2023 Creative Writing MFA Applicants Forum

[jackiejo]

On 3/23/2023 at 10:48 AM, kamryn.pitcher said:

 

I see I'm arriving to this forum a little late but the radio silence is killing me. So far:

ACCEPTANCES: Emerson, Sarah Lawrence, Texas Tech

REJECTIONS: Oregon State, Pitt, Amherst

WAITLIST: Tennessee, NYU

I'm still waiting to hear back from Ole Miss and Notre Dame and I didn't know whether or not they'd reached out to any of you folks yet. I wish you all the best of luck in these coming weeks and please let me know!

congrats. some people were saying notre dame hasn’t sent out waitlists for prose but after interviewing i received a notification confirming that i was on a waitlist. and then about a week ago was emailed by the director asking if i wanted to stay on the waitlist or if i accepted elsewhere. based on new developments  i will likely be accepting elsewhere and removing myself from the waitlist 

[zapzapzap]

Just received the rejection letter from NYU (fiction). Will continue to work on my craft and try again next cycle! All the best to everyone going to and not going to pursue an MFA this year. 

[dagreenkat]

Well it’s all but confirmed I’ll have to wait until after April 15 to know if i’ i’m going. The currently accepted UofSC students are taking their sweet time to decide. Fair enough I guess, I’m just ready to move on! 

[CupidAndPsyche]

I'm on the waitlist for poetry at the University of Houston. Has anyone here accepted or rejected a spot at the University of Houston?

[eternalwhitenights]

23 hours ago, jackiejo said:

congrats. some people were saying notre dame hasn’t sent out waitlists for prose but after interviewing i received a notification confirming that i was on a waitlist. and then about a week ago was emailed by the director asking if i wanted to stay on the waitlist or if i accepted elsewhere. based on new developments  i will likely be accepting elsewhere and removing myself from the waitlist 

I was one of those people, and realized after agreeing to the "there weren't any waitlists!" for prose statement that someone had made on Draft, that, actually, some people most definitely *had* posted that they'd gotten onto the waitlist for prose in that Draft waitlist notification thread thing. 🤣 Thanks for confirming here regardless, and also, congratulations on actually getting on this mysterious, real-life waitlist at ND! 🤑

Where do you think you're attending this year instead, if you don't mind me asking? Congrats on getting in somewhere else, too!

[greyskies]

No rejection email from ND or UCR even though they sent out acceptances in Feb, kind of irritated now. Also I am on a couple of waitlists, which is not making matters easy either, just need some clarity so that I can make my decisions. Good luck to all those who are on waitlists!

[jackiejo]

12 hours ago, eternalwhitenights said:

I was one of those people, and realized after agreeing to the "there weren't any waitlists!" for prose statement that someone had made on Draft, that, actually, some people most definitely *had* posted that they'd gotten onto the waitlist for prose in that Draft waitlist notification thread thing. 🤣 Thanks for confirming here regardless, and also, congratulations on actually getting on this mysterious, real-life waitlist at ND! 🤑

Where do you think you're attending this year instead, if you don't mind me asking? Congrats on getting in somewhere else, too!

i’m committing to cu boulder

hopefully there will be movement soon with ND that you need if it is a top choice for you — wishing well! 

[LB349]

Hate to be this guy, but any NYU or Brooklyn College acceptees thinking of declining their offers? Lol. Just wondering if I should expect anything with these waitlists.

[annap]

BGSU just sent me an email called 'update on my application status' and the email says that "if an applicant who has been offered admission declines the offer, the program will move to the next applicant on the ranked list.  If there is an update to your status, we will notify you at that time."

So I didn't receive a waitlist info from them, but do you guys think it means that I'm on the waitlist? Or do they just send the same email to everybody? 

[mosss]

1 hour ago, annap said:

BGSU just sent me an email called 'update on my application status' and the email says that "if an applicant who has been offered admission declines the offer, the program will move to the next applicant on the ranked list.  If there is an update to your status, we will notify you at that time."

