sunnysequoia

Omg that's freaking hilarious 😂 Do you have the link to that photo? I'd love to see it myself hahaha

Any Swifties in here? 😆 Taylor Swift just announced a brand-new album called The Tortured Poets Department and the aesthetic literally screams English and MFA to me LOL. Like the album cover looks like it could be the cover of a poetry chapbook and this makes me very happy hahaha.

Congratulations!!! 🎊🎈🎉🍾

Dang I was just looking up the Northwestern Litowitz program and realized that when I researched Northwestern months ago, I came across the wrong MFA program; they also have a part-time MFA for prose and poetry in their School of Professional Studies, which seems to mostly offer evening and online classes for working professionals. Looking at Litowitz now, it looks absolutely incredible. 3 years of funding (including the summers?!) for a dual MFA+MA and in Chicago?? I probably would have applied had I done the correct research 🥲 Oh well, what am I gonna do now haha! Tbh the larger number of historical lit requirements compared to other MFAs and quarter system would probably be too much for me (I already experienced both in my undergrad LOL). Just trying to justify to myself that this program might not have been the best fit for me anyway to make the regret of not applying sting less 😅

Wow... that is unbelievably cold.

Congratulations!!! 🎉🎈🎊

I’m so sorry about your rejection! *hugs* I’m glad to hear that you are remaining level-headed even though things may be disappointing. You are still young, and you will have more opportunities if this cycle doesn’t work out for you. No matter what, never give up on your writing, despite all the tribulations you’ve endured. 12 years ago, I had lost all confidence in my writing because my mother told me I shouldn’t waste my time doing something I held no potential in. If you had told my 15-year-old self that one day, she would go on to major in English with a Creative Writing Emphasis, defying her mother who told her she would never have a happy and successful life with a Bachelor’s degree in English, and later pursue an MFA at 27 years old, she would never have believed that could ever be possible. Dreams do come true, and so long as you believe in yourself, continue to write for yourself, and never give up, one day when the time is right, the right opportunity will come along for you, too.

Thank you (and to everyone else!) for the congratulations! 🥰 I received a confirmation email from GradCAS after submitting my application, and my application status is “complete.” Did you pay the application fee? I’ve noticed all these programs consider your program submitted after you hit the submit button, but only after paying the fee afterward is it considered complete.

Was this post deleted?? I’m not seeing this update in Draft. So I’ve been accepted to Miami University in Oxford, Ohio for nonfiction!! 😱😱😱 I almost missed the email because it landed in my updates and not primary inbox and the subject line read, “At Miami University, good news travels fast!” which if you ask me is a rather unsuspecting email LOL. Considering this is a fully funded program, I guess I’m definitely not applying to the remaining NYC and SF schools on my list 😆 1a/1w/0r/11p

That's great that you are trying for different genres and hopefully giving yourself more options that way! I'm currently writing a memoir and that's what I intend to continue working on in an MFA I know right?? I kinda figured fiction would be most popular, but I didn't expect nonfiction to be like... not super popular at all LOL. I guess this means I have more of an advantage in terms of competing with fewer people for the same spots hahaha.

Aw thank you! The vast majority of my writing has always been personal; I love writing about my own life and constructing narrative threads from real events. Though, I never learned how to create characters and entire plots from scratch, and I genuinely don't know how fiction writers work that kind of magic 😅 Maybe I'll take a fiction workshop one semester to learn this stuff and steal some fictional craft elements for my own writing haha. That's amazing that you're applying to some screenwriting programs! I took a few screenwriting workshops during my undergrad and absolutely loved it, and it's a shame there aren't more programs that offer this genre. What made you decide to apply to two different genres? Tangentially related, I was actually really surprised seeing on this thread and Draft that nonfiction is much less common than I previously thought. According to Draft data, it seems like around an overwhelming 60% of candidates apply for fiction and another 30% apply for poetry? The remaining 10% being split among nonfiction, screenwriting, and playwriting. Idk, I thought it would be more of a 2:1:1 ratio between fiction, nonfiction, and poetry.

Aww thanks for asking! I'm biting my nails like everyone else on here LOL, but I'm doing well! I've been making a detailed color-coded calendar to plan my weekends for the next six months, because if I get into somewhere, I figure that's how much time I have left in the SF Bay before I move, and I want to make sure I do everything I want to do and spend as much time as possible with the people who matter to me. I highly recommend that everyone do this actually! Will keep you occupied and grounded in the present moment before everything changes. How have you been? Are you also applying for nonfiction?

Welcome to the thread! Good luck to you as well! 😄

All totally valid points! I agree that both can be true, and this is all an extremely subjective and individual process within each program. Haha no, your insights are helpful! I've lived in the SF Bay Area my whole life and need to get out of here, and NYC is where I would want to be if I didn't have to worry about money (and ironically, it is also the one place in the country more expensive than the Bay). But I know pragmatically, it makes more sense to prioritize pursuing my MFA somewhere with affordable living costs. After all, the whole reason I'm pursuing an MFA is to have the time to work on my writing, and having to work a 9-5 at the same time to pay my bills would be absolutely self-defeating. I know I would be overwhelmed trying to juggle both. I could move to NYC any time in my life after an MFA and when I have stable income to support living there. As to why NYC is so important to me, I've kinda had an uncanny fixation on this city over the past year. A psychic told me that I was gonna meet my future spouse there, in a one-on-one encounter outdoors, and that I would be married by 30 LOL. The first thing she had told me during that reading -- and I literally hadn't told her anything about myself -- was that my career was destined to be in the arts, in writing and music and film. I was like, there is absolutely no way she is making this up 😆 I guess if I don't end up in NYC for my MFA, maybe I'll still end up there for an internship or weekend trip or something and meet my soulmate then 😅

