Leeannitha

Anyone else wake up this morning and feel a sense of dread wash over them as they realized it’s finally February?? ?

So every program is very different. Mine has a 2:2 teaching load, which is heavy (but I knew that going in, and I wanted to teach).
For expected creative output, I'd estimate that I produced 30-50 pages per semester. I'm not a fast writer, though I am consistent -- I haven't gone long more than a week or so without writing at all, though many classmates have had fallow periods. Do keep in mind that grad school doesn't really punish you for slacking, though. I know a couple people who workshopped things they wrote pre-MFA a full year into the program. But that's its own punishment, you know?
Balancing work with writing has been difficult at times, but I've been happy with my output. I think the key for me was a) remembering that writing, not teaching, is my first priority and b) not doing any school/teaching work after 5 or 6 pm. That's left me with enough time to relax, which is really important for keeping my creativity flowing. I've also had to fight my perfectionist tendencies a lot; I worry less about aesthetic details in my lesson powerpoints, for example, so I'm not wasting time on something that not actually important to me or my students. Also: skim. Skim for your life.

Happy to give my two cents! The program has benefitted my writing a lot. One of the main benefits was being exposed to authors and writing styles I wouldn't have read otherwise. This was so, so helpful for developing my aesthetic, which was previously defined by a few authors.
Getting consistent feedback/discussion of my work also helped me realize why I wanted to write beyond "it's fun." It also taught me what stories I really wanted to tell. When I came to my program, I thought I would mostly write scifi and horror, but in workshop I discovered that the scifi/horror elements in my stories were distracting readers from what I actually cared about, which tended to be psychological. As a result, I don't write genre fiction as often, and I know to prioritize the inner lives/thought processes of my characters. I also have a much easier time developing story ideas that I have enough passion to finish.
I will say that there are people I've encountered who didn't grow much in the MFA. This often had to do with work ethic (they didn't write consistently) or they struggled to accept and apply feedback. So caveat: it's up to you to make the most of your program, not the other way around. Hope that helps!

Not over-scheduled enough apparently because it's 2:00p here and I am incredibly stressed. Ugh. I just want to hibernate until the end of March. 

Congratulations! I just got the same.
I also applied to Pitt – knowing that someone out there got an interview request and I haven't heard anything yet is wracking these nerves. But it's great to be going into the weekend with some positive news.

i hope everyone's doing okay with the stress of notifications!! just a reminder that ANYONE can post acceptances/rejections on this website... even if they're fake. i know in past years that people have posted false acceptances to mess with those who are anxious to hear back-- so keep your heads up and don't panic too much!<3 
also, i've been binging 'what we do in the shadows' to cope with my own stress and i can't stop thinking about the similarities of the few trolls in this thread and the energy vampires in the series... i think perhaps we may have a few in our midst... 

A couple of schools that I applied to notified this week last year, so I'm a teeeeensy bit on edge. (I know there's no guarantee they'll notify at the same time this year, but still.) On one hand, I'm dying for news, and on the other hand, if it's bad news I'd rather not receive it lol. I did try to aggressively over-schedule myself this week so I'd be busy. 

I get why you + other applicants wouldn't want students reading your applications. However, if I were applying to programs today, I wouldn't mind it. It's basically the same system lit mags have, where you have "slush pile" readers who pass on strong work to the genre editors. There are ways to make it more or less fair -- e.g. making sure you have several slush pile readers looking at each application.
Personally, I care just as much about my peers liking my work as my professors. I would be fine with potential peers looking at my application since they have plenty of expertise on who would be a good fit for the program.
I also think it could actually benefit applicants. As someone who's balancing being a student, TAing, and being involved in a lit mag, I see/feel how overburdened most professors are. If you have 4-6 people reading hundreds of applications, they're going to cut corners because they have to. They'll be less generous readers because they have so much other stuff competing for their time and energy. Distributing the apps among a larger pool of readers means that whoever reads your application is more likely to be patient and enthusiastic (instead of sick of it, lol). Also fwiw, I would love to read applications for my current program! That sounds like fun.

Sorry, but I am going to need to hear what this screaming match was about—and, if you're feeling generous, what book? 

