2022 Creative Writing MFA Applicants Forum

[CHRISTOPHER QUANG BUI]

How’s everything going with Hollins? Does anyone know how many acceptances were posted? 

[mrshakeysingstheblues]

Welp, that’s a wrap for me this year. Got the rejection letter from Iowa in the mail today. That makes two acceptances: Ole Miss Journalism and Minnesota State Mankato MFA, and two denials: Ole Miss MFA and Iowa MFA. I’m happy with my results and I’m officially retiring from the Grad School searches….getting closer and closer to 40 + having a neurodegenerative little friend inside my body = I’m pretty done. 
 

Ironically, I’ll be living literally 7 miles from the Iowa campus starting in June. If you’re in a nearby coffee house or library and see a guy typing on his iPad and furiously hitting the backspace button that looks like the love child of Colin Farrell and Shia LeBeouf, that’s me. 
 

 Best wishes to all of you who got into programs and those of us who didn’t. Keep going and keep writing!

Edited March 17, 2022 by mrshakeysingstheblues

[Sydup]

Waitlisted on Monday at Virginia Tech and yesterday received an email from the department head and a professor inviting me to a Zoom to meet faculty and current students. I am wondering if this is just a badly-timed, generic email which is sent to everyone who is interested in the program, or if this is a step toward getting off the waiting list. (and if I should go into hyperdrive and begin to prepare for an interview-like Zoom meeting). 

The good news: It wasn't an email sent from Slate (which is where automated, queried emails are sent from to big populations.) I can tell this as I'm a professional for a state university, and my job is sending out, querying, designing, and writing campaigns. When sent via Slate, beside the sender it will always say: ""X email address" via technolutions.net," which is where Slate operates. This particular email did not have that, meaning it must be written specifically for me, or sent to an insanely small population. 

The bad news: It didn't say my name. It simply said "Hi!" in greeting, which makes me think this was sent to at least a few other people. 

It was undesigned, plain-text, and casual in writing. No headers and no bottom banners. 

I guess my question is -- 

1. If you were waitlisted at VT, did you receive a similar email? 

2. If you were rejected at VT, did you receive a similar email? 

Edited March 17, 2022 by Sydup

[RosA-R]

48 minutes ago, empathy1 said:

@everyone: if you haven't been at least wait listed yet, you've been rejected. It is always safe to say that once Iowa snail mail comes. Stop the self delusion. 

 

@Ydrl writes “(I'm traveling alone and I'm lonely...)”  Iowa is a lonely place for people of color. That is what someone in Iowa posted on Draft.

 

@RosA-R:   Cady posted “I heard of someone who got offered CNF admission today.” Cady also posted that she had gotten in during Feburary.

Hunter interviews everyone who stands a shot long before it admits anyone. If you haven’t yet been interviewed, and someone already got in, you got no shot at the waitlist.

In Draft:

Ver posted: I emailed and was told, in a very vague way, that I was long listed. But whoever it was on the other end of the email seemed to treat the long list like rejection, telling me to apply again next year and apologizing a bunch. So I’m not sure what the long list actually means for them!

Ver quoted Hunter's admin as having written “The short lists have been selected, but the class will not be finalized until April. Thanks for applying”

So Ver wrote Hunter's admin a second email asking for clarification: “Can I infer that this means I’m on a longer list?

Hunter's admin answered: “You are correct. Please pardon my lack of clarify. It’s difficult to deliver news like that. I’m sorry. Feel free to apply again.”

Then Ver posted “i may email again just to be like "ok so to be 100% clear, what is happening??" “   Ver was asking Draft whether she should write again because she thinks she is still in the running.

OK, any time a schools writes “thanks for applying” or especially “Feel free to apply again,” or “It’s difficult to deliver news like that. I’m sorry,” it means you were rejected. 100%. No ambiguity. The Hunter guy is treating “long list” as rejectees/losers, and “short list” as still have some hope. The Hunter guy is not treating “short list” as accepted, and “long list” as still has a prayer.

We must all stop these self delusions. The battle is over, and you lost. Someone beat you. In fact a whole cohort beat you, in school after school.

If you must still see yourself as a hero, then repeat to yourself the Game of Thrones line: I fought, I lost, and now I rest. Remind yourself that after years of fighting and rejection @Ydrl finally won, and her spoils might be two lonely years. 

I'm so sorry you've had such a rough time at it, but you've made an enormous amount of assumptions. These rejections should not discourage anyone from continuing to write, and they should certainly not make anyone think they must rest. For some it is motivation, and for others it's just one way to measure where you are at so far. 

FYI there are a few programs that had deadlines way past other schools, where it is normal to be waiting by now. It's not over until it's over, and even then, keep writing!

 

For fellow POC, I would love to start a chat if you guys are interested, I've had experiences good and bad at PWIs and would love to have a place to support each other!

