2024 Creative Writing MFA Applicants Forum

[decayingballads21]

2 hours ago, Scribe said:

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, this is so well said and very sweet of you. You’re amazing and so supportive and full of wisdom for all of us here.
 

I’m grateful for you and the rest of you folks on here! You all deserve good things. It’s been great to see some of you get em. But it’s not over till it’s over, or whatever that means. 
 

don’t stop writing- cheers to that 

 

[Rixor]

Not to discredit this Iowa Twitter user's wonderful achievements in any way, but those of you feeling insecure--please try to put things into perspective. It's natural to feel insecure, but you all haven't failed, nor have you 'failed to use your time wisely.' I don't want to use an example from the literary world, so consider Billie Eilish. Admittedly I don't listen to her music, but I know she's young, wonderfully successful, and massively talented. But both of her college-educated parents are actors, her uncle's a politician, she was homeschooled and raised and trained in music from an extremely young age, was highly encouraged to participate in, and rewarded for, creative endeavors, etc. If anyone is going to succeed as a young artist, it's going to be someone like her.

It's not universal, but it stands that a huge amount of people who achieve massive success in youth were afforded opportunities that others didn't have. 

Do you have enough free time and money to write consistently? Did you have access to opportunities to learn creative writing growing up? To share it? Is English your first language? Are your parents well-educated? Did you grow up someplace with a quality school system? Is your family and/or enviornment supportive? Did you have access to books? To the internet? To stories? Do you have people in your life eager to read your work and cheer you on? Do/did any parts of your identity bar you from 'appealing' to readers? Did you have people you could ask for free advice on your SOPs and writing samples? 

And, I mean. Even if you were set up for success in every way from the very beginning--though I doubt any of us were--living life isn't wasting time. Experiences only serve to strengthen one's writing. 

[Mxxyr]

Re: rando twitter Iowa user.
 

Hi all, I just wanted to pop in and say you all are incredibly impressive and the world needs your art. Never stop writing. You’re not behind. You’re exactly where you’re supposed to be. 
 

I have never been published in anything. I’m 25. The most I have is a substack. I don’t have teaching credentials I really don’t have anything but a BA. I’m a bit of a no name. I live in Brooklyn.  I’ve done readings where I’m the only unpublished poet reading. Where all the other poets have published or have forthcoming pieces in big name magazines. It’s always made me feel insecure. And it was hard for me psychologically to put myself out there, so I’d begin to submit somewhere and would just never click the send button.
 

My father passed in February of last year. He was my biggest cheerleader in everything I did. Putting myself out there became even harder. But I decided to apply to MFA programs anyway. Pushing past the feeling that I had absolutely no publishing or accomplishments or anything that would grab their attention. 
 

I’m now weighing offers from NYU, UMich Helen Zell, and the Iowa Writers Workshop for poetry. 
 

Keep going. Keep trying. You don’t need to world to tell you you’re amazing to do what you want to do. You’re amazing because you’re showing up for yourself and doing the work. 
 

Ive quietly read this thread for months and I believe so many of you have the empathy and awareness of true writers. The world needs your words. Someone is always listening/reading. Much love to you all

Edited March 3 by Mxxyr

[jadedoptimist]

@MxxyrThank you so much for joining the conversation! You deserve this good turn. Can't wait to see where you end up ❤️

@Rixor, @Scribe, wise words. Thanks for the perspective. 

We are exactly where we are meant to be!

[taliaj]

16 minutes ago, Mxxyr said:

Re: rando twitter Iowa user.
 

Hi all, I just wanted to pop in and say you all are incredibly impressive and the world needs your art. Never stop writing. You’re not behind. You’re exactly where you’re supposed to be. 
 

I have never been published in anything. I’m 25. The most I have is a substack. I don’t have teaching credentials I really don’t have anything but a BA. I’m a bit of a no name. I live in Brooklyn.  I’ve done readings where I’m the only unpublished poet reading. Where all the other poets have published or have forthcoming pieces in big name magazines. It’s always made me feel insecure. And it was hard for me psychologically to put myself out there, so I’d begin to submit somewhere and would just never click the send button.
 

