2024 Creative Writing MFA Applicants Forum

[pomelo]

Good morning and happy Monday, everyone. I have a feeling a lot of decisions will go out this week! 

[dingledodie]

Hey yall! Anyone heard from the fiction track at the University of Montana? They’re my top choice so I’m hoping to hear from them ASAP. (It feels late that they haven’t sent out fiction decisions yet…) 

I was accepted into the University of Alaska Fairbanks last week with FULL FUNDING (still over the moon / in disbelief). They are my #2 of 9 - I’m waiting to hear back from Montana (#1) and Boise State University (#6).

Just curious if anyone’s heard / seen any movement specifically for Fiction? 

Also, congrats to all for your good news, and to those of you still in the trenches, I salute you 🫡 (I’m right there with ya til I hear from Boise and Montana!!!) 

**Edit to add: Fairbanks wants me to make my decision by 3/22 since there’s a TA/funding package involved but I’m like, eek!! Will I hear from Montana by then?? 

Edited March 11 by dingledodie
Adding clarifying info

[Scribe]

Ncsu is no longer a soft rejection. 
finally. 

[big_al15]

47 minutes ago, dingledodie said:

Hey yall! Anyone heard from the fiction track at the University of Montana? They’re my top choice so I’m hoping to hear from them ASAP. (It feels late that they haven’t sent out fiction decisions yet…) 

I was accepted into the University of Alaska Fairbanks last week with FULL FUNDING (still over the moon / in disbelief). They are my #2 of 9 - I’m waiting to hear back from Montana (#1) and Boise State University (#6).

Just curious if anyone’s heard / seen any movement specifically for Fiction? 

Also, congrats to all for your good news, and to those of you still in the trenches, I salute you 🫡 (I’m right there with ya til I hear from Boise and Montana!!!) 

**Edit to add: Fairbanks wants me to make my decision by 3/22 since there’s a TA/funding package involved but I’m like, eek!! Will I hear from Montana by then?? 

Congrats on University of Alaska Fairbanks!! I also applied to University of Montana's fiction track and have not heard anything yet. My application currently says, "Awaiting Decision", but I am hoping this week because I don't think my anxiety can take it anymore!!!! 

[dingledodie]

9 minutes ago, big_al15 said:

Congrats on University of Alaska Fairbanks!! I also applied to University of Montana's fiction track and have not heard anything yet. My application currently says, "Awaiting Decision", but I am hoping this week because I don't think my anxiety can take it anymore!!!! 

I’m right there with you!! Encouraging to know I’m not alone  and thank you!! I am so pumped about Alaska if that’s where I end up going - Montana would just be the cherry on (the already very exciting) top. 

good good good luck to you!!

[ssuunn]

1 hour ago, dingledodie said:

Just curious if anyone’s heard / seen any movement specifically for Fiction? 

I'm seeing a fiction waitlist for Montana logged on 3/2 on the Draft spreadsheet.

[chocolateoranges]

for anyone on Draft who has more knowledge--are we thinking Brown & U of Maryland are done sending out fiction acceptances at this point?

[dingledodie]

16 minutes ago, ssuunn said:

I'm seeing a fiction waitlist for Montana logged on 3/2 on the Draft spreadsheet.

Hmm, that’s interesting 🧐 I reached out to the admissions office this morning with a gentle nudge, so hopefully we have updates soon!

thank you for the input!

Edited March 11 by dingledodie
Saying thanks :)

[pomelo]

12 minutes ago, chocolateoranges said:

for anyone on Draft who has more knowledge--are we thinking Brown & U of Maryland are done sending out fiction acceptances at this point?

Brown is weird. According to the Draft spreadsheet, they sent out all poetry decisions last week. Not only that, but it looks like everyone heard back by/on March 6. Unlike other schools, it looks like they’re releasing acceptances/waitlists/rejections on the same day or in the same week, at least.  Two fiction acceptances were logged for 3/8 and 3/9. I think the rest of us should be hearing from them very soon. 

Edited March 11 by pomelo

[ssuunn]

Is anyone else in limbo with Oregon State? I probably wouldn't attend, but it looks like everyone else was waitlisted/rejected for poetry by 2/27...

