2024 Creative Writing MFA Applicants Forum

[Scribe]

5 minutes ago, writernity said:

Finally got a funding offer followup from Stony Brook! It's the 25% tuition + small stipend one some others here have gotten. The letter said this is "one of the highest offers our program is able to make" and they mentioned at the open house that they don't really offer full tuition to anyone anymore, so I'm not sure if they still offer the 50% funding TAship they advertise on the website or if this is what that one dropped to. I'm a little disappointed because I really like SB, but this might be too much for me to pay for unless I don't get any better offers and decide I really want to stick with it.

are you a resident? if so, it amounts to a free ride... almost. 

i, apparently, am being offered dick. 

[AngusWanderer]

8 hours ago, yumeii said:

hiii did anyone get accepted or waitlisted by notre dame? i got put on the waitlist and was wondering how many other ppl got waitlisted/accepted :') it's my top choice so i'm rly hoping to get off the waitlist aaahh (if u plan on attending elsewhere pls let them know bc this wait is killing me T^T)

I'm assuming this is for fiction as they're still interviewing poetry applicants? 

5 hours ago, Renrenrenren said:

me too! Was that the most vague email or what? I read it like 10 times because it didn’t even have anything about being rejected or not going with me, just, “thanks for considering us, it’s competitive”. Sooo wonky lol

It took me five reads and it was the most stream-of-consciousness rejection I've ever read. Then I found out I missed the attached rejection letter. 

17 minutes ago, Chex said:

NYU's funding offer is shit, LOL. They're offering half tuition scholarship. Absolutely not! God, I hope this is not the only acceptance I get. 😭

Oh no Chex, sorry to hear that! NYU is notorious for its ridiculously high tuition...

[writernity]

3 minutes ago, Scribe said:

are you a resident? if so, it amounts to a free ride... almost. 

i, apparently, am being offered dick. 

I am a NY resident, but 25% tuition means I'd still have to pay about 23.5k for the 2 years 😅 and more if I did the extra semester they encourage. Plus whatever it costs to do the summer Southhampton conference, which they don't fully cover. That is NOT a full ride by any means and even putting the full 2 years stipend towards tuition would bring it down to 10.5k, so I'd still have some debt and still have to work for living expenses. It's not a HORRIBLE amount of debt which is why I'm still keeping it in consideration, but it's definitely not ideal.

[Scribe]

17 minutes ago, decayingballads21 said:

I know waitlists are good but for some reason it feels like being a last minute choice to fill a spot rather than being someone they actually rly want in the program. My brain keeps coming to this negative conclusions about it. Can someone make me feel better about waitlist status 😭😭

nope. they sat around reading and commenting and sometimes even arguing. before any selection was made you were in a pool of candidates they wanted. from there they had to make eliminations because there are only so many resources. 

@writernityhow did they make the offer? email? call?

[Hjanep]

31 minutes ago, Chex said:

NYU's funding offer is shit, LOL. They're offering half tuition scholarship. Absolutely not! God, I hope this is not the only acceptance I get. 😭

Do we know what their tuition is? I wonder if anyone is going to slam the door in NYU’s face or if everyone is going to hold out for April to see if they sweeten the deal

[writernity]

7 minutes ago, Scribe said:

@writernityhow did they make the offer? email? call?

Yesterday I got the "acceptance offer pending admissions board review" email I mentioned, and then today I got an email to check my portal where there was a more official acceptance and funding offer!

[decayingballads21]

On 2/26/2024 at 3:30 PM, lychees said:

Just received an email notifying me that I'm waitlisted for University of New Mexico — bringing the total up to three waitlists so far! Here's to hoping that more good news comes to everyone this week. 

Congrats on your waitlist!! I’m also waitlisted here and it’s one of my top programs. I’m curious to know how big their waitlist is and if it’s ranked. I already emailed them thanking them for the update and letting them know I’m very interested. Would it be weird to email again and inquire about the waitlist? I don’t want bother them haha but am definitely wanting to know more. 

