2022 Creative Writing MFA Applicants Forum

[nosferatatouille]

Officially done with all my applications! Figures the school at the bottom of my list would have the most tedious application process and the highest application fee.

Now to wait!

[MDP]

@koechophe Oh, how about: “The bad advice gave me the sense of trolling on GradCafe, as other users had warned me about.” 

Edited January 7, 2022 by MDP

[koechophe]

8 hours ago, nosferatatouille said:

Figures the school at the bottom of my list would have the most tedious application process and the highest application fee.

I feel that, my literal bottom pick was a pain too. I actually factored application costs into my list though, and I want to say it's what decided it for me between which of the 2 bottom schools I'd cut out. 

University of Florida only charges $30 for theirs, which I think is pretty awesome. 

[MDP]

Good luck @eternalwhitenights! I saw your arc from last year on the 2021 Forum (which I finally finished reading yesterday while at work, lol). What kind of stuff do you like to write?

[Ydrl]

1 hour ago, koechophe said:

I feel that, my literal bottom pick was a pain too. I actually factored application costs into my list though, and I want to say it's what decided it for me between which of the 2 bottom schools I'd cut out. 

University of Florida only charges $30 for theirs, which I think is pretty awesome. 

The Florida schools are pretty cheap to apply to which was awesome because I like being warm with full funding haha.

[Ydrl]

10 hours ago, nosferatatouille said:

Officially done with all my applications! Figures the school at the bottom of my list would have the most tedious application process and the highest application fee.

Now to wait!

What schools were at the bottom of the list? Just curious

[nosferatatouille]

1 hour ago, Ydrl said:

What schools were at the bottom of the list? Just curious

Western Washington was the application I just turned in. I also applied to Brown, University of Utah (their PhD program), University of Colorado Boulder, and University of Washington Bothell.

Aside from Brown and Utah, there's a fair bit riding on how much funding I can get from each place. Another little layer of hell lol

[Ydrl]

6 minutes ago, nosferatatouille said:

Western Washington was the application I just turned in. I also applied to Brown, University of Utah (their PhD program), University of Colorado Boulder, and University of Washington Bothell.

Aside from Brown and Utah, there's a fair bit riding on how much funding I can get from each place. Another little layer of hell lol

It's definitely kind of hellish. Getting into a school and not receiving adequate funding is a blow I received during my last application season. Luckily I got a rare full tuition remission, but I didn't get a TAship, and I don't have much of an income from my writing assistant job at the writing center.

[mrvisser]

13 minutes ago, nosferatatouille said:

Western Washington was the application I just turned in. I also applied to Brown, University of Utah (their PhD program), University of Colorado Boulder, and University of Washington Bothell.

Aside from Brown and Utah, there's a fair bit riding on how much funding I can get from each place. Another little layer of hell lol

I was just in Bellingham this week. It's a great little town, certainly a good place to be writing.

[Rm714]

13 minutes ago, mrvisser said:

I was just in Bellingham this week. It's a great little town, certainly a good place to be writing.

I'm in Seattle this week and Vancouver next. Checking out the universities, though it's unlikely I'll get into either with their horrifying acceptance rates. I've been to Seattle once before and absolutely adore it; I've never been to Vancouver and am very excited to see it. 

Traveling right now in light of COVID has been challenging, but my partner will be coming with me wherever I go, and he's never been to either of the two cities, so we wanted to see if he liked them enough to see himself living there. This time was our only opportunity to go before decisions are released, so alas, here we are, double-masking everywhere and washing our hands so frequently they've gone raw. Oh well!

(Edit: we are also both fully vaccinated and boosted!)

Edited January 7, 2022 by Rm714

[mrvisser]

40 minutes ago, Rm714 said:

I'm in Seattle this week and Vancouver next. Checking out the universities, though it's unlikely I'll get into either with their horrifying acceptance rates. I've been to Seattle once before and absolutely adore it; I've never been to Vancouver and am very excited to see it. 

Traveling right now in light of COVID has been challenging, but my partner will be coming with me wherever I go, and he's never been to either of the two cities, so we wanted to see if he liked them enough to see himself living there. This time was our only opportunity to go before decisions are released, so alas, here we are, double-masking everywhere and washing our hands so frequently they've gone raw. Oh well!

(Edit: we are also both fully vaccinated and boosted!)

Welcome! Let me know if you need suggestions! I live here in Seattle, of course, but I also know some good spots up in Vancouver. Both are great, and both are very expensive. I personally think it's worth it.