[epr]

1 hour ago, chocolateoranges said:

for anyone on Draft who has more knowledge--are we thinking Brown & U of Maryland are done sending out fiction acceptances at this point?

UMD released both acceptances and waitlists last week, so pretty sure those are done. 
That’s it for me this year, see ya’ll for next cycle probably 😂

[branch]

On 3/8/2024 at 11:15 AM, writercl said:

Did anyone apply to Saint Mary's College of California or University of Houston?

Those are my last two programs that I am waiting for.

Not sure if either are well-known or good programs, but the people I've talked to that work at Saint Mary's seem really nice!

I didn’t apply, but I love SMC! I did my undergrad there (in French, mind) and know Marilyn Abildskov pretty well. I also have an uncle in the Brothers’ community. Fingers crossed for you, their MFA program was just beginning when I went there and it seemed like they were really, really invested in their students. Plus the campus is beautiful. 

[pananoprodigy]

Just got my official Brown rejection (fiction)

[Hjanep]

Theeeeere’s the Brown R

[pomelo]

3 minutes ago, pananoprodigy said:

Just got my official Brown rejection (fiction)

Same! 

Congrats to everyone who got in or was waitlisted. It seems like a great program. 

[saramsarang]

1 minute ago, pananoprodigy said:

Just got my official Brown rejection (fiction)

Me too! And with that, my MFA season officially ends with 0A/0W/12R! Congratulations to everyone who has been accepted and is ready to begin their MFA journey! To everyone else, I'm still rooting for all of you and I hope you guys hear good news from the schools you have left, and all the waitlists turn into acceptances and put you out of your limbo. Thank you to everyone on this forum, the ride was a lot more enjoyable sharing all the emotions with you guys. I'll keep writing and maybe one day we'll pass by each other and I'll get to read all of your works! Wishing everyone the absolute best, and I hope that no matter what, you guys can love this craft for a long long time and it brings you a tonne of happiness (even in its hardest moments)! 

[picklesaa]

Anyone heard anything from Virginia Tech? My portal just updated to say "decided" but doesn't say what the decision is and I haven't received any other word yet 😟 haha not panicking at all

[Mxxyr]

For those of you who are on waitlists and are losing hope -- I 1000% respect and understand that a waitlist in certain ways can be even more nerve-racking than an outright rejection. I want to offer maybe a small glimmer of hope? Without causing anyone any more stress; I really hope I don't add to that. I've spoken to multiple people in each accepted student cohort from multiple schools (in each genre) that are actively debating other offers. Some people who aren't on grad cafe or draft. I've been scrambling to talk to as many people as possible both incoming and in the programs themselves as I really dig deep and try and make the 'right' decision for myself. I'd hate to hate my MFA experience, so I really am no closer to deciding what in the actual hell I'm going to do. I just say all this to say: I think there will be substantial waitlist movement this year. I don't want to give information that's not mine to give, so I'll speak for myself. I'm debating offers from NYU, Brown, Iowa, and Michigan for poetry. I have to turn 3 of those down. Others are debating attending other programs from all over. If you're on the waitlist, don't count yourself out just yet!!!! Much love to all ❤️ 

Edited March 11 by Mxxyr

[chocolateoranges]

1 hour ago, epr said:

UMD released both acceptances and waitlists last week, so pretty sure those are done. 
That’s it for me this year, see ya’ll for next cycle probably 😂

Ahhh man. Same here. Just got the Brown rejection, and UMD is out too so that's it for me. BIG CONGRATS to all who made it into their dream programs, and I sincerely hope for all of us whose chance didn't come around this year that there are plenty of other successes in our near future... they just might not look exactly how we imagined them.

Here's to sending off my short stories and poetry to absolutely every open submission possible in the coming weeks to remind myself this is worth it and we keep going!

