiction applicant here.  My season started with a rejection from one of my favorite programs: Arizona.  Minnesota then rejected me.  But then came a ray of sunshine: an acceptance at NAU.  They still haven't notified me of their funding offer, which is creating a new kind of unique and protracted agony, but it's certainly nice to have an acceptance under my belt.
I applied to a single PhD program in clinical psych about 6 years ago and learned a great deal from that process, including the hoary adage 'don't put all your eggs in one basket.'
If things don't work out for you this season (my condolences badeyebrows), I'd advise you to widen your search if at all possible (I applied to 12 schools this time around).  Northern Arizona isn't a top-ranked program, but the faculty there seem amazing.  Their funding situation is also not perfect, but I found a handful of very appealing programs (Fresno State, Montana, Moscow Idaho) that fund approximately 50-75% of their applicants, so it's certainly not necessary to only apply to fully-funded programs.
I was also rejected by NWP in Iowa.  This, combined with rejections at AZ and UMN are indicative that maybe my application wasn't top-tier material, but I'm very glad that I widened my search and included the likes of NAU.  There are so many complicated and very personal decisions to make throughout this agonizing process, but if NAU offers me funding, I'll be over the moon at the prospect of going there, even though it may not be an uber-elite program.  As of right now, it seems like a better option than waiting another year and reapplying elsewhere...

@Sleam @badeyebrows New member (been lurking for a couple months) and fellow nonfiction applicant here.  My season started with a rejection from one of my favorite programs: Arizona.  Minnesota then rejected me.  But then came a ray of sunshine: an acceptance at NAU.  They still haven't notified me of their funding offer, which is creating a new kind of unique and protracted agony, but it's certainly nice to have an acceptance under my belt.
I applied to a single PhD program in clinical psych about 6 years ago and learned a great deal from that process, including the hoary adage 'don't put all your eggs in one basket.'
If things don't work out for you this season (my condolences badeyebrows), I'd advise you to widen your search if at all possible (I applied to 12 schools this time around).  Northern Arizona isn't a top-ranked program, but the faculty there seem amazing.  Their funding situation is also not perfect, but I found a handful of very appealing programs (Fresno State, Montana, Moscow Idaho) that fund approximately 50-75% of their applicants, so it's certainly not necessary to only apply to fully-funded programs.
I was also rejected by NWP in Iowa.  This, combined with rejections at AZ and UMN are indicative that maybe my application wasn't top-tier material, but I'm very glad that I widened my search and included the likes of NAU.  There are so many complicated and very personal decisions to make throughout this agonizing process, but if NAU offers me funding, I'll be over the moon at the prospect of going there, even though it may not be an uber-elite program.  As of right now, it seems like a better option than waiting another year and reapplying elsewhere...

@Sleam @badeyebrows New member (been lurking for a couple months) and fellow nonfiction applicant here.  My season started with a rejection from one of my favorite programs: Arizona.  Minnesota then rejected me.  But then came a ray of sunshine: an acceptance at NAU.  They still haven't notified me of their funding offer, which is creating a new kind of unique and protracted agony, but it's certainly nice to have an acceptance under my belt.
I applied to a single PhD program in clinical psych about 6 years ago and learned a great deal from that process, including the hoary adage 'don't put all your eggs in one basket.'
If things don't work out for you this season (my condolences badeyebrows), I'd advise you to widen your search if at all possible (I applied to 12 schools this time around).  Northern Arizona isn't a top-ranked program, but the faculty there seem amazing.  Their funding situation is also not perfect, but I found a handful of very appealing programs (Fresno State, Montana, Moscow Idaho) that fund approximately 50-75% of their applicants, so it's certainly not necessary to only apply to fully-funded programs.
I was also rejected by NWP in Iowa.  This, combined with rejections at AZ and UMN are indicative that maybe my application wasn't top-tier material, but I'm very glad that I widened my search and included the likes of NAU.  There are so many complicated and very personal decisions to make throughout this agonizing process, but if NAU offers me funding, I'll be over the moon at the prospect of going there, even though it may not be an uber-elite program.  As of right now, it seems like a better option than waiting another year and reapplying elsewhere...