I am confident my writing could not be any better for the amount of time I've invested, and I've already got killer ideas and a hunger to learn, no matter what happens next. All my energy in writing goes to bettering my craft, with a smidge left to talk on here with you all! I'm sure the same goes for everyone else.

 

Except you, you clearly love the action of writing, maybe if you could focus it, you'd feel just as fulfilled

[miyano2699]

Hello everyone! I'm applying for poetry programs and would really appreciate any info - has anyone heard from Vanderbilt yet? And is it possible that Johns Hopkins is still sending out waitlists/acceptances?

Would also love it if anyone knows anything about UVA poetry waitlist - size, movement, past history of getting off the waitlist, etc..

Thank you very much!

[koechophe]

2 hours ago, mrshakeysingstheblues said:

Welp, that’s a wrap for me this year. Got the rejection letter from Iowa in the mail today. That makes two acceptances: Ole Miss Journalism and Minnesota State Mankato MFA, and two denials: Ole Miss MFA and Iowa MFA. I’m happy with my results and I’m officially retiring from the Grad School searches….getting closer and closer to 40 + having a neurodegenerative little friend inside my body = I’m pretty done. 

Congrats on the ones you did get into. 2/4 is a dang good ratio imho. 

Are you planning on attending either?

[koechophe]

Just got waitlisted at ODU. I'm not sure if I'd be able to get funding, since they don't fully fund all their students and you have to compete for TAships (as far as I understand it), but it still was nice to get something other than a rejection =). 

 

[mrshakeysingstheblues]

13 minutes ago, koechophe said:

Congrats on the ones you did get into. 2/4 is a dang good ratio imho. 

Are you planning on attending either?

Sadly no—my wife is a teacher and just signed a contract with a rural school near Iowa City, so we’re there for at least a year. I’m still looking forward to it, and with all the resources there for writers, it’s almost like being in a writing program of sorts. 
 

Being from Mississippi the Ole Miss acceptance did tug at my heartstrings a bit, I gotta admit. 

[spencerlr]

Got my rejection from Iowa fiction via snail mail! Congrats to yrdl and everyone else who got in or waitlisted. There was a handwritten note on it that said they liked the narrator of my first story so that's a bittersweet win in my book lol. Definitely going to accept UCF's offer if I get nothing else major in the next few days

35 minutes ago, miyano2699 said:

Hello everyone! I'm applying for poetry programs and would really appreciate any info - has anyone heard from Vanderbilt yet? And is it possible that Johns Hopkins is still sending out waitlists/acceptances?

Would also love it if anyone knows anything about UVA poetry waitlist - size, movement, past history of getting off the waitlist, etc..

Thank you very much!

Vanderbilt rejected me (for fiction) last week. I'm close to a lot of people who go to Vandy or work there, and they said it's a pretty typical Vandy move to make an MFA with a huge stipend that accepts 3 people to get high up on a selectivity rankings chart. Hope you get in though!

[floralhell]

17 minutes ago, empathy1 said:

Take it from  Shakespeare (or if not from him, from how his Middle English is interpreted by No Fear Shakespeare):

Shakespeare didn't write in Middle English, so (assuming this is one of the troll's many usernames) please get down from your high horse and take a break already. 

[floralhell]

6 minutes ago, empathy1 said:

@floralhell: You can characterize Shakespeare as writing in early modern English, but there is no exact date when English transitioned. In Shakespeare's day, there were no dictionaries. Spelling was different in different localities. Shakespeare says "player" when today we say "actor." You can't use a modern dictionary with him. I assume you concede all else I say. 

I'm not going to continue to write to you after this because I find your attitude on this forum obnoxious and your comments are consistently unnecessary and unhelpful. But I will say I am a Middle English scholar. Take any one of Shakespeare's sonnets and position it against Chaucer, The Pearl Poet, William Langland, Julian of Norwich, etc  — you'll see the difference. 

Edited March 17, 2022 by floralhell

[spencerlr]

35 minutes ago, empathy1 said:

Cady posted today to tell admits to ask MFA schools what percent of graduates are still writing 10 years after the MFA. She asked because for most schools it is 1%. Oh, @RosA-R, you’re youthful enthusiasm will fade. I mean it is statistical certainty. You probably won’t win the lottery. Instead, you’ll get older and wiser and stop seeing the world through rose tinted glasses.

Take it from  Shakespeare (or if not from him, from how his Middle English is interpreted by No Fear Shakespeare):

She should have died hereafter.(She would have died sooner or later anyway) There would have been a time for such a word. Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow, Creeps in this petty pace from day to day To the last syllable of recorded time, (Days go slowly) And all our yesterdays have lighted fools The way to dusty death. (Past days have merely taken fools to death.) Out, out, brief candle! (Let’s die already) Life’s but a walking shadow,(Life is an illusion)  a poor player That struts and frets his hour upon the stage

And then is heard no more. (a crappy actor strutting and panicing his hour and then never heard from) It is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing. (Life is meaningless.)

