jjooeeyy

Do I think I will get a notification on a Saturday? No.
Will I still check my email, the results page, and Draft every hour? Yes, of course I will.

https://www.thegradcafe.com/survey/?per_page=20&q=Creative+writing+south+carolina&institution=&program=&degree=
i see two posts here that are well into march saying they were waitlisted after not hearing anything for a while

if you get in from the waitlist and choose to attend, let me know! i've lived in bloomington for like 12 years and can give you the rundown of the town. (that is also extended to anyone else, as well!)

Offered admission to UCI !!!!!! A slay and more for sure. Hoping everyone is hanging in there!

Just got waitlisted at Indiana! I'm honestly super surprised (I happened to meet a PhD student in IU's English department at a wedding and, after talking to her about the school, I literally said, "Well, it sounds like I'm not the kind of writer they'd be looking for, but I think I'll still apply because why not?") Feels great just to get ANY good news after getting straight rejections my first time around, so I'm pumped—10 more to go! 

Stop emailing me, Bed Bath & Beyond! Now is not the time! 

I'd push back on the idea of any fully-funded MFA program being a 'safe' school. Perhaps some programs are underrated or undervalued, but it's still difficult to obtain acceptance when a program only accepts 5 or so in each genre per cohort. Not sure how up-to-date it is, but Alabama currently lists 18 students on their site, and their program can be extended to 4 years; so that looks like roughly 4-6 students per genre, (since I don't think they offer CNF.)

Perhaps you should stop there and ask if anyone is asking you to do this. I don't even entirely disagree with your assessment, but this person did not ask for your analysis. (Edit: actually I do disagree with it, but whatever.) It is simply not warranted in this situation. We can all tell that you aren't concerned with being kind, (or at least believe that objectivity should be heralded more than hope.) But, part of any community is collective complaining. Perhaps you don't enjoy this, but it's a very real aspect that humans just do. I'd just learn to live with it, personally.

Perhaps you should stop there and ask if anyone is asking you to do this. I don't even entirely disagree with your assessment, but this person did not ask for your analysis. (Edit: actually I do disagree with it, but whatever.) It is simply not warranted in this situation. We can all tell that you aren't concerned with being kind, (or at least believe that objectivity should be heralded more than hope.) But, part of any community is collective complaining. Perhaps you don't enjoy this, but it's a very real aspect that humans just do. I'd just learn to live with it, personally.

I'm definitely feeling anxious waiting on these results. Anyone else writing new material during this period and wishing they could go back in time to add it to their writing sample? ?

i've been out of undergrad for 8 years. thankfully, my parents aren't worried about me, (and have respected my stubbornness—haha!) but i also rationalized this move by not making money/capitalism/career/etc into a moral argument against myself. that is to say, "i'm not a bad person for wanting to be a better writer." not sure if that will convince your parents, but hopefully it's helpful nonetheless!

I'm honestly not sure how someone would be able to quantify this unless they were part of an admissions committee this cycle or had access to the data. (This is my first cycle, so I don't know how active Draft was in years past.)
However, when I was speaking to one of my letter writers, she mentioned that the last two years of applications were a bit crazy and that she anticipated this year was going to be calmer. I have no idea how she made that estimation, since I spoke to her in November and my alma mater had a deadline in January.
Here's to hoping that it's a smaller pool of applicants—hah!
Edit: University of Michigan actually has statistics on number of applications to their program. It looks like from 2018-2021, the number of applications was near or over 1,000. However, in 2022 it was 800, whereas overall graduate school applications increased. Not sure if that's a trend or explained by some other phenomena, or if should even be applied to the MFA pool overall.

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

can i ask why you post on here? i'm not really sure how it's rational to waste energy making comments like this.

can i ask why you post on here? i'm not really sure how it's rational to waste energy making comments like this.

can i ask why you post on here? i'm not really sure how it's rational to waste energy making comments like this.

can i ask why you post on here? i'm not really sure how it's rational to waste energy making comments like this.

i've been out of undergrad for 8 years. thankfully, my parents aren't worried about me, (and have respected my stubbornness—haha!) but i also rationalized this move by not making money/capitalism/career/etc into a moral argument against myself. that is to say, "i'm not a bad person for wanting to be a better writer." not sure if that will convince your parents, but hopefully it's helpful nonetheless!

Hey Everyone!
 I am still at UNH, so if anyone has questions about what it's like as a first year creative nonfiction student or a MFA student in general let me know!
If I am being honest I had a real rough first semester, but the second semester made up for it. In Fall 2022 I am still working at Research and Development, the Writing Center and TA-ing with a professor of mine, as well as writing my Masters Thesis. This is the advice stemming from my own experience only I would give to someone now being one year into my program:
1. The first semester is when you begin to transition into the grad-school writing life and into your writing community, but it may not be easy. Putting out my first essay (to a mostly second year cohort!) was rather scary because it was the first impression of my writing I gave to my peers and professor. This is where the rose colored glasses come off and the real work begins. Just be patient with others and yourself.
2. Look out for professional development opportunities outside of the classroom. Try for that Writing Center job you saw in that email or even grant writing. Even if down the line you realize you don't want to do it for a career, the experience will get you far and even help you make a little money. Yes the rumors are true, everyone is kinda looking out for the same careers post graduation. Everyone is looking to have that cushy tenure track job "teaching," (even if they've never done it in their entire lives or admit to hating undergraduates) or are looking to be the Editor and Chief of Penguin Random House. People will most likely brag and use every political tool they have to get ahead, but don't let it get you down. Think outside the lines, be yourself and keep on your own path. I personally thought I would be a terrible editor for the Writing Center, but it ended up becoming a passion of mine.
3. Find that one professor in your corner. You won't like every single person on the faculty, but you just need one who sees you and your writing for what it really is.
4. Even if you don't become extremely close with your cohort, if they respect you within the classroom as a writer, that's all that matters. In my experience, that whole "you will find friends for life," thing was an inflated unrealistic myth. (But if that aspect is important to you in an MFA program, then that's fine too.)
5. You might not all graduate together. I personally had no idea about this until recently. Everyone except for me extended their time in our two year program to 2.5 years and I am apparently the only one graduating in May 2023. Just don't be shocked.
6. Take that literature class your advisor warned you about. I took 2 master's level literature classes and not only did I get to know some awesome people outside of the MFA classroom, studying literature also helped my creative writing! I am also admittedly not an MFA purist. I describe myself as a academic/artist hybrid so I believe in cross-departmental study.
7. Take advantage of alumni from your program. One published alumni subbed for my nonfiction class once last semester and he is now helping me out with some aspects of my Masters Thesis! 
8. In the end, it's your writing. Just because they are your professors or second/ third years doesn't mean they have greater authority then you about your voice, style, POV ect. In the end, you get to call the play.
Again, this is small sage advice from one person, but I hope it helps!