[Tuxedocat]

14 minutes ago, Mxxyr said:

For those of you who are on waitlists and are losing hope -- I 1000% respect and understand that a waitlist in certain ways can be even more nerve-racking than an outright rejection. I want to offer maybe a small glimmer of hope? Without causing anyone any more stress; I really hope I don't add to that. I've spoken to multiple people in each accepted student cohort from multiple schools (in each genre) that are actively debating other offers. Some people who aren't on grad cafe or draft. I've been scrambling to talk to as many people as possible both incoming and in the programs themselves as I really dig deep and try and make the 'right' decision for myself. I'd hate to hate my MFA experience, so I really am no closer to deciding what in the actual hell I'm going to do. I just say all this to say: I think there will be substantial waitlist movement this year. I don't want to give information that's not mine to give, so I'll speak for myself. I'm debating offers from NYU, Brown, Iowa, and Michigan for poetry. I have to turn 3 of those down. If you're on the waitlist, don't count yourself out just yet!!!! Much love to all ❤️ 

You’re the real MVP for always keeping us updated 😭 thank you so much! Wishing you luck with your decision—what a tough but awesome position to be in 🥳

[pananoprodigy]

Dang weeks of no news at all and then today on top of Brown I just got a rejection from a residency I was really hoping for. 🙃 when it rains it pours

[messindistress]

Just got the VTech rejection.

We are sorry to inform you that we cannot offer you admission to Virginia Tech at this time. The main reason for this decision is: NonCompetitive.

Jesus.

[sciencebasedlifter]

hiii longtime lurker here. finally making an account to see if anyone would help shed some light on a couple programs I'm looking at. 

i applied mostly to nyc schools and received acceptances in fiction from Hunter, Brooklyn, and Columbia and I'm waitlisted at nyu and rutgers-newark. Columbia gave me a scholarship that covers full tuition, which I'm stoked about (still not sure though if it will be the same amount the second year...). Hunter gave me 2 weeks to decide (way before the April 15 general deadline which is stressful). I'm really excited about hunter's faculty, but I'm not sure if i want a small or big program. I sort of wrote Columbia off as impossible because i assumed they didn't give anyone money (it seems like a lot of people on here have reported some kind of scholarship from them, congrats all!) So now Hunter and Brooklyn would technically be more expensive than Columbia for me (as a non NY resident my first year). 

They both have opportunities for teaching which is important to me. For context, I work a full time job and plan to reduce it to part time while I'm in any of these programs (I realize this may be tough with Columbia's 60 credit curriculum). 

I guess I'm just wondering if anyone has any intel on any of these programs or sense of what I should do. And I hope this doesn't come across as flaunting my acceptances, I really just don't know what to do and you all are so knowledgeable and kind.

 

 

 

 

[itsbeensnowing]

2 minutes ago, messindistress said:

Just got the VTech rejection.

We are sorry to inform you that we cannot offer you admission to Virginia Tech at this time. The main reason for this decision is: NonCompetitive.

Jesus.

Got this one too. Talk about an impersonal rejection 😭

[nataliezimm]

2 minutes ago, sciencebasedlifter said:

hiii longtime lurker here. finally making an account to see if anyone would help shed some light on a couple programs I'm looking at. 

i applied mostly to nyc schools and received acceptances in fiction from Hunter, Brooklyn, and Columbia and I'm waitlisted at nyu and rutgers-newark. Columbia gave me a scholarship that covers full tuition, which I'm stoked about (still not sure though if it will be the same amount the second year...). Hunter gave me 2 weeks to decide (way before the April 15 general deadline which is stressful). I'm really excited about hunter's faculty, but I'm not sure if i want a small or big program. I sort of wrote Columbia off as impossible because i assumed they didn't give anyone money (it seems like a lot of people on here have reported some kind of scholarship from them, congrats all!) So now Hunter and Brooklyn would technically be more expensive than Columbia for me (as a non NY resident my first year). 

They both have opportunities for teaching which is important to me. For context, I work a full time job and plan to reduce it to part time while I'm in any of these programs (I realize this may be tough with Columbia's 60 credit curriculum). 

I guess I'm just wondering if anyone has any intel on any of these programs or sense of what I should do. And I hope this doesn't come across as flaunting my acceptances, I really just don't know what to do and you all are so knowledgeable and kind.

 

 

 

 

Congratulations on your acceptances! I’m just wondering when you heard from Hunter/if you know whether they’re done with fiction? I hadn’t heard anything about results from them until now and I’ve been wondering about them.