lilacbread

Update from Florida, got a very nice call from a wonderful faculty member at Florida. The reason I wasn't given an email was because they had to chop the bottom three poets from the waitlist, and I was one of the bottom three haha. Oh well.

Idk why people keep repeating this obviously false statistic that NYU creative writing admits 50% of its applicants.
There were about 1,000 applicants this year. They made 16 fiction offers. I don't know exactly how many offers were made in the other genres, but we can assume it's somewhere in the same neighborhood. 
It is true that there will be significant waitlist movement because people will decline unfunded and underfunded offers. But no, it is not reasonable to extrapolate from this that about 500 applicants will receive an offer.
According to Peterson's, in some (presumably recent) year, the NYU creative writing program had 823 applicants, of which 90 were ultimately accepted. That's 11% (the acceptance rate is likely lower this year). Of those 90, 45 accepted spots in the program. 
https://www.petersons.com/graduate-schools/new-york-university-graduate-school-of-arts-and-science-program-in-creative-writing-000_10039074.aspx
So we can reasonably state that about 50% of those offered admission directly or off waitlists accept. 
Again, roughly 1,000 applicants applied this year. If half of them were accepted either directly or off the waitlist, then there would be ~500 offers and ~250 acceptances. That would work out to something like 80 people in each genre cohort. That is not the case.
The cohort sizes aren't large enough to support this "50% acceptance rate" business. Please stop misleading people.
 
 

DUDE. I learned in my meeting with Paige yesterday that two of their faculty members are veteran drummers from a couple of super cool bands: The Lemonheads and Semisonic! Damn SLC, you are winning my heart.

Hi! Yes, great question I can definitely elaborate on. Definitely followed traditional themes, styles, and plot devices. Sometimes we could predict what was going to happen or what choice the author was going to make. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it wasn't exciting? I had trouble picturing these people in workshop. Or sometimes the plot/concept was interesting, but it was executed in ways that weren't testing the writer's limits?? If that makes sense. It seemed like these writers had already found and polished a style and tone that wouldn't really benefit from going to graduate school -- they could definitely start their writing career successfully while grad school would be life-changing for other applicants. 
This also reflects the personal taste of the committee, which differs everywhere! These were just my specific observations in my institution. Different programs work better for specific styles and aesthetics, which is definitely something that everyone can benefit from considering when creating their list. 

Just got accepted into Emerson!!

*for Creative Writing.

