2024 Creative Writing MFA Applicants Forum

[itsbeensnowing]

I went 0 for 10 last year, so I'd like to think I've grown a thick skin against rejection (I haven't). Already going better this time around because I got on that Urbana-Champaign waitlist, but I sort of expect that to be my very early peak. 

Last year Michelle Latiolais gave me hopium by including a handwritten note with my UCI rejection. I wonder if she just did that to get $135 out of me again. I guess I'd pay that much for a little validation (even if they take forever to get those rejections out...)

[Livelovelife24]

I’m so glad I found this thread because I’ve been trying not to think about the application process since I’ve hit submit haha which has been more difficult it seems so it’s definitely helpful to talk about it. My top 2 choices are Ole Miss and UTK Does anyone have any idea when Ole Miss typically starts sending updates about round 2 and how early decisions roll out for UTK? All the best to everyone during this process!

[triciadawn]

10 minutes ago, Livelovelife24 said:

I’m so glad I found this thread because I’ve been trying not to think about the application process since I’ve hit submit haha which has been more difficult it seems so it’s definitely helpful to talk about it. My top 2 choices are Ole Miss and UTK Does anyone have any idea when Ole Miss typically starts sending updates about round 2 and how early decisions roll out for UTK? All the best to everyone during this process!

Applied to Ole Miss too! Their website says round 2 notifications should be out by Feb 15. 

[catsaregood.pdf]

thank you everyone for your kind words! also!! i didn’t realize MFA apps are at a low this year? 
 

[Rixor]

11 minutes ago, Livelovelife24 said:

I’m so glad I found this thread because I’ve been trying not to think about the application process since I’ve hit submit haha which has been more difficult it seems so it’s definitely helpful to talk about it. My top 2 choices are Ole Miss and UTK Does anyone have any idea when Ole Miss typically starts sending updates about round 2 and how early decisions roll out for UTK? All the best to everyone during this process!

Hello! It's so helpful to talk about.

UTK sent out waitlists 2/23 last cycle, if that helps. Most schools seem to be sending out decisions really early this year, though, so I wonder if you'll hear sooner. Ole Miss sent round 2 notifications 2/15 last cycle. 

25 minutes ago, itsbeensnowing said:

I went 0 for 10 last year, so I'd like to think I've grown a thick skin against rejection (I haven't). Already going better this time around because I got on that Urbana-Champaign waitlist, but I sort of expect that to be my very early peak. 

Last year Michelle Latiolais gave me hopium by including a handwritten note with my UCI rejection. I wonder if she just did that to get $135 out of me again. I guess I'd pay that much for a little validation (even if they take forever to get those rejections out...)

A hand written note sounds very lovely. Congratulations on the waitlist!! I'm hoping you hear an acceptance too:)

I applied for 10 schools, too--it's my first cycle. Really hoping I get an admit. Trying to prepare for that not to be the case. 

[catsaregood.pdf]

23 hours ago, aurqcyei said:

I'm sorry. I understand how you feel, but I really hope you don't take the rejection personally! A lot of writing is so subjective and due to the taste of ad coms and readers that year.

I've been submitting/applying to lit mags, workshops, and fellowships for a year or two now, for both poetry and fiction, and rejections really are just painful either way, whether they take 300+ days to respond or a day or two. My first few rejections from lit mags, I was entirely too dramatic and spent most of my evenings baking brownies and salting them with my tears. So much crappy TV was watched during those months and I slept on wet pillows. That said, I can guarantee you that each subsequent rejection stings less (but they still sting, haha).

What does help is actually being a reader for the slush pile (if you aren't already). I highly recommend that experience for everyone, since you get to see how subjective tastes can be, how much work mags can accept, and just the sheer volume of submissions that come in. I did veto a lot of work, but sometimes I would recommend a story, the second reader would +1 my recommendation, and the editor will shoot it down simply because there wasn't space, it didn't align with that issue's vibe, or another work they accepted was quite similar, etc. From what I've read, MFA applications are quite similar to the pipeline of a mag, so I think maybe it's something to consider? 

Again, please don't feel disheartened, and hopefully the rest of your cycle turns out well. Wishing the best for all of us. 

ahhhh ty for your kind words!! :’)

On 1/23/2024 at 9:10 AM, Chex said:

Seems real enough to me. I'm sorry this one did not work out. Hoping things go better with the rest of your applications. 

By the way, you may have posted your result twice on the result page, no? I don't think anyone else has posted anything there re Boston. The two posts there are from yesterday, re 'Creative Writing Poetry', and the poster is an American with a GPA of 3.90. I think the same person must have posted the result twice, though it can be mistaken for two different people. 

In any case, I expect that more people will hear from Boston this week, since they've begun sending decisions. 

i only submitted my result once so it might be a bug on GradCafe’s end!

On 1/22/2024 at 11:08 PM, Rixor said:

I'm so sorry. I would be heartbroken. It's cruel of them to send out such a cold email so soon. They could've at least used your name.

