2024 Creative Writing MFA Applicants Forum

[airlinefood_enjoyer]

I think I might be wrapping up my application season with 3 waitlists and 0 acceptances (a few likely soft rejections still pending) 

currently drafting emails to program directors at my waitlists that just read "PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE". I guess if that doesn't work I'll try again next cycle 🙏

my thoughts and prayers to anyone else who will similarly be in waitlist limbo for another month+

[trenchywrench]

50 minutes ago, Fronkophone said:

Hey hey, has anyone heard from NYU or University of Maryland on where they are with fiction applicants? Both are still under review/submitted and I am not sure if I am waitlisted or a soft rejection…

i applied to both these programs for fiction!

on 3/7, i was waitlisted for NYU. i haven’t heard back from UMD yet at all. i believe NYU does rejections last, but tons of people haven’t heard back from UMD yet from what i can gather. a few others who applied to UMD have been telling me to treat my status like a soft rejection…but honestly, i have a feeling UMD isn’t done with acceptances yet. as for NYU? yeah, they’re done with acceptances but they may be still waitlisting people because their waitlist doesn’t come out all at once—from what i gather, the notifications are individualized!

best of luck to you! i hope we crawl out of UMD’s limbo sooner rather than later.

[aurqcyei]

Somehow knowing, for weeks, that I'd be rejected at Iowa pushed my existential dread and sadness past a certain threshold and it looped around the Crippling Self Doubt and Depression Spectrum (TM) into unreasonable giddiness and excitement as I ripped open my letter and hunted around for a pushpin (could only find tape). I did get a tiered rejection, but I do feel like a good portion of people get a tiered rejection? Who knows.  

[seeleimraum]

1 hour ago, wmly said:

anyone else get a weird cryptic "we'll send definitive responses out soon" email from UCI poetry staff?

 

@wmly I did! Really not sure what to think...other than it's kinda verging on obnoxious, in a way? LOL. Hoping it means something ultimately positive, but I'm not about to get my hopes up. Let me know if you hear anything further, and I will do the same. Good luck!

Edited March 12 by seeleimraum
tagged OP

[sylviaplathtears]

6 minutes ago, aurqcyei said:

Somehow knowing, for weeks, that I'd be rejected at Iowa pushed my existential dread and sadness past a certain threshold and it looped around the Crippling Self Doubt and Depression Spectrum (TM) into unreasonable giddiness and excitement as I ripped open my letter and hunted around for a pushpin (could only find tape). I did get a tiered rejection, but I do feel like a good portion of people get a tiered rejection? Who knows.  

Umm I did the same thing.. I literally smiled reading the letter and immediately hung it on my wall.. there may be something wrong with us lmao 

[jbs]

Oh my god just got accepted at a school that I thought was a soft rejection. They mistyped my email. 

[picklesaa]

7 minutes ago, jbs said:

Oh my god just got accepted at a school that I thought was a soft rejection. They mistyped my email. 

Omg congrats! Which school??

[jbs]

University of Montana for poetry

[jbs]

11 minutes ago, picklesaa said:

Omg congrats! Which school??

Oops University of Montana lol

[trenchywrench]

while i’m still here—or, rather, before i have too much fun at date night and forget how to type—has anyone heard where Rutgers (Camden) is for their fiction applicants?

i heard they send out their rejections super late and my application still says it’s under review. how has their spread been looking?

[sunnysequoia]

2 minutes ago, trenchywrench said:

while i’m still here—or, rather, before i have too much fun at date night and forget how to type—has anyone heard where Rutgers (Camden) is for their fiction applicants?

i heard they send out their rejections super late and my application still says it’s under review. how has their spread been looking?

I'm in nonfiction but according to the Draft spreadsheet it seems like a lot of acceptances and waitlists have already gone out. I haven't heard from them and am assuming a rejection.

Enjoy your date night!  

[pananoprodigy]

I'm still waiting on 2 schools, but....does anyone have experience telling their recommenders that you got rejected from everywhere? 😞 and asking them to do this all again next year? I only applied to 4 programs this year because I already have an MFA and wasn't sure I should/could do a second one, but now that I've had more time to mull it over I think I really do want to do it, and I'm looking at applying to a lot more schools next year. I'm not that close with my recommenders and for some reason that element is the most stressful to me right now even though logically I know they've already written my recommendations and would probably be fine uploading them again when the time comes. Idk I'm just at work and bumming myself out further for no reason. 

[sylviaplathtears]

Any news from Hunter?? So confused why there's no news on the spreadsheet if they've started interviewing/accepting people last week.. 

[nataliezimm]

2 minutes ago, sylviaplathtears said:

Any news from Hunter?? So confused why there's no news on the spreadsheet if they've started interviewing/accepting people last week.. 

haven’t heard anything either but I’ve been thinking it’s strange too. would love to just know at this point if it’s a rejection

[pomelo]

It seems like Iowa rejections came in the mail for a lot of people today. When I got home I ran to check the mail (I’m expecting a rejection but, still, I wanted to read what they said). Tell me why I ripped open the one envelope in there and it turned out to be an invitation to join a local Jehovah’s Witness church. Facepalm!

 

 

[seeleimraum]

1 hour ago, jbs said:

University of Montana for poetry

Congrats! Can I ask if you got a funded TA offer, or just an acceptance?

[alligator mississippiensis]

Hello all! I also received my Iowa rejection today. Did anyone get a personalized/handwritten note from Samantha Chang?  

[jbs]

35 minutes ago, seeleimraum said:

Congrats! Can I ask if you got a funded TA offer, or just an acceptance?

