2024 Creative Writing MFA Applicants Forum

[Jersh]

32 minutes ago, mr. specific said:

Does anyone have data on how often people get in off the waitlists at these top-ranked schools, or how long of a waitlist they maintain?  I'm guessing it's pretty rare but have zero info to back that up. 

All I know is Ohio State's waitlist (which I'm on) is allegedly only 3 people. A current student on Draft told me this and assured me pretty much everyone gets in off it eventually. I'm not sure if that's typical of other top programs though

[lemmmein]

8 hours ago, prufrock_ said:

I was rejected from washu as well! Yay!

 

I haven't heard back from U of Oregon, but I am expecting a rejection in a mass wave sometime this week or next. I think all acceptances and waitlists for them have gone out.

Ugh, my only input feels shitty to share. Really sorry y'all haven't heard anything. But just for stats, I oddly got 2 waitlist emails from U of Oregon? It's the only program I've heard back from. I got one from a professor on 1/30 and one more formulaic one from the department generally on 2/9.

[bluebikeyikes]

Is anyone else having trouble posting on here? I have tried replying a few times and the forum shows "Hidden - This content must be approved before it can be edited."

[lemmmein]

6 hours ago, Valle said:

Thanks very much. I hope you get some news, too! Well, my application was very last minute, made in a rage whilst correcting students' essays generated by Chat GPT. (I work at a business school and our policy is to have our students use AI to read, write, think, breathe. And the funny thing is I'm the only one in the faculty who sees a problem with this! Okay, rant over!). Anyways, I started my application pretty much a week before the deadline (and yes, the other is Iowa!). I still don't think I'll go, even if I get in off the waitlist. Can't justify putting my 10-year-old labrador through a planeride across the Atlantic so I can go be a write. Oh yeah, and kids, husband, and all that. 

Wait I'd read an essay version of this rant though. That's WILD that the policy is just 'yeah sure whatever nbd' but it also feels very par for business schools from the stories I've heard.

[itsbeensnowing]

8 minutes ago, bluebikeyikes said:

Is anyone else having trouble posting on here? I have tried replying a few times and the forum shows "Hidden - This content must be approved before it can be edited."

Are you trying to post a link? I think such posts get held in a queue for manual review to prevent spam.

[bluebikeyikes]

On 2/12/2024 at 8:42 PM, brdiget said:

hey! im canadian and also just got accepted to guelph. congrats on your acceptance!

the new financial requirements suck 😕 but it looks like you dont have to have 20k straight up -- guelph offers every applicant a bit of funding so you can provide the letter they send you detailing funding, you can also have a family member sign a letter saying theyre willing to support you. i dont know if its possible to get it waived completely, but it would have to be through the ircc and not uoguelph. 

canisia lubrin is so cool though it would be amazing to study with her!! and i know a lot of prominent canadian writers have come out of guelphs mfa program. i really hope the study permit requirements dont stop you if you do end up choosing guelph!

hey! thank you sooo much for your response! it is super helpful. congrats on your acceptance too!!

yeah, i'm sad to see that canada is imposing more restrictions on intl students. unfortunately, they said 20k "plus tuition and travel cost" so i'm not sure if the funding guelph provides counts towards the financial requirement, and I don't have financial support from family. (i do have people willing to lend me money for grad school, but i want to only follow thru as a last resort haha). either way, thank you for sending the website and information!

canisia lubrin is one of the main reasons I applied to the program! I truly appreciate your support and I would love to talk more if you're committing/considering guelph!

[bluebikeyikes]

34 minutes ago, itsbeensnowing said:

Are you trying to post a link? I think such posts get held in a queue for manual review to prevent spam.

Thank you! I was responding to a post with a link haha

[Chex]

47 minutes ago, bluebikeyikes said:

Thank you! I was responding to a post with a link haha

Happened to me, too. Took literal days before the post was approved. 

