2024 Creative Writing MFA Applicants Forum

[ssuunn]

23 minutes ago, girlgenius said:

do we think it's safe to assume that if one acceptance has gone out over email, they've all gone out? with phone calls there can still be some waiting, but I can't imagine they send each email individually

No, someone got their acceptance email about 3 hours before me and I wrote them off; was subsequently shocked later. Give it a day at least.

[airlinefood_enjoyer]

24 minutes ago, rachy1997 said:

I see a waitlist but nothing else. Weird!

thanks for checking! i guess i will just continue to sit here, waiting patiently

[dasiena]

6 hours ago, rachy1997 said:

Still waiting on my top choice. . . running out of ways to occupy my mind 🌀

I only applied to 2 schools in the area this year & I'm reading one as a soft rejection. 

I'm hoping we see some decisions today!

I'm in the same exact situation so I feel your pain. Two schools, one I'm 99.9% sure to be a soft rejection.

But I'm sure a lot of things will be moving (hopefully) next week!  

[sunnysequoia]

5 hours ago, ssuunn said:

Someone in Draft who is an Arizona undergrad said to expect UA's decisions by no later than Tuesday. (I guess they've been on spring break this week.) Here's hoping that turns true!

Fingers crossed!

I finally received my first official rejection from Iowa. I'm honestly so relieved LOL because I'm losing my mind with all my waitlists. While I'm grateful for my acceptances, I'm definitely not going to New York because of affordability, and Miami is my last choice fully funded program due to its insufficient stipend. I've been accepted to all my last choice schools and waitlisted at my top 3 fully funded programs and the uncertainty is killing me 😰

[Rixor]

38 minutes ago, girlgenius said:

do we think it's safe to assume that if one acceptance has gone out over email, they've all gone out? with phone calls there can still be some waiting, but I can't imagine they send each email individually

Did you see one acceptance recorded on draft and are now feeling pretty down but constantly refreshing your email just in case? 'Cause if so, I'm right there with you.

[Hjanep]

21 minutes ago, sunnysequoia said:

Fingers crossed!

I finally received my first official rejection from Iowa. I'm honestly so relieved LOL because I'm losing my mind with all my waitlists. While I'm grateful for my acceptances, I'm definitely not going to New York because of affordability, and Miami is my last choice fully funded program due to its insufficient stipend. I've been accepted to all my last choice schools and waitlisted at my top 3 fully funded programs and the uncertainty is killing me 😰

What genre were you for Iowa / did you get a letter or an email?

[ssuunn]

25 minutes ago, sunnysequoia said:

I finally received my first official rejection from Iowa. I'm honestly so relieved LOL because I'm losing my mind with all my waitlists. While I'm grateful for my acceptances, I'm definitely not going to New York because of affordability, and Miami is my last choice fully funded program due to its insufficient stipend. I've been accepted to all my last choice schools and waitlisted at my top 3 fully funded programs and the uncertainty is killing me 😰

I'm sure whichever program wonderchild @DanielNiver declines, you'll take the spot!  

[rachy1997]

1 hour ago, girlgenius said:

do we think it's safe to assume that if one acceptance has gone out over email, they've all gone out? with phone calls there can still be some waiting, but I can't imagine they send each email individually

wondering the exact same. one acceptance over email on draft 😬

[girlgenius]

1 minute ago, rachy1997 said:

wondering the exact same. one acceptance over email on draft 😬

gah I know! if you are also looking at the UW Seattle one, apparently they sent this email to some people who have asked about timeline: “We have had a very large and competitive pool of applicants for this year's admissions cycle, so our review process is taking a little bit longer than usual. We hope to convey admissions decisions in the next week or so, but at the very latest, we will convey them by April 1st. We appreciate your patience and understanding.”

so it sounds like they could be rolling out for a while!

[prufrock_]

ole miss round 2 fiction seems to be in a weird state - 1 waitlist in results here, but no acceptance/rejections listed here or in draft. Poetry results seem to be all out though! I thought i'd be hearing one way or another from them today (praise be the summoning circle).

[rachy1997]

17 minutes ago, prufrock_ said:

ole miss round 2 fiction seems to be in a weird state - 1 waitlist in results here, but no acceptance/rejections listed here or in draft. Poetry results seem to be all out though! I thought i'd be hearing one way or another from them today (praise be the summoning circle).

do you know how the "rounds" work in MFA admissions? People mention rounds, but I don't really know what that means. Do all schools do rounds of acceptances?

[Srs2024]

1 hour ago, 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 applied to Saint Mary's.  It's the last program I'm waiting for as well.  I talked to the admissions director about something unrelated a few week ago and he said decision would go out this week.  On draft, a few fiction applicants have indicated acceptances (3?) but no poetry or CNF. 

[minivercheevy_]

Wishing all of you a beautiful weekend and for good news to come with it---it's almost sixty degrees and sunny where I'm writing from. I'm going to take a hike. This week has been incredibly stressful. 

[sunnysequoia]

1 hour ago, Hjanep said:

What genre were you for Iowa / did you get a letter or an email?

