2025 Creative Writing MFA Applicants Forum

[womanonline]

19 minutes ago, rapunzel said:

someone posted an iowa acceptance!

Whoever said Iowa might drop even this weekend was so right

[Lady Gladys]

1 minute ago, frazzled said:

yes-- I hear you, that's another consideration-- that's a tough one--but she may be pleasantly surprised at the mentorship/connection she might develop at the fully funded opportunity. I also think there's something to be said about going where someone recognizes you, sees your writing, and feels it's a good fit--it's good to be wanted!

I am out of reactions, but thank you for this advice!

[Tinky C. Clown]

1 minute ago, womanonline said:

Whoever said Iowa might drop even this weekend was so right

reminder for everyone (ie myself) that iowa calls stretch out over a few days, at least

[rapunzel]

1 minute ago, Tinky C. Clown said:

reminder for everyone (ie myself) that iowa calls stretch out over a few days, at least

they do? i thought everyone admitted last year (for one genre) got their calls/voicemails on the same day, and only if they missed them did they receive their acceptance another day

[Tinky C. Clown]

9 minutes ago, rapunzel said:

they do? i thought everyone admitted last year (for one genre) got their calls/voicemails on the same day, and only if they missed them did they receive their acceptance another day

there were calls on multiple days last year i'm pretty sure

[rapunzel]

1 minute ago, Tinky C. Clown said:

there were calls on multiple days last year i'm pretty sure

i think that might be a different between genres? everyone for fiction received a call or at least a voicemail on the 20th last year (some international folks without american numbers received emails to set up zoom meetings) but poetry might have been a different day

[Tinky C. Clown]

7 minutes ago, rapunzel said:

i think that might be a different between genres? everyone for fiction received a call or at least a voicemail on the 20th last year (some international folks without american numbers received emails to set up zoom meetings) but poetry might have been a different day

oh maybe they were just reported later, but it's showing different report dates on the spreadsheet. i'm not giving it up until i see a few reports

[DJ Lambchop]

8 minutes ago, rapunzel said:

i think that might be a different between genres? everyone for fiction received a call or at least a voicemail on the 20th last year (some international folks without american numbers received emails to set up zoom meetings) but poetry might have been a different day

I feel like we would’ve seen more in the draft if everyone got their calls today, especially given the size of the cohort 

[rapunzel]

1 minute ago, Tinky C. Clown said:

oh maybe they were just reported later, but it's showing different report dates on the spreadsheet. i'm not giving it up until i see a few reports

hm there was someone who reported on 2/23 saying that they received their voicemail on the 20th but only had the conversation on the 23rd over zoom? but i guess it would take a while for one person to call 25 applicants...

 

also in general @everyone as a ballpark, how soon is too soon to reach out a second time to a school that's waitlisted you to express continued interest?

[nikolairostov]

I don’t have Facebook so can’t access the draft - do we know which genre received the Iowa acceptance?

[MegHe]

1 minute ago, nikolairostov said:

I don’t have Facebook so can’t access the draft - do we know which genre received the Iowa acceptance?

Fiction

[KennyK]

For the veterans here! Is it possible that a school that does interviews would call over the weekend the schedule them? Or is it mainly during the week?

[snottlebie]

17 minutes ago, rapunzel said:

hm there was someone who reported on 2/23 saying that they received their voicemail on the 20th but only had the conversation on the 23rd over zoom? but i guess it would take a while for one person to call 25 applicants...

 

also in general @everyone as a ballpark, how soon is too soon to reach out a second time to a school that's waitlisted you to express continued interest?

Might be too soon. Probably best to wait for a time where they could give you more info - mid to late March earliest. Nothing will have changed from when you first contacted them because people are waiting for all their offers. 

[Mystic_Sunshine]

1 hour ago, frazzled said:

yes-- I hear you, that's another consideration-- that's a tough one--but she may be pleasantly surprised at the mentorship/connection she might develop at the fully funded opportunity. I also think there's something to be said about going where someone recognizes you, sees your writing, and feels it's a good fit--it's good to be wanted!

Just to add on to this conversation with my own thoughts -

I think most people dream of getting into one of the most prestigious programs. However, the beautiful thing about an MFA is that the work that you go on to do is mostly dependent on you. No degree will ever be able to define the type of writer you become or even the career you have. And your writing life is so much longer than the MFA. 

Funding is important. Location can also be important and impact accepting/denying a program. However, mentorship can be found at both presistigious and less prestigious programs. 

For me, the things I'm looking in for a program are mentorship and an active literary community. I've received zero acceptances (but one round 2) and I'm really super excited about that program because I think it has the things I'm looking for. And they are excited about me (unless it turns into a rejection this will age badly) and that makes me excited about their program. I think my sample could have been improved but I truly put forth work that represents me as a writer and having a program be eager about that makes me feel like I could thrive there. 

You don't have to say yes to ANY program (or your friend in this case) but I think deciding why you want an MFA and if a program can provide that are important and that isn't always linked to prestige. 

But even with all that being said, if Iowa wants to give me that call now it'd be greatly appreciated

[AyvaM]

hiya lovely people!🌻 three things:

 

1] i had a smol cry this morning when i checked Draft and saw my inbox was notably absent of a helen zell email. but, as it turns out, i am the source of my own misery and i just needed to wait a few hours for that shiny beautiful waitlist email to arrive!!! [still full of so much joy, even if it's an imperfect result]

2] do we know roughly how many applicants per genre iowa takes in every year? i couldn't seem to find the answer and i wanna prepare myself now so i don't work myself into any more of a tizzy about late notifications.

3] UCI gave contact info for some current students so i could ask questions but does anyone have any advice for what kinds of real and practical questions i should ask? I'm already very familiar with location/housing/cost of living type things [LA native] and so literally all my brain keeps wanting to ask them is: hi are you happy?? do you like each other?? Which is very important but like, not the only important thing. [Sorry for a long one today] 🌻🌻

Oh! Also huge fucking congrats to everyone accepted/waitlisted at North Carolina, Iowa, Michigan, Boston, Arkansas...............god so many schools just announced okay well just a big messy congrats to you all! Y'all did that shit. 🔥

 

1a/2w/2r/4p

Edited 12 hours ago by AyvaM

[Tinky C. Clown]

9 minutes ago, AyvaM said:

hiya lovely people!🌻 three things:

 

1] i had a smol cry this morning when i checked Draft and saw my inbox was notably absent of a helen zell email. but, as it turns out, i am the source of my own