IWW has 2nd year MFA students read the pieces first and say which ones they recommend. The director reads every piece regardless of the slush reader’s scoring. Then faculty read the stronger pieces and decide. I think this is standard as it is also the case at Michener I believe. I know this because one of my recommenders did this at Iowa. At least in that case the director may catch something they like that the slush reader did not.

Just received notification from Arkansas that I've advanced to Round 2. 

Hi all,
Long-time lurker, first-time poster. I applied for the first time last year to eight “top-tier” fully-funded schools (fiction), was waitlisted for three, and accepted at one, where I’m currently studying. I don’t have an English Literature or even a Humanities-related degree, was two years out from undergrad, and was applying from outside the United States.
There are a few select areas where the troll’s cynicism is not only warranted, but potentially helpful. He’s correct that many do not recommend a non-funded program. I strongly recommend everyone carefully consider the level of debt they’re willing to accrue for a Creative Writing degree, keeping in mind the costs of healthcare, moving, and costs of living, as well as the reality of adjuncting and traditional publication. On average, people make less post-MFA than they did before. These aren't considerations that anyone can make for you, and program rankings are incredibly subjective and individualized. (Karen Russell and Mat Johnson, for example, studied at Columbia, and have both been highly successful in publishing and teaching).
His attitude towards acceptance and the fellow applicants on this forum, however, strikes me as extremely misguided. The MFA experience is, fundamentally, one of community. If money and time are all you want from a program, you’re probably better off with the stock market, because I’m not rich in either. Workshop is the heart of the MFA. Reading others’ work, generously, providing feedback that aims to comprehend the beating heart of a story, and offering suggestions that might allow the author to accomplish their vision for the story with even greater strength and nuance. Workshop is also a process of humility. Of accepting feedback, but also accepting that your vision for the story may be radically different from the story you accomplished on the page.
I respect the troll’s knowledge. He is clearly well-researched on a process that lacks transparency and accessible information, and can often feel like an elaborate game of telephone. He could be, and sometimes is, a resource for newcomers to the process. However, due to the stark lack of generosity or curiosity he displays towards other applicants on this forum, I’m not sure I’d want to work with him in a cohort.
My application pieces were the first two literary short stories I’d ever written. One was about theoretical physics and the other about TikTok. Both would handily fail his New Yorker test. I have no doubt that he would have told me last year not to bother applying, that I was delusional. I don’t have any illusions about my prospects of publication post-MFA. Getting an agent or a manuscript accepted is unlikely even for writers further along than I am. But I believed I could get into a fully-funded MFA, and (with luck) I did. I have to believe—or at least try to believe—I can do the rest, too, if I’m to have any chance of accomplishing anything.
The troll loves to cite statistics. He refers constantly to the odds of winning the Powerball/lottery. These are statistically random and independent events. Yet when it comes to browbeating strangers, suddenly he understands that MFA acceptance isn’t statistically random or independent, stating that if you’ve been rejected from one school, it’s irrational to hope for acceptance to any others. (This strikes me as an unhelpful heuristic—I was rejected before I was waitlisted, etc. Even the most wildly successful applicants who are accepted almost across the board might receive their one or two rejections first). But above all, what I take issue with is how he treats the vulnerability and emotional candidness of posters on this forum as foolishness or ignorance, and mistakes lashing out at others for realism or honesty.
I don’t deny him his pessimism. The application process is brutal—we write pieces revealing ourselves in our most vulnerable states, send them off to a committee of strangers, and wait for them to judge, in a line or two, whether we are worthy. There is no control or transparency in this system. We all reach for the attitudes that allow us to cope with uncertainty, be that hope or nihilism. Neither will guarantee a spot at a program.
However: writing is a process of hope. Of iterative, incremental improvement. Of beating your head against the page until the breakthrough hits you in the moment your guard is down. We all know this process, and wish it was easier. Or at least more linear. We also know that beating down others won’t make words miraculously appear on the page.
I’d recommend everyone take a look at Mat Johnson’s candid thread about the MFA acceptance process, and the letter from Alex Parsons on the UH website (urls below). In Parson’s words: “What am I hoping for? A fresh impression. A glimpse of the writer’s talent and perception and intellect that gives the work a vivid, memorable quality. An original sensibility or means of expression, or subject. It might be the angle from which the writer looks at other people is unusual; it might be a lapidary sense for the facet and fit of words; it might be the energy or urgency to the storytelling coiled in the sentences and similes. But whatever it is, it is yours.”
I wish everyone here the best this cycle, and if you have any questions for a current MFA student, please feel free to ask and I’ll do my best to respond.

https://uh.edu/class/english/programs/graduate/creative-writing/prospective-students/cheat-sheet/
https://twitter.com/mat_johnson/status/1592156356886532099

*grabs popcorn*

Hey y’all
 
I hope the waiting isn’t too excruciating for everyone! I’m definitely starting to feel it. 
 
