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Are any schools offering to cover travel costs for accepted students to visit?

Hell yeah! Congrats!

Did you get accepted into your fully funded program???? Congrats on the SAIC full scholarship.

It took me a long time to figure out what school to go to. And it was really hard turning down fully funded offers my first round of MFA apps becuase I didn't feel like the schools fit what I was looking for. I think it's really important to figure out what you want in an MFA program and then do a huge deep dive (if you haven't already) on what the programs you are looking at offer. Reach out to current MFA candidates at the programs you are considering and have phone or zoom calls with them to get a full picture on what it looks like to go there. For me, I had a list of things that I really wanted out of an MFA program and then I had a list of things that i *needed* out of an MFA program. I needed a fully funded program with a generous stipened, I wanted it to be close-ish to the ocean (I didn't want to be landlocked), I wanted to be close-ish to my family, I wanted a funded program that did not force me to teach, and I wanted an MFA program that was mostly studio based (not course based). That list narrowed my options quite a bit, but I found a program that fits everything. Idk if that is at all helpful to your question - but I guess, really figure out what you want in the program, and I highly recommend reaching out to current MFA's at each school.

To everyone admitted to fully funded programs, are you willing to share your offers and stipend amounts? This is technically my third year. My first year I had no idea what I was doing - all I knew is that I needed a fully funded program. In that first year, I applied to 11 schools, got three interviews, and was accepted into two fully funded programs. Neither program was the right fit for me so I decided to wait another year. While it was a bummer I didn't get accepted into my top choices during my first year of apps, that first round of apps really allowed me to figure out what I wanted in an MFA program. So I went into my second round of MFA apps with a lot more direction and confidence (the first year of apps really wrecked me - I had no idea how crazy it all was). Anyways, last year I was accepted into my top choice - the University of Maryland College Park. It's a fully funded program and has a sizable stipend, and is exactly what I was looking in an MFA program. I ended up getting an additional $5000 fellowship and I have an outside scholarship so with everything, that put my first year stipend at just under $40,000. Because of some health and life stuff, I ended up having to defer for a year and when I deferred, I had to give away all of my funding and just hope that I would get comparable funding again this year. This year, I ended up getting the full GA funding for this upcoming fall and my health and life is in much better order so I am going to go, but I'm very curious as to what other students are being offered. I ended up losing some money after the deferral - apparently, there were some budget cuts so some extra funding was taken away. I don’t know if I will get that additional $5,000 fellowship that I was awarded last year, and because of budget cuts I lost $2,000 over the three years. But if I don’t get the $5,000 fellowship, I will lose $7,000 in total. Right now, my offer is full tuition remission and a stipend of $28,500 I have to pay fees each semester that total aprox $820 a semester and I will have to pay for parking (which I hear is expensive) and health insurance (it will come out of my stipend paycheck). overall, I feel like this is pretty good. I just have a lot of bills and am praying that I get that additional $5,000 fellowship again. I would love to hear what other people are being offered x

Me too!!! I just turned 40 a couple months ago. Have you decided where you are going?

I just turned 40! I feel like I've lived a thousand lives and I'm so excited for this new chapter of my life! I was accepted into a fully funded program with a $28,000 stipened each year. Even with the generous funding, finances and bills worry me. I have a lot of bills and no partner, but I will make it work! x

I don't think it's worth going into huge amounts of debt for grad school - especially since there are so many fully funded programs that offer generous stipeneds. I've heard that VCU's funding is not great especially with all the fees and the small stipened amounts. There are a number of schools in the country that offer stipeneds that are $27,000 or higher. Of course I want a good MFA program, but a program with a "liveable" wage is the number 1 priority for me.

Most MFA programs have an agreement that, by law, prospective students with offers have until April 15th to decide. This is my third year and I have always been honest with programs in years past. During my first round of apps, I was accepted to one school and they were *hounding me* for an answer. I was waiting to hear from other schools and I found out about the April 15 Resolution (which says that grad students have until April 15th to give an answer). Anyways, that program kept hounding me and it put a bad taste in my mouth so I eventually declined. However, I think it's totally fine to be honest with schools - they know we are all applying to many programs and waiting to hear back.

Did anyone apply to the University of Maryland's College Park MFA program? and if you did, did you get an interview or have you heard anything?