I applied for nonfiction and received an email.

[prufrock_]

5 minutes ago, rachy1997 said:

do you know how the "rounds" work in MFA admissions? People mention rounds, but I don't really know what that means. Do all schools do rounds of acceptances?

only a few schools do 'rounds' - ole miss and arkansas are the only two i applied to this time that use 'rounds'. what it means is instead of the 'full application', including fees, lor's, etc, you send in just your writing. from there, they ask a smaller group from that 'first round' to submit the 'full application' for round two. it's a great system imo!

[Rixor]

...Maybe Kel on the sheet meant UW-Bothell? That's totally a possibility, right? :' )

(Kel if you're reading this congrats and I am so happy for you) 

[OctopusCactus]

36 minutes ago, sunnysequoia said:

I applied for nonfiction and received an email.

Same. But congratulations on all your acceptances!

I feel a little silly asking this, but did everyone's Iowa rejection email end with "I and the faculty sincerely wish you all the best with your writing. We will all be looking out for your work!" I've read sometimes the fiction program director personalizes some rejection letters but not sure about nonfiction.

[nothingnothing]

7 hours ago, a moor said:

anyone know of any update on Rutgers-Camden poetry?

Also whats the general feel when it comes to Brooklyn College? How does one even go about living there if they got a full ride? They have some of the best poets around, but just wondering.

 

[squarkshark]

4 hours ago, decayingballads21 said:

anyone on here that has applied 2x or more  have advice about what to do to prepare for another round of applying? what did you focus on changing about your app, did you write all new material or just do more revisions, etc.

 

also looking for recs for workshops or residencies or any courses  for nonfiction I can do. I got into the Yale summer workshop but it’s expensive so idk if I can do that. If anyone has any recs pls!!! 

Hi, third year fiction applicant here and FINALLY getting bites (1a/2w/3r/4p) 

I usually write 100% new stories in June-August, and workshop them until December application deadlines. Last year I took Melissa Febos' Queer Week workshop at the FAWC. It was DAMN EXPENSIVE, but I slapped it on a credit card. FAWC and Lambda Literary are awesome. 

The problem with my very first cycle was not my excerpts. They were technically good. However, they were formulaic, and my SOP... SUCKED. It did zero work to sell me as a candidate, connect my stories to my overall craft mission, or say anything about me.

I started going to therapy and realized I was nonbinary. This year's SOP took me 20 drafts using Jess Silfa's Vanderbilt example. I talked about my gender journey, why I write, what scares me, why I write it, and why NOW. We're talking sex, death, boobs growing out of control, and Polly Pockets running ASMR channels. First sentence of the SOP was "This summer I was a Midwestern sea cucumber in an ocean of sexy trans Bostonian dolphins." 

Can't say this formula works for everyone- but fuck it! I hope this helps and/or excites you. The process is brutal, but it's a great chance to generate fresh content that feels authentically YOU

[writercl]

1 hour ago, Srs2024 said:

I applied to Saint Mary's.  It's the last program I'm waiting for as well.  I talked to the admissions director about something unrelated a few week ago and he said decision would go out this week.  On draft, a few fiction applicants have indicated acceptances (3?) but no poetry or CNF. 

Best of luck!!!

[writernity]

3 hours ago, girlgenius said:

do we think it's safe to assume that if one acceptance has gone out over email, they've all gone out? with phone calls there can still be some waiting, but I can't imagine they send each email individually

Acceptance emails can take a long time, for various reasons. It's rare that they go out in bulk for most schools, actually, it seems. The New School sent out what looked like mass acceptance portal updates in one day, and then 2 days after that I got a stray acceptance I was not expecting. So don't give up, it's not over til the rejection comes!

[Hjanep]

It ain’t over til it’s over but it looks like Brown made at least 1 fiction call. 5 spots for 800 applicants 🫠

[rachy1997]

             🕯      🕯   🕯
     🕯                            🕯
  🕯                                    🕯
🕯             ❤️   Hollins        🕯

🕯                poetry               🕯
  🕯                                       🕯
    🕯            summoning  🕯
        🕯            circle     🕯
            🕯     🕯       🕯  

 

^ for good luck! I feel like a middle schooler sending chain emails/texts again. 

[saramsarang]

1 hour ago, Hjanep said:

It ain’t over til it’s over but it looks like Brown made at least 1 fiction call. 5 spots for 800 applicants 🫠

I wish they would have gotten it all done together or just started on Monday instead of putting everyone in a state of anxiety over the weekend 😭 Like realistically I'm not getting into Brown, so I'm just waiting to cross it off the list and say goodbye to this season since that's the last school I have to hear back from...but now I must wait...argh the hardest part of being a writer is the waiting period, not even the writing part at this point!

[GoldenTree]

I got a waitlist for Arkansas! A total surprise as I never reached out to my rec letter writers to see if they submitted letters. (I wasn't ready for them to ask if I had been accepted and for me to have say "no"). 

Only two more schools to find out about. 🥺 Still no acceptances, but at least I know I'll be finishing this app cycle with two waitlists.