Hi friends! LONG POST INCOMING. I hope it is helpful.
Some weeks back I mentioned that my institution has one final-year student in each genre join the admissions committee and review incoming apps. I got to review incoming fiction applications. I'm very grateful for the behind-the-scenes view I got of the admissions process. This week we finally had our meeting to finalize our list of offers (it was a 3-hour meeting). I wanted to offer some advice and share some observations for anyone applying again next cycle. 
As a note, of course no advice will be universal. Every department and every writer is different. There is no surefire way to guarantee admission to a program. These are just things I've realized as an MFA student/adcom member and wished I knew before applying. 
Your writing sample is the most important thing. I think people have been told this already, but I want to emphasis this point. Your CV is not as important. Of course, it might not hurt to have a flourishing CV, but having more publications and experience in literature/writing won't mean much if your writing sample doesn't stand out from the bunch. The CV was the last thing we looked at in applications.  
Perfect and polished work isn't always the best. It sounds a bit weird -- I know. Of course, you should send what you are confident in. But ultimately, you are meant to grow stronger as a writer in an MFA program. If your writing sample doesn't show that you would benefit from graduate school, then some profs in admissions question what they would even be able to teach you. Think about whether you would benefit from workshop and formal education. The most excited manuscripts to read (which we all agreed on unanimously) were the ones that did something interesting and were kind of rough around the edges. This might not be the case for institutions that value something different than ours, but it is important to us that writers can really grow and get something out of our program. We weren't as excited about people who sent by-the-books "perfect" stories. The writing was great, but it was hard to picture these applicants in a workshop. This is difficult because we always want to submit the best work possible to programs. But to the admissions committees, this sample is all they can use to determine if you would benefit from graduate school. This is something I didn't think about until I was behind the scenes. I noticed myself much less interested in pieces that were perfect. Everyone on the committee was excited about the possibilities for growth they saw in a manuscript and for the successful risk takers that tried something interesting that surprised them. (Again, though, every program and committee will be different)  
The mindset behind reviewing MFA apps is very different from the mindset behind reviewing litmag submissions. Luckily, I have years of experience reading for litmags. In that scenario, you want to find the polished, well-written, balanced stories that don't need as much work. The ones that are ready for publication. The mindset is different when reviewing writing samples for MFA apps. We generally were interested in innovative forms/perspectives/styles that would greatly benefit from years of workshop and formal education.   
You do not need an MFA from a highly-ranked program. You do not need the shortest program possible. Look at funding and program fit before anything else!  Really think about why you want an MFA. Hopefully you want it because you want to become a stronger writer and work with a community of other writers. Maybe there is a faculty member at the institution you're applying to that you really admire and want to work with. Maybe you want it to pursue a teaching career in creative writing. These are all great reasons to me. But if you just want the MFA to have the MFA, chances are you will make the wrong choices when it comes to which programs to apply to. You might get accepted to these places and not feel fulfilled. When I was first applying to MFAs in 2017, I was really interested in the big-name schools that would make me feel accomplished and important on paper. And I was really interested in the shortest programs possible. I think big-name schools are still worth applying to, of course, if you genuinely believe you could thrive and grow in that school's environment then I definitely think you should apply. And I always encourage "aiming high" because why not? But make sure the faculty and culture of that place fit with your goals. And I genuinely can say that most people I know who have MFAs agree on longer, fully-funded programs being the better choice over 1-year ones. After all, you are there to learn and work on a manuscript. If you can get paid for years to really dig into your work, I would take that. 1-year programs might be stressful and overbearing, and you might finish feeling like you were able to grow or absorb any actual information. Having the time and space to experiment and question everything is really valuable. But everyone is different! Maybe you thrive under pressure or you have other commitments and life situations that make shorter programs more ideal. That totally makes sense. No matter what though, please please please look for FUNDING. If you only aim for the most popular programs, your chances for funding are lower. There is a larger applicant pool. That is a fact. Try adding some lesser-known schools with great faculties. They often have a bunch of funding for you and a smaller applicant pool. After all, if your reasoning for getting an MFA is to learn and grow as a writer, then the name of the school shouldn't be what is most important to you. I stand by this fully. And again, I still think its great to try for more famous programs...don't say no for them. AGAIN: This advice may vary by writer, by program, by admissions committee. Nothing is black-and-white. I just found these things to be really important to consider. 
This is a lot of writing lol. I'm sorry for the wall of text. I'm happy to DM anyone who wants to talk more. I am graduating with my MFA (fiction) in May, and I've been accepted into a PhD program for English Lit and Creative Writing for the Fall. I am happy to answer any questions! Good luck!

I heard from one of the accepted applicants that they took 16 for fiction this year. Seems like it’s been cut down? 

I was also just waitlisted at NYU for fiction! I lurked the previous draft groups and I couldn't find anything concrete, but it seems like they traditionally keep a long list. I'm not hoping out hope, but imo it's really cool that someone read our work and found merit in it  Congrats!

Jeez how many of us did they put on the waitlist?? lol.

just got waitlisted at NYU as well, but I don’t think I’m going to stay on it. I’m ready for the stress of ~waiting~ to be over. ☹️

I was also just waitlisted at NYU for fiction! I lurked the previous draft groups and I couldn't find anything concrete, but it seems like they traditionally keep a long list. I'm not hoping out hope, but imo it's really cool that someone read our work and found merit in it  Congrats!

also waitlisted at nyu for fiction!!! it's the first positive news i've heard but i'm feeling pretty mixed since i wasn't expecting to hear ANY positive news this year....but anyway not getting my hopes up too much. i'm wondering if anyone can point me to any data about how many people they've accepted from waitlists in the past. thank you!!

