Tori Alexandra

Hi everyone! This may be a bit too early to start asking questions about the next application cycle, but I figured why not. I'm currently a senior in college double majoring in Cognitive Science and Creative Writing and I'm planning on applying to MFA programs this coming fall as a poetry applicant. I've been a member of the MFA Draft '19 Facebook page for some time now and seeing everyone talk about their acceptances (or lack thereof, I should say) is making me extremely nervous. I really really don't want to have to go through the application process multiple times to get accepted into a program with full-funding that's a good fit, but the more I read the more it seems like that's the way of the game. So far I have 13 schools on my list (U of Michigan, NYU, Hunter, Cornell, Brown, Syracuse, Boston U, U of Oregon, U of Washington, the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics, Temple, Mills, and UC-Riverside) and it will be a real financial hardship to apply to all 13. I'm planning on working full-time after I graduate in a month so hopefully I will be able to save/budget wisely, but presumably some of that money will be going toward paying off my undergraduate loans. I guess what I'm asking is should I take more time off to apply or should I just bite the bullet and see what happens this coming year? I know an MFA is something I whole-heartedly want and I don't plan on relinquishing that goal just yet, but part of me wonders if it's better to just keep writing on my own and submitting to journals (maybe even do a summer residency?). Yet, at the same time, I don't want to walk away from academia for too long.. If you have any thoughts or advice, I would warmly welcome it! I'm also open to suggestions on schools I should add to or remove from my list. I made sure most of the schools were fully-funded (while still being a good fit stylistically) and that the ones that aren't either fully-fund the majority of students or have a few competitive fellowships. If anything looks misguided, please let me know. Thank you so much!