Remember that the admissions process is imperfect and impersonal and relies quite a bit on luck. It's probably a room of people spending many hours at a time reading through dozens of dozens of writing samples. The criteria they act on could be totally arbitrary and based on their personal interests; the same writing sample can get rejections at some schools and massive stipends at others. I've also heard stories of people re-submitting the same exact materials to a school twice and getting an acceptance only the second time. A rejection isn't in any way indicative of your worth as a writer. Someone on Draft pointed out that they might also be trying to rush their process given that their program is only one year long. 

You've still got Amherst, Brown, NYU, and those fellowship. It's not over! I'm rooting for you and I hope you get good news soon!! 

ty for your kind words!!! def needed to hear this :’)

On 1/22/2024 at 9:23 PM, sunnysequoia said:

*hugs* I’m so sorry you’re feeling so sad. Honestly, I do think it’s a bit callous to send out a rejection email merely one week after the deadline passed, after you presumably spent many months researching the school and preparing your application materials only for them to make their decision so quickly. They could have delayed the notice and didn’t need to send it out right away.

You’re allowed to be sad now. For what it’s worth, this quick rejection also lets you move on from this school and consider other possibilities for yourself sooner than later, and I hope you will get to that place after you’ve processed things.

ty for your kind words :’) *hugs*

 

good luck everyone in the months to come!! and hopefully if folks hear back *earlier than expected* from grad schools— that it is good news!!!! 

 

[Livelovelife24]

3 hours ago, triciadawn said:

Applied to Ole Miss too! Their website says round 2 notifications should be out by Feb 15. 

Thank you, hopefully we hear something by then! best wishes!

[triciadawn]

2 hours ago, Livelovelife24 said:

Thank you, hopefully we hear something by then! best wishes!

Are you poetry or fiction? 

[saramsarang]

14 hours ago, itsbeensnowing said:

I went 0 for 10 last year, so I'd like to think I've grown a thick skin against rejection (I haven't). Already going better this time around because I got on that Urbana-Champaign waitlist, but I sort of expect that to be my very early peak. 

Last year Michelle Latiolais gave me hopium by including a handwritten note with my UCI rejection. I wonder if she just did that to get $135 out of me again. I guess I'd pay that much for a little validation (even if they take forever to get those rejections out...)

Ahh I hope this year is your year then! Keeping my fingers crossed for you. Can I ask what back up plan you had? I know first year applicants always hold hope but go in knowing it could be 0 acceptances despite giving our best. So what did you do for a whole year before reapplying? I'm a first time applicant, so I'm just bracing for the worst! So any advice would be helpful. 

[Rixor]

Pardon my awful speculation--I find it helpful to avoid refreshing all my portals. Ohio State notified early... Illinois was about on time. BU apparently notified early. Virginia Tech notified several weeks early. Boise apparently sent out poetry notification several weeks early too.

Historically, U-Mn notified acceptances tomorrow, the 26th. (Anyone else apply there? It was my first application/SOP so I'm cringing now just thinking about it and expecting a rejection. But even getting a rejection on the board feels better than waiting--really hoping to hear back!)

Next week based on last cycle we might hear from Oregon State, Arkansas, Florida State, U of Oregon, Miami, and Cornell.

And, if things are keeping up the trend of being early, maybe Northwestern, George Mason, Bloomington, Kansas, Utah, and Wash U. 

Look forward to it everyone!:) Good luck!

[itsbeensnowing]

3 hours ago, saramsarang said:

Ahh I hope this year is your year then! Keeping my fingers crossed for you. Can I ask what back up plan you had? I know first year applicants always hold hope but go in knowing it could be 0 acceptances despite giving our best. So what did you do for a whole year before reapplying? I'm a first time applicant, so I'm just bracing for the worst! So any advice would be helpful. 

I majored in computer science, so my backup plan was to just finish up that degree (graduated in spring 2023), move back in with my parents for a bit, and try to find a job (with the hopes that I'd only be there for a year 🤞) so I could pay off my loans and hopefully save some money to prepare for grad school. Well, that turned out to be a bit idealistic: I searched for jobs for many months and applied to hundreds but never got further than a phone interview. So now I'm still living with my parents, and I have a couple part time jobs for the time being (telepractice facilitator at an elementary school, data analyst for a small tech company -- I was interning there before graduation and just stayed, but still no full time work) where I'm making a meager wage. Now that I'm done with grad applications, my plan this year is to once again apply to jobs in my field in case I again don't get into any MFAs (hope for the best, expect the worst!), and this time one of those things has to work out because I really can't waste another year.

Unfortunately my situation isn't the most universally applicable 😅. Of course, I also wrote enough during the year to have entirely new portfolio material for this season's applications (I had a hard time letting go of the stories from last year, but I do think my writing is stronger now), and I painstakingly redid all of my SOPs. I wish I had written more, and despite all of my free time I actually read substantially less last year than the preceding years, probably because I was just constantly stressed out. If I don't get into a program this year, at least I'll have time to right that wrong.

[pomelo]

4 minutes ago, itsbeensnowing said:

I wish I had written more, and despite all of my free time I actually read substantially less last year than the preceding years, probably because I was just constantly stressed out. If I don't get into a program this year, at least I'll have time to right that wrong.