Hilarious parody of the pretentious literary reply guy. The grammatical mistakes, the long and pointless quoting of No Fear Shakespeare, the aesthetically unappealing and condescending "Oh, rosa, you're youthful enthusiasm will fade." Truly stellar work! 

[gagne]

When there is word through the forum grapevine that Columbia and Brown are expected to drop decisions this week and it’s after 5pm EST on Thursday:

 

*insert I’M IN TROUBLE meme*

[mrshakeysingstheblues]

2 hours ago, empathy1 said:

@floralhell: You can characterize Shakespeare as writing in early modern English, but there is no exact date when English transitioned. In Shakespeare's day, there were no dictionaries. Spelling was different in different localities. Shakespeare says "player" when today we say "actor." You can't use a modern dictionary with him. I assume you concede all else I say. 

Go on, George! Tell about what we're gonna have in the garden and about the rabbits in the cages and about the rain in the winter and the stove, and how thick the cream is on the milk like you can hardly cut it. Tell about that, George.

[autumn wind]

5 hours ago, miyano2699 said:

Hello everyone! I'm applying for poetry programs and would really appreciate any info - has anyone heard from Vanderbilt yet? And is it possible that Johns Hopkins is still sending out waitlists/acceptances?

Would also love it if anyone knows anything about UVA poetry waitlist - size, movement, past history of getting off the waitlist, etc..

Thank you very much!

to my knowledge, vanderbilt and johns hopkins have both sent out acceptances, waitlists, and rejections across genres (rejections in the last week or so). if you have no correspondence from either, be sure to check your spam folders or reach out to them asking for updates! a number of people have had to do so for different schools because their rejections/waitlist notifications got lost in the ether. not sure about uva though!

[cherrypi]

Meh. I rate today’s troll contributions mid. Started sluggish, amped up mid-day, ended with a whimper. 5.0 overall. 

[miyano2699]

2 hours ago, autumn wind said:

to my knowledge, vanderbilt and johns hopkins have both sent out acceptances, waitlists, and rejections across genres (rejections in the last week or so). if you have no correspondence from either, be sure to check your spam folders or reach out to them asking for updates! a number of people have had to do so for different schools because their rejections/waitlist notifications got lost in the ether. not sure about uva though!

Thank you very much!

[Nicolas M.]

11 hours ago, gagne said:

When there is word through the forum grapevine that Columbia and Brown are expected to drop decisions this week and it’s after 5pm EST on Thursday:

 

*insert I’M IN TROUBLE meme*

Have you heard anything from Columbia yet? The School of Arts told me I should expect to hear back this week, but nothing yet. Idk why I'm so impatient since I know the funding is scant and I can't attend without it lol

[gagne]

1 hour ago, Nicolas M. said:

Have you heard anything from Columbia yet? The School of Arts told me I should expect to hear back this week, but nothing yet. Idk why I'm so impatient since I know the funding is scant and I can't attend without it lol

I haven’t heard a peep from either Brown nor Columbia. I’m also focused on poetry, which there aren’t a lot of results for and Brown hasn’t released yet.

[Rm714]

2 hours ago, Nicolas M. said:

Have you heard anything from Columbia yet? The School of Arts told me I should expect to hear back this week, but nothing yet. Idk why I'm so impatient since I know the funding is scant and I can't attend without it lol

I believe it's more likely to be next week, unfortunately. It seems they keep pushing it back, which is extremely nerve-wracking. 
EDIT: Source: Called them yesterday. It's gettin' way too late in this admissions season, my heart can't take it any longer! 

Edited March 18, 2022 by Rm714
source

[Nicolas M.]

7 minutes ago, Rm714 said:

I believe it's more likely to be next week, unfortunately. It seems they keep pushing it back, which is extremely nerve-wracking. 
EDIT: Source: Called them yesterday. It's gettin' way too late in this admissions season, my heart can't take it any longer! 

Thanks for the info! Also waiting to hear back from NYU, which is nerve-wracking seeing that most acceptances and waitlists have gone out already...

[CHRISTOPHER QUANG BUI]

Posting again because yesterday I had only spat in the wind but here goes:

Does anyone know how many actual acceptances went out for Hollins? 
 

Thanks if you have any answers. 

[gagne]

Brown Poetry seems to have been released. Got email and portal.

[RosA-R]

IN AT SARAH LAWRENCE !! EEEEEEEE

[Nai23]

 

27 minutes ago, RosA-R said:

IN AT SARAH LAWRENCE !! EEEEEEEE

Congratulations!!! I'm in too! Did you get any info about funding/aid/scholarships?