Chex

LOL, thank you!!! And please why, why, why do you hate me?

Thank you!! This may sound a little foolish but it was actually the first school on my radar because of their flashy faculty. I knew little about the MFA process then or what other schools had to offer, and I applied on the off-chance that I got in and got full funding (can't attend otherwise). I've been berating myself since for that silly gamble, but it seems NYU wants to give me a reason to smile. Thank you!! I really truly dearly hope so! Thank you so much, @branch and @Rixor!!! I'm out of reactions but I am so grateful right now

Friends, Romans, GradCafe Compatriots, I have received what looks to be a tentative acceptance email from NYU! I cannot confirm it until I see the official acceptance email but I may be finishing this application season with something positive after all!

In other news, I need Vanderbilt and Michener to put me out of my misery. It's been long enough. They can just let us know it didn't work out. No need dragging things further. Also, I'm beyond ready to hear from all the remaining schools. HIT ME WITH IT. I PROMISE I CAN TAKE IT.

Congratulations! This is wonderful news.

Happy Birthday! 🎉🎊 Someone I know who goes there got their admission in March. That was in 2022. So I'd say early to mid March. Congratulations in advance! Expect an acceptance.

Oh wow...

Yeah lol I don't think they've gone out. No one has reported acceptances, waitlists, or rejections, whereas we've heard those re Michener.

I think it's a good idea to invest in your writing, and it'll surely require more self-extension from you than from a younger, less settled applicant. It's great that you're willing and able to pay for this investment, BUT I don't think a $30k MFA program you feel tepid about is the way to go. That's not cheap at all. I would look more into workshops for starters, and finding avenues to link with other writers with similar goals. Apart from the regular workshops, there are great periodic workshops like Tin House and Clarion West and quite a few others. Build your muscle, see what works for you. I might also consider a great low-res program like Bennington or Antioch. I've heard good things about them. Only if I'm certain I truly want the full-res experience at a nearby school I'm happy with would I commit to it and pay. You have to do what works for you. Consider your options thoroughly. You're never too old to go for an MFA if you decide that's what's right for you.

Thank you! That's good to know.

When did you receive the waitlist email? I'm curious, please share. Someone reported a missed call and voicemail from Samantha Chang on Tuesday, wherein Chang shared she'd just started contacting people but would be away/unavailable until Friday. The call was rescheduled. I believe more people will be notified by next week. Those accepted or waitlisted should know by mid March. Brown notifies in March (often mid March). Boston has notified most applicants, although a few say they've heard nothing. Maybe Boston sends the emails in alphabetical order. Might help to ask them directly. The fiction report is genuine. Iowa has started calling fiction admits, but only a few have been contacted so far.

I'm out of reactions (I wonder what the point of limiting reactions is) but I'm mentally hearting many posts here. @Rixor I could not agree more. Also congrats to @pomelo and everyone writing new work. I've been working on a short story on and off for the past few weeks. Hope to finish and edit it soon in time for a fellowship application in April. @mudpuddle1 I def agree on UTK. Giving so many people false hope; it feels like a scam, honestly.

Listen, you're making it into at least one of these programs! Congratulations!!! Yay!!! Congratulations!

Congratulations!!! I'm excited for you and hope everything works out re funding! You absolutely deserve this. Also, one of my favourite writers, Lesley Nneka Arimah, went to MS Mankato for her MFA in fiction; so double yay for you! Official rejections from Michener usually come 1 to 2 weeks after the acceptances and waitlists have gone out. Same for Vandy. In some years, Michener rejections appear in the application portal before any form email. If you haven't received an acceptance or waitlist by now, I'm afraid it's most likely a rejection.

