Chex

Ooh, that's a really cool background. I'm a first-time applicant who's done a number of "corporatey" things in the past. I'm waiting to hear from 12 schools for fiction: UT Austin, Wash U St Louis, Iowa, Cornell, Brown, UVA, Vanderbilt, U Wisc-Madison, Johns Hopkins, Michigan, and NYU. Hear! Hear! 💯

Those are all great schools! Fingers crossed for good news. Was your previous MFA in a different field or did you leave the program midway (just wondering why you're pursuing another MFA, but of course feel free not to answer if this question is too personal)?

Hi! It's good to have you here, welcome! Eight whole years and you're back, wow! Amazing how insistent our creative passions can be, even when we let them fall by the side for a while. I'm really glad you chose to share this because it is inspiring. I hope this application season presents you with resounding success and a truly wonderful place to develop your writing. What genre are you applying for and what schools have you submitted to?

Awww, I hope third time's the charm for you!!! Welcome to the forum! Considering how competitive these applications can be, 20 does not sound like an outrageous number of schools to apply to, honestly. And I get what you mean about being at a point where you want to be around other writers. It's the same for me. I feel like it's going to push my writing into a new and exciting (hopefully) stage. Hoping these 8 work beautifully for you! It's both a numbers and qualities game, so you could get in off your 8. I know people who've done just 3 or 4 (or even just 1) and gotten in, though that's not the norm. I was gonna do 5 or 6 because I simply couldn't afford to apply to more schools, but towards the end, I somehow found the energy and resources (thanks in part to app fee waivers) to push to 12. It definitely wasn't easy. Yeah, when I finished my 12 applications I thought that was too much until I heard from some other applicants. But I've also heard that 10-12 is the average number for most applicants, and what seems to be the sweet spot in terms of preparation vs spreading yourself out. If you have particular wants from a program, you're going to have to eliminate a number of schools from your list. Looking back, there are maybe a few schools I applied to that I realise now I'm not so keen on (after learning more about them). On the other hand, there are one or two schools I'd add to my list. As for beating yourself up about what you could have changed or improved in your applications, that's more or less a universal affliction. I refused to look at mine until a week or so ago when I wanted to submit part of my manuscript for a workshop thing and promptly found an annoying typo. I'm just rolling with it and refusing to let it make me any more anxious. There are no perfect applications. The results will ultimately tell us what direction to go. Hi! Welcome!! I haven't ever heard of Manhattanville, to be honest, but that's probably mostly because I'm not in the States. I checked their website out now and they seem interesting. Can't say why it's not a more popular program given that there's at least some potential for funding. Wishing you good luck in all your applications!

I know! I hope next week brings more news and movement, although the grapevine has it that news might still be slow until after the 10th of February, on account of AWP conference happening from February 7 - 10. So we still need to stay patient. Sending everyone strength and a bucket load of patience.

Hahaha

Wow, now I am curious 👀

Seems real enough to me. I'm sorry this one did not work out. Hoping things go better with the rest of your applications. By the way, you may have posted your result twice on the result page, no? I don't think anyone else has posted anything there re Boston. The two posts there are from yesterday, re 'Creative Writing Poetry', and the poster is an American with a GPA of 3.90. I think the same person must have posted the result twice, though it can be mistaken for two different people. In any case, I expect that more people will hear from Boston this week, since they've begun sending decisions.

BU as in Boston University? Wow! That's super early

Take heart. You're not alone in the not-having-enough-information-beforehand situation. We learn in the process of doing. First time applications are usually like this. Knowing what I know now, there are definitely some things I would change about how I applied, but I did my best at the time and hope it all pays off.

Are you in the MFA Draft group on FB? There's plenty of info there from alums, current students, and applicants. It's a good place to do some research, and you could request to join previous years' Draft groups, too. I've heard good things about Iowa State from current students, though I did not apply there. I only joined Draft at the time I was submitting my applications. Apparently, Iowa State supports speculative fiction and magical realism. For most programs, I don't think it's totally about what you write; it's how you write it. Some stories can't just be put into one genre. And if I remember right, Carmen Maria Machado writes magical realism and went to Iowa (the Workshop). I also know someone who writes horror and speculative fiction, and she's recently graduated from Michigan's fiction program. So there. Your school choices look good. We share Vandy, Michigan, UVA, and Ole Miss in common.

Welcome, GoldenTree. 15 sounds like a healthy number of programs to apply to, and it's even better that they're all fully-funded. Fingers crossed you get in somewhere! Sorry about OSU. As for mixed genre applications, that's interesting and honestly makes sense if you're open to doing an MFA in any genre that works out. A few people have mentioned doing the same. What seems to be more common is applying to programs where cross-genre/multi-genre work is encouraged. For instance, Michener allows you to have a primary and secondary genre; Iowa State (ISU) welcomes work across multiple genres, and I believe I've heard people say similar things about U of Arkansas, U of Alabama, and UC Riverside. That said, I hope you get beautiful opportunities to do what calls to you! Where and where did you apply to, if you don't mind sharing?

Congrats! And yes, Ohio State is usually quick to respond every year. Ohio and UIUC. Indiana will follow soon, I believe. Around the end of this month.

Yes, there is. The link was shared in the comment section of the post about the spreadsheet. Check the comment(s).

Two people on draft have reported acceptances from UIUC. And if you check the recently created response sheet, you should find more details. Can't say if they're done notifying those accepted, but fingers crossed everything works out for you! Hang in there, we're many in the waiting game.

YAY, congratulations!!!!!

Congrats!!!

That's a very nice mix of schools. Good luck!

Thank you! I applied to JHU, UT Austin, UVA, Brown, NYU, Cornell, Mississippi, WUSTL, Vanderbilt, UW-Madison, Iowa, and Michigan. They all start notifying between February and March, so I have a bit of a wait ahead.

Hi everyone! Longtime(ish) lurker finally compelled to make an account. It's awfully quiet in here and the wait is grating. I am a first-time applicant to fiction programs. I hope everyone is holding up well. Sending you all good luck!