[Scribe]

8 minutes ago, writernity said:

I am a NY resident, but 25% tuition means I'd still have to pay about 23.5k for the 2 years 😅 and more if I did the extra semester they encourage. Plus whatever it costs to do the summer Southhampton conference, which they don't fully cover. That is NOT a full ride by any means and even putting the full 2 years stipend towards tuition would bring it down to 10.5k, so I'd still have some debt and still have to work for living expenses. It's not a HORRIBLE amount of debt which is why I'm still keeping it in consideration, but it's definitely not ideal.

you have different info than i do. my math says it's about 14.5 for the two years after the remission but before the stipend. I'm not counting the conference. 

 

[Rixor]

Ugh, now on PC, Chrome browser, this forum keeps trying to download malware just by visiting... I really hope they fix this site soon. Thank goodness my browser keeps blocking the downloads. 

[Scribe]

16 minutes ago, decayingballads21 said:

Congrats on your waitlist!! I’m also waitlisted here and it’s one of my top programs. I’m curious to know how big their waitlist is and if it’s ranked. I already emailed them thanking them for the update and letting them know I’m very interested. Would it be weird to email again and inquire about the waitlist? I don’t want bother them haha but am definitely wanting to know more. 

congratulations! i applied too. i guess another one bites the dust. 

[writernity]

1 minute ago, Scribe said:

you have different info than i do. my math says it's about 14.5 for the two years after the remission but before the stipend. I'm not counting the conference. 

 

The admissions page estimates $9,117.90 a semester for a full-time NY resident, x4 is $36,471.60. The tuition remission is $6500 a year, x2 is $13k. Subtracting that from tuition is $23,471.60 before stipend (which would total another 13k). It does also seem that for the 2024 Spring semester the price has gone up a bit to an estimated $10,043.16 which may stay as high for the Fall- however, in the breakdown it looks like $3k of that is health insurance, so if you can waive that (which I would be able to for at least the first year) the tuition per semester is closer to $7k-- which WOULD be around $14,885 after remission. Not sure if I've got it right, what numbers are you looking at??

[Chex]

47 minutes ago, Scribe said:

you can ask for more but i don't know how that works. i do know 50% leaves a lot to pay for. then there's the roof and food. 

I've heard they could offer more, especially towards April when some people begin to decline offers. It's also possible to leverage one's existing offers to negotiate.

I don't plan to go without a full offer plus stipend. NYC is expensive and I'm not trying to struggle like that.

31 minutes ago, AngusWanderer said:

Oh no Chex, sorry to hear that! NYU is notorious for its ridiculously high tuition...

Yeah, it's rough.

19 minutes ago, Hjanep said:

Do we know what their tuition is? I wonder if anyone is going to slam the door in NYU’s face or if everyone is going to hold out for April to see if they sweeten the deal

No idea yet, but I know it's not cheap. Plus the cost of living there and the cost of moving. Not worth it for me. If I get an offer from one of my remaining schools I'll slam the door in their face pronto! But otherwise, I'd wait to see what changes.

[Saints_]

26 minutes ago, Rixor said:

Ugh, now on PC, Chrome browser, this forum keeps trying to download malware just by visiting... I really hope they fix this site soon. Thank goodness my browser keeps blocking the downloads. 

Same on mobile. We're really out here exposing ourselves to malware in hopes to hear ANYTHING lol 

[Scribe]

3 minutes ago, writernity said:

The admissions page estimates $9,117.90 a semester for a full-time NY resident, x4 is $36,471.60. The tuition remission is $6500 a year, x2 is $13k. Subtracting that from tuition is $23,471.60 before stipend (which would total another 13k). It does also seem that for the 2024 Spring semester the price has gone up a bit to an estimated $10,043.16 which may stay as high for the Fall- however, in the breakdown it looks like $3k of that is health insurance, so if you can waive that (which I would be able to for at least the first year) the tuition per semester is closer to $7k-- which WOULD be around $14,885 after remission. Not sure if I've got it right, what numbers are you looking at??

after stonybrookdotedu

/commcms/sfs/tuition/_documents/1244GRAD.pdf

you would not be full time  46 credits over three years. 

