JPReinhold

They are! Daughter has a metabolic disease, so they’ve had juice one other time (New Year’s Eve) and have been jonesin ever since.

Have it on deck. Best decision I've made in some time. Hopefully we all have more celebrations coming. I was seriously spiraling about the possibility of straight rejections. I hope anyone else with that fear gets out of that boat soon as well. It really does lift so much of the anxiety. Someone on Twitter said "welcome to this purgatory". Better purgatory than hell!

WE SMASHED THAT BOTTLE BRO

I just got accepted at Miami of Ohio (poetry)! My little ones and I just popped open the bottle of sparkling Welch's that has been sitting in the fridge door. I told them I got into an MFA and my daughter (3) ran to the fridge. I was really worried we weren't going to get to open it this year. SO GLAD to have an acceptance. I only applied to fully-funded programs that I'd be proud to attend, so this is big for me. I wanted to share the good news! (And check your email if you applied!)

Poetry Twitter is the most supportive writing community I’ve ever been part of. I don’t know what I’d do without it - a very positive, uplifting group of people. Even very accomplished poets are happy to read / share / critique the work of lesser known poets (like me). I recommend joining Twitter if you’re a poet (though I hear other communities can be negative there).

Not to mention, they’re the ones who will have to work with you for the next 2-3 years. I would not like it if they hired people for me to oversee for three years without my approval I’m not sure what the benefit of applying to study under certain mentors would be if unrelated people selected the candidates. If the people mentoring you don’t value your work or see it’s potential, I’m not see you’ll get much out of those years.

Until there is better funding from our society for the arts, the process for selecting who gets that funding will have to be competitive. I don't know that I agree that it is particularly elitist - thought there is some MFA snobbery on the publishing side (agents, magazines, publishers). From what I understand, Iowa is quite fair in their assessments and really looks to the writing sample. Who has access to MFAs has gotten more diverse in terms of race, nationality, gender identity, economics, etc. in recent years (though the lit world really is still SO white). When you say it is "elitist", can you explain in what sense? How would you like to change that? What do you suggest as an alternative?

Hey Paul We're in purgatory because this is a board for people awaiting decisions from creative writing programs. I see that's not your field, but thank you for the mini heart attack. ? ETA: Good luck with the whole Chemistry thing though!

I like to fantasize about the massive houses with yards and barns I could buy in Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan and spend my anxiety hours on Zillow. My son is a toddler. Every night he says, "Talk. Talk with mommy." And we talk about playing catch in our new yard and our new garage with a basketball hoop. He'd also like a slide.

It's important to also consider the impact of the people in your cohort. It should follow that extremely competitive applicant pools lead to higher caliber talent among the selected students. While professors are important, it's logical to think that the quality of your cohort will also impact what you "get" out of your MFA experience. These are the people who will regularly be reading and even steering your thesis, so more competitive (typically fully-funded) programs arguably have better workshops? I've also heard horror stories ("that guy in your MFA") about particularly untalented people who are emboldened by being selected and wreck workshops, but let's save those gloomy scenarios for after we've been chosen

... I don’t think anyone is in danger of ending up with that person in their program. Based on what I’ve seen, I think we’re all pretty safe.

The person you’re referring to is a disabled writer. So am I. What you just used is hate speech and you really need to rethink your choice of words. If you used that word in your MFA or at any job, they would have good reason to terminate you. I thought it was enlightening thing for her to mention how it could benefit disabled people if more people asked about accessibility. You may not understand because you have not been discriminated against for a disability, but you don’t have a right to use that word for or about anyone. Her idea is similar to the practice of everyone publicly disclosing their preferred pronouns - it takes the burden of non-gender conforming people go out of their way to do so. If everyone asked about disability access, universities may make it a bigger priority and less of the burden would fall to disabled people. It makes us question what we’re positing as the “default” in our society and promotes inclusivity. Why would that be a bad thing? It’s a step away from the ableist way of doing things now, and I think that’s a step in the right direction.

