writernity

Hi all!! It's been a while since I've been in here, I've spent the past month agonizing about decisions haha. I visited both Manhattanville and Stony Brook (I rejected The New School pretty quick because I realized it didn't offer what I wanted for teaching opportunities and it would be too expensive anyway). I was really hesitant about attending either school and was considering just reapplying next year, but after visiting SBU, I've decided that it's the right program for me! I do want to give a shoutout to Manhattanville as a program that seems to be on the rise, the whole process was very personal and inviting and the director is doing a lot of work to make it a really good place to be, but I felt that its current state didn't fit my needs and SBU was much better for me location-wise. The teaching fellowship pathway they offer is a really great opportunity though, it makes the program almost fully funded. I'd recommend looking into it for anyone applying next year, especially in NY.
This forum has been a great help, and I've really loved seeing everyone's news and talking with you all! Thanks for helping me get through the season! ❤️
 

Hi all!! It's been a while since I've been in here, I've spent the past month agonizing about decisions haha. I visited both Manhattanville and Stony Brook (I rejected The New School pretty quick because I realized it didn't offer what I wanted for teaching opportunities and it would be too expensive anyway). I was really hesitant about attending either school and was considering just reapplying next year, but after visiting SBU, I've decided that it's the right program for me! I do want to give a shoutout to Manhattanville as a program that seems to be on the rise, the whole process was very personal and inviting and the director is doing a lot of work to make it a really good place to be, but I felt that its current state didn't fit my needs and SBU was much better for me location-wise. The teaching fellowship pathway they offer is a really great opportunity though, it makes the program almost fully funded. I'd recommend looking into it for anyone applying next year, especially in NY.
This forum has been a great help, and I've really loved seeing everyone's news and talking with you all! Thanks for helping me get through the season! ❤️
 

Hi all!! It's been a while since I've been in here, I've spent the past month agonizing about decisions haha. I visited both Manhattanville and Stony Brook (I rejected The New School pretty quick because I realized it didn't offer what I wanted for teaching opportunities and it would be too expensive anyway). I was really hesitant about attending either school and was considering just reapplying next year, but after visiting SBU, I've decided that it's the right program for me! I do want to give a shoutout to Manhattanville as a program that seems to be on the rise, the whole process was very personal and inviting and the director is doing a lot of work to make it a really good place to be, but I felt that its current state didn't fit my needs and SBU was much better for me location-wise. The teaching fellowship pathway they offer is a really great opportunity though, it makes the program almost fully funded. I'd recommend looking into it for anyone applying next year, especially in NY.
This forum has been a great help, and I've really loved seeing everyone's news and talking with you all! Thanks for helping me get through the season! ❤️
 

Hi all!! It's been a while since I've been in here, I've spent the past month agonizing about decisions haha. I visited both Manhattanville and Stony Brook (I rejected The New School pretty quick because I realized it didn't offer what I wanted for teaching opportunities and it would be too expensive anyway). I was really hesitant about attending either school and was considering just reapplying next year, but after visiting SBU, I've decided that it's the right program for me! I do want to give a shoutout to Manhattanville as a program that seems to be on the rise, the whole process was very personal and inviting and the director is doing a lot of work to make it a really good place to be, but I felt that its current state didn't fit my needs and SBU was much better for me location-wise. The teaching fellowship pathway they offer is a really great opportunity though, it makes the program almost fully funded. I'd recommend looking into it for anyone applying next year, especially in NY.
This forum has been a great help, and I've really loved seeing everyone's news and talking with you all! Thanks for helping me get through the season! ❤️
 

Hi all!! It's been a while since I've been in here, I've spent the past month agonizing about decisions haha. I visited both Manhattanville and Stony Brook (I rejected The New School pretty quick because I realized it didn't offer what I wanted for teaching opportunities and it would be too expensive anyway). I was really hesitant about attending either school and was considering just reapplying next year, but after visiting SBU, I've decided that it's the right program for me! I do want to give a shoutout to Manhattanville as a program that seems to be on the rise, the whole process was very personal and inviting and the director is doing a lot of work to make it a really good place to be, but I felt that its current state didn't fit my needs and SBU was much better for me location-wise. The teaching fellowship pathway they offer is a really great opportunity though, it makes the program almost fully funded. I'd recommend looking into it for anyone applying next year, especially in NY.
This forum has been a great help, and I've really loved seeing everyone's news and talking with you all! Thanks for helping me get through the season! ❤️
 

