2022 Creative Writing MFA Applicants Forum

[nicolette7766]

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Edited March 11, 2022 by nicolette7766

[finch66]

Hey y'all, this is not a very pressing update, but for any current UW Seattle waitlisters, I sent an email yesterday asking for an update and reiterating my enthusiasm (trying my best not to just say "please let me in please") and they say that basically nothing has changed. Fingies crossed for this one!!!!!

[maz]

45 minutes ago, retrotyping said:

Any chance you applied to UNCG, VA tech, or WVU and can subject them to your impatient neuroses?? Lol 

I broke down and emailed UNCG this week. No response yet ?

[nicolette7766]

Just got an email from UNCG. They said they like my work and want to have a zoom meeting with me.

[eternalwhitenights]

Update for ND folks: at least one prose acceptance has gone out, re: my friend who is currently in ND's creative writing program. Not sure if the lovely woman who posted on the results page here at GradCafe is the same notification my friend in the program was referring to, but it looks like they're starting to trickle out at least.

I haven't had any movement on my end (portal, email, or phone), but I hope this gives some answers to all of us who are waiting on dear old ND.

[maz]

On 3/11/2022 at 4:00 PM, nicolette7766 said:

Just got an email from UNCG. They said they like my work and want to have a zoom meeting with me.

Ahh! That's so exciting! Congrats!

[koechophe]

5 hours ago, nicolette7766 said:

Just got an email from UNCG. They said they like my work and want to have a zoom meeting with me.

Hey, that's great news! Usually means either a waitlist or an acceptance, so huge congrats!

[Nightwitch]

Waitlisted at Arkansas! I don't even remember submitting the application lmao - it was a spur of the moment thing, and I thought I'd left it unsubmitted

[sassydragon]

12 minutes ago, Nightwitch said:

Waitlisted at Arkansas! I don't even remember submitting the application lmao - it was a spur of the moment thing, and I thought I'd left it unsubmitted

Yay, congratulations! Me too!

[sb2798]

On 3/11/2022 at 3:45 AM, koechophe said:

I actually was so surprised about this when I got to talk with the director of McNeese. Like, I got a much better idea of how the program worked, and he was brutally honest about things that might turn people off of the program. 

I was so impressed at how genuine it all was, and that like 30 minute conversation gave me a better idea of how things will work than the months beforehand I spent researching.

I can't stress this enough, I don't think you really know about the program until you actually talk with the person running it. 

 

hii, can I please dm you regarding this?

[Nightwitch]

2 minutes ago, sassydragon said:

Yay, congratulations! Me too!

OMG congratulations to you too!!

[koechophe]

1 hour ago, sb2798 said:

hii, can I please dm you regarding this?

Go for it!

 

[Ogilvie]

Anyone over the age of 40 get accepted to any fully-funded programs?

Also, how does the professoriate suddendly have so much power to directly influence literary art? And how could that possibly be a good thing for literature? Anyone else notice MFA's weren't even a thing until the 1930's or so, and Americam literature seemed fine without it? How did the ancient Greeks manage without MFA's?

 

 

[Rm714]

Just got an acceptance at The New School for Fiction! Super surprised to hear on a weekend! Pretty excited. Decent scholarship.

[koechophe]

2 hours ago, Ogilvie said:

Anyone over the age of 40 get accepted to any fully-funded programs?

 

I've seen quite a few people over the last 2 years. A lot of the adcoms actually tend to prefer older people with more life experience. 

2 hours ago, Ogilvie said:

Also, how does the professoriate suddendly have so much power to directly influence literary art?

TBH, they really don't. There's a lot of people who get published and become influential without an MFA. They control what is read in colleges, which is a lot of the more literary material, but if we're being honest, most of the power still rests in readers rather than anyone else.

Ultimately, professors don't create a gate that people must pass through in order to be successful. True, the credential helps (and the experience helps too!) but ultimately, a lot of people are very successful without ever passing through that gate. 

2 hours ago, Ogilvie said:

How did the ancient Greeks manage without MFA's?

They actually basically had their own version, schools that people had to go through to be respected, or else studying under "the masters" in order to receive acclaim. 

 

[mrshakeysingstheblues]

7 hours ago, Ogilvie said:

Anyone over the age of 40 get accepted to any fully-funded programs?

Also, how does the professoriate suddendly have so much power to directly influence literary art? And how could that possibly be a good thing for literature? Anyone else notice MFA's weren't even a thing until the 1930's or so, and Americam literature seemed fine without it? How did the ancient Greeks manage without MFA's?

 

 

I will honestly admit that I applied to MFA programs this go-round because I need money. I haven’t been able to work for more than a year and I’m losing time in terms of being able to work at all due to a disability. Writing and teaching were my previous career paths, so it lines up. I really don’t see them as an end all-be all of talent or success in writing. I think they are useful in terms of working with peers via workshop, but more catered to a post graduation life of academia than giving a person a ton of writing time. They definitely have a ton of merit, but your local bookstore and library are both filled with non-MFA writers. I feel somewhat like a fraud when I see the people on this forum that have worked so hard and want MFA admission so badly, when I have kinda half-assed it and only applied to Iowa because my wife found a teaching job nearby. I got into a good school with funding this round (Minnesota State) and I’m 37, so all hope is not lost for those of us pushing 40 or 40 and above. 