I think you will be in great shape with the paper you submitted. As everyone keeps reaffirming, they care about your portfolio first. Showing that you can do graduate-level research and analysis is all they are hoping you will do with your academic sample. If you’re going to be teaching undergrad, they need to be sure they’re putting someone in place who is academically ready to take on that challenge. I am SURE your academic paper is fine ❤️ I really can’t wait to hear about your acceptance into a program - I can tell you are fighting for this. Break a leg!

I've read some rumors about this, and I think it would be possible. I feel like my social media is an accurate representation of who I am (parent / poet / goofball / leftist) and that my website shows I can be professional and dedicated to writing. Other than that, I don't know what they'd be looking for. I got some advice to list pubs on my CV that hadn't been included in my sample that they may also want to see? I listed my top fiction pubs on my CV (in addition to the more relevant but not THAT relevant poetry pubs) and a link to my website on top with my address and email in case they were interested. I was a little worried about my Twitter because I am not a very serious person and I'm usually laughing at something silly, but I wouldn't want to go anywhere that required me to be serious all of the time (as I'm not capable).Maybe they check Twitter / Facebook to see if you play nice in the social media sandbox or if you're an arrogant jerk? If you're a jerk on social media, it may dissuade someone from wanting to hang out with you for 2-3 years. Or maybe that's all just speculation and they really do choose based on your portfolio? Who knows.

Maybe I will see you soon! I applied to UF, USF, and FSU (among others). I do have pieces I’m proud of! I hope they’re not the best work I ever do because, if they are, that means I never improved. I think it’s good to have a mindset that you want to be your best you. I know people will have intense confidence in their work, and I don’t think I ever will. I used to have no confidence at all and never submitted my poetry or stories anywhere. Not to be your adoptive grandparent, but I am much older now. Though I don’t have more confidence in my work, I do stop and say “this is the closest I can get with the skills I have now to creating this vision”. I may not have confidence, but I can get to the point where I can like something enough that I can accept that other people don’t like it. I couldn’t do that ten years ago. ... but we’ll see*. ?

(To your point, I’ve been told they definitely do care a lot about the SOP and your motivations / interests. That helps them form a perception of you.) I don’t think the publications on your CV help, but I think the act of submitting and refining your work helps prepare you for MFA apps, if that makes sense. I’m proud of the publications I’ve had to date, but I don’t think the evaluators will put a lot of stock in them beyond the fact that I’ve been putting myself out there and navigating the world of literary magazines. Publishing gave me some confidence in which pieces to add to my portfolio - including the ones that had been printed by more exclusive publications in my writing sample and omitting many that haven’t yet found homes - but who can say if those choices were misguided or not? I guess we will wait and see*! *waiting and seeing is actually killing me