My father passed in February of last year. He was my biggest cheerleader in everything I did. Putting myself out there became even harder. But I decided to apply to MFA programs anyway. Pushing past the feeling that I had absolutely no publishing or accomplishments or anything that would grab their attention. 
 

I’m now weighing offers from NYU, UMich Helen Zell, and the Iowa Writers Workshop for poetry. 
 

Keep going. Keep trying. You don’t need to world to tell you you’re amazing to do what you want to do. You’re amazing because you’re showing up for yourself and doing the work. 
 

Ive quietly read this thread for months and I believe so many of you have the empathy and awareness of true writers. The world needs your words. Someone is always listening/reading. Much love to you all

I'm so honored to have read your story here! In a similar boat, not quite 25 yet (I'm 23) but my dad passed two years ago and he was a cheerleader like yours. He didn't go to college and barely finished high school, but he loved reading and I would always send him letters with stories when he was away. I just moved across the country and as such could only apply to one program (nearby) as I can't relocate again so close to having just moved (and I'm really happy where I am currently so I'm not sure if I'd want to). I haven't heard back yet, and my hopes aren't high, but hearing your (and everyone else's) positive words have made me so happy! You guys are going to do amazing things, whether you got into your dream program or no program, or anywhere in between!

[writernity]

Happy Monday all!! Back to the days of eager anticipation! Time for the Weekly Writernity Forecast (as usual, mostly focused around the schools I applied to since I haven't closely tracked the stats of others):

I'm predicting this week and the next will be a flood of news! Brooklyn has started accepting poets and may call a few more in the next couple of days. It seems they usually do interviews for fiction, not sure if that's the case this year or what the situation is for playwriting, but in any case I expect they'll start contacting fiction interviewees/acceptances this week as well. Hunter should also start contacting interviewees soon, but might be a little later than usual this year. I'm planning to go to their reading event tonight to get a feel for the vibe and see if I can scope out any info, will keep yall updated!

Brown, Columbia, and The New School are also looming on the horizon, more likely to contact admits next week rather than this one, but it's possible we'll get early news. Hold those umbrellas high, the storm is coming!

[ie.impensive]

16 hours ago, brdiget said:

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!!! 

I'd like to weigh in on this—as there are a number of things I wish someone had said to me when I first started putting myself through the process of agony and ecstasy that is graduate applications:

Where it comes to assessing your sense of self-worth—especially when taken within a creative context—be kind to yourself. I’ve been lurking and reading through this board's discussions over the past few weeks, and I can say with absolute confidence you're all talented, dedicated, and generous people—and should be proud of the risk you’re taking, just by putting yourselves out-there.

It’s hard to communicate how valuable it is to tackle the prospect of major change—even more-so when the stakes can feel so high—and especially when you’re aiming to achieve something you truly care about. Making that move is an immense accomplishment, on its own, and many people don’t have the guts to attempt it. I know it’s essentially impossible it is to avoid measuring yourself against the yardstick of the other people's success—but you’ll drive yourself crazy. Holding your personal trajectory through life to that of anyone who exists in the public eye—or idols in cultural memory, or strangers who encapsulate the apex of a dream—is an exercise in anxiety, and it privileges unreasonable expectations that boils down to giving credence to false-equivalencies. Your own life experience cannot find objective measure against standards set by the lives of others; nor should it. You’ll find yourself hollowed out by an existential anguish, and do yourself a great disservice in the process.

There is no right way to find success and accomplish amazing things, and that won’t mean the same thing to everyone. It took me far too long to realize that change doesn’t come without risk; but even longer to realize that what makes my life exceptional has nothing to do with my colleague, who’s high-profile accomplishments came early—though I truly loathed how much I envied him for the longest time. The realization finally set in a couple of years ago when I accepted that I simply couldn’t have reproduced what or how he got where he is. My life has been characterized by a monumental series of improbable complications and unexpected barriers, but I wouldn’t be half-way proud of where I’ve come to in life if I hadn’t swallowed a great deal of self-doubt, and just took on what seemed to be the hardest path in the world. (I have also realized that I’m not that fond of my colleague's writing; or his work; and that most people we both associate with aren't fond of him at all.) So, success comes in different forms. Ultimately, I suppose my point is that in making the effort, risking rejection, etc., you’re building toward a kind of change will alter how you see your own life—and likely contribute to how you gauge your own accomplishments.