[spencerlr]

Hey everyone! I got a sinking feeling from the email I got to confirm my email for this site so you know I'm whipped by this wait. So far:

-accepted to UCF w/ full funding + a good stipend offer! I'm really excited about the offer.

-accepted to AU as well with partial funding + meh stipend (7.6k I think?)

To help others: Vanderbilt already sent their rejection. TBH I shouldn't have even applied but I live in Nashville and they hypnotized me with the 30k stipend lol. It kinda seems like a scam really. They accept 3 people.

Still waiting on Columbia (which I can't afford), NYU, Iowa, and BU. Anyone have any word on those?

[nicolette7766]

1 hour ago, spencerlr said:

Hey everyone! I got a sinking feeling from the email I got to confirm my email for this site so you know I'm whipped by this wait. So far:

-accepted to UCF w/ full funding + a good stipend offer! I'm really excited about the offer.

-accepted to AU as well with partial funding + meh stipend (7.6k I think?)

To help others: Vanderbilt already sent their rejection. TBH I shouldn't have even applied but I live in Nashville and they hypnotized me with the 30k stipend lol. It kinda seems like a scam really. They accept 3 people.

Still waiting on Columbia (which I can't afford), NYU, Iowa, and BU. Anyone have any word on those?

Hi! Big congrats on your schools so far!! I’ve heard great things about UCF. What genre are you? 

Also, I’ve seen acceptances and rejections go out for Iowa on draft. With NYU, I think all the fully funded offers went out and they’re been sending partially funded offers as of now. I think I might’ve seen someone get accepted to BU a few days ago but I’m not 100% sure. Hope this helps. 

[evergreen13]

2 hours ago, spencerlr said:

Hey everyone! I got a sinking feeling from the email I got to confirm my email for this site so you know I'm whipped by this wait. So far:

-accepted to UCF w/ full funding + a good stipend offer! I'm really excited about the offer.

-accepted to AU as well with partial funding + meh stipend (7.6k I think?)

To help others: Vanderbilt already sent their rejection. TBH I shouldn't have even applied but I live in Nashville and they hypnotized me with the 30k stipend lol. It kinda seems like a scam really. They accept 3 people.

Still waiting on Columbia (which I can't afford), NYU, Iowa, and BU. Anyone have any word on those?

Congrats! Columbia started their first round of calls yesterday (no official letters). And NYU sent out letters to its first set of acceptances on the 2nd. I imagine Columbia acceptances will continue over the next week or longer, and that NYU will start announcing a waitlist soon. 

What genre are you applying in? Iowa's Nonfiction program seems to have sent out acceptances and rejections, but waitlisted people might be getting notified later.

[spencerlr]

2 hours ago, nicolette7766 said:

Hi! Big congrats on your schools so far!! I’ve heard great things about UCF. What genre are you? 

Also, I’ve seen acceptances and rejections go out for Iowa on draft. With NYU, I think all the fully funded offers went out and they’re been sending partially funded offers as of now. I think I might’ve seen someone get accepted to BU a few days ago but I’m not 100% sure. Hope this helps. 

Thanks a ton! I write literary fiction. And cool! I doubt I could afford NYU without full funding so this is helpful to know--sorry to disappoint you Jeffery Eugenides. Good luck with your applications too

[spencerlr]

2 hours ago, evergreen13 said:

Congrats! Columbia started their first round of calls yesterday (no official letters). And NYU sent out letters to its first set of acceptances on the 2nd. I imagine Columbia acceptances will continue over the next week or longer, and that NYU will start announcing a waitlist soon. 

What genre are you applying in? Iowa's Nonfiction program seems to have sent out acceptances and rejections, but waitlisted people might be getting notified later.

I'm applying in fiction. And thanks! I guess there's still hope for Iowa if they've only sent out for nonfiction. It sounds ridiculous but Iowa was the most realistic in my eyes since my sample could be a bit longer than the NYC schools and Boston. Either way, I'm happy to go to Orlando. My family and friends are already talking about Disney World

[neche]

Someone on Draft posted about turning down an offer from Hollins. Didn't specify which genre tho. For those on the waitlist, that means some movement.

[nicolette7766]

45 minutes ago, neche said:

Someone on Draft posted about turning down an offer from Hollins. Didn't specify which genre tho. For those on the waitlist, that means some movement.

Genre is poetry!

[Nicolas M.]

19 hours ago, spencerlr said:

Hey everyone! I got a sinking feeling from the email I got to confirm my email for this site so you know I'm whipped by this wait. So far:

-accepted to UCF w/ full funding + a good stipend offer! I'm really excited about the offer.

-accepted to AU as well with partial funding + meh stipend (7.6k I think?)

To help others: Vanderbilt already sent their rejection. TBH I shouldn't have even applied but I live in Nashville and they hypnotized me with the 30k stipend lol. It kinda seems like a scam really. They accept 3 people.

Still waiting on Columbia (which I can't afford), NYU, Iowa, and BU. Anyone have any word on those?

Hi, congrats on your acceptances! I was rejected by Boston about 10 days ago. I asked the admissions team at Columbia and their decisions should be coming out this week. Also waiting on NYU! Best of luck :))

[maz]

Just got rejected from UNCG ?

 

Response from Boston University about timing:

 

"Our program aims to release to release all decisions by the end of March or first week of April; some, but not all, of our decisions have been released."