So I didn't receive a waitlist info from them, but do you guys think it means that I'm on the waitlist? Or do they just send the same email to everybody? 

I also got this email!

I'm thinking, at best, it's like a waitlist for the waitlist. Not officially waitlisted but not rejected either. A type of purgatory.

Two years ago BGSU purgatory-waitlisted me (I heard nothing back from them so I emailed late-March and was told they were waiting for all positions to be filled before sending rejections). Last year they officially waitlisted me, sent the official email and invited me to the virtual meet day and everything. This year ig I'm back in purgatory lol

[eternalwhitenights]

6 hours ago, jackiejo said:

i’m committing to cu boulder

hopefully there will be movement soon with ND that you need if it is a top choice for you — wishing well! 

Thanks dear! ❤️ And yes, it's my top (and only!) one. Congrats on CU Boulder!! I hope you have an amazing time there--it's so beautiful in Colorado!

[LHPB]

On 4/4/2023 at 2:39 PM, CupidAndPsyche said:

I'm on the waitlist for poetry at the University of Houston. Has anyone here accepted or rejected a spot at the University of Houston?

Not accepted or rejected, but I am also on the waitlist.

[CupidAndPsyche]

 I had a call with Nick Flynn. I have other multiple offers, but I'm hoping Houston will pull through

[annap]

6 hours ago, mosss said:

I also got this email!

I'm thinking, at best, it's like a waitlist for the waitlist. Not officially waitlisted but not rejected either. A type of purgatory.

Two years ago BGSU purgatory-waitlisted me (I heard nothing back from them so I emailed late-March and was told they were waiting for all positions to be filled before sending rejections). Last year they officially waitlisted me, sent the official email and invited me to the virtual meet day and everything. This year ig I'm back in purgatory lol

Okay, good to know! Have they sent out rejections yet at all, do you know?

[mosss]

6 minutes ago, annap said:

Okay, good to know! Have they sent out rejections yet at all, do you know?

Not sure, but I don't think they send this email out to everyone...they're making sure they have bodies to fill seats, yes, but they still have standards

[woolfwoolf23]

For anyone still waiting on UNLV - I called them today and they gave me an email to contact. Got a quick, curt response telling me that they’re still reviewing applications and can’t say when decisions will be made. Not sure how they expect this to go well when decision day is in 9 days? I’m upset/disappointed because this was one of my top choices that I was most excited about - now even if I get in, their disorganization and lack of communication is quite discouraging and I might choose an offer I’m less excited about  anyone else have a different experience with them? 

[TitiMePregunto]

Reached out to UC Irvine & this is what they said:

 

The committee has made their decisions and recently made offers and notified waitlisted applicants. I’m sorry we won’t be able to offer you admission at this time. Due to the large number of applicants, we are only able to admit about 3%. So unfortunately, we have to turn away some good writers. The decision letters will be posted to the online portal this week.

 

We appreciate your patience and wish you the very best in your writing endeavors.

[FloridaMan]

Anyone have any info on FIU or FAU that might help inform my decision? I have identical offers from both, and I’m obviously doing my own research, but I figured it can’t hurt to reach out to all you wonderful people. FIU would be an hour and a half commute (one way), but it seems like the program with more successful recent grads (e.g. Patricia Engel, Jonathan Escoffery). Do we think ultimately it doesn’t make much difference, and it’s on the student/writer to make their experience? Both programs have faculty who are “up my alley.” Any thoughts are deeply appreciated.

[maz]

7 hours ago, TitiMePregunto said:

Reached out to UC Irvine & this is what they said:

 

The committee has made their decisions and recently made offers and notified waitlisted applicants. I’m sorry we won’t be able to offer you admission at this time. Due to the large number of applicants, we are only able to admit about 3%. So unfortunately, we have to turn away some good writers. The decision letters will be posted to the online portal this week.

 

We appreciate your patience and wish you the very best in your writing endeavors.

