prufrock_

There's three outcomes that I've thought of, that I'll likely be pursuing. 1) you get accepted somewhere, anywhere, to one or more programs. Victory! Doesn't mean you're great but it does mean you got lucky and you need to spend the next 2-4 years wisely using the time to make the best work you can + make the best connections. Getting in is just the start. 2) you get wait listed to one or more programs, but no acceptances. Time passes, April comes and goes, and you don't get in from the wait list. This proves you have the chops, but the system is very subjective. Maybe you can write something a bit better, work on your sop some more, and reapply to the wait listed schools + different ones next round, and hope that whoever reads your submissions this time vibes just that 10% more that you needed to get in. If you don't get in on the second round, move on to actions below. 3) denials all across the board. Again, the process is subjective. This doesn't mean you suck but it does probably mean that your writing/sop/academic history isn't suited for what the MFA's are looking for. Time to pivot. Get/maintain a day job that's disposable, join a writing group, finish a novel, find an agent, publish some work, enjoy the process. Writing will likely never even be the day job for those who got into the MFA's, so don't expect it to be yours. I use second person here, but I'm really talking about myself and how I'm going into this whole process. The acceptance rate of all the schools i applied to are 1-5%. I'm preparing for the most statistically likely outcome: all denials. That doesn't mean my work stinks, it just means I applied to a very unlikely subjective lottery.

I submitted most of my applications right on the deadline (getting the last one in last night!). I'm not even in college again and yet I'm already procrastinating! It's like dressing for the job you want.

i did some quick math a few months ago and even under the BEST SCENARIO where you get everything they offer every year (not exactly likely), you'd still be in about 15-20k worth of debt after their MFA. edit: this is assuming there's not some secret funding they don't have listed on their programs website; i don't have any insider info.

i wouldn't give up all hope until you hear one way or another. That is a tough rejection though if it does happen since they only accept specific genres every other year. They were one of my top choices but I didn't apply because I didn't have a critical writing sample ready.

something i didn't anticipate but should have known: the closer we get to the likely response days, the higher my anxiety is getting!

I haven't heard back from either yet -- but i'm fiction.

I didn't think creative writing MFA's had interviews for admissions? is that common?

I wanted to apply to CU boulder! (SGJ is on of my favorite authors). Their funding system kept me from applying though. Did you apply to boulder again?

it's been a slow week! especially after last weeks early news.

catsaregood.pdf's email said BU had over 650 applicants this round, so we shouldn't assume every program had a lower count this year.

i thought my hopes couldn't get any higher but here we are, flying towards the sun.

Are you seeing these on the facebook draft group, or the results page here? (I'm not on facebook, so i'm just following the results here).

Grats! That's wild how early Ohio's putting out decisions. I didn't apply there, but it looks great!

hey all! Just wanted to say hi and that i'm here to anxiously wait with ya'll. I applied to 12 fully funded programs in fiction (ol miss, bama, lsu, etc, etc). Next two months will be tough! This is my first round applying, and i'm quite a few years out of undergrad. I went with two short stories for my portfolio, one being a satirical comedy that's not just pure literary fiction, so this might have hurt my apps at the more conventional programs. It felt like my strongest writing though!