For traveling it helps that Seattle is extra COVID-conscious, even compared to other liberal cities. I was in Austin two weeks ago, and the level of masking is much lower. I'm not so concerned for my own health since I'm boosted and omicron is much milder, but obviously the transmission to others is concerning.

[Rm714]

37 minutes ago, mrvisser said:

Welcome! Let me know if you need suggestions! I live here in Seattle, of course, but I also know some good spots up in Vancouver. Both are great, and both are very expensive. I personally think it's worth it.

For traveling it helps that Seattle is extra COVID-conscious, even compared to other liberal cities. I was in Austin two weeks ago, and the level of masking is much lower. I'm not so concerned for my own health since I'm boosted and omicron is much milder, but obviously the transmission to others is concerning.

Thanks so much! I'm super open to suggestions! Especially to good bookstores.   I've already walked into every one I've seen, including Twice Sold Tales, which was probably my favorite seeing as they had six cats. 

I also feel the same about the virus - neither of us are particularly at risk but we want to ensure the safety of those around us!

[mrvisser]

1 hour ago, Rm714 said:

Thanks so much! I'm super open to suggestions! Especially to good bookstores.   I've already walked into every one I've seen, including Twice Sold Tales, which was probably my favorite seeing as they had six cats. 

I also feel the same about the virus - neither of us are particularly at risk but we want to ensure the safety of those around us!

Twice Sold is great, especially because of the cats. There's another one called Ophelia's that has a few cats as well. Elliott Bay Books is the largest bookstore in Seattle, and then Magus is my favorite. Great used selection there. For food, the big street next to Magus—University Way—is probably the best street for food in the entire city. For three or four blocks it's every kind of cuisine you could want.

In Vancouver, I always like to hit Stanley Park, Granville Island, and Gastown. The city has a great Chinatown as well. If you go past North Vancouver and up along the coast there are some gorgeous parks, too.

[nosferatatouille]

12 hours ago, mrvisser said:

I was just in Bellingham this week. It's a great little town, certainly a good place to be writing.

A lot of other people from the PNW here, huh! I live a bit south of Seattle. I don't get out much though--I've never been to Bellingham. But I've heard only good things!

[Ydrl]

What's everyone's top school?

[koechophe]

2 hours ago, Ydrl said:

What's everyone's top school?

John Hopkins.

Don't think I've got a prayer of being accepted, but it'd sure be nice ?

[littleblackneko]

My top school right now is either Ohio State or University of Minnesota!

[MDP]

7 hours ago, Ydrl said:

What's everyone's top school?

UVA or Hollins. Pretty sold on Virginia. My rents live in Charlottesville

[mrvisser]

7 hours ago, Ydrl said:

What's everyone's top school?

Brown for me, though it's probably even more of a long shot than the others.

Michigan and UC Irvine are close for second.

[julesevar]

7 hours ago, Ydrl said:

What's everyone's top school?

University of spoiled children

[Yellow62]

On 1/8/2022 at 11:09 AM, Ydrl said:

What's everyone's top school?

Johns Hopkins for me. Insane longshot, but its fun to shoot one's shot at least

[koechophe]

11 hours ago, Yellow62 said:

Johns Hopkins for me. Insane longshot, but its fun to shoot one's shot at least

And also expensive lol. 

But I think it's worth it. It honestly takes guts to say, "I believe in my writing enough to spend money to submit it." For me, the act of doing that is valuable. It's one of the greatest exhibitions of both self-confidence and self-doubt out there.

 

[Yellow62]

5 hours ago, koechophe said:

And also expensive lol. 

But I think it's worth it. It honestly takes guts to say, "I believe in my writing enough to spend money to submit it." For me, the act of doing that is valuable. It's one of the greatest exhibitions of both self-confidence and self-doubt out there.

 

Hello! JH is actually not expensive, as it's a fully funded program with one of the highest stipends out of any MFA program, ~$30.5k last time I checked. 

[MDP]

Re: small vs. big programs, I think some people view it as depth vs. breadth. Some folks value a small class size because it can mean more attention/in-depth workshopping from profs and students. Other people want a larger class size to get a higher volume of perspectives on their work. Both have their merits. Personally, I don't think either approach is better than the other, just preferences  

[MDP]

...also, has anyone else been having acceptance dreams? Dreamt I got into Hollins last night and woke up in a cold sweat for some reason lol. This waiting period can't move fast enough