2024 Creative Writing MFA Applicants Forum

[spluots]

Is Michener the only place that offers a stipend without asking you to be a TA or do additional fellowships?

Edited March 3 by spluots

[Scribe]

8 minutes ago, spluots said:

Is Michener the only place that offers a stipend without asking you to be a TA or do additional fellowships?

Yes. But there are programs who distribute funding unequally and some of those may give an offer of an enhanced package which includes a stipend unattached to educational duties. 

[jadedoptimist]

Happy Sunday everyone. I have multiple essays and lesson plans to write for tomorrow, but thanks to Iowa, my mind is still going BOING BOING. 

Wrt Michener, one of my recommenders went there and is now a respected professor at an Ivy League, so even though they don't offer teaching experience the name works to get you going.

[DanielNiver]

For those with waitlist/acceptances at THE Ohio State or Pitt, I'm going to visit Mon and Tues. If you're going, hit it up! And if you're not able to go, DM me if you have questions you want answered while I'm there and I will tirelessly secure you answers (also this will prevent me from standing around just nodding my head while I'm there, so consider it a favor to me lol)

[ssuunn]

12 minutes ago, DanielNiver said:

For those with waitlist/acceptances at THE Ohio State or Pitt, I'm going to visit Mon and Tues. If you're going, hit it up! And if you're not able to go, DM me if you have questions you want answered while I'm there and I will tirelessly secure you answers (also this will prevent me from standing around just nodding my head while I'm there, so consider it a favor to me lol)

I don't know about the relative prestige / program design of OSU vs Pitt for nonfic, but Pittsburgh is infinitely cooler than Columbus 😉 haha

[decayingballads21]

48 minutes ago, DanielNiver said:

For those with waitlist/acceptances at THE Ohio State or Pitt, I'm going to visit Mon and Tues. If you're going, hit it up! And if you're not able to go, DM me if you have questions you want answered while I'm there and I will tirelessly secure you answers (also this will prevent me from standing around just nodding my head while I'm there, so consider it a favor to me lol)

Daniel you’re a sweet angel. I hope you enjoy your visits! I’m wondering about Pitts waitlist and how long or short it is. About the program, mostly curious about the teaching requirements and load- is there an opportunity to teach creative writing or is it just comp. Also curious about cross-genre work and how faculty may support this. I know a lot of faculty at Pitt are notorious for a more journalistic style, I’m wondering more for the lyrical essayist in me if poetry-prose hybrid courses or experimentation is encouraged & if so, how!!

hope you have a great visit! OSU was my dream program, I hope you get to meet Elissa. (I’ll be sobbing in my room )

[DanielNiver]

36 minutes ago, ssuunn said:

I don't know about the relative prestige / program design of OSU vs Pitt for nonfic, but Pittsburgh is infinitely cooler than Columbus 😉 haha

😂😂😂 Is it really?? I'm from a crazy small town, so they both just seem like nebulous points of civilization.

[AngusWanderer]

UVA rejection just out. Real close to the end of the cycle for me now. 

I'm proud of each and every one of us. We've made it this far. 

[Scribe]

So long UVA. my achievement of more green than red is done. and we're past the halfway mark. 

[Chex]

Kudos to UVA for a timely, courteous, and altogether uncomplicated rejection email. I respect that. 

[Hjanep]

Another R down with UVA. So discouraged I’m not even getting close with any of these. 

[jadedoptimist]

Lol, there's a girl who announced her Iowa admission on Twitter. I looked her up and she's my age; a great poet. More than that, she was featured in TIME magazine at 19 years old, and is published in NPR, poets.org, and Poetry Magazine. 

Wow. All I can say is, this process has really made it clear to me how far behind I am. Discouraging, much? Good for her. I'll consider my life a success if I have that many accolades by the time I die, let alone by the time I'm in my mid-20s 😂

[Hjanep]

10 minutes ago, jadedoptimist said:

Lol, there's a girl who announced her Iowa admission on Twitter. I looked her up and she's my age; a great poet. More than that, she was featured in TIME magazine at 19 years old, and is published in NPR, poets.org, and Poetry Magazine. 

