2024 Creative Writing MFA Applicants Forum

[jka0124]

10 minutes ago, nothingnothing said:

post-pandemic? or experiencing the feed of genocide without having an outlet within the academy to speak on said genocide?

God, yes. Even the pro-Palestine protest at AWP caused issues behind the scenes. And holy shit, wtf is going on at Poetry and Guernica? The academy doesn’t want to rock the boat which is the antithesis of what art does. 

Natalie Diaz said it best: “who does poetry feed when its poets are afraid to speak out against the starvation of children?” 

[Valle]

On 3/12/2024 at 5:21 PM, Hjanep said:

Got my Iowa rejection (fiction). Including that my manuscript was well-received by readers and encouragement to apply again. Real talk: is this in every rejection letter?

Yeah, I got this too. No idea what that means. 

[ssuunn]

2 hours ago, Valle said:

On 3/12/2024 at 12:21 PM, Hjanep said:

Got my Iowa rejection (fiction). Including that my manuscript was well-received by readers and encouragement to apply again. Real talk: is this in every rejection letter?

Yeah, I got this too. No idea what that means. 

My Iowa rejection had no encouragement/praise whatsoever, so I think it was a tiered rejection. Your apps must've made it far in their deliberations!

[flowermariela]

Hello everyone, popping in to ask if anyone had any insights on a scenario I've been thinking about as we wait for waitlists to move around. 

In the case that April 15th rolls around and I accept an offer (great school, fully funded), but post April 15th a school that waitlisted me reaches out and I am more inclined to accept their offer, would it still be possible? How binding is accepting the first offer? 

Thank you! 

[Valle]

1 hour ago, ssuunn said:

My Iowa rejection had no encouragement/praise whatsoever, so I think it was a tiered rejection. Your apps must've made it far in their deliberations!

Thank you. And congratulations on your acceptances! 

[ssuunn]

19 minutes ago, flowermariela said:

Hello everyone, popping in to ask if anyone had any insights on a scenario I've been thinking about as we wait for waitlists to move around. 

In the case that April 15th rolls around and I accept an offer (great school, fully funded), but post April 15th a school that waitlisted me reaches out and I am more inclined to accept their offer, would it still be possible? How binding is accepting the first offer? 

Thank you! 

Essentially, you pay a deposit to secure your spot when accepting an offer. If you want to reneg on that school after April 15, you'll lose your deposit and probably upset the program a lot! But people have done it and will continue to do it. You gotta do what is best for you, ultimately.

[My Mlemtonia]

Does anyone have information on the timeline of the Steinbeck Fellowship? For reference, I was declined late April last year. 

Curious when the fellows were notified for acceptances, since they seem to go out much earlier than rejections. 

[doomgeneration]

Has anyone here heard back from Bennington, specifically for fiction? I saw a few people got accepted last Tuesday (via Draft). It's the only program I applied to, so I'm feeling pretty anxious. 

Edited March 18 by doomgeneration

[flowermariela]

Hello again, I was wondering if anyone had some insight on Emerson's program / funding? I recently received and acceptance, however, I know they are not fully funded. Any insight would be appreciated!! 

[Ancestralhand]

Has anyone heard anything from UCR?

[big_al15]

Okay. I think I'm going stir crazy at this point, and just need this season to be OVER.

I have only heard from 2 of my schools (Brown and Washington-Seattle) both rejections. However, I am still waiting to hear from UMich - Ann Arbor, University of Oregon, University of Montana, and Boise State for fiction. I want to just take these all as soft rejections, but I also haven't seen a lot of discussion about Montana or Boise, and am not sure if anyone else has heard otherwise? Are they just late in finishing up decisions? One can hope, I suppose...

Are there perhaps some folks that may have heard something about these schools? 

[mr. specific]

Has anyone seen any actual money from Columbia? or have info on how many people they fully fund?

[writercl]

On 3/11/2024 at 12:45 PM, branch said:

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. 

Oh, awesome!! Thank you so much 😇😇 I hope I get in!!

[rlion]

For people applying to Hollins, do you know if the second wave of acceptances has gone out? Or any rejections or waitlists or anything… 

[frogonalog]

Hi all, first-time poster! Would really appreciate some insight. I was accepted to a few programs in NYC and would absolutely love to move there this year. However, my partner is currently looking for a new job and he's unsure if he'll be able to find one in NYC. He'll likely know for certain after April 15-- closer to end of April, beginning of May. I would love to accept an offer, but I'm worried that I'll have to reneg if we aren't able to move after all. Is anyone familiar with what happens if you accept an offer and then decline it later? Are you blacklisted from the school, or do you need to pay a fee? Alternatively, is there any way I could defer an offer? Thank you so much.

Edited March 18 by frogonalog

[Mxxyr]

1 hour ago, frogonalog said:

Hi all, first-time poster! Would really appreciate some insight. I was accepted to a few programs in NYC and would absolutely love to move there this year. However, my partner is currently looking for a new job and he's unsure if he'll be able to find one in NYC. He'll likely know for certain after April 15-- closer to end of April, beginning of May. I would love to accept an offer, but I'm worried that I'll have to reneg if we aren't able to move after all. Is anyone familiar with what happens if you accept an offer and then decline it later? Are you blacklisted from the school, or do you need to pay a fee? Alternatively, is there any way I could defer an offer to next year? Thank you so much.

