2022 Creative Writing MFA Applicants Forum

[RosA-R]

30 minutes ago, nsb92 said:

Hi! There are tons of good online literary magazines and sites that accept work from previously unpublished writers. Honestly there are so many of them that it helps if you have a focus or regionality you want to hone in on (southern, southwestern, fantasy writing, speculative fiction, anything you can imagine). Many sites/magazines have "submission windows," meaning for a specific span of time each year they accept unsolicited submissions--you can set up a calendar reminding you when which places are opening up their submissions inbox. I'll also vouch for a new print lit & criticism magazine that's Brooklyn based called The Drift, pretty sure they have open submissions! They are very cool. Other places you could look (that aren't as specific regarding subject or regionality) include Kenyon Review, Guernica, F(r)iction, Sewanee Review, Georgia Review, Baltimore Review, Tin House, Ploughshares, Paris Review, etc. Some of these are much harder to get into than others, but they definitely all do love to publish work by "unknowns." I hope this is helpful!

Thank you for all the recommendations! I have 20+ tabs open and was getting overwhelmed, it had not occurred to me to organize them somehow, lol. I am still figuring out my genre (I write nonfiction, nothing is made up and is exclusively related to my experiences, but it does veer into magic realism a lot which means in my workshop classes people often read it as fiction) but I will definitely look at all of those publications and see if my work might fit!

[Nightwitch]

28 minutes ago, RosA-R said:

Hi, thanks for the advice! I have only ever participated in workshops run by other writers or as part of my university, but finding residencies and other programs is definitely also on my to do list!

There's this online newsletter I subscribe to called Authors Publish, and they regularly email lists of residencies, publishers and magazines with open reading periods (sometimes genre specific/seasonally themed/general), and free lectures/online workshops etc. I guess it might be worth a try!

[nicolette7766]

hi everyone. i’m really happy that february is almost over, the month dragged on for me lol but i was curious to see which programs you guys are waiting on as we head into march

[Yellow62]

All accepted Michener poets have received their offers, as confirmed on Draft. 

[nsb92]

1 hour ago, nicolette7766 said:

hi everyone. i’m really happy that february is almost over, the month dragged on for me lol but i was curious to see which programs you guys are waiting on as we head into march

Hi! Curious as well about everyone. Here's what I'm waiting on (for fiction): Syracuse, Brown, Michener, NYU (though seeing as how lots of fiction acceptances have gone out, according to here and Draft, I'm expecting a rejection), Ole Miss (I know I made it into Phase II), Virginia, Michigan, Iowa, Sarah Lawrence, and Brooklyn College.

[RosA-R]

4 minutes ago, nsb92 said:

Hi! Curious as well about everyone. Here's what I'm waiting on (for fiction): Syracuse, Brown, Michener, NYU (though seeing as how lots of fiction acceptances have gone out, according to here and Draft, I'm expecting a rejection), Ole Miss (I know I made it into Phase II), Virginia, Michigan, Iowa, Sarah Lawrence, and Brooklyn College.

I am also waiting to hear from Sarah Lawrence, but for Creative Nonfiction! I also applied to Hunter College and City College of New York. I know three programs is crazy low, but I can't really leave the city since I already live here. Based on last year's results, we should be hearing from Sarah Lawrence as early as Tuesday, fingers crossed!

[nicolette7766]

8 minutes ago, nsb92 said:

Hi! Curious as well about everyone. Here's what I'm waiting on (for fiction): Syracuse, Brown, Michener, NYU (though seeing as how lots of fiction acceptances have gone out, according to here and Draft, I'm expecting a rejection), Ole Miss (I know I made it into Phase II), Virginia, Michigan, Iowa, Sarah Lawrence, and Brooklyn College.

i’m also waiting on Syracuse for fiction. Fingers crossed for the both of us. however i am pretty sure michigan gave out acceptances rejections and waitlists already. or at least that’s what it seemed like on the draft page. 

[nsb92]

39 minutes ago, nicolette7766 said:

i’m also waiting on Syracuse for fiction. Fingers crossed for the both of us. however i am pretty sure michigan gave out acceptances rejections and waitlists already. or at least that’s what it seemed like on the draft page. 

Ah, I didn't see that about Michigan on Draft! Thanks for letting me know. I royally messed up my biographical essay and so have been firmly expecting a rejection from them.

Edited February 28, 2022 by nsb92

[nicolette7766]

20 minutes ago, nsb92 said:

Ah, I didn't see that about Michigan on Draft! Thanks for letting me know. I royally messed up my biographical essay and so have been firmly expecting a rejection from them.

if it makes you feel any better, michigan was a last second addition to my list and i accidentally called them minnesota in my sop lmao

[VillaTheKilla]

Hey guys, just wondering if NYU fiction acceptances have been out. Seems all results posted on graduate coffee are for poetry, but don't know about Draft. 