Last year I applied to five schools and got soundly rejected. This year I’m applying to: Iowa, Miami, Vanderbilt, St Louis, and Michigan. It is my second time applying and I’m excited because my writing samples are much stronger than last year’s and I feel confident that I have a fighting chance this time around. Last year I was more like, “pwease take pity on me and accept me” ayayay.
 
I’ve been out of school since 2019 and just been working menial labor jobs since then, because I don’t want to waste time and money in school if it’s not in writing, and I’m really hoping this year is the year I escape the fatigue and monotony of a blue collar life! Fingers crossed!
 
 

This is my first post in this thread and I'm just dropping in to say that no one should let a butt-hurt pessimist ruin this experience for them. This is an amazing moment for all of us. We should ask ourselves if some replies are actually helpful, or if the user posting is just an over-thinker who has to make everyone around them miserable to make themself feel big. Let people have hope. No one gets anywhere by wallowing in self-pity and bitterness.
That being said, I hope everyone comes out of the other side of this process with an optimism for their future--acceptance or not. You are all brave for putting yourselves out there! You are writers, maintaining a very old tradition with a lot of depth and power. Celebrate that, ignore the perpetual negativity, and know that your worth is not defined by any school's decision. Keep writing, everyone! Best of luck

That is TERRIFYING. thank you for sharing because that really brought home how subjective this whole process is…. I hope this year is different!! 

Sorry OSU folks, hoping you get better news from other programs soon. 
I keep telling myself that by two weeks from today, I'll probably have heard back from at least one school ... And then by two weeks after that, I'll probably have heard from at least a few schools ... And hopefully that can keep me sated until two weeks after that ... and so on and so forth. The waiting game is cruel!  

Oh yeah I’m a decade plus removed from undergrad. I don’t have a family to support…so not much explaining to others about my decisions. My parents have come to expect the most absurd path possible.
 
It’s an existential choice for me…a two or three year hiatus that could lead to a lifetime of benefit isn’t a huge sacrifice in my thinking. Plus, I know I can walk back into a successful career path at any point given education and work experience. And, who knows, an MFA might look more appealing in some cases than an MBA. I think there’s a book called “A Whole New Mind” that discusses this approach to learning (creative degrees vs. business). Not that I’m doing an MFA to catapult a business career, but I don’t think it’s harmful in any regard. 
 
And, you know, you get to write and teach and take a vow of poverty for a couple years. Has to be good for the soul. 

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ i don't know, i guess i just have a different perspective on the process of applying to MFA programs in writing.
who gets accepted and who doesn't is entirely subjective, and isn't reliant at all on how many or how few programs a person applies to. sure, applying to more programs will give your portfolio more of a chance to be seen by a program that might accept it. but there's more that goes on behind the scenes: the cohort the university already has, the staff that may or may not teach specific styles of writing, the personal opinions of application readers, the type of cohort they hope to create, etc etc. 
for me personally, i chose to apply to much fewer programs that i know check off all of my boxes as opposed to wasting the money on applications (money that i don't have) for other fantastic programs that don't necessarily serve my personal goals.
i think being optimistic about this process is vital-- there's no use in deciding you're f*cked before you even get the 'you're f*cked' email. plus, as artists, we all must be resilient. negativity does not serve resilience well. 
 
