2023 Creative Writing MFA Applicants Forum

[bmilly]

  On 3/1/2023 at 3:43 AM, flameazalea said:

It looks like a few folks have reported WVU acceptances. They're the only school I have yet to hear back from, so I'll keep my fingers crossed for a call or an email here soon. If I'm rejected, though... Let's just say I'm polishing up my resume as we speak, lol.

Just wanted to float this by some of y'all-- my advisor and I had a meeting earlier today and she suggested I try getting funding for an MA in Literature and then go into an MFA in Writing from there. This might be worthwhile for me, as my background is in Environmental Studies. Has anyone else tried this, given thought to this, or have any opinions on the matter? Assuming I won't get into WVU, haha this decision would lead me to a) apply only for MA programs come Autumn, b) apply for both MA and MFA programs and see what happens, or c) decide it isn't worth the hassle and remaining loyal to the fever dream that is MFA applications. 

Thanks for the help!

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I agree with what everyone else is saying, adding that if you're pursuing an MA with the intention of getting an MFA afterward, then your postgraduate career just turned from a 2-3 year program to a 3-5 year experience. Which, depending on where you're at in life, can mean you're entering the "workforce" later than your peers to rack up a lot of extra schooling and potential debt in service of a career path that (statistically) isn't super lucrative 

[feralgrad]

  On 3/1/2023 at 3:43 AM, flameazalea said:

Just wanted to float this by some of y'all-- my advisor and I had a meeting earlier today and she suggested I try getting funding for an MA in Literature and then go into an MFA in Writing from there.

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I honestly wouldn't recommend this route unless you like the idea of doing a thesis on literature. (Remember the literary analysis essays you had to do in high school/gen ed? Something like that, but for 100 pages.) Any graduate program is a lot of work, and if you're not excited about it, you could get seriously burnt out. I don't think that having an MA in English inherently makes you more competitive; many fully-funded people in my program don't have English BAs or MAs, and many programs are explicit on their websites about not expecting this experience. Additionally, I could be wrong about this, but from what I've seen, funding seems rarer for English MAs than MFAs.

I think you could expand you're literary experience in other ways that would be less labor-intensive. For example, volunteering as a reader for a literary magazine would look great on an MFA app.

[stannecarson]

Hi y’all  just got the email notifying me I got into Notre Dame! Thanks for all the help when I asked about the interview, i appreciate y’all!!

[TitiMePregunto]

  On 3/1/2023 at 4:44 PM, stannecarson said:

Hi y’all  just got the email notifying me I got into Notre Dame! Thanks for all the help when I asked about the interview, i appreciate y’all!!

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yooooo same here! congratulations! isn't their funding amazing?!

[TitiMePregunto]

Love getting back-to-back rejections this AM from Boston & Michigan 😂 I feel like the universe is telling me the East Coast is not for me!

[treaux]

Just got the email rejection from Michigan and honestly it barely stung. Here's to this process making us more resilient! 

2a/1w/4r/2p

[1badgloop]

  On 3/1/2023 at 1:12 AM, TitiMePregunto said:

Has anyone heard back for Fiction at:

• Syracuse
• Iowa
• Michener
• Michigan
• UC Irvine
• UC Riverside

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Michigan rejections are going out now (got mine this morning). Iowa may still be calling people?

Someone posted about being accepted to Irvine in this forum weeks ago, but that was for poetry. I don't think anyone has heard back for fiction yet.

[c_eddy]

Can anyone on Draft see if there are WVU poetry acceptances posted?

Would appreciate it lol.

[crosie]

  On 3/1/2023 at 4:56 PM, c_eddy said:

Can anyone on Draft see if there are WVU poetry acceptances posted?

Would appreciate it lol.

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I checked and I don’t see anything could have missed a post though 

[epr]

has anyone heard anything from UVA? i’m assuming the radio silence means i have another rejection lined up 🥲

[TitiMePregunto]

  On 3/1/2023 at 4:56 PM, c_eddy said:

Can anyone on Draft see if there are WVU poetry acceptances posted?

Would appreciate it lol.

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I haven't seen any concrete acceptances on there

[TitiMePregunto]

  On 2/28/2023 at 9:33 PM, dagreenkat said:

I've been checking gradcafe. Seems like Michigan is over but idk why they would wait so long to send out rejections if that's all they have left. And haven't heard a peep from Virginia and Brown other than that they've typically notified somewhere around March 6-16 in previous years.

Any extra insight on Brown, Virginia, or Michigan notifying fiction?

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Just received my rejection from Michigan for fiction

[TitiMePregunto]

  On 3/1/2023 at 4:56 PM, 1badgloop said:

Michigan rejections are going out now (got mine this morning). Iowa may still be calling people?