WAITLISTED AT NYU. JUST NOW. I KNOW THATS NOT NECESSARILY THE BEST NEWS BUT THEY WERE MY TOP CHOICE AND I FEEL LIKE THIS IS STILL SO VALIDATING RN??? ITS NOT THE WORST NEWS??

I have been a lurker all this while. Just wanted to say I got my rejections from NYU and Syracuse and UCSD. I haven't been able to write, think or read all this while. But now, I want to eat a slice of cake and listen to Leonard Cohen and crawl out of this dark den and find flowers and other pretty things. 

Hellloooo!!!! Sry---once the rejections started flowing in, I had a hard time coming here because anxiety, grief, etc. But moving on now! Hope you and everyone else here are doing well!
Also! We have room for a few more in our FICTION workshop if anyone else wants to join! We meet Monday nights at 6pm central.

Totally! I've had the exact same thought, like NYU made somewhere around $110,000 from its application fees in JUST the CW department alone and they haven't even bothered to send out waitlists or rejections! But I think it's also good to remember that institutions are kind of....messed up. Not saying that adcoms have to be directly motivated by money alone in order to consider/care for your work thoroughly, but they're honestly probably somewhat underpaid, not seeing that money, overworked, etc. It's tough. I think calling it an imperfect system would be an understatement. But that's all the more reason to pat yourself on the back if you get accepted (not diminish that accomplishment) but realize that it miiiiiiighhht not be as simple as "wow they've sifted through all my materials with a fine-toothed comb and I've been found lacking!" 

I GOT INTO EASTERN WASHINGTON. Literally speechless. No word on funding yet but hopefully soon. Came after 11 straight rejections. There is hope, people!!
1a/0w/11r/4p

Do not disrespect Jess. They work tirelessly, and for free, to moderate a 1.8k person Facebook group. They help the literary community. You, on the other hand, are an anonymous, racist troll. Go on and tell the class about what sort of "black things" you think one can't say in Draft. There's a reason you're hiding behind the term "PC"  in describing Draft. There's a reason a whole separate POC Draft page exists. It's not "censorship" to curtail racist speech. 

GUYS I JUST GOT AN EMAIL THAT I'M ON THE WAITLIST FOR MARYLAND AND THERE'S A GOOD CHANCE A SPOT WILL OPEN UP. I'M GONNA FUCKING CRY!!!!!

I just made the waitlist at Maryland for fiction!

I got rejected across the board last year, survived my suicide attempt 11 months ago, and got waitlisted at my top choice today. I know that those of you who want this more than anything will succeed. Keep trying, you can do it if you keep trying.

Hello good people. I applied to two creative writing MFAs this year as a practice round to learn how it goes, and I got a waitlist notification from Michener for fiction. I wasn’t anticipating to get lucky this year, but now I am starting to get antsy and nauseated every night and my hopes are up when I wasn’t expecting this kind of anxiety. Does anyone have experience with the Michener waitlists? I saw a post by someone who was waitlisted at Iowa asking for similar info and didn’t see much in the way of responses so I just decided to check in because I just want to know if I should calm down and anticipate reapplying this year. Any thoughts? Thank you. 

Waitlisted for poetry at UW Seattle!!!  They cut their incoming class by two thirds this year it seems... Anyway, hoping I get accepted from at least one of these waitlists. 
Condolences to those who've received rejections this week. I also received my Brown rejection, which was not surprising but still not a great way to start the day. I'm essentially just waiting on UVA (and Iowa snail mail) so I'm coasting until April at this point. In the meantime, I'm finally writing new material and sending things out to pubs again. Just trying to adapt as best I can!! Hope everyone is doing well--haven't been on here as much, but I'm wishing y'all the best. 
 

Just got a double rejection literally minutes apart lol University of Maryland and FSU both said no. So that leaves 0a/2w/7r/5p
Honestly, for my first time applying, 2w is better than I thought I was going to do. Keeping my head up. ?

Emailed Iowa asking for a decision update and they said that letters were pushed back by a week due to COVID. Also said to email them back if I have not received a letter by the end of March and they will email me a copy of the letter.