[writernity]

4 minutes ago, Scribe said:

after stonybrookdotedu

/commcms/sfs/tuition/_documents/1244GRAD.pdf

you would not be full time  46 credits over three years. 

Yeah wouldn't it be 46, 12 credits a semester on average as the admissions page says?? it's a 2 year program full time, not 3 years (though you CAN do part time and a lot of people do an extra semester for thesis focus, the credits needed would be the same). Idk what you're looking at differently because I'm referring to the same document in the 2024 calculations I did.

[Scribe]

24 minutes ago, Chex said:

I've heard they could offer more, especially towards April when some people begin to decline offers. It's also possible to leverage one's existing offers to negotiate.

I don't plan to go without a full offer plus stipend. NYC is expensive and I'm not trying to struggle like that.

Yeah, it's rough.

No idea yet, but I know it's not cheap. Plus the cost of living there and the cost of moving. Not worth it for me. If I get an offer from one of my remaining schools I'll slam the door in their face pronto! But otherwise, I'd wait to see what changes.

do you wanna know? let's put it this way, boy are they offering you a lot of money. 

[AngusWanderer]

33 minutes ago, Chex said:

I've heard they could offer more, especially towards April when some people begin to decline offers. It's also possible to leverage one's existing offers to negotiate.

I don't plan to go without a full offer plus stipend. NYC is expensive and I'm not trying to struggle like that.

Yeah, it's rough.

No idea yet, but I know it's not cheap. Plus the cost of living there and the cost of moving. Not worth it for me. If I get an offer from one of my remaining schools I'll slam the door in their face pronto! But otherwise, I'd wait to see what changes.

I guess if anyone declines their fellowship then the pot might be sweetened. I'm just looking into the cost of living in NY and it's a little bit daunting. Chex you can pm me if you want to know more about the details of the funding and moving to NY as an International student. I landed in New York when I was 18, having never been to the States. I only stayed there for a few months, but it was one of my most memorable experiences. 

I'm praying for you and I hope you get a better deal real soon. 

[Scribe]

2 minutes ago, writernity said:

Yeah wouldn't it be 46, 12 credits a semester on average as the admissions page says?? it's a 2 year program full time, not 3 years (though you CAN do part time and a lot of people do an extra semester for thesis focus, the credits needed would be the same). Idk what you're looking at differently because I'm referring to the same document in the 2024 calculations I did.

 

"The time limit for the MFA is three years for full-time study and five years for part-time study."

 I see now it's time "limit". don't know what the fuck that means with respect to full time status. 

I don't see two year program on the admissions page. i do see funding options for first and second year and then another possibility for a third. 

 

Also, I emailed the program director because I couldn't apply until after jan 7 so i wanted to know if funding was actually contingent on that deadline. at least some of the info on that page is wrong.

 

i swear it seems like all these schools are trying to keep shit a secret. 

so, how did they offer the package?

[writernity]

6 minutes ago, Scribe said:

 

"The time limit for the MFA is three years for full-time study and five years for part-time study."

 I see now it's time "limit". don't know what the fuck that means with respect to full time status. 

I don't see two year program on the admissions page. i do see funding options for first and second year and then another possibility for a third. 

 

Also, I emailed the program director because I couldn't apply until after jan 7 so i wanted to know if funding was actually contingent on that deadline. at least some of the info on that page is wrong.

 

i swear it seems like all these schools are trying to keep shit a secret. 

so, how did they offer the package?

Some of my info I might have got from going to the open house, a lot of stuff on the admissions page is definitely not accurate! It also says Jan 7th as the funding deadline in one spot and Jan 1st somewhere else, it's very unclear lmao. It doesn't say years on the page, just that it's average 12 credits for a full time semester (since most courses are 4 credits) and at the open house they said it's usually 2-2.5 years full time. There's definitely a lot of obscurity lol it's so frustrating. If you have any other questions about stuff there I have notes from the open house and can see if I have any answers!