Someone posted about being accepted to Irvine in this forum weeks ago, but that was for poetry. I don't think anyone has heard back for fiction yet.

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Thank you! Yeah, I'm hoping to hear back from So Cal programs, or else I'm moving very far away (x

[TitiMePregunto]

  On 3/1/2023 at 3:43 AM, flameazalea said:

It looks like a few folks have reported WVU acceptances. They're the only school I have yet to hear back from, so I'll keep my fingers crossed for a call or an email here soon. If I'm rejected, though... Let's just say I'm polishing up my resume as we speak, lol.

Just wanted to float this by some of y'all-- my advisor and I had a meeting earlier today and she suggested I try getting funding for an MA in Literature and then go into an MFA in Writing from there. This might be worthwhile for me, as my background is in Environmental Studies. Has anyone else tried this, given thought to this, or have any opinions on the matter? Assuming I won't get into WVU, haha this decision would lead me to a) apply only for MA programs come Autumn, b) apply for both MA and MFA programs and see what happens, or c) decide it isn't worth the hassle and remaining loyal to the fever dream that is MFA applications. 

Thanks for the help!

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First of all, are you getting an MA just to get an MFA? I don't think it works like that. If an MFA is your dream degree, focus on your writing and SOPs. Secondly, what do you want to do with your degree(s)? If it's just to have a Master's, yeah, then I guess go for it, but remember you're spending 4-6 years of your life studying for something. 

(sorry if i'm coming off crabby -- i'm just tired of grad programs making us think we have to jump through bureaucratic hoops to get in when our talent should speak for itself)

[crosie]

Rejected from Syracuse. Just happy that they sent them out so quick, feels nice after the extreme delay from most other programs. 

[TitiMePregunto]

  On 3/1/2023 at 5:43 PM, crosie said:

Rejected from Syracuse. Just happy that they sent them out so quick, feels nice after the extreme delay from most other programs. 

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saaaame

[bmilly]

has anyone heard back from UF? did i miss that?

[CLCH]

Just got rejected from Michigan and Syracuse. 

Last year I was waitlisted by BOTH of them... so I had high hopes. I know this isn't how it works... but getting two flat out rejections from schools I was waitlisted at before makes me feel like... I don't know, like I didn't get any better over the course of a year. And I worked HARD at getting better! Oh well. It's a nice day where I am so I'll take a walk and move on.

 

I hope everyone's doing well. 

[jjooeeyy]

  On 3/1/2023 at 5:43 PM, crosie said:

Rejected from Syracuse. Just happy that they sent them out so quick, feels nice after the extreme delay from most other programs. 

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they sent out poetry offers/waitlists in mid-january, so it seems like they were waiting on the fiction decisions to be made

[snarkdarklark]

  On 3/1/2023 at 5:13 PM, epr said:

has anyone heard anything from UVA? i’m assuming the radio silence means i have another rejection lined up 🥲

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I haven’t seen anything in here or Draft, and I feel like someone would say something if they got in/if they got an interview offer since they said they wanted to interview starting this year. Doesn’t seem like they’ve notified yet, but I’m more on the pessimistic side w you, especially considering they reduced the cohort size this year :///

[1badgloop]

  On 3/1/2023 at 5:46 PM, bmilly said:

has anyone heard back from UF? did i miss that?

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Fiction acceptances went out via phone on Saturday, and I think waitlists went out by email this week

[crosie]

  On 3/1/2023 at 6:07 PM, snarkdarklark said:

I haven’t seen anything in here or Draft, and I feel like someone would say something if they got in/if they got an interview offer since they said they wanted to interview starting this year. Doesn’t seem like they’ve notified yet, but I’m more on the pessimistic side w you, especially considering they reduced the cohort size this year :///

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What’s the new cohort size? I didn’t know that they did that 😕

[1badgloop]

  On 3/1/2023 at 5:22 PM, TitiMePregunto said:

Thank you! Yeah, I'm hoping to hear back from So Cal programs, or else I'm moving very far away (x

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Same here! Right now it looks like I might end up in either Minneapolis or Miami, depending on how things shake out. I'd be more than happy with either, but it would be nice to be closer to home

[snarkdarklark]

  On 3/1/2023 at 6:15 PM, crosie said:

What’s the new cohort size? I didn’t know that they did that 😕

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Down from six to four each in fiction and poetry. They sent me a message in the fall about it because I had already opened up my application, I guess. Increased stipend (now $30000) though, but obviously worse odds. 

[dagreenkat]

  On 3/1/2023 at 5:18 PM, TitiMePregunto said:

Just received my rejection from Michigan for fiction

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Ditto. That leaves two left for me: Brown and Virginia. This process has been brutal. 😠