Wow. All I can say is, this process has really made it clear to me how far behind I am. Discouraging, much? Good for her. I'll consider my life a success if I have that many accolades by the time I die, let alone by the time I'm in my mid-20s 😂

I feel you. The last Iowa fiction admit I know of has an agent, is ~24 and wrapping up an MA in the UK. I’m… 36 and struggling to find time to write with my general life/work obligations (my kids are 1 and 3) and I’m having such a hard time giving myself grace and not losing hope entirely

[pomelo]

14 minutes ago, jadedoptimist said:

Lol, there's a girl who announced her Iowa admission on Twitter. I looked her up and she's my age; a great poet. More than that, she was featured in TIME magazine at 19 years old, and is published in NPR, poets.org, and Poetry Magazine. 

Wow. All I can say is, this process has really made it clear to me how far behind I am. Discouraging, much? Good for her. I'll consider my life a success if I have that many accolades by the time I die, let alone by the time I'm in my mid-20s 😂

Wild! I saw that exact tweet. Congrats to her, she seems amazing.
 

I truthfully don’t think any of us are “behind” but I know exactly what you mean. There’s a student at my alma mater who recently published a novel her sophomore year of college. Her parents are college educated and teach music at a college. She was in a creative writing club in high school. I graduated in ‘20, am unpublished, have refugee parents who work blue collar jobs, and at no point in my K-12 was I offered the options of a creative writing class or club. 
 

All that to say, I was jealous of this young author and I thought I was “behind” because I’ve never even written a novel length piece, let alone published one. But while some people have the cards stacked in their favor, others have the cards stacked against them. Sometimes it’s not a matter of talent, but a matter of luck (and privilege, access to resources, and connections.) Of course, I’m not trying to say that the poet who got into Iowa or the young author are untalented. I’m certain they deserve all the success they’ve gotten. Just as we deserve all the success coming our way! Whether we’re in our 20s or 50s, with an MFA or without. 

[jadedoptimist]

Thanks @pomelo and @Hjanep so much for the solidarity. I agree, I don't really think there's a right way to be a writer and you're never behind, per se... but still, it's human to compare, and seeing people getting into programs who already are wayy more established in the literary world is pretty hard to handle emotionally. But as long as we don't give up, there's always hope!

[Hjanep]

4 minutes ago, jadedoptimist said:

Thanks @pomelo and @Hjanep so much for the solidarity. I agree, I don't really think there's a right way to be a writer and you're never behind, per se... but still, it's human to compare, and seeing people getting into programs who already are wayy more established in the literary world is pretty hard to handle emotionally. But as long as we don't give up, there's always hope!

And if I’ve learned anything, life is long and it’s easy to burn out on things or to start losing the passion for what you’re doing. So just keep showing up and writing and nurturing the wonder and some of these people won’t last anyway. 

[dasiena]

I see there's an interview post for fiction at Brown on the results section of this website. I didn't think they did interviews for fiction? & on a Sunday? 

[Scribe]

On 2/8/2024 at 4:50 PM, Scribe said:

Let an old man give some advice: This is nothing. It's everything too, but it's only one everything in a lifetime of everythings. I've heard a bit about privilege here, the idea that there's some unearned advantage or ability that makes unfair one process or another, or perhaps more importantly gives one some advantage in coping. In a process so inherently unfair, it can be difficult to see the privileges one has themselves.

If you are young and hanging your future on an acceptance, you can absorb this loss - the race is long. 

If you are miserable where you are and think this change will cure it, you may be right - but there's more change than this. You took the risk here. You can and will take others. Why wait to be forced. 

If you are in need of validation, remember this is rejection season not just for us, but for the programs. It's why god created waitlists. Iowa's worth is not determined by the number of applicants or who applies or who turns down their offer. The worth is determined by whatever students attend while they attend. 

