2025 Creative Writing MFA Applicants Forum

[Chex]

23 minutes ago, zaira said:

If it's any consolation, it looks like Vandy only accepted three people in the fiction cohort this year, so those are some rough odds. 

It isn't just this year. Three is their usual number each year. Three in fiction and three in poetry. It's one of the smallest cohorts and lowest acceptance rates. 

[hopeful poet 2025]

Hey! Wanted to pop in and say I just interviewed at Stony Brook, with Julie Sheehan and Christine Kitano. They were both lovely, and the interview was short and sweet. 

We did not talk about funding, but am hoping to get more information on that after a (hopeful) acceptance. 

Congrats to everyone who has gotten interviews and acceptances! & remember, for better or worse, there is lots of news yet to come. 

1A/0W/1R/9P

 

[Mystic_Sunshine]

For those of you are on a second app round. What were your strategies for the 2nd season?

I know that I'm going all doom and gloom pretty early but man. 

[everything bagel lover]

28 minutes ago, Mystic_Sunshine said:

For those of you are on a second app round. What were your strategies for the 2nd season?

I know that I'm going all doom and gloom pretty early but man. 

I think honestly, my apps this round could have been better. I read work from faculty of my top choices before applying and singled out faculty that I wanted to work with which I neglected to do last time. In some SOP's I put this, in some I didn't. Idk how that choice will pan out tbh. I applied to less prestigious programs and most are not guaranteed full funding, and are less popular because of that. Almost all offer funding to most, if not some, students admitted and I'm just hoping that the applicant pool is small enough to bump my chances of funding up. I have a background in teaching so I'm hoping that I'm a strong GTA candidate if they like my work enough to admit me. I'm kind of just hedging my bets.

I waited a couple of years between applying because I wasn't sure how to proceed. I rewrote my SOP entirely, as my last one was pretty bad tbh. I did reuse stories from my previous cycle but they're significantly revised. One has been published so it felt safe to keep in. I'm not sure how I feel rn about my writing sample, as I've said before. In between cycles, I worked more on longer pieces of work and weird shit that hasn't been workshopped so none of my recent work feels strong enough to put in an application. Who knows if any of this will be fruitful. I'm also feeling pessimistic but making a plan to start drafting a new novel in earnest if I don't get in anywhere.

 

Edit: Although I applied for, on paper, less prestigious schools, I'm genuinely excited by all of the programs and would be delighted to get in to any of them. I think more so last time I applied almost exclusively based on reputation and didn't do as much research into the programs as I should have. I also applied to some prestigious ones this time that I'm not really expecting to get in to.

Edited February 12 by everything bagel lover
edit to clarify sorry to ramble lol

[Tinky C. Clown]

6 minutes ago, Mystic_Sunshine said:

For those of you are on a second app round. What were your strategies for the 2nd season?

I know that I'm going all doom and gloom pretty early but man. 

i’m on my second round and i think most people have to do a second round, sorry. i applied to a lot more schools – that’s the biggest intentional change. otherwise the shift comes from having to create a new/stronger sample and having a better grasp on how admissions works. i’ve also now gotten acceptances/interviews at all three of my unfunded safety schools, so don’t be tempted to apply to these just because you feel desperate – they are not worth it. but yeah, second rounds are common and they are not that bad, hate to break it to ya

 

[vilum]

9 minutes ago, Mystic_Sunshine said:

For those of you are on a second app round. What were your strategies for the 2nd season?

I know that I'm going all doom and gloom pretty early but man. 

honestly same. I applied to only five of the best schools because I come from Europe and cannot imagine completely uprooting my life if it's not 100% worth it. not sure how I will go about the second round... the sole thought makes me queasy.

this time I submitted only short stories so I think I will go for a novel excerpt on my second attempt. my SOPs were strong for the two schools for which I was extremely passionate (Brown and NYU) whilst the rest were just okay. I think I just have to get used to the idea of living in a town that is not my cup of tea and apply to more schools!

[DJ Lambchop]

29 minutes ago, Mystic_Sunshine said:

For those of you are on a second app round. What were your strategies for the 2nd season?

I know that I'm going all doom and gloom pretty early but man. 