Just wanted to let people know that I declined my offers from Ohio State and Iowa NWP. I truly hope some very good news be headed your way!
Oh and I accepted the offer from Pitt 🥳
It's been a privilege 🫡 and thank you to all those who lent help and advice in my dms. Also, I'd totally pay it forward—if anyone needs an extra set of eyes on your CNF packet next year, or have questions, hit me up! I'll try pay back the good karma.
Edited to add final stats:
8A/4W/3R/0P

can empathize so much with this as a fellow first-gen student!! i’ve had the privilege of being guided by and studying under poets who have had wonderful things happen to them in their careers (guggenheim and macarthur fellowships, an inaugural poet) and i was given a lot of really great guidance and reality checks with my expectations. but one of the biggest things they emphasized was that whether i got in or not, i was still a poet, a writer, and someone still worthy of these labels even if no school within the application cycle saw it. they shared countless stories of friends, students, and fellow writers who it didn’t work out for at the beginning, but despite initial rejections, made it out the other end better than they could’ve imagined. i like to doom-spiral in my head a lot, and my past year’s applying just validated those thoughts. but, i’ve come to a place where even if my single waitlist doesn’t pan out (i’ll definitely be a little devastated) but i’ll know that if anything, i had the privilege to even apply and dream about one day be writing for a living. 

I understand how you're feeling. This was my first year applying, and the whole time I couldn't help but feel like I was behind in this game from the get-go. Comparison is poison in these sorts of processes.
I felt my heart sink when I realized just how many people who post acceptances went to extremely prestigious colleges for their undergrad---almost every single known acceptance for Iowa, at least for poetry, went to someone from an Ivy. But it really only takes one school to believe in your work in order for you to be successful. There's no such thing as a "bad" program. If you like what a program has to offer you then it's right for you. 
Plus, tons of writers never even went to get an MFA. Getting into a program just gives that precious time to write. Be yourself and write for yourself. Rooting for you. 

On the topic of feeling ambivalent about "not that competitive" program acceptances:
I feel this. These prospective grad student forums have been a really mixed bag for me in that regard. I've certainly learned a lot I didn't know about how this process works and I value that, but as a first-gen student (for college and now for grad school) it kind of blows my mind to read some of the bashing of programs as "not that competitive" if they take more than a teeny handful of students a year.  I know it's all relative, but just the amount of credentials and recommendations and work required to even APPLY to pretty much any MFA program weeds out tons of people.  
This was my first time applying to any grad program and I went into it feeling like "if I get in anywhere it will be an achievement".  I'm coming out of it with multiple acceptances, all with at least partial funding, with all this self-doubt because I've learned here that the programs I've gotten into aren't the MOST competitive ones. 
Trying to re-ground myself in what my offline world tells me: that I put a ton of work into my writing, that I have potential, and that it's been recognized.

Columbia IS competitive, especially if you've got any funding offers! Like NYU, they accept a larger cohort, but they also get a very large amount of applicants and the amount they accept is around 20% at most, much less with funding. Sure, less competitive than some schools that only accept 6 students (and way too expensive without a massive funding offer) but still an achievement. It doesn't seem like I'm getting a Columbia acceptance at all (though I guess we don't know for sure if they're done yet).

Columbia does accept a large cohort but they also have one of the largest applicant pools. they accept less than 3%.

hi just wanted to say that i'm in a similar boat and ik exactly how you feel. i don't want to seem ungrateful or that i'm undermining my accomplishments but i am feeling a bit disappointed because the programs are unfunded and not that competitive. ppl have been so excited for me when i tell them i got into columbia but in my head i'm like..its not as hard as you probably think 😭

pretty sure I just got waitlisted at Iowa 🤩

Nothing to apologize or be sensitive about haha, you're all good! It's not your responsibility to know what programs everyone else is applying to or when those programs are releasing stuff or mind all of our feelings. Celebrate your success, we're happy for you!!! 🎉🎉
I'm just a bit emotional because that seems to be the end of my run aside from some maybe waitlist possibilities, and while I do have 3 acceptances, they're all to less competitive non-fully-funded schools I'm not sure will be the best fit and I'm now entering crisis mode of "Do I try again next year or just go with what I got"

im sorry! i should have been more sensitive with the brown results coming out today

Oh no, that's a bit crushing 😭 I just got my Brown rejection but was still holding out hope for Hunter since there's been no mention of it here or draft. Congrats, though!