Waitlist for TA, they said it's "not unlikely" that I will get one.

[nothingnothing]

2 hours ago, sunnysequoia said:

I'm in nonfiction but according to the Draft spreadsheet it seems like a lot of acceptances and waitlists have already gone out. I haven't heard from them and am assuming a rejection.

Enjoy your date night!  

For poetry as well?

[_redrabbit7]

4 hours ago, pananoprodigy said:

I'm still waiting on 2 schools, but....does anyone have experience telling their recommenders that you got rejected from everywhere? 😞 and asking them to do this all again next year? I only applied to 4 programs this year because I already have an MFA and wasn't sure I should/could do a second one, but now that I've had more time to mull it over I think I really do want to do it, and I'm looking at applying to a lot more schools next year. I'm not that close with my recommenders and for some reason that element is the most stressful to me right now even though logically I know they've already written my recommendations and would probably be fine uploading them again when the time comes. Idk I'm just at work and bumming myself out further for no reason. 

yes you can. i think they should be willing to recommend you again next year. until then, keep hope alive since you still have two pending applications. 

i also got an MFA already (completing it this June actually), getting a second one, but got waitlisted by the only program i applied to. 

[Scribe]

3 hours ago, alligator mississippiensis said:

Hello all! I also received my Iowa rejection today. Did anyone get a personalized/handwritten note from Samantha Chang?  

Yeah. She was great. Said that there really wasn't anything they could teach me and that it just wouldn't be fair to the rest of the cohort or the first person on the waitlist. She then asked if she could send me something she's been working on and would i look it over and give her some notes.

[goldentulip]

11 hours ago, OctopusCactus said:

Proud of you! Not just the privilege to apply and dream: you were also brave enough to dream something that might have felt pretty unattainable and you're doing the work to get there. 

thank you 🥹

[branch]

8 hours ago, subsolar said:

Hi everyone! I finally decided to make an appearance after lurking since page one. Congratulations to everyone who has been accepted/waitlisted and to everyone who applied in general because man. Applying to MFAs feels like it could be a military torture method.

I'm currently waitlisted at both Maryland and Minnesota for Fiction, and I feel very appreciative because this is my first cycle, and I was kinda scared that I was going to write the email of shame to my recommenders. I'm lowkey already preparing my list for next year just in case, but we'll see. I was been beating myself up over one of my writing samples but what is done is done. I like both programs equally, and they both have their pros/cons for me, so I guess I'll just leave it up to fate (their admissions committees). Actually, I will say, Minnesota was #2 on my list, so it was exciting to hear from them. I think I applied to less schools than most people do but there were certain schools where I said "I'd rather be dead in California than alive in _____." And I only applied to programs I'd be very happy to attend. 

Funnily enough (but not that funny because I have $7 left), Minnesota and Maryland were 2/3 schools I couldn't use fee waivers for, and I told my friends that I better get good news from them because they took my money knowing I was broke. I think I manifested it on accident. 

Also, if anyone is in or waitlisted at UC Riverside, feel free to ask me any questions. I did my undergrad there for creative writing, and I had an absolute blast. I love UCR, but I didn't apply for my MFA there because I wanted to get out of my comfort zone. The professors know me and my writing extremely well already. The fiction faculty is amazing, and I could talk about them all day. I'd say MFA students there are treated well by students as well because I adored my TAs, and I only ever heard other students say kind things about them. It's an extremely diverse school and Riverside isn't as bad as a place as they make it out to be (as long as you don't have a catalytic converter). 

I have nothing exciting to add just that one of my best friends drew the art in your icon and it gave me a much-needed laugh ❤️

[arinakolee]

Well hello! 

I'm sorry to join so late in the game, but I just discovered this forum, and OMG I'm so grateful! And big congrats to everyone accepted! 

I have only applied to three programs, Sarah Lawrence, Brown and Iowa. So far, got accepted to SLC, which honestly I shook and cry when I learned the news, but... Upon further research, I'm uncertain how proud I should be really, and how hard is it to get in. They are yet to tell me how much funding if any at all they will be able to give me, because I was late with submitting my financial documents, so I'm waiting on that. But I debate if I should wait another year or just go to SLC? And should I be proud?... 

Got rejected from Brown, which was my #1. And so so so happy for everyone who got in, what an accomplishment! I've read here people got personalized rejections, too... what would that look like?  

Still waiting on Iowa.

[pomelo]

55 minutes ago, arinakolee said:

I have only applied to three programs, Sarah Lawrence, Brown and Iowa. So far, got accepted to SLC, which honestly I shook and cry when I learned the news, but... Upon further research, I'm uncertain how proud I should be really, and how hard is it to get in. They are yet to tell me how much funding if any at all they will be able to give me, because I was late with submitting my financial documents, so I'm waiting on that. But I debate if I should wait another year or just go to SLC? And should I be proud?... 

Welcome! I applied to SLC, Iowa, and Brown (as well as 7 other programs). First off you should be proud that you applied. Not many people take that first step. Second OF COURSE you should be proud you got in. If you check Gradcafe results and the Draft spreadsheet (are you in the MFA Draft FB group? It’s very active), there are people who got waitlist or rejected from SLC. It may not be as competitive as some of these other programs, but they certainly don’t have a 100% acceptance rate. SLC is a great program that has nurtured many great writers (including one of my favorites, T Kira Madden). Of course, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a great program *for you*. I say wait to make a decision until you receive your financial aid package, visit the campus, and speak with some faculty and alumni. It’s not unheard of to apply for the MFA two, even three years in a row. Just my two cents, of course.