 

Hey y'all,
It sure is a quiet freak-out thread this year! Stopping by to say hi and commiserate about one of the three or four worst parts of this whole miserable process: the waiting. 
This is my second application cycle (2021 was my first) and I applied to 12 programs (Syracuse, IWW, UT Austin NWP/Michener, U Minnesota, UNC Greensboro, Ole Miss, LSU, Ohio State, UVA, Indiana, Texas State San Marcos) all for fiction, with a secondary concentration in screenwriting for the couple cross-disciplinary programs on my list. 
Happy to be done with all the work—I applied to six programs last time, so this year felt especially hectic—but it is truly maddening how long it takes to hear back from everywhere. I also just happened to lose my day job (Happy New Year!), so all I have to distract me from stressing about my results is working on even more applications, this time for jobs that, I'm really hoping, I won't even be able to work for longer than six months.
I've been especially fixated these last few days on OSU, which I also applied to last app cycle and, by this time that year, had already rejected me. This collection of loosely related facts makes my brain go like this: Wow! It must mean they love me! This is my year! They're going to make me King of Columbus! They're going to throw me a dang-ass parade!! It couldn't be that the review is taking longer this year/the academic calendar is a bit different this time/that they're going to cut me from their final list anyway/any other possible (and much more statistically probable) negative outcome. 
Anyway, hope everyone else is holding up ok! 

If I have no control over what will happen once I submit my application, I’d rather be at least a little bit hopeful in the meantime before I actually hear back. It won’t make a difference how I feel about it either way, so why not be hopeful instead of miserable? 
good luck to you!

Yet here we are, hoping. 

Maybe this week will bring good news. 

Totally understand the stress of waiting! Personally, I don't think panic applying will help unless you're sure you'll want to attend if accepted. Personally, it would kill me to get into a program only to reject it later bc it wasn't a good fit for me.
If you really want to apply to another program, maybe look into Georgia State College and University (I applied there this year). Their app is due Feb 1st, and Milledgeville has a somewhat rural population (~16,000)--the fee is also fairly cheap compared to other schools ($35, I think).
This is my third year applying. I know what it feels like to stake everything on these schools decisions. My advice? Sit down, and write out 3 scenarios: best, worst, and most realistic (this is a therapy technique, btw). Now, make contingency plans for all. Worst case scenario, you don't get into anywhere and you fall into a bit of a depression. What job can you take that would give you personal fulfillment? If you can't work somewhere fulfilling, what volunteer opportunities are available in your community? I worked in foster care for the first year after I was rejected from 12 schools, and it helped me feel like I had purpose/that I was putting good into the world. Libraries usually have notice boards with groups you can join as well, if you need more face-to-face interactions. You can also see a need within your community and make strides to fill it--organizing a clothing swap, work with a community center to do an outreach program in your town, etc! Personal fulfillment can also mean advancing your writing skills on your own. Find a community of writers online to swap stories with (or start a writing club at your local library!). Learn about writing through books, lectures, or other sources (create your own MFA, basically--and this is all good stuff to include in your SOP for reapplying the next year to show the adcoms that you're serious about writing).
I also felt stagnant after two years of rejections. I wish I could tell you that you'll get in, but I don't know you, or your writing (and even if I did, MFA selection is an incredibly objective process). If you really want it, you just have to keep trying (and ignore the trolls, those who try to pull you down in order to make themselves feel tall). Best of luck--and if you ever need a workshop buddy let me know!

Long-time lurker who just submitted my last application of the season... Rewarding myself by finally making a post and basking in the forum solidarity! 
I'm feeling pretty anxious, to be honest. I knew paying tuition for an MFA was going to be unconscionable for me in the long run so I only applied to fully funded programs. And I had a strong preference for rural/non-urban locations (generally I prefer environments where the sheep outnumber the people) which cut the list down a lot more — no heavy-hitters like WUSTL, Vandy, Hopkins... Basically every school on my list has a rounding error for an acceptance rate — which I knew was going to be the case — but now that the wait has started I'm feeling the urge to panic apply to a bunch more programs just so to increase the chances I get in somewhere. I feel like I'm oscillating between telling myself that the most likely outcome by far is that I don't get into any programs, and I should manage my expectations and just be pleasantly surprised if I do happen to get in anywhere and little bouts of manic confidence ("of course I'll get in somewhere! My recommenders think I'm amazing!)
The other issue is that I don't have a good back-up plan for my next year if I don't get into any programs, but I'm feeling super stagnant creatively, personally, and professionally, so I know I need to make a change and it will just be so much easier if that change comes in the form and structure of grad school. 
So that's my little intro ramble. If anyone wants to share where they applied/what their top choices are I love reading that kind of stuff. Or if anyone wants to talk about books, I just finished Patricia Lockwood's Why Is No One Talking About This and was actually a bit underwhelmed.