I stupidly did not workshop my sample with anyone the first time I applied. You never know how blind you are to your own writing faults until you get someone to read your stories. This time I had new stories which I workshopped with two MFA alums and my mom, who used to write articles for a magazine. But honestly, I’m still not expecting an offer anywhere. Maybe a waitlist at best. I’m basically playing the lottery. 

[Mystic_Sunshine]

17 minutes ago, Tinky C. Clown said:

i’m on my second round and i think most people have to do a second round, sorry. i applied to a lot more schools – that’s the biggest intentional change. otherwise the shift comes from having to create a new/stronger sample and having a better grasp on how admissions works. i’ve also now gotten acceptances/interviews at all three of my unfunded safety schools, so don’t be tempted to apply to these just because you feel desperate – they are not worth it. but yeah, second rounds are common and they are not that bad, hate to break it to ya

 

I don't think reapplying would be the worst thing in the world. It's more about the money 

[prufrock_]

22 minutes ago, Mystic_Sunshine said:

For those of you are on a second app round. What were your strategies for the 2nd season?

I know that I'm going all doom and gloom pretty early but man. 

a few things:

the most important: I kept writing, reading, and workshopping. I wrote a new story that got the strongest reactions i've seen, so that now leads my portfolio this year. I reworked the strongest story I submitted last year and that's also in my portfolio.

I checked all my schools this round to make sure the funding they offer covers cost of living in the area. Last year I got into a fully funded program that I turned down cause it didn't cover CoL, which stung. This year if I get an acceptance to anywhere, i know i'm going 100%. The downside of this is that my school list is mostly prestigious long shots.

I increased the schools I applied to from 11 to 17. I started earlier on the apps and gave more individual attention to each school (though the SOP reads mostly boiler plate, except for a couple sentences).

I wrote a new SOP that was less autobiographical and more about my present and future work/plans. I mildly workshopped it with peers and removed the bits that didn't work; the year before my sop felt more like a blog post than a graduate level 'paper'.

I saved as much money as I could; i only want to focus on the MFA for the years i'm in it.

[exvat]

May y'all be at ease. May y'all be at peace. May y'all be kind and gentle with yourselves. 🙏

[zaira]

To be honest this is probably gonna be my one and only year applying. If I had started applying in the 2024 season I'd be open to another round. But as it stands I have other things in my life I want to get rolling on, and I can't keep putting those on hold in the hopes of getting into a highly competitive MFA program. 

I'm alright with it. I acknowledge it's unlikely I'll get accepted on my first try, especially considering the schools I have on my list. I also know that MFAs aren't crucial and I'll still be able to pursue publishing without one. 

[Mystic_Sunshine]

41 minutes ago, everything bagel lover said:

I think honestly, my apps this round could have been better. I read work from faculty of my top choices before applying and singled out faculty that I wanted to work with which I neglected to do last time. In some SOP's I put this, in some I didn't. Idk how that choice will pan out tbh. I applied to less prestigious programs and most are not guaranteed full funding, and are less popular because of that. Almost all offer funding to most, if not some, students admitted and I'm just hoping that the applicant pool is small enough to bump my chances of funding up. I have a background in teaching so I'm hoping that I'm a strong GTA candidate if they like my work enough to admit me. I'm kind of just hedging my bets.

I waited a couple of years between applying because I wasn't sure how to proceed. I rewrote my SOP entirely, as my last one was pretty bad tbh. I did reuse stories from my previous cycle but they're significantly revised. One has been published so it felt safe to keep in. I'm not sure how I feel rn about my writing sample, as I've said before. In between cycles, I worked more on longer pieces of work and weird shit that hasn't been workshopped so none of my recent work feels strong enough to put in an application. Who knows if any of this will be fruitful. I'm also feeling pessimistic but making a plan to start drafting a new novel in earnest if I don't get in anywhere.

 

Edit: Although I applied for, on paper, less prestigious schools, I'm genuinely excited by all of the programs and would be delighted to get in to any of them. I think more so last time I applied almost exclusively based on reputation and didn't do as much research into the programs as I should have. I also applied to some prestigious ones this time that I'm not really expecting to get in to.