You might've missed my other reply earlier, repasting-- "Yesterday I got the "acceptance offer pending admissions board review" email I mentioned, and then today I got an email to check my portal where there was a more official acceptance and funding offer!" It does also say that the 25% tuition remission can apply to a third year, but not the stipend.

[lychees]

Just received an email notifying me that I'm on the waitlist for University of Idaho — very sweet, kind, and personalized email that offered various ways to get information on the program or get in touch with other professors if I'd like despite not being an acceptance.  

[Scribe]

6 minutes ago, writernity said:

Some of my info I might have got from going to the open house, a lot of stuff on the admissions page is definitely not accurate! It also says Jan 7th as the funding deadline in one spot and Jan 1st somewhere else, it's very unclear lmao. It doesn't say years on the page, just that it's average 12 credits for a full time semester (since most courses are 4 credits) and at the open house they said it's usually 2-2.5 years full time. There's definitely a lot of obscurity lol it's so frustrating. If you have any other questions about stuff there I have notes from the open house and can see if I have any answers!

You might've missed my other reply earlier, repasting-- "Yesterday I got the "acceptance offer pending admissions board review" email I mentioned, and then today I got an email to check my portal where there was a more official acceptance and funding offer!" It does also say that the 25% tuition remission can apply to a third year, but not the stipend.

Well, looks like it’s a thanks but no thanks from me. 
shit. 

[sunnysequoia]

5 hours ago, decayingballads21 said:

I know waitlists are good but for some reason it feels like being a last minute choice to fill a spot rather than being someone they actually rly want in the program. My brain keeps coming to this negative conclusions about it. Can someone make me feel better about waitlist status 😭😭

I can share with you an excerpt from my letter from Ohio State:

"All of us on the faculty here greatly admire your work and would be delighted to have you with us next year should a spot open. The truth is, determining “who gets in” versus “who gets waitlisted” once we have agreed on a group of writers we want to admit is always ridiculously difficult. This is an inexact business (and of course it’s not a “business” at all), and ours is a very small program by design. Please be aware that you are among a distinguished group of writers who received enthusiastic “yes” votes from every one of the relevant faculty."

Being waitlisted really does mean that they want you in the program. They wouldn't waitlist someone they would feel reluctant to admit; they would just reject you instead of wasting their program's funding and faculty's time for 2-3 years on someone they're not enthusiastic about. I'm certain that if any of our waitlists had twice the number of open spots, they would gladly admit us without hesitation.  

[mr. specific]

Got an interview request from University of Miami along with my anticipated rejections from both UT-Austin programs.  In other news, it appears I never sent in the Vanderbilt application fee, so that would explain the lack of response there. Going to be dropping out of Indiana's waitlist today (which I hear is long, but hopefully that helps someone.

Currently at: 3a/ 1w / 1 interviews/ 5 r/ 6p

Trying to decide between Michigan, NYU, and Syracuse. Maybe Miami (if they let me in. For the weather, mostly).

[Srs2024]

A question about visiting programs - I recently had an interview with a program and was offered the opportunity to both visit the campus and speak with a current student, which I am in the process of doing.  They have not accepted me.  I'm hoping this is a sign that they will admit me - have other people been in this position? 

Edited February 29 by Srs2024

[ssuunn]

58 minutes ago, Srs2024 said:

A question about visiting programs - I recently had an interview with a program and was offered the opportunity to both visit the campus and speak with a current student, which I am in the process of doing.  They have not accepted me.  I'm hoping this is a sign that they will admit me - have other people been in this position? 

Are they covering some or all of the travel costs? If so, I think that's a good sign. If not (which they might not even if you are to be admitted lol), then I'd personally wait until I was offered admission. I wouldn't want to fund my own trip somewhere just to not even get in! But it's up to you.