Does anyone know why Hunter College offers full ride packages (in-state tuition) for fiction and poetry students but not nonfiction? I'm on the fence about whether I should apply... I really like the professors and the program has an excellent reputation, but this feels extremely inequitable and doesn't sit right with me. I've applied to several NYC programs (Sarah Lawrence, NYU, and The New School) because I couldn't let go of my NYC writerly dreams, but even if I receive full funding at NYU (which seems very rare), realistically idk how I would afford the outrageous living expenses in NYC on an insufficient stipend. Considering I've already been waitlisted at Ohio State and am waiting to hear back from 9 more fully funded programs, I'm not sure if it's worth forking over another $75 application fee for Hunter. Does anyone have any thoughts on what I should do?

The writing sample is undoubtedly the most important component of the application. That being said, my former advisor told me that they want candidates who will also thrive within and contribute positively to a writing community. While the writing sample shows your capabilities as a writer and artist, the personal statement shows them who you are as a human being. Humility is extremely important; they don't want people with an ego. Apparently every year, programs receive applications where people say things like, I want to win the Pulitzer or Nobel Prize. That's a major red flag, because this indicates that these folks are only thinking about what they can take from a program and not what they can contribute to it. You can have an incredible writing sample, and you can still be rejected for culture fit (I have a background in recruiting, so this happens across different industries; being able to gel with the people is just as important as having the skills necessary to do the work). Not trying to scare anyone into second-guessing their personal statement now (which I know we're all doing LOL), but just want to qualify the claim that the writing sample is the only component that matters, and hopefully this insight can help if folks end up applying again in future cycles.

I agree on not having to be productive all the time! In fact I pride myself on this LOL. It’s so important to engage in personal hobbies and interests and invest in your relationships with the people who matter to you. Our self-worth does not lie in the amount of work we contribute to this country’s capitalist economy and consumerist culture. No one ever died wishing they worked more 🙃 Bridgerton’s so good!!! I’m currently watching Friends (my third run through the series 😆).

Apparently this year is quieter than previous years—people were talking about this earlier in this thread. If I had to guess this is the case across all genres. No updates about any of these schools in Draft.

*hugs* I’m so sorry you’re feeling so sad. Honestly, I do think it’s a bit callous to send out a rejection email merely one week after the deadline passed, after you presumably spent many months researching the school and preparing your application materials only for them to make their decision so quickly. They could have delayed the notice and didn’t need to send it out right away. You’re allowed to be sad now. For what it’s worth, this quick rejection also lets you move on from this school and consider other possibilities for yourself sooner than later, and I hope you will get to that place after you’ve processed things.

The only relevant information I have is from my letter which mentioned that their waitlist is "very short and very selective." Given that some folks already have an update and we're in the weekend now, if your portal hasn't been updated to a rejection by now, I would take that as a positive; it likely means that your application was strong enough that you are still under consideration, and that alone is a positive reflection on your writing regardless of the result. Hang in there!

Congratulations!!! Here's to hoping our waitlists turn into acceptances for both of us

Congratulations!!! I was notified this morning that I'm on the Ohio State waitlist for CNF 😀 LOL you're definitely not the only one. I'm glad I didn't join this forum and Draft before this week, because I don't think I could have remained sane from this constant anxiety while still working on my applications. I've been reminding myself that it's important to still continue doing my daily tasks and activities and not put my life on hold while waiting for decisions, especially since I'd be moving in 6-7 months if I got into a fully funded program. So try to be present in the moment, spend time with the people who matter to you, and enjoy your life in your current city while you still have it, because everything could soon change 0a/1w/0r/11p/4 still applying

Hello everyone! Lovely to see fellow nonfiction candidates here. I'm nearly 27, five years out of undergrad where I completed my B.A. in English with a Creative Writing Emphasis, and a first-time applicant. I'm applying to what may be an excessive number of 16 programs LOL. I was torn between pragmatically wanting full funding and the fantasy of pursuing my writing dreams in New York. Even after acknowledging that it wouldn't be smart to pursue an MFA in a program where I'd be worrying about outrageously high living costs and massive debt, I couldn't bring myself to not apply to my New York schools. In the end, I figured I might as well apply, and if I get in, I can decide then whether I can make it work. My fully funded schools are: UMass Amherst, Rutgers U Camden (full funding available but not guaranteed), U of Pittsburgh, Ohio State, Miami U, U of Minnesota, U of Iowa, Wash U St. Louis, U of Arizona, and Oregon State. The rest are Sarah Lawrence, Hunter College, NYU, The New School, U of San Francisco, and SF State. (I did rule out Columbia due to the enormous class size, lack of funding, and ludicrous $110 application fee. The last was also the case for NYU, and I applied there only after I received a fee waiver for another school. I decided that I wasn't going to apply to two schools with such an exorbitantly high fee that they feel entitled to charge just because they are a private, for-profit university, and I preferred NYU over Columbia.) I'm three-quarters of the way done with my applications. Only ones left are Rutgers, Hunter, USF, and SFSU with deadlines through mid-February. I'm so mentally checked out at this point that I'm just not stressing over my remaining ones LOL, especially since 3 of them are for non-fully funded programs. I likely won't apply to them on the off chance that I am accepted into any fully funded program before their respective deadlines. Good luck to everyone in this process! 0a/0w/0r/12p/4 still applying 🙃