Just got mine, finally

[ElCompaAV]

8 hours ago, TitiMePregunto said:

Reached out to UC Irvine & this is what they said:

 

The committee has made their decisions and recently made offers and notified waitlisted applicants. I’m sorry we won’t be able to offer you admission at this time. Due to the large number of applicants, we are only able to admit about 3%. So unfortunately, we have to turn away some good writers. The decision letters will be posted to the online portal this week.

 

We appreciate your patience and wish you the very best in your writing endeavors.

Received mine 2 hours ago. First year applying for an MFA . Only school I applied to. On to the next cycle 🫡 

[annap]

Hi all! First time applying and I wanted to ask you guys about what happens on April 15? So if people don't accept their spots by then, they move to the waitlist? Or if I don't receive anything until April 15th, that means rejection for sure?

[mosss]

8 hours ago, annap said:

Hi all! First time applying and I wanted to ask you guys about what happens on April 15? So if people don't accept their spots by then, they move to the waitlist? Or if I don't receive anything until April 15th, that means rejection for sure?

Yes, April 15 is the deadline for people to accept spots, so there's generally a lot of movement in waitlists on that day (and sometimes the following days!). If you've been waitlisted somewhere and don't hear anything on April 15, that doesn't automattically mean a rejection--sometimes it takes a day or two to move down the waitlist to get someone who accepts, since most schools will give waitlisted ppl 24 hrs to think about it after April 15 has passed.

If you haven't heard anything back AT ALL from a school, at this point it's likely a rejection (and you should email them if you haven't been accepted/waitlisted/rejected at this point).

Good luck, and happy ides of April to all who celebrate!

[feralgrad]

14 hours ago, annap said:

Hi all! First time applying and I wanted to ask you guys about what happens on April 15? So if people don't accept their spots by then, they move to the waitlist? Or if I don't receive anything until April 15th, that means rejection for sure?

April 15th is the deadline for funded applicants to respond to funded offers (full or partial), suggested by the Council of Graduate Schools. How stringently that's enforced varies depending on the institution/program.

Occasionally, people who initially accepted funded offers decline them after April 15th -- sometimes well into the summer. So if you're on a waitlist, there's a chance you'll hear later. However, if you haven't heard anything after this week, I would suggest assuming a rejection to preserve your sanity.

Edited April 13, 2023 by feralgrad

[dagreenkat]

On 2/21/2023 at 3:56 PM, dagreenkat said:

I also got on the waitlist for UofSC! I’m honestly thrilled. It’s in the top half of my preferred programs, and a much needed ego boost after 3 straight rejections. (Now 3r/1w/4p). I emailed back asking about how many acceptances they sent and some other info because it was honestly confusing. One part said in 2013 they took 18% of 170 apps (30!) total, and another said that they take 4 each in poetry and fiction. Hopefully they let us know how big the waitlist is and if it’s ranked.

(And, selfishly, if you already have a preferred acceptance, consider taking yourself off the waitlist :p) 

Aaaaaaaand guess who got off of the waitlist?! I’m having INTENSE emotional whiplash right now guys. April 14 and the process is finally over. 8 applications turned into 7 rejections and 1 waitlist turned acceptance. Wow. 

Anyone reading this in future years just know that the process isn’t over until it’s over! Straight out of undergrad. I’m speechless. I’m going to grad school!!

Accepted my offer immediately so anyone still on the fiction waitlist should hear soon if I kicked you off. Hope you still have a shot ❤️ and anyone else going to UofSC reach out! I’m excited to meet you

[1badgloop]

After 7 rejections and 2 waitlists, I woke up yesterday to an email notifying me that I'd gotten a spot at University of Minnesota. Totally unexpected--I had basically accepted that I would have to reapply, and was fine with doing so, and then all of a sudden I had 12 hours to decide if I'd be moving to Minneapolis in the fall. I said yes, and I couldn't be more thrilled! This whole app process has been a wild journey with lots of emotional ups and downs, but I'm really glad I went for it. Excited to meet the rest of the cohort (and if that's any of you, please hit me up, would love to connect)!