Scribe

I'll also follow up!
2 accepts, 3 waitlists, 5 rejections. Very excited to be going to one of my initial acceptances! 
It's been a distressing process--lots of worry, lots of waiting, lots of uncertainty, and--of course--lots of money spent on application fees. Writing was my minor in undergrad (my major was biology) and the English director at my school said it 'wasn't really possible' for someone to go to MFA school with a non-English-related major. Very glad he was wrong! 
When I started this process, I was clueless and read the previous year's thread obsessively in trying to figure out what to do. I'm a first-gen student so I didn't have anybody in person to reach out to. So, advice for newcomers who might see this in the future doing the same: join the Facebook Draft group. It'll be called something like, "MFA Draft ‘25" and I really wish I would've joined sooner because it certainly seems to be the 'hub' for info regarding MFA CW applications.
And feel free to message me if you need any help or have any questions. I'm certainly not an expert or anything, but I'll share my SOP and stuff if asked. I probably won't use this site much anymore but I'll probably be on draft, or, my Discord is the same as my username here. 
 

Following up with gratitude and final stats.
6 accepts, 3 waitlists, 8 rejects. It's been an thrilling, humiliating, and encouraging process. Would love to help others w their sample or statement stuff in the future. Lotsa love. 

20 rejections. 
6 acceptances. 
 
and that’s the game baby. 

20 rejections. 
6 acceptances. 
 
and that’s the game baby. 

20 rejections. 
6 acceptances. 
 
and that’s the game baby. 

20 rejections. 
6 acceptances. 
 
and that’s the game baby. 

for those of you refusing to go into debt, I turned down both the offers i wound up getting.
one was for 50% tuition remission and no living stipend. super expensive area, super expensive tuition, and mandatory summers that i would have to pay for as well. the other was 100% tuition remission with a competitive teaching assistantship in a medium-priced area; however, that one also came with no stipend and i am unwilling to sacrifice the time i would be spending with my stepchildren to work 32-hour weekends and return to my program stressed and unfocused.
i decided to defer my 100% offer in case my circumstances change for next year. but i will also be working this year as i apply for the 2025 cycle and i already have a first-choice school in mind. good luck, everyone! i hope we all make it.

so I didn't know exactly how much (or little) funding many schools offered until I was accepted. occasionally someone on draft would post the offer and now that there's a separate sheet just for acceptances I'm learning a lot more. Look into teaching loads. some schools give funding but with heavier teaching loads, like 2:2. if they do, i don't know how much time is left to write. but if they don't!!! - there's time for a side gig. I don't want it but i will probably have to at some point. consider everything. if you're in class 3-4 hours a week, teaching and grading paper for another 20 (they can't possibly think they're going to get that out of me) studying and writing for classwork another 6, and workshopping and writing another X? (I suddenly have a new question for the group), then there might be a few hours a week available to tutor some high school snot or drive an uber or some other make-your-own hours thing. 
do not count out a great program solely because you might have to do part time or summers. 
there were women on draft openly discussing sex work. There's always a way. 
 

Well done and welcome to the Association of Those Not Getting Into Debt for This. I turned down NYU. See you again next year! 🤝

Yeah , except it looks like they’ve sent out acceptances and waitlists. So unless they’re planning on going to the folks they didn’t want in the first place, something is wrong. 
I’ve been saying for months now that there’s no excuse. Once you have your waitlist established it is stupid and wrong to not send out waitlists. What allows it is a mentality which makes the April 15 agreement necessary to begin with. This sort of thing should be addressed as well. The school that drags its feet may well find itself victim of the practice. 
is it not entirely possible, in fact likely, usf is in the position it is because they’re acceptees are in limbo somewhere else. Not everyone is here or on draft. Not everyone knows about the April 15 deadline. 
it’s a shitshow and no one benefits from pretending it isn’t. 

Yeah , except it looks like they’ve sent out acceptances and waitlists. So unless they’re planning on going to the folks they didn’t want in the first place, something is wrong. 
I’ve been saying for months now that there’s no excuse. Once you have your waitlist established it is stupid and wrong to not send out waitlists. What allows it is a mentality which makes the April 15 agreement necessary to begin with. This sort of thing should be addressed as well. The school that drags its feet may well find itself victim of the practice. 
is it not entirely possible, in fact likely, usf is in the position it is because they’re acceptees are in limbo somewhere else. Not everyone is here or on draft. Not everyone knows about the April 15 deadline. 
it’s a shitshow and no one benefits from pretending it isn’t. 