[girlgenius]

when you're in a deep place of self-doubt about the quality of your writing, anxiously awaiting program notifications, maybe picking up a James Baldwin book actually isn't the move lol. had to put that shit down for a sec and reevaluate my entire life (but tbf, his writing does that to me all the time, regardless of circumstance). anyway does anyone have fun, distracting book recommendations? I just read Dune and reread the Hunger Games series (lol) and enjoyed the escapism, so maybe I need a little more speculative fiction in my life rn

[jadedoptimist]

1 minute ago, girlgenius said:

when you're in a deep place of self-doubt about the quality of your writing, anxiously awaiting program notifications, maybe picking up a James Baldwin book actually isn't the move lol. had to put that shit down for a sec and reevaluate my entire life (but tbf, his writing does that to me all the time, regardless of circumstance). anyway does anyone have fun, distracting book recommendations? I just read Dune and reread the Hunger Games series (lol) and enjoyed the escapism, so maybe I need a little more speculative fiction in my life rn

mood. I'm having trouble reading poetry because of the self-comparison! I recommend Naomi Novik's fantasy novels and Becky Chambers' SF novels (especially the monk and robot one because it's so stress free) for fun distraction!

[Hjanep]

8 minutes ago, girlgenius said:

when you're in a deep place of self-doubt about the quality of your writing, anxiously awaiting program notifications, maybe picking up a James Baldwin book actually isn't the move lol. had to put that shit down for a sec and reevaluate my entire life (but tbf, his writing does that to me all the time, regardless of circumstance). anyway does anyone have fun, distracting book recommendations? I just read Dune and reread the Hunger Games series (lol) and enjoyed the escapism, so maybe I need a little more speculative fiction in my life rn

I read this five years ago but The Heart’s Invisible Furies by John Boyne made me actually smile many times which doesn’t physically happen to me when I read usually. Big recommend 

[justasmidge]

Gah. I saw an e-mail from The New School's Office of Admissions. It was just to remind me to make a budget. 

 

[Kyla2023]

24 minutes ago, girlgenius said:

when you're in a deep place of self-doubt about the quality of your writing, anxiously awaiting program notifications, maybe picking up a James Baldwin book actually isn't the move lol. had to put that shit down for a sec and reevaluate my entire life (but tbf, his writing does that to me all the time, regardless of circumstance). anyway does anyone have fun, distracting book recommendations? I just read Dune and reread the Hunger Games series (lol) and enjoyed the escapism, so maybe I need a little more speculative fiction in my life rn

Man, I've been watching True Crimes like crazy and digging for more information and trying updating the post on Medium...

R.I.P. the girl melted into the jail.

Both parents should be sentenced in death penalty 

[triciadawn]

Today is the last day for Ole Miss, right? There was movement Sunday night, and now it’s quiet! 

Edited February 14 by triciadawn
quoted wrong person lol

[BarryDairy]

15 hours ago, branch said:

I had a heart attack yesterday because I was checking in on one of the alumni I cited as an inspiration in my statement of purpose and realized I had used outdated pronouns for them!!!!!! I wasn’t really sure what to do since it’s been so long since I submitted my application materials and it seems like it would be a GLARING oversight on my part for someone I’m claiming is a career example for me—so I was like, they (the MFA department) must think I’m totally inauthentic… but it would have left an awful taste in my mouth not to address it. 

I emailed the Admissions Coordinator with a corrected personal statement and said that I’d realized I’d referred to the person with the wrong pronouns. I hope that didn’t just make things worse. 😰 Did I do the right thing…?

I honestly would have done the same and it shows that you care for your community and respect other people. Good on you for taking responsibility for a mistake and not letting anxiety or whatever-emotion stop you from correcting it.

Edited February 14 by BarryDairy
messy

[Kyla2023]

8 minutes ago, Kyla2023 said:

Man, I've been watching True Crimes like crazy and digging for more information and trying updating the post on Medium...

R.I.P. the girl melted into the jail.

Both parents should be sentenced in death penalty 

Oh, and also re-write rap lyrics to my frustrating raving.