[poem for her]

1 hour ago, VillaTheKilla said:

Hey guys, just wondering if NYU fiction acceptances have been out. Seems all results posted on graduate coffee are for poetry, but don't know about Draft. 

according to everyone on draft, NYU acceptances are sent out in batches (from highest to lowest funding), so i’m guessing most if not all of the fully funded fellowship offers have already been made to students (across all genres). someone commented that they received a fiction acceptance call 1-2 days ago. apparently, the school has told students that acceptances and waitlists will continue through march, which means partial funding offers are incoming.

Edited February 28, 2022 by poem for her

[VillaTheKilla]

8 minutes ago, poem for her said:

according to everyone on draft, NYU acceptances are sent out in batches (from highest to lowest funding), so i’m guessing most if not all of the fully funded fellowship offers have already been made to students (across all genres). someone commented that they received a fiction acceptance call 1-2 days ago. apparently, the school has told students that acceptances and waitlists will continue through march, which means partial funding offers are incoming.

Thank you for letting us know! finger crossed for everyone waiting for NYU

[Misshellis]

First time applicant here (fiction) just wondering if anyone has heard from Maryland or Virginia Tech? I apologize if this has already been asked!  According to an email from VT, they were supposed to start notifying people in mid-February. I'm not feeling too hopeful since I only applied to a handful of places, but it'd be nice to be put out of my misery lol.  

[nicolette7766]

30 minutes ago, Misshellis said:

First time applicant here (fiction) just wondering if anyone has heard from Maryland or Virginia Tech? I apologize if this has already been asked!  According to an email from VT, they were supposed to start notifying people in mid-February. I'm not feeling too hopeful since I only applied to a handful of places, but it'd be nice to be put out of my misery lol.  

i’m also waiting on V tech, and i got the same email. it said “some years” they do this. so it’s possible they might not be doing interviews and instead will just begin accepting people at the beginning of march. 

[koechophe]

17 minutes ago, nicolette7766 said:

i’m also waiting on V tech, and i got the same email. it said “some years” they do this. so it’s possible they might not be doing interviews and instead will just begin accepting people at the beginning of march. 

I haven't seen a single posting where someone gets an interview with Virginia Tech, and while they do sometimes notify late Feb, they also sometimes notify early/mid march. 

All available data points to them not having notified yet. 

[MissMosquito]

On 2/26/2022 at 3:44 PM, nsb92 said:

Hi! I'm new to this forum and applied to MFAs without realizing that this kind of community existed online--a friend told me about it yesterday. Anyways, with the announcements starting, I decided to seek y'all out . . . I applied to 12 programs for fiction and so far have been accepted to Montana (thrilled), rejected from Cornell, and am waiting on everything else. I know I made Phase II for University of Mississippi. I'm wondering: did any of you also get an acceptance from Montana for fiction? And has anyone been accepted to U of Miss for fiction (I know poetry acceptances went out, so am a bit nervous)? Thanks everyone!

Congrats on the acceptance! I've heard Montana is beautiful if you love the outdoors!

[MissMosquito]

On 2/26/2022 at 9:44 PM, 0-8_ThePerfectSeason said:

Iowa State struck me as an MFA program that by rights deserves to be more selective than its 20% acceptance rate.  A quarter of the schools I applied to had acceptance rates in the single digits.  The rest were less selective.  Nonetheless it's not a sure thing I will enroll in an MFA.  Even my least selective program accepts just 60% of its applicants.

Thanks for the suggestion! If anyone knows of any more under-the-radar, higher-acceptance-rate programs, let us (likely) 2022 rejects know!

[MissMosquito]

On 2/27/2022 at 1:25 AM, sb2798 said:

hi! some of us from Draft have a poetry workshop going over email. if you're interested, dm me and I'll add you!

Thanks for the invite! I'll DM you shortly.

[MissMosquito]

On 2/27/2022 at 3:09 AM, questioningquestions said:

Maybe... Ugh, I'm just sad because I had previously been accepted to one of the programs (with a far weaker writing sample than this time around!) and declined  and reapplied this year, but it looks like I didn't get in again :.(

Ouch! I'm sorry it looks like this is how it's shaking down this time around. At least, the irony of your situation is a sign of just how arbitrary and subjective the admission process is. The adcoms who make the first cut I imagine are hired or volunteer to do the bulk of the reading and likely aren't the ones making the subsequent cuts to the final decision. If my assumption is true, all applicants decision outcome depends on a single reader's judgement of probably just page one of their writing sample! It looks like the grad app process is just as much a numbers game as the publication rigamarole. We just gotta keep writing, keep submitting, keep racking up the number of rejections, till we get to the next acceptance, and it will come! I promise!

