lemmmein

Edited because I'm nervous about oversharing, sorry!

I took a fiction workshop with a grad of the program I'm going to, and then I took another "MFA prep" workshop with her too! Her advice/reading of all my materials/the rec letter she was able to write having worked with me twice was absolutely invaluable.

Ahhh congrats!! I still have my fingers crossed we'll be in the same cohort at NCSU, but I'm glad you have another great option. Also would love to read this story!!

I applied to Houston but I've given up lol

I mean just general googling tbh. I read local news articles about the literary culture in the area and found the name of the workshop, saw that it was founded by mfa grads, dug through their course offerings and looked at the instructors for each one. I've taken a few writing workshops online, and they're all connected to wherever they're based. Grub Street is in Boston, Redbud Writing Project is in NC, Austin Bat Cave is in ATX, Gotham Writers is in NYC, etc. Googling "[whatever city] writing workshops" is a good way to start!

I took more workshops and found a workshop taught by a grad of the program I wanted to get into most. She wrote one of my rec letters and gave me thoughts on my samples. Also networking. Go to things, reach out to professors, know their work well and make sure they know your name beforehand.

Yeah, I don't think they've released decisions, but it's hard not to expect a no anyway. I don't think I'd want to move for any of these programs regardless? When you know you know for sure! Definitely wouldn't spend NYC living cost extortion $$ (+ the half I'd be on the hook for at Hunter as a non resident year 1) when I'm already cozy in NC.

Wellllllp brown/hunter/u of houston can suck it if they decide to accept me this late in the game. I officially accepted my spot for fiction at NCSU and withdrew from U of Oregon's waitlist. Feels really good to just have it all settled!

I wouldn't do that!! Not trying to be cryptic, but it was a comment on someone else's post about getting on the waitlist lol.

Haha, someone in draft said they're in for fiction and probably can't go!

Hi! I just wanted to add to the 'not getting into the program doesn't mean you're not a writer' vibes. Immediate acceptance is not the only way in. I know I keep saying it, but this was my third round of applications. Every round has been a little bit more torturous, and I was ready to be done if I didn't get in anywhere this time. But damn am I a better writer now than I was when started this. It's been three years of forcing myself back to the page and into community when I wanted to give up (which is what I imagine the rest of a writing life will be). The work is a win too. It's not just the acceptance. We all spent a ridiculous amount of hours writing stories and poems and thinking about why we want this life, and that matters. We've spent the last several months voting on our work and examining our motivations for probably just about everything, and so many people never bother to do that. I know it sounds trite, but your work, this work, has not been wasted. You're a better writer for the attempt. You might be a better person for it. The MFA does not determine whether or not you're a writer, academia is a mess (as described above!), and we don't need them to make good work. That said: shit sucks, y'all. I'm sorry.

I haven't finished a story since I finalized my Michener apps, soooooo 12/1/23? You're not alone in being burned out of the actual craft that brought us all together. But yeah, just to echo: this community is amazing. It's made this round of apps so much more survivable to not be talking to people with a "what like it's hard?" attitude toward grad school. Yes!!! It's very hard to get into any of these programs!! But they are not the only way to be a writer! I genuinely wish so much success for everyone in here (and kind of wish we could all just abandon academia and run our own workshop together??)

Congrats!! Really excited for those of y'all who got in! Condolences!! Solidarity with those of us hearing nos from dream programs today. Keep writing friends.

Yesss totally agree that it might not be just the sample too! I'd guess a *lot* of the applications these programs get are good enough to join workshops. The things that give an edge might be real slight. ha I only knew about NWP and Michener because I've been applying there for so long. It's a really weird system.

Yeah, I don't think much about writing (at the level we're probably mostly at) is objectively good? This seems to happen with just one or two people per year, and if there were an objectivity to it, I'd imagine it would come up more often. That said, there has been so much writing about the "type" of writing MFA programs put out over the last 20 years. This person probably either a) did something so in line with the type of work these professors want to work with or b) something so different and interesting they all recognized it at once. That doesn't narrow things down very well, but having spent the last year reading all the books by Michener/Iowa/Vandy grads I could find, I definitely think there's a stylistic/motivational/thematic range most of these programs like, especially the ones that take themselves the most seriously. And that's not necessarily bad! It's something I'll be watching in my own writing, but yeah... Those are my morning-after-being -on-here-too-late thoughts.