For those of you who are on waitlists and are losing hope -- I 1000% respect and understand that a waitlist in certain ways can be even more nerve-racking than an outright rejection. I want to offer maybe a small glimmer of hope? Without causing anyone any more stress; I really hope I don't add to that. I've spoken to multiple people in each accepted student cohort from multiple schools (in each genre) that are actively debating other offers. Some people who aren't on grad cafe or draft. I've been scrambling to talk to as many people as possible both incoming and in the programs themselves as I really dig deep and try and make the 'right' decision for myself. I'd hate to hate my MFA experience, so I really am no closer to deciding what in the actual hell I'm going to do. I just say all this to say: I think there will be substantial waitlist movement this year. I don't want to give information that's not mine to give, so I'll speak for myself. I'm debating offers from NYU, Brown, Iowa, and Michigan for poetry. I have to turn 3 of those down. Others are debating attending other programs from all over. If you're on the waitlist, don't count yourself out just yet!!!! Much love to all ❤️ 

Me too! And with that, my MFA season officially ends with 0A/0W/12R! Congratulations to everyone who has been accepted and is ready to begin their MFA journey! To everyone else, I'm still rooting for all of you and I hope you guys hear good news from the schools you have left, and all the waitlists turn into acceptances and put you out of your limbo. Thank you to everyone on this forum, the ride was a lot more enjoyable sharing all the emotions with you guys. I'll keep writing and maybe one day we'll pass by each other and I'll get to read all of your works! Wishing everyone the absolute best, and I hope that no matter what, you guys can love this craft for a long long time and it brings you a tonne of happiness (even in its hardest moments)! 

Just got waitlisted for ole miss. Gosh, so close!

Hey everyone! I just stumbled onto this forum while obsessing about my MFA applications. I see that many of the schools I've applied to have already sent out acceptances so I'm assuming soft rejections. Has anyone here applied to Temple? So far I've received acceptances to Temple and Columbia for fiction, but I'm on the fence because of funding. Columbia offered me 20k but as I'm sure you're all aware, it's a drop in the bucket for tuition. 
Still waiting on a handful of other schools, here's to hoping for some answers.
 
2A/0W/4R/9P

I got a waitlist for Arkansas! A total surprise as I never reached out to my rec letter writers to see if they submitted letters. (I wasn't ready for them to ask if I had been accepted and for me to have say "no"). 
Only two more schools to find out about. 🥺 Still no acceptances, but at least I know I'll be finishing this app cycle with two waitlists. 
 

Huh, I got an acceptance to The New School with a 30% tuition funding offer! I really thought they were done, perhaps this is the "lower half of the alphabet" curse again 🤣 or something else. Who knows, admissions offers are a nebulous magical force.
With NYU wailists and Columbia acceptances coming out now, hoping for good news for everyone! 🙏 and congrats to those who've gotten that good news already today!

Happy 100 pages all!! I'm so proud of our generation of applicants and all we've put into this year. Lots of sharing information and advice, supporting and congratulating each other, and many of us getting into incredible programs! Whatever happens this year, I know that every one of you has worked your hardest to follow your dreams, and even if it's not this time around, I hope every dream comes true 💜

Happy 100 pages all!! I'm so proud of our generation of applicants and all we've put into this year. Lots of sharing information and advice, supporting and congratulating each other, and many of us getting into incredible programs! Whatever happens this year, I know that every one of you has worked your hardest to follow your dreams, and even if it's not this time around, I hope every dream comes true 💜

Happy 100 pages all!! I'm so proud of our generation of applicants and all we've put into this year. Lots of sharing information and advice, supporting and congratulating each other, and many of us getting into incredible programs! Whatever happens this year, I know that every one of you has worked your hardest to follow your dreams, and even if it's not this time around, I hope every dream comes true 💜