jjooeeyy

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Still the same news as before, unfortunately. I have a feeling that we won't know until closer to April 14.

Your response is completely valid, and I think that person put it too bluntly, however there might be a bit of truth to it. I'm not wanting to discourage you, nor am I trying to talk out my ass since I don't know you, but I joined the workforce immediately after ugrad and it taught me many things I wouldn't have if I immediately went into grad school. I inquired with my professors during ugrad about continuing to grad school and they all told me to take some time to work and gain some distance from academia. It's possible they said that because my writing was really terrible, but they were probably relaying advice from their own lived experience. It's good to have this goal and know what you want, and I'm sure it will happen for you in due time, but there are other things to experience that will also shape you into a more thoughtful writer. But then again, I'm 30 now and I didn't get accepted, so who knows—really—I might be too old hahaha

This is my first year applying and I tried to go into it thinking it was a test run with no pressure, (well that didn't work out.) I'm honestly not even that upset at the rejections themselves; I'm more upset about the dreadful year I will have recovering from surgery and returning to the most mind-numbing shit at my job. What I find demoralizing about this entire process is that we have more work cut out for us than most other master's degrees, at least in the humanities. I honestly have little doubt I could've applied for an MA in English and gotten in somewhere decent, provided I had a specific research project in mind. Anyone applying for an MFA has to already be extremely good at what they do in order for their work to be competitive. We basically have to teach ourselves what these programs want to read and to mold ourselves into their image. I suppose I'm realizing that the MFA probably isn't to teach people how to write, it's mostly to reward those who write well enough into the club (and to use our cheap labor to prop it up.) This degree isn't seen as academically rigorous for a reason. I have one waitlist and I have no idea if it will turn into an acceptance, though I'm not very hopeful at this stage.

I would say so if you know that you won't be attending even if you are granted funding. That gives them the opportunity to admit and interview someone else on the waitlist.

they sent out poetry offers/waitlists in mid-january, so it seems like they were waiting on the fiction decisions to be made

someone in draft said they were waitlisted at syracuse all the way back in january... my heart skipped a beat lol

it probably depends on each university and which system they have available, but i worked in a department where i assisted in a faculty search and i was able to mass email all those who didn't advance to an interview with a default rejection. in order for us to use a template that was specific to our department, we had to request it which took a few days to get added, (if i remember correctly.) so in all likeliness, the admissions committee is probably just not focused on those who they aren't accepting and is focusing their efforts on the classes they teach / current mfa students / and the prospective students they offered admission. edit: to add that often times, there's only one admin person assisting faculty with this process and they often have other things on their plate, like arranging student travel for admitted student visits, making sure official transcripts are received, etc

Dunno how many others applied, but Idaho should be sending out offers either this week or next. I emailed them a while back asking when they anticipated having offers out and they said they were meeting around the end of the month.

i didn't get news from south carolina for over a month after they sent out initial acceptances and then i was notified that i was waitlisted. yeah, it's not a good sign overall, but truly anything could happen edit: i also know someone who ended up getting waitlisted at 4 schools and had to decide where they were going to go on april 14th. there are a lot of last min decisions that get made and many things shift! it's not over til it's over

i decided not to ask where i was on the waitlist/if it was ranked.

someone just posted on draft they were accepted to mississippi (for fiction). i didn't even know they advanced to phase 2... i guess they don't update their website consistently? edit: whoops, seems like they just notified those who advanced

I just got a waitlist there as well!

i actually feel like i'm just now hitting my stride... after submitting my apps...

@Norwood I don't have a L, exactly, but I spent 8 hours in the ER yesterday and I have to have surgery in 5 weeks. Also staring down 5 likely rejections thus far.