This all sounds quite saccharine and platitude-y, but there’s only so many ways you can go about making your own life into something that you’re proud of. That doesn’t mean the same thing to everyone, by nature, and you can also be sure that it will change as you move forward in life. I think you’re all doing an amazing job of representing yourselves honestly, and that you have a tremendous amount to be proud of already.

 

[justasmidge]

Whew, I can feeeeeeel the anxiety already for these next couple of weeks. I did have breakfast with a professor from Stony Brook which was really nice since she's a friend of my colleague's. I really enjoyed it!

Still trying to figure out if going to Italy is a good or a bad thing with being six hours ahead of all of this, but at the very least, it will be a distraction. I'm an amateur photographer, so I'll probably be busy taking photos. Anyone else here shoot film? It's my favorite medium. I'm taking 3 rolls of Ektar 100, 1 roll of Portra 160, and 1 roll of Lomography Purple.

[LB349]

Brooklyn, Brooklyn....

[pomelo]

Anyone else waiting on Sarah Lawrence? Last year they released decisions around this time. The year before, the second week of March. 

 

Also, what is up with UMass Amherst? Did they release all decisions? I kinda gave up hope because I didn’t get an interview but still. 

[nothingnothing]

Prestigious, elitist, selective, and so on are predicated on highly problematic ideas. Going to such institutions, one should be wary. We need not go into the long list of successful artists from the mud that never went to any academic institution, let alone a prestigious one. Is the goal just to be read by other writers within the academy? Or to be read by the petit-bourgeoisie. Will the lumpens and lumpen proletariats read your work?

[justasmidge]

1 hour ago, pomelo said:

Anyone else waiting on Sarah Lawrence? Last year they released decisions around this time. The year before, the second week of March. 

 

Also, what is up with UMass Amherst? Did they release all decisions? I kinda gave up hope because I didn’t get an interview but still. 

I'm also waiting on Sarah Lawrence! Hopefully this week, we'll here something. I think we're going to hear of a lot of news this week.

[lychees]

Just got accepted to Northern Michigan University! Teaching assistantship, tuition waiver, and stipend for all three years. Some good news to begin the week

[triciadawn]

Are Iowa and NYU done? 

[ssuunn]

If anyone here was accepted/waitlisted at Oregon, I am visiting Eugene on Thursday next week. Feel free to reach out to me if you want to know the vibe of the city/program/workshop/etc! And if you plan on going there regardless, also hmu!

[justasmidge]

8 minutes ago, triciadawn said:

Are Iowa and NYU done? 

I don't think NYU is done - we haven't heard anything about the waitlists. 

[Jackedup]

Y'all think Iowa is finished? Seems like stuff has been trickling in from them pretty slowly 

[dasiena]

I'm being slowly tortured because I only applied to two schools & apparently they both like to take their sweet time. I would at least like to *know* something. Even if it's a rejection.

If you've at least heard back from *a* school, I'm jealous. Nothing has arrived in my inbox, not a peep.

Also if I reapply next year I think I might just chill and not join Draft/this forum because watching everyone get their results, hundreds and hundreds of results, is like a tiny little hit of dopamine that turns into confusion and anxiety.

(iowa? brown? r u there)

[Rixor]

I like to pretend the schools that are taking so long are doing so because every single applicant was amazing and they're all in a little conference room together arguing like 'how on earth do we choose between all these lovely writers?'

 

[pananoprodigy]

10 minutes ago, dasiena said:

I'm being slowly tortured because I only applied to two schools & apparently they both like to take their sweet time. I would at least like to *know* something. Even if it's a rejection.

If you've at least heard back from *a* school, I'm jealous. Nothing has arrived in my inbox, not a peep.

Also if I reapply next year I think I might just chill and not join Draft/this forum because watching everyone get their results, hundreds and hundreds of results, is like a tiny little hit of dopamine that turns into confusion and anxiety.

