2023 Creative Writing MFA Applicants Forum

[feralgrad]

2 hours ago, jjooeeyy said:

I inquired with my professors during ugrad about continuing to grad school and they all told me to take some time to work and gain some distance from academia.

I think this was good advice (and not evidence your writing was terrible lol). Academia functions so differently from the rest of the job market; it's good to have some experience working outside the ivory tower since most of us will leave it after the MFA. I think it also helps you gain some perspective on the insane working conditions in academia, where everyone has 3+ roles they're juggling.

Edited March 3, 2023 by feralgrad

[beldani]

got accepted to colorado! no funding unfortunately, and the nonresident tuition is... pricey for sure. how do we feel about unfunded/low-funded programs? is the juice worth the squeeze?

[LB349]

Do we feel like Iowa is done? There a spate of acceptances in the third week of February but I haven't seen anything since... 

[mosss]

24 minutes ago, beldani said:

got accepted to colorado! no funding unfortunately, and the nonresident tuition is... pricey for sure. how do we feel about unfunded/low-funded programs? is the juice worth the squeeze?

congrats on the acceptance (still great validation, in my opinion)!

all my profs have told me that I shouldn't get an MFA if I have to take out loans/pay for it--it's not worth it, financially. the job market post-MFA is kind of abysmal...I see getting an MFA as personal fulfillment, not as a means to getting a well paying job (and so it wouldn't be wise to sell your soul for it)

[Catpaw]

32 minutes ago, LB349 said:

Do we feel like Iowa is done? There a spate of acceptances in the third week of February but I haven't seen anything since... 

My guess is they're probably done, unfortunately. I was wondering about it too. 

I checked, and last year they mailed out a lot of rejection letters that were dated as March 5 (even though all the letters apparently took like 2 weeks to actually show up in anyone's mailbox??). I think they started notifying a little earlier this year, too, which in my mind translates to "they've probably made their rejection decisions by now too". (So I'm anticipating a rejection letter in my mailbox by the end of March...)

This is my first year on the forum, though. And I don't know anything about how Iowa's waitlist process works... Has anyone been waitlisted for Iowa? Or have all the calls so far just been for acceptances?

[Catpaw]

40 minutes ago, mosss said:

congrats on the acceptance (still great validation, in my opinion)!

all my profs have told me that I shouldn't get an MFA if I have to take out loans/pay for it--it's not worth it, financially. the job market post-MFA is kind of abysmal...I see getting an MFA as personal fulfillment, not as a means to getting a well paying job (and so it wouldn't be wise to sell your soul for it)

Seconding the "be very cautious of accepting an offer if you have to pay heavily for it".

If you're able to afford the ticket price of a non-funded MFA without strain, then a non-funded MFA can definitely be a good option! I knew someone who did a Columbia MFA, and his family paid the full sticker price for him because they're wealthy, and they could afford to. He graduated debt-free. So, for him, Columbia made sense! And I think he got a lot out of it.

But something I've heard, over and over and in different variations, from scores of published and unpublished writers (and even from someone who teaches at Columbia): do not go into significant debt for an MFA. Manageable debt which you know you can pay off is one thing. But significant debt? That can ruin your life. 

Kelly Link, bless her, crowdsourced a Twitter thread of people's experiences with unfunded MFAs and managing their debt afterward: https://twitter.com/haszombiesinit/status/1157019803179278339

 

[Nightmaric]

17 minutes ago, Catpaw said:

My guess is they're probably done, unfortunately. I was wondering about it too. 

I checked, and last year they mailed out a lot of rejection letters that were dated as March 5 (even though all the letters apparently took like 2 weeks to actually show up in anyone's mailbox??). I think they started notifying a little earlier this year, too, which in my mind translates to "they've probably made their rejection decisions by now too". (So I'm anticipating a rejection letter in my mailbox by the end of March...)

This is my first year on the forum, though. And I don't know anything about how Iowa's waitlist process works... Has anyone been waitlisted for Iowa? Or have all the calls so far just been for acceptances?

I'm also assuming they're done, sadly. I would like to know how the waitlist process works for Iowa as well if anyone on here is familiar. 

[epr]

According to Draft UMD is notifying now

[annap]

has anyone heard from uva or bowling green state university?

[mosss]

5 minutes ago, annap said:

has anyone heard from uva or bowling green state university?

BGSU has already sent out all waitlists/acceptances. source: my friend is currently in their program

[annap]

11 minutes ago, mosss said:

BGSU has already sent out all waitlists/acceptances. source: my friend is currently in their program

I guess they haven't sent out the rejection yet, then🥲

[mosss]

3 minutes ago, annap said:

I guess they haven't sent out the rejection yet, then🥲

yeah they're weird about their rejections. when I applied there two years ago they didn't reject me until april (and I had to nag them for it)

[Nicolas M.]