I don't know about a "fool", but you seem to have been misinformed. Applying to many increases your chance of being accepted to a program, certainly. Logically, that would also increase your odds of being accepted into more than one program (though also illogically, as they are independent odds, but I digress). The odds of getting picked for any program that is fully-funded are quite low. Your future depends on your portfolio! Little else matters. Publications help, creative writing classes help. This isn't because the university will put a lot of stock into those things. It's more likely you'll be accepted into a program if you've been publishing in magazines, taking creative writing classes, or taking workshops because it's more likely that you've shaped and polished your work to an MFA-ready level. That doesn't mean you won't get in without publications or creative writing classes under your belt! As I said before, it's a crapshoot. If your portfolio strikes the evaluators as promising, that is the main battle. The second battle is how they see you interacting with the other people they've chosen for the program, stylistically - aesthetically - personally. These things you cannot control. I also applied to 15 schools. It is my hope that the evaluators of one of those programs sees promise in my work. You do not need all of them to like you, just as you don't need every editor to like you. You just need one. I don't think any online rankings are particularly helpful, and I don't believe they are an authoritative way of evaluating programs. P&W stopped ranking programs back in 2012 or so simply because it wasn't a very useful exercise. Of course, Iowa, Cornell, Brown, Michigan, Syracuse, etc. have a certain reputation that does make a difference IMO. You have to ask yourself what you want to get out of a program and find that program. Different people have different goals. I don't know much about the Columbia program, so I will let someone else speak to that. I did not apply there because paying for an MFA in NYC is not feasible for me. It may be for you, and Columbia is an excellent school. The reason I'm telling you this is because I do not want you to feel foolish. You may very well be admitted this year! And, in the event you are not, remember what a difficult thing you attempted and that there is time to dust off and try again. Many talented writers go through multiple cycles to earn an acceptance, and some never get accepted at all. All this is to say - if this is your dream and this is what you want more than anything else, do not give up. ETA: You ask a lot about likelihood, and these are questions we all ask. Some programs provide data, but the data can vary widely from year to year. The whole process is not made very clear to anyone and there is no repository of accurate acceptance rates with apps to admits that I've seen. The best anyone can do is scrape together data from various sources and hope it's somewhat true. We are also all dealing with pandemic year, and literary journals are saying they're getting 2-3x the number of submissions that they have in previous years. I think there will be a large influx of MFA apps this year, but that is just speculation. We are all wondering these things and, the truth is, the information isn't made readily available.

I don't know about most, but many people do not get in anywhere. If you are an excellent candidate, you MAY have some wiggle room with negotiations, but it is not much (I heard of someone negotiating a small relocation sum, but it was negligible IMO) and it would be very strange to pit one school against another for fully-funded MFA offers. Earning an acceptance in a fully-funded MFA is very much a gift and should be treated as such. I don't know the exact numbers, but estimating that there are 100 fully funded programs (there are not that many - it's probably closer to 80) and that they average 10 fiction students each (it's probably closer to 5), that means 1,000 new fiction writers each year will be funded to pursue an MFA. 1,000 (probably closer to 500). And not just Americans, 1,000 fiction writers in the world, many of whom are widely published and talented and out of work due to the pandemic. That's who is competing for these spots. Most schools average a 1-2% acceptance rate. Everyone else pays for an MFA or waits until the next cycle. Have you talked to the Creative Writing faculty at your undergrad about these things? It may benefit you to sit down with someone you trust to discuss the realities of this path. The very talented Creative Writing profs at my university (large state school) both applied for two cycles, to 10+ schools, and were both accepted at one school each cycle. These are people who publish novels now and have tenure positions, so not hobbyists. I do not know what you will do next year, but it's great to form a backup plan! It's difficult to get in because the programs fully fund writers, and it's difficult to get grant money earmarked from large non-profits and individual givers for creative writing. The schools want to offer as many people as they can enough to get by to pursue their writing goals, but there isn't an unlimited supply of cash for creative endeavors in a capitalist system. Art does not generate profit, and will become increasingly devalued in a capitalist system. That's the harsh reality. Columbia funds basically no one. I do not know how people pay back their student loans. The lord knows I haven't, and I graduated 15 years ago. I sold myself to corporations for more than a decade before pursuing this because it's out of reach for people with average means. The MFA application system is a lot like buying scratch-off lottery tickets. TL/DR: It is a crapshoot, but I really hope you win.

What gives you the impression you will have many to pick from? I am not trying to burst your bubble, but there is a very real chance for everyone applying that they will be rejected from every school on their list. You may have a lot to choose from, and I hope you do, but you should also prepare for the possibility that you will need to reapply next year. I think the other poster's recommendation is, once you have some acceptances, to make detailed comparisons between those. Most people apply to 10 or more schools and are lucky to have two to choose between once decisions roll out. Many people do not get in on the first cycle of applications, and many of those people are fiction writers because it is SO competitive. I am not trying to be cruel, I just want you and other people reading to understand that acceptance is not guaranteed by any means.