To repeat, we find ourselves engaged and embroiled in a process unfair by any measure. There are to many variables for chance not to have an outsized roll. Life. 

 

one more thing, use sunscreen.

[ssuunn]

I feel like I applied to Iowa more out of obligation and prestige more than an actual desire to go there. One of my letter writers used to teach there, (not in IWW but very adjacent, let's say), and they said that students can get overlooked while in the program. I think I also read an anecdote about Iowa "taking a risk" with someone they thought could be promising and then that writer didn't live up to their expectations.

Just giving some perspective that Iowa might not be right for everybody! Obviously I can't say that from a place of certainty myself, but it's not the be-all and end-all for all writers.

[Scribe]

i think i post too much. 

anyway, i've told everyone here to play to the buzzer. I have an acceptance and a good one and I'm pretty sure it's where I'm going, nevertheless, I'm here till the end. You've all been supportive and inspiring and I'm not giving up on anyone. 

I'm throwing some thoughts into a document and I'll post it towards the end of the cycle for anyone applying next year. I've learned a lot and would do some things differently and I want to pass it on. I can't promise to help anyone get an acceptance but I'm certain it will help someone handle the journey more effectively. Anything anyone thinks i should address? Questions or things you've learned? 

no one is behind. I'm 49 forty fucking nine. I drank most of my life and believed i had wasted it. one of my recommenders (who has absolutely no time for bullshit) said it was all part of what got me here. nothing is a waste. I don't know about you, but i'm a better writer just for all the work i did on my essays. jesus it was a lot of writing and under pressure and in a short time. You are all better than you were yesterday. an athlete or a laborer or even a surgeon has a limited time to peak. We have a lot more. just don't stop. hell, you can even take off a cycle, but do not stop writing. and do not ruin the process by making it about something else. 

[Scribe]

13 minutes ago, ssuunn said:

I feel like I applied to Iowa more out of obligation and prestige more than an actual desire to go there. One of my letter writers used to teach there, (not in IWW but very adjacent, let's say), and they said that students can get overlooked while in the program. I think I also read an anecdote about Iowa "taking a risk" with someone they thought could be promising and then that writer didn't live up to their expectations.

Just giving some perspective that Iowa might not be right for everybody! Obviously I can't say that from a place of certainty myself, but it's not the be-all and end-all for all writers.

no, this is exactly true. and it's true for anywhere i guess. not the overlooked part. there are programs with such tiny cohorts i don't see how you could be missed. no, finding the right fit is more important that the rep of the school. I'd love to figure out how to do that.

[rhiannonna]

11 minutes ago, Scribe said:

no one is behind.

100% agree! Life experience is only a good thing for writing. Plenty of writers and Nobel laureates find success later in life.

[brdiget]

3 hours ago, jadedoptimist said:

Lol, there's a girl who announced her Iowa admission on Twitter. I looked her up and she's my age; a great poet. More than that, she was featured in TIME magazine at 19 years old, and is published in NPR, poets.org, and Poetry Magazine. 

Wow. All I can say is, this process has really made it clear to me how far behind I am. Discouraging, much? Good for her. I'll consider my life a success if I have that many accolades by the time I die, let alone by the time I'm in my mid-20s 😂

i feel this tho..... the number of poets ive stalked on twitter being like this poet is YOUNGER THAN ME and has done ALL THIS ALREADY?????? i really need to stop bc it is not a good use of my time but its so hard!!! 

[pananoprodigy]

2 hours ago, dasiena said:

I see there's an interview post for fiction at Brown on the results section of this website. I didn't think they did interviews for fiction? & on a Sunday? 

Has Brown ever done interviews before?? I feel like I've never seen a report of that🤭

[brdiget]

5 minutes ago, pananoprodigy said:

Has Brown ever done interviews before?? I feel like I've never seen a report of that🤭

yeah i thought someone said in draft that they expressly say on their website that they dont do interviews??