Oh, I was reacting to your previous reply. I just sent an email to the director of graduate studies, who had sent out the original waitlist email. I contacted him about a month ago to ask if they offered acceptances to the waitlisted people as spots became available or if they waited until a later date to reassess all at once (it was the former). Doubtful I'll hear back from him on a Saturday, but maybe there will be some news on Monday.
Thanks for the info in any case! And I guess we'll keep on the lookout for UCR rejections.

first question: genre? this is important. poet? fiction? creative nonfiction? ?
whatever you do, be careful.  i knew this one cat who died of being frowned upon. horrible death too. it took like 60 years.  it was a conspiracy. the fuckers who killed him are still at large.
I'm not sure it will affect your applications next year. i suppose you could be put on a double secret probation list that's shared by all the programs. Maybe your picture goes up on their radar "do not take checks from this person" style. yeah, that specific program might remember you - maybe. or  jurist may be on the committee of another school next year. 
But there's hundreds of programs out there.  i mean, are they really going to blacklist you? it's a crazy level of effort to put in. 
I do think you do it asap, which you are. And I think you make it personal, which it seems you are. I would not in any way indicate you got a better offer, which you wouldn't, but you may neglect to say you will be reapplying next year. do NOT neglect that. tell them you will be applying next year, this could not be helped, and you will not be attending another program. You should probably ask about a deferral  policy. it's almost certainly a "no" but just asking shows you want to attend and really regret not being able to. 
seriously, what genre? (Don't laugh at me. you could be a songwriter.)
 

Hello all! I just got off the NYU fiction waitlist and officially accepted a spot in their 2024 cohort!!!! This is my 4th year applying I literally feel like I'm going to vomit I'm so excited! ❤️ 

Because I'm still on a waitlist, every hour post-April 15 has been moving at an absolute snail's pace. I wish I could get constant play-by-play updates about everything going on behind the scenes lol

Congratulations!!! They also offered me a fellowship and I was shocked because it was completely unexpected hahaha. I'm very likely accepting and am so excited too  

new to this forum but i also just got off the waitlist for ohio state w/ t/a fellowship! so excited. I'm still waiting on some other waitlists, does anyone have information on Columbia's? Or know when they usually come out?
 
edit: in fiction to specify

It's not unheard of and unless you get douchey about it (like I did that one time) I doubt it will make any difference in your life going forward. 
As far as it being intrusive, are you not asked about this sort of thing all the time?
How was your experience shopping at home depot today? did you find everything you were looking for?
How likely are you to recommend Peter Pan Peanut Butter to a friend?
Was your customer service representative polite? were they able to answer your question?
Please describe your Amazon delivery experience? Would you lie to thank your driver? (Always say yes.)
This is no different. Programs want to know who and what they're competing with. I've learned a lot this year, one of the biggest things was how little these programs know about each other. When asked, I told them. I was kind and honest. (Except for that one time.) 
I'm actually going to email a couple of governors. 

@lychees I guess after you declined, they moved on to me because I JUST GOT AN OFFER FROM OHIO STATE 😭😭😭 OH MY FREAKING GOD I CANT BELIEVE I FINALLY GOT OFF A WAITLIST IM SO EXCITED 😀😭😀😭😀😭 
Ask them for an extension!!! Ohio State emailed me this morning and I have until Wednesday at 11:59pm to make my decision. Definitely get all your questions answered first.

And just got my second acceptance! ... From the second school I heard from back in January 😂 (Ohio State)... a very big decision to make in a short time but I suppose there's much worse problems to have 

Where at?! Congrats! 
And aside—I accepted my (poetry) offer from the University of Oregon on April 1. I think the poetry cohort has now been finalized. Where my people at?!

Just got my first acceptance! ... From the very first school I heard from back in January 😂 my fellow waitlist warriors, now is our time 😄

Here's a kick in the head, as of about an hour ago NO ONE has accepted OR declined USF. 
so if you're on that waitlist...

I didn't hear from Iowa State until April 5 and was accepted off the waitlist five days later. So it's never a no until it's a no — but that might be an atypical experience, I'm not sure. At this point, I would reach out to Boise State directly and ask for an update. There's three days until April 15, and they owe you a clear response. 

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! ❤️