[Misshellis]

1 hour ago, nicolette7766 said:

i’m also waiting on V tech, and i got the same email. it said “some years” they do this. so it’s possible they might not be doing interviews and instead will just begin accepting people at the beginning of march. 

Ah ok, thanks! Hopefully they’ll notify soon. 

[MissMosquito]

On 2/27/2022 at 7:01 AM, RosA-R said:

Hey everyone, sorry if this has already been asked! I've posted once before, but I wanted to ask if you all have any publications you recommend for previously unpublished writers. As the decision days approach for the three programs I applied to, I am wanting to prepare alternatives to work towards next year's applications. Thanks!

Hi RosA-R,

Welcome! When I first started out on my publishing journey, I paid for a Duotrope subscription. They send out a monthly email listing those literary magazines that recently opened their reading period for unsolicited submissions. The list is categorized by those lit mags that pay for publication and those that don't. Hyper-links are included to info about the lit mag such as acceptance rate, what kind of literature they publish, and how long they've been around. I would try submitting to new lit mags that haven't gained much of a readership and notoriety yet. They're likely to be less selective and name driven with their publication process.

On the flip side, they also likely won't give you much of an edge on a CV, because of that lack of notoriety, but you've gotta start somewhere. It's rare that someone publishes in a top tier magazine right off the bat. When or if it does happen, I wonder if they have some kind nepotism or big-name professor rec in their back pocket. My advice is to start with the small, nascent lit mags first, and then work your way up.

After you've published enough in tier one to feel confident, I'd encourage you to try your hand at submitting to more established, or what I call tier 2 literary magazines. That's where I'm at right now. I can say from experience that without an MFA program to back me up, it's been difficult to break into this level of publication. You might ask, "How do I know which journals would be considered a tier 2 publication?" Well, I used the same glass ceiling I've come across from experience, the MFA program, as my criteria--all the publications attached to a university creative writing program. While I've only garnered one publication so far from this tier level, I find the process of submission to be helpful for subsequent MFA applications, because as I research journals, I'm learning what aesthetic they publish, and likely what aesthetic the related institution looks for when accepting prospective MFA candidates.

Don't worry about tier 3 at this point. This level publishes the elite 1% of the writing community. These literary magazines both university press and independently run that are so famous they've infiltrated the collective consciousness of the general public, i.e. Tin House, Paris Review, New Yorker, etc. As a result, they are mostly unattainable even for those writers with an MFA degree on their CV.

FYI: the tier system, is just something I've worked out in my head from my experience with submitting. It's my opinion, not a hard and fast rule by any means, so take it with a grain of biased salt.

Some newer publications I've had success with that I'm proud to shout out about are Cathexis Northwest Press, The Conglomerate, Francis House, and Gris-Gris.

Other tips: 

When you're first starting off, don't submit anywhere that charges a Submittable fee. That's also a hint that the publication is likely more selective. They're charging a fee because they have established themselves enough to have a staff they need to pay with those fees.

It is worth it to pay for both Duotrope and a Submittable subscriptions. Most publications, even the new ones, use Submittable for their submission process. You can also search for publication opportunities on the Submittable website. I like to search for those publications that are about to close their reading period. In addition to searching by deadline, you can also search by genre, whether they charge for submission, and some other options that I can't remember off the top of my head.

Hope this info helps, and best of luck with publications in the coming year!

[MissMosquito]

22 hours ago, RosA-R said:

Hi, thanks for the advice! I have only ever participated in workshops run by other writers or as part of my university, but finding residencies and other programs is definitely also on my to do list!

Residencies are usually for more established writers with an MFA degree and a significant publication track--it's to give those writers time and space to complete a book for publication. I would suggest checking out summer workshops or festivals with workshops. If you pick up a Poets and Writers Magazine, summer workshops are always listed at the back of the magazine with application deadlines and who will be heading the workshops.

[MissMosquito]

17 hours ago, nicolette7766 said:

i’m also waiting on Syracuse for fiction. Fingers crossed for the both of us. however i am pretty sure michigan gave out acceptances rejections and waitlists already. or at least that’s what it seemed like on the draft page. 

Yeah, a lot of people found their rejection email for Michigan in their spam folder, myself included.

[MissMosquito]

16 hours ago, nicolette7766 said:

if it makes you feel any better, michigan was a last second addition to my list and i accidentally called them minnesota in my sop lmao

I did that with Vanderbilt! I feel your pain!

[MissMosquito]

22 hours ago, Nightwitch said:

There's this online newsletter I subscribe to called Authors Publish, and they regularly email lists of residencies, publishers and magazines with open reading periods (sometimes genre specific/seasonally themed/general), and free lectures/online workshops etc. I guess it might be worth a try!

Ooh! I hadn't heard of this resource. Is it just for fiction, or does it include helpful info for poets as well?