Thank you for your response  

I think that is what I should have done. Sought out programs that didn't automatically get recognized as the most prestigious. but then part of me thinks I would have always wondered. 

I also have teaching experience so maybe that is something I will keep in mind if I have to go through another round. I'd also try to work on getting more things published. 

[Sumire11]

56 minutes ago, Mystic_Sunshine said:

For those of you are on a second app round. What were your strategies for the 2nd season?

I know that I'm going all doom and gloom pretty early but man. 

Tried to keep a good mixture of prestige and less talked about schools. But with how this season has been going so far, might not be the best person for advice lmao. 

[exvat]

1 minute ago, zaira said:

To be honest this is probably gonna be my one and only year applying. If I had started applying in the 2024 season I'd be open to another round. But as it stands I have other things in my life I want to get rolling on, and I can't keep putting those on hold in the hopes of getting into a highly competitive MFA program. 

I'm alright with it. I acknowledge it's unlikely I'll get accepted on my first try, especially considering the schools I have on my list. I also know that MFAs aren't crucial and I'll still be able to pursue publishing without one. 

Appreciate this, and similar. Second and probably last cycle for me. Turning 40, recovering from long term illness and loss of my life as I knew it. My writing and routine are already at a high level, so I can keep this up and I'm still very much Doing Poetry. This is the perfect and perhaps last time in my life to do another graduate program—and boy would I like that—but it ain't in my hands. If Major Jackson or Peter Gizzi call and draft me, amazing; if not, then I keep on doing what I've been doing for 39.8 years, and intensively focusing on for the last 1.5—putting one foot in front of the other. Living my life, touching grass, and being face to face with other people.

[seezeegee]

While still not having heard from a single school is making me want to scream, I also want to say that it's simply too early to give up. Some people don't get accepted anywhere -- until they get into their top program, or even a very good program that is super excited to have them. Somewhere, there is a perfect program for you, and if you're willing to reapply, maybe next year will be your year. But this year's draft has only just begun!

[everything bagel lover]

3 minutes ago, seezeegee said:

While still not having heard from a single school is making me want to scream, I also want to say that it's simply too early to give up. Some people don't get accepted anywhere -- until they get into their top program, or even a very good program that is super excited to have them. Somewhere, there is a perfect program for you, and if you're willing to reapply, maybe next year will be your year. But this year's draft has only just begun!

I agree, it's easy to be disheartened but it is early yet!! 

[exvat]

On 2/10/2025 at 2:52 PM, exvat said:

Will another tattoo magically get me into an MFA program? No. Will it reduce my suffering while I wait? No.

Will it be a good distraction while I wait? Awww yeah, better get two ✌️

This was absolutely the right call 🤙 

[womanonline]

anybody else just reading their samples and SOPs over and over again while they wait for responses? some days i’ll read them and be like yes, this is the one. some days i’ll read them and wonder what the hell i was thinking

[bbeacham]

Can anyone who has had an interview talk about what it was like? What questions were asked in the interview? How did you feel going into it and at the end?

Thank you!

[Allrich90]

Just got rejected for an MSt Creative Writing in Cambridge...

[DisplayNamesAreTheWorst]

Got an interview at Oxford's MsT... nervous! 

[Tinky C. Clown]

5 minutes ago, DisplayNamesAreTheWorst said:

Got an interview at Oxford's MsT... nervous! 

oxford mississippi or oxford oxford?

[runlolarun]

1 hour ago, bbeacham said:

Can anyone who has had an interview talk about what it was like? What questions were asked in the interview? How did you feel going into it and at the end?

Thank you!

I just did an interview this morning. They did most of the talking. I was asked why I wanted to attend their program and what I was currently reading.

I applied for poetry, but my answer to current reading was a work of fiction. And they were like, uhh, so what about poetry...? So I guess they were looking for an in-genre response, lol.

[pananoprodigy]

Does anybody know anything about Boise State or Northern Michigan University? I applied to them very last minute when I was panicking and wanting to add more apps but I don't usually hear too much about either one on the forums. Just curious if anybody has intel. 

[DisplayNamesAreTheWorst]

7 minutes ago, Tinky C. Clown said:

oxford mississippi or oxford oxford?

Oxford Oxford