I feel this! This is my first year applying but I’ve been seriously considering it since ‘21, a year out of college. I thought I would apply for Fall ‘23 enrollment but I didn’t feel ready. Now I look back at the year and think, where did the time go? I was supposed to read and write more, wasn’t I? Lol. Application season is so stressful, it will really have you contemplating every choice you made that felt “wrong” but who knows! It may very well work out 

[ssuunn]

Just a heads up to everyone (to hopefully save you some sanity)—Ohio State was likely an outlier in terms of getting decisions via the application portal before the official email. Last year, a few of my applications didn't update with the decision until late March/early April, even though I knew I hadn't gotten an acceptance or waitlist. (I'm waitlisted at UIUC, but my portal doesn't reflect that either.)

Please please please spare yourselves and don't check the application portals too frequently/at all. You will be called on the phone or sent a direct email when news comes in.

[saramsarang]

2 hours ago, itsbeensnowing said:

I majored in computer science, so my backup plan was to just finish up that degree (graduated in spring 2023), move back in with my parents for a bit, and try to find a job (with the hopes that I'd only be there for a year 🤞) so I could pay off my loans and hopefully save some money to prepare for grad school. Well, that turned out to be a bit idealistic: I searched for jobs for many months and applied to hundreds but never got further than a phone interview. So now I'm still living with my parents, and I have a couple part time jobs for the time being (telepractice facilitator at an elementary school, data analyst for a small tech company -- I was interning there before graduation and just stayed, but still no full time work) where I'm making a meager wage. Now that I'm done with grad applications, my plan this year is to once again apply to jobs in my field in case I again don't get into any MFAs (hope for the best, expect the worst!), and this time one of those things has to work out because I really can't waste another year.

Unfortunately my situation isn't the most universally applicable 😅. Of course, I also wrote enough during the year to have entirely new portfolio material for this season's applications (I had a hard time letting go of the stories from last year, but I do think my writing is stronger now), and I painstakingly redid all of my SOPs. I wish I had written more, and despite all of my free time I actually read substantially less last year than the preceding years, probably because I was just constantly stressed out. If I don't get into a program this year, at least I'll have time to right that wrong.

Ahh I see, thank you so much for sharing! It was helpful to hear this, put some things into perspective for me. I do hope this application season goes well for you, good luck!

[Livelovelife24]

15 hours ago, triciadawn said:

Are you poetry or fiction? 

I applied for poetry,  how about you? 

[itsbeensnowing]

10 minutes ago, saramsarang said:

Ahh I see, thank you so much for sharing! It was helpful to hear this, put some things into perspective for me. I do hope this application season goes well for you, good luck!

Thank you, and you too! Hopefully things work out for you the first time around and you won't even have to fall back on plan B!

[TPike]

Hey guys. It seems like there aren't many poetry applicants. Or maybe they're just quiet? I'm a first-time applicant, and I'm really nervous about going into February because it seems like that is when most of the decisions will be out.  

[ajcam]

Hi Everyone! I haven’t been approved for Draft on Facebook yet and was wondering about the current fiction stats, if any, for BU, Wash U and UCSD. Anyone hear any current movement there? Thank you! I’ve been refreshing Facebook like a mental patient, hoping to get in. 

[sunnysequoia]

2 hours ago, TPike said:

Hey guys. It seems like there aren't many poetry applicants. Or maybe they're just quiet? I'm a first-time applicant, and I'm really nervous about going into February because it seems like that is when most of the decisions will be out.  

Apparently this year is quieter than previous years—people were talking about this earlier in this thread. If I had to guess this is the case across all genres.

47 minutes ago, ajcam said:

Hi Everyone! I haven’t been approved for Draft on Facebook yet and was wondering about the current fiction stats, if any, for BU, Wash U and UCSD. Anyone hear any current movement there? Thank you! I’ve been refreshing Facebook like a mental patient, hoping to get in. 

No updates about any of these schools in Draft.

[ajcam]

2 minutes ago, sunnysequoia said:

Apparently this year is quieter than previous years—people were talking about this earlier in this thread. If I had to guess this is the case across all genres.

No updates about any of these schools in Draft.

 

[ajcam]

1 minute ago, ajcam said:

 

Whoops sorry… just trying to reply back thank you! ☺️ 

[prufrock_]

it's been a slow week! especially after last weeks early news.

[Chex]

1 hour ago, prufrock_ said:

it's been a slow week! especially after last weeks early news.

I know! I hope next week brings more news and movement, although the grapevine has it that news might still be slow until after the 10th of February, on account of AWP conference happening from February 7 - 10. So we still need to stay patient. Sending everyone strength and a bucket load of patience.

[itsbeensnowing]

47 minutes ago, Chex said:

I know! I hope next week brings more news and movement, although the grapevine has it that news might still be slow until after the 10th of February, on account of AWP conference happening from February 7 - 10. So we still need to stay patient. Sending everyone strength and a bucket load of patience.

Just put me in cryosleep until March 😭

[catsaregood.pdf]

how will everyone be keeping busy during the next few weeks while we wait for our results to come in?