[prufrock_]

39 minutes ago, girlgenius said:

when you're in a deep place of self-doubt about the quality of your writing, anxiously awaiting program notifications, maybe picking up a James Baldwin book actually isn't the move lol. had to put that shit down for a sec and reevaluate my entire life (but tbf, his writing does that to me all the time, regardless of circumstance). anyway does anyone have fun, distracting book recommendations? I just read Dune and reread the Hunger Games series (lol) and enjoyed the escapism, so maybe I need a little more speculative fiction in my life rn

After submitting all my apps, I read Crime and Punishment for the first time (and it was my first of the Russian Greats). It made my writing feel vapid and shallow and I wished I could do everything over. But! Times still regrettably linear. And now i'm going to read more of Dostoevsky, see what I can't steal for my next project.

[triciadawn]

18 hours ago, saramsarang said:

There are Arkansas round two updates on the draft spreadsheet (Fiction). Apparently the recommenders have been directly contacted for LORs if you've made it to round two and in case of Interfolio, the LORs automatically get sent in. Unfortunately it is the middle of the night where I am from so I have to wait for a few more hours before I can contact my recommenders and ask anything. Absolutely nerve wrecking but I'm going to force myself to go to sleep and shut down my brain for now. Meanwhile though I'm manifesting good news for all of you guys!

Fortunately, it was in the early morning where one of my my recommender lives. So I emailed him as soon as I saw that! I’m in for round 2!! Now paranoid and curious to know if this is a good sign! 

[BarryDairy]

59 minutes ago, girlgenius said:

when you're in a deep place of self-doubt about the quality of your writing, anxiously awaiting program notifications, maybe picking up a James Baldwin book actually isn't the move lol. had to put that shit down for a sec and reevaluate my entire life (but tbf, his writing does that to me all the time, regardless of circumstance). anyway does anyone have fun, distracting book recommendations? I just read Dune and reread the Hunger Games series (lol) and enjoyed the escapism, so maybe I need a little more speculative fiction in my life rn

I'm currently reading Dazzling by Chịkọdịlị Emelụmadụ. Africanfabulism about two teen girls in Nigeria and the spirits/legacies that plague them. The story is nonlinear and features multiple POVs with different patois, so it's a book that makes you participate in the telling, which has been a great distraction and a wonderful read. Highly recommend!

Edited February 14 by BarryDairy

[Hjanep]

Anyone else over here going “maybe Iowa has started calling people but they just aren’t the people on draft/gradcafe”? 
 

I need a vacation from myself

[ajcam]

10 minutes ago, Hjanep said:

Anyone else over here going “maybe Iowa has started calling people but they just aren’t the people on draft/gradcafe”? 
 

I need a vacation from myself

🙋🏼‍♀️ me. I’m thinking that. 

[saramsarang]

1 hour ago, triciadawn said:

Fortunately, it was in the early morning where one of my my recommender lives. So I emailed him as soon as I saw that! I’m in for round 2!! Now paranoid and curious to know if this is a good sign! 

Ahhh congratulations!! That's wonderful news. From what I've seen through the last couple of years' forums, you have a very good chance of getting in, you're really 'this' close I believe, very few people make it to round two. So just hang in there and fingers crossed that you receive an acceptance soon!

[branch]

In the tradition of poet jadedoptimist: I need to be placed gently into cryosleep. I need to slip into a tank of pure green Jell-O. I need sensory deprivation. I need to be airlifted to a sprawling wheat field with no electricity or internet and reminded that in this massive world the only thing we really need to care about is one another. I need to shrink ten sizes and crawl into an oyster shell and take a nap there. I need my sole responsibility to be methodically watching every episode of Perry Mason until April. I need to have never applied to any MFA so that I can be cool and normal on Valentine’s Day instead of gnawing on the edge of my desk like, “What are they doing at University of Arizona RIGHT NOW????” I’m dying.

As recommendations go, seconding A Song for the Wild Built by Becky Chambers! Also Never Have I Ever by Isabel Yap, The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo, The Tombs of Atuan by Ursula K. Le Guin, The Queen of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner, and… all of Bad Machinery by John Allison (it’s a webcomic!). 

[jadedoptimist]

I am also currently gnawing on the edge of my desk

[prufrock_]

We have almost as many pages as the 2023 MFA thread in total and we're not even into the middle of February.  I think we're an especially anxious bunch!