Woooh. Was just about to type that today is existential crisis day for me. Making all sorts of wild and outlandish plans and thinking how difficult everything is. What do I do later this year? Finally move out and rent a small room where I can write in peace? Take everything I have (which isn't much) and start a small shop or other business and hope it thrives so I can at least have something going in one aspect of my life? Move to a neighbouring country and look for decent jobs there? I was just reading about three writers who had painful experiences with publishing. John Kenneth Toole, who died by suicide after years of having his novel manuscript rejected by publishers. The novel, A Confederacy of Dunces, would be published over a decade after his death, and would go on to win the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1981. Helen DeWitt, who worked odd jobs for years and years, producing manuscripts that were rejected over and over. She struggled for years before her 50th(!!) manuscript was accepted for publication as her debut novel, The Last Samurai; becoming a bestseller after publication in 2000. She had also considered suicide. Dow Mossman, who went to Iowa Writer's Workshop in the late 60s. His one novel, The Stones of Summer, languished and went out of print soon after publication when the publishing house folded. He broke down and spent time in a sanatorium. Thereafter, he worked as a welder for some 20 years while looking after his parents. His work was rediscovered in the 2000s and a Sundance-winning film made about him and his book. The book was republished by Barnes & Noble. It can be hard navigating this writer life because we tie part of our ego to recognition. More important than anything else is that we take care of ourselves, take care of our minds, and create some kind of stability and joy for ourselves outside of writing. The writer must be alive (and well) to do the writing. We can't tie everything to external recognition for our work. We have to take care of ourselves. Yesterday was very difficult for me with the back-to-back rejections from Cornell and (the constructive ones) from Michener and Michigan, not to mention the other constructive one from Vanderbilt last week. That makes 7 out of 12 applications, all Rs so far. It's so hard. But I still have to take care of myself. I still have to find joy and inspiration in my life because what else do we have if we don't have that? We are people and we deserve to be cared for, deserve to have soft and affirming places in our lives. Sending deep compassion to everyone feeling terrible right now. I hope we make it through this and come out to better things. But we can only do so if we persevere, take care of ourselves, and try try again.

I need to read more of your poetry, jaded, lol.

Last year, Michigan notified on 2/21. Today is 2/20. Makes sense that they'll be notifying soon, any day now.

Feeling this with you. 🫂

How much smaller? Per their website, they admit a total of 12 each year: 3 in fiction, 3 poetry, 3 screenwriting, and 3 playwriting. How much smaller can it get? Are they now admitting only 2 per genre?

I agree. While there can be some trends in acceptances (e.g., a set of applicants getting accepted across multiple programs), these trends are not mathematical. People regularly get rejected at lower-ranked programs and get accepted at higher-ranked ones. It IS subjective. If you look at the spreadsheet on Draft, some of those rejected by Ole Miss in Phase 1 already have acceptances from other programs. It's the same with submitting writing for publication. I've had a piece rejected by what you might call "safety" lit mags, and then picked up by a long shot lit mag to my utter surprise. We're often tempted to judge ourselves by rejections and to catastrophize what that means for us, but I'm here to tell you (and myself) that a rejection is just that: one rejection. It has no bearing on your pending applications. You can mourn it and let it go. There are other chances ahead and other places that might like your work.

I've seen a number of people with MAs in Creative Writing, both from within and outside the US, go on to get MFAs in the US. Matter of fact, someone who got the one-year MA from University of Kansas got multiple acceptances from MFA programs a couple years ago, and ended up choosing Cornell. It's not prior MAs that limit your chances, it is prior MFAs in Creative Writing, because MFAs are their own class of degree. Your one-year MA barely gives you the same of amount of time or nature of coursework. It's largely preparatory. I wouldn't worry about it. Mid March is the general time for MFA programs in the Literary Arts department.

Thank you! 🫂

Y'all, I'm on three straight Rs at the moment and... ('panicking' is too dramatic a word for what I'm feeling, so I'm going to go with 'congealing') congealing in spirits. 😭😭 I'm surprisingly not feeling too terrible about it. I think all who got accepted or waitlisted eminently deserved it and your joy gives me joy. My writing/application is good but maybe not so good enough yet, so I appreciate the feedback. I know it's still really early and anything can change at a moment's notice (I certainly hope it does!), but I'm also seriously considering the very real possibility that I get in nowhere. What a bummer. Bummer. Bummer. I'd still be super proud of myself, though. I bet on myself. Despite everything going on in my life, I believed I deserved to get a spot in one of the most elusive and exclusive graduate programmes in the world, and I fought for myself! Love that for me and I'm not stopping! I'm going to keep writing my heart out and someday someone will hear me!! Good luck to us all as the rest of the season unfolds. Bring on the decisions, ye MFA lordlings!!!

Thank you. I'll be sending you extra positive vibes and good luck for U Washington🕯️

Hell, yeah! Let the good news roll!! Congratulations!!! I also applied to Madison, so I'm gonna keep my eyes and ears peeled. Congrats, Rixor. I'm really glad for your success. I hope these waitlists turn into acceptances for you. What are your top programs?