(iowa? brown? r u there)

I feel this 🙃 I only applied to four and haven't heard from any of them yet. I'm also at the point where I'm longing for anything, even if it's a rejection. And I think I'm with you re: forums for next year. As much as it's been helpful to have this community during the Time of Angst, I wonder if it would be so angst-ridden for me in the first place if I wasn't constantly checking to see what other people have heard lol

[aurqcyei]

I honestly just want Brown to release results and informally end my cycle. ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ Everything else pending on my end is either a soft rejection or, at best, a possible waitlist. Still waiting for the Kleenex that Iowa's going to send in my mailbox. I've never received a paper rejection from anything before, so I'll probably nail it to my wall a la Stephen King style.  

To be completely realistic though: given that fiction/poetry acceptances are out, I'm guessing if more Iowa results come out, it'll be waitlists. If I'm really inhaling the copium/hopium (whatever lingo) from past years, maybe a trickle stream of acceptances in the next few weeks, but I'm not holding my breath. 

Also, re: Brown: I checked Draft '23 and no one who reported a Brown fiction/poetry acceptance indicated they had to interview beforehand. Brown seems to only interview playwrighting applicants, which is a different department from the Literary Arts. Guessing that Gradcafe result is either a troll (they put their matriculation semester as Fall 25 lol) or just for the Theatre Arts department. Given last year's results, we'll probably hear back next week. They seem to take longer since, according to their site, two faculty members review each app?  

2 hours ago, pomelo said:

Also, what is up with UMass Amherst? Did they release all decisions? I kinda gave up hope because I didn’t get an interview but still. 

From what I know, fiction results released in early/mid Feb. They take a while to release rejections for some reason, but they already invited prospies to an event in April. 

Edited March 4 by aurqcyei

[pomelo]

37 minutes ago, aurqcyei said:

From what I know, fiction results released in early/mid Feb. They take a while to release rejections for some reason, but they already invited prospies to an event in April. 

Oof that sucks but also good to know. Thank you. These soft rejections are killing me. If some programs can release all their decisions within a few days, why can’t all programs? I feel so silly waiting on a response from UMass (and other programs) meanwhile they’ve already made their mind up about me. Booo

[aurqcyei]

37 minutes ago, pomelo said:

Oof that sucks but also good to know. Thank you. These soft rejections are killing me. If some programs can release all their decisions within a few days, why can’t all programs? I feel so silly waiting on a response from UMass (and other programs) meanwhile they’ve already made their mind up about me. Booo

I feel you. I'd rather know ASAP if they aren't going to take me in the first place (thank you, BU, lol). I do think some programs hold off on sending rejections until they fill out/mostly confirm their cohort, so I get that too from their end. 

Edited March 4 by aurqcyei

[Mxxyr]

1 hour ago, Jackedup said:

Y'all think Iowa is finished? Seems like stuff has been trickling in from them pretty slowly 

I don’t want to get anyone’s hopes up or down, but speaking with Elizabeth Willis I learned:

Iowa only accepted 20 poets this year. Still accepted 25 fiction writers. 
 

They *just* started making calls. We may not even get our funding packages for a few weeks or so. And she said that the poetry department especially likes to take their time. The convo I had with her was fairly long. So I assume they are finding times in the day to set aside to make the acceptance calls and have enough time to talk extensively with the prospective student. 
 

good luck everyone regardless!! 

[aurqcyei]

Just now, Mxxyr said:

I don’t want to get anyone’s hopes up or down, but speaking with Elizabeth Willis I learned:

Iowa only accepted 20 poets this year. Still accepted 25 fiction writers. 
 

They *just* started making calls. We may not even get our funding packages for a few weeks or so. And she said that the poetry department especially likes to take their time. The convo I had with her was fairly long. So I assume they are finding times in the day to set aside to make the acceptance calls and have enough time to talk extensively with the prospective student. 
 

good luck everyone regardless!! 

asdflknsafsd I seriously just tucked and smothered my hopes into bed last week, but are you possibly indicating that Iowa is still making calls for both genres?