3 hours ago, Nightmaric said:

I'm also assuming they're done, sadly. I would like to know how the waitlist process works for Iowa as well if anyone on here is familiar. 

they don't notify waitlisted students afaik, one might just get a random call in April if they're admitted off the waitlist

[mlp]

re iowa

from one of my reccs who went there recently - 

Iowa is unpredictable; it's possible you're on the waitlist or that they're just sending out notification slowly. I'd give it a few more weeks and see how things shake out before you despair

i have an mfa from the "top" grad program in visual art, notified in late march more than a month after i interviewed, also got into a couple other equally competitive programs.  i'm certain my application then was absolute garbage, esp compared to my writing work i applied with this cycle, but i did have recs connected to faculty in each school i was accepted to. it's not a fair process that makes sense.

i kinda wish gradcafe and draft didnt exist, its kinda detrimental to yr mental health and confidence as an artist to place value/spend time/energy on anything except yr writing or yr real life. 

please everyone take care of yourselvesssssss - this is all kinda fucked ❤️ 

 

[alligator mississippiensis]

Also re Iowa and Iowa waitlist 

I was wait-listed there last year for fiction. They sent me an email in early March (maybe the 5th or 6th?) to tell me I was on a short list and that they would let me know the answer by April 15. They ended up rejecting me, but they were nice people! 

[Nicolas M.]

34 minutes ago, alligator mississippiensis said:

Also re Iowa and Iowa waitlist 

I was wait-listed there last year for fiction. They sent me an email in early March (maybe the 5th or 6th?) to tell me I was on a short list and that they would let me know the answer by April 15. They ended up rejecting me, but they were nice people! 

oops ignore what I said then!!

[jackiejo]

yo i interviewed with notre dame on the 20th. monday will mark 2 weeks since.

earlier this week a few folks on here who also interviewed were accepted.

is it annoying of me to reach out? 

[eternalwhitenights]

53 minutes ago, jackiejo said:

yo i interviewed with notre dame on the 20th. monday will mark 2 weeks since.

earlier this week a few folks on here who also interviewed were accepted.

is it annoying of me to reach out? 

Not at all! Also, as someone who didn't get an interview, I can't tell if that is now a prerequisite for possible admittance, or if it's just to narrow down candidates they're unsure of (i.e. not just straight acceptance, but likely to be accepted)...this process, yo!

I hope you get in (hugs--the wait is real), and, if you're comfortable doing so, and you do end up asking about the interview followup over email, do you think you could ask if that's now their process, i.e. an interview is now a prerequisite to assume possible waitlist or acceptance status? Hopefully that can be helpful for others (including myself, NGL 😅🤣) going forward.

Prayers/hugs/solidarity on the wait--I hope you get in, and it works out how it's supposed to for you. ❤️ 

[emikra]

I got into Saint Mary's for CNF and rejected everywhere else. Saint Mary's gave me some funding, but I wasn't prepared to take on loans for a degree. Anyone have any thoughts about this or about the program? Had been waiting on Bard and Iowa, but I see that Bard had interviews and I didn't get one of those calls last month. Clearly Iowa isn't realistic at this point.

Edited March 4, 2023 by emikra

[treaux]

all my friends are so sick of listening to me stress about mfa programs 😅

[feralgrad]

23 hours ago, Catpaw said:

But something I've heard, over and over and in different variations, from scores of published and unpublished writers (and even from someone who teaches at Columbia): do not go into significant debt for an MFA. Manageable debt which you know you can pay off is one thing. But significant debt? That can ruin your life. 

Seconding this, and adding that determining "manageable debt" can be very difficult. @mosss (and @emikra since this seems relevant to you) I highly recommend crunching the numbers and putting them into a loan repayment calculator, which would show you how much you could pay on loans each month. Remember to include rent and living expenses in your calculations as well.

That's what I did when I got a partially-funded offer that would've required loans. The results were sobering, to say the least, but I'm glad I had that reality check.

Edited March 4, 2023 by feralgrad

[GreenTea'd]

Anyone applied for Stegner or heard anything on draft?

[nycwriter]

Does anyone know if any NYU NF decisions have gone out? I keep seeing mentions of fiction and poetry, but nothing about NF...

[A.B. Yehoshua]

1 hour ago, nycwriter said:

Does anyone know if any NYU NF decisions have gone out? I keep seeing mentions of fiction and poetry, but nothing about NF...

I was accepted for non-fiction on Thursday.

[nycwriter]

4 minutes ago, A.B. Yehoshua said:

I was accepted for non-fiction on Thursday.

Congratulations! That's amazing.

Now I just need to hope that their acceptances are staggered and mine is on its way...