Many programs in the NYC offer deferral’s for a maximum of one year. I would inquire directly with the department. You may have to “apply” for a deferral but many times that means just explaining your circumstances in an email. A good friend of mine was able to defer an acceptance at an NYC school for a full residency MFA. Not sure how low-res works in that regard. Good luck! 

[BeneGesserit]

Hello, friends in Purgatory.

1st time poster here. So far I'm 0a/5w/6r/4p. Hoping for movement on the waitlists soon. Still haven't heard anything from Iowa, which is nerve wracking, but... promising? I don't know. I've only seen rejections for fiction so far, has anyone heard about acceptances?

Wishing you all the best ❤️

[BeneGesserit]

3 hours ago, big_al15 said:

Okay. I think I'm going stir crazy at this point, and just need this season to be OVER.

I have only heard from 2 of my schools (Brown and Washington-Seattle) both rejections. However, I am still waiting to hear from UMich - Ann Arbor, University of Oregon, University of Montana, and Boise State for fiction. I want to just take these all as soft rejections, but I also haven't seen a lot of discussion about Montana or Boise, and am not sure if anyone else has heard otherwise? Are they just late in finishing up decisions? One can hope, I suppose...

Are there perhaps some folks that may have heard something about these schools? 

In the same place dude, gnawing the bars of my enclosure and turning circles like the damn hadron collider. I haven't heard back from Oregon yet, if that helps. 

Best of luck!

[darr1]

UNLV….where art thou… 😞😞😞😞

Jealous (happy jealous!) of anyone who gets to go to Boise or Montana, those landscapes look so conducive to writing cool stuff!!

[sunnysequoia]

Shoutout to WUSTL for their update! They told me, "If you’re receiving this, you are currently placed 3rd or below on our alternate lists," and that students in my position have received offers of admission in the past. Also that the waitlists are short and have grown shorter over the weeks due to applicants accepting other offers. They said that 2 students have accepted and 1 has declined (don't know if this is just for my genre or for all of them), and it's still too early to offer admission to waitlisted candidates. 

So if you've been waitlisted at one or more schools, don't despair! Seems like there is a lot of movement happening even if schools haven't given any updates.

Edit: I emailed to ask for clarification on who has accepted and declined, and they replied very quickly, saying that they need 4 declines across all genres before they start making offers to waitlisted candidates. As of this afternoon, two offers total have been declined, and several more have dropped off the waitlist. So definitely lots of movement happening!

Edited March 19 by sunnysequoia
Added update

[trenchywrench]

9 hours ago, doomgeneration said:

Has anyone here heard back from Bennington, specifically for fiction? I saw a few people got accepted last Tuesday (via Draft). It's the only program I applied to, so I'm feeling pretty anxious. 

fiancée got into the fiction low-residency last week with a $7k scholarship—she’s declining that offer in favor of one closer to us. i don’t believe they’re done accepting yet. 

Edited March 19 by trenchywrench

[camwithquestions]

Hello everyone,

 

new to the forum. Have heard back from two programs, one in NY and one in the UK. I’m still waiting to hear back from NYU and Columbia. Has anyone heard from those programs yet, or have an idea when they should announce acceptance or not-just waiting is always so excruciating! Thank you and good luck to everyone !

[My Mlemtonia]

20 hours ago, big_al15 said:

Okay. I think I'm going stir crazy at this point, and just need this season to be OVER.

I have only heard from 2 of my schools (Brown and Washington-Seattle) both rejections. However, I am still waiting to hear from UMich - Ann Arbor, University of Oregon, University of Montana, and Boise State for fiction. I want to just take these all as soft rejections, but I also haven't seen a lot of discussion about Montana or Boise, and am not sure if anyone else has heard otherwise? Are they just late in finishing up decisions? One can hope, I suppose...

Are there perhaps some folks that may have heard something about these schools? 

Don't know much about the other ones, but UMich notifies acceptances mid-Feb, and Welcome Weekend is happening soon. There's always the waitlist, but I'm not sure how that works. Hope you get some good news and peace of mind soon. 

[mr. specific]

1 hour ago, camwithquestions said:

Hello everyone,

 

new to the forum. Have heard back from two programs, one in NY and one in the UK. I’m still waiting to hear back from NYU and Columbia. Has anyone heard from those programs yet, or have an idea when they should announce acceptance or not-just waiting is always so excruciating! Thank you and good luck to everyone !

I heard from NYU a month ago and they already had their accepted students visit. Columbia announced acceptances pretty recently and also have invited all their students to an event. So I'd say they're done with acceptances, but I don't know about waitlists. Some people have reported waitlists I think. Strange they have not told everyone yet.

[Karmazinov]

Pretty certain Rutgers Camden for fiction is OVER, but my portal still says decision pending, and I've received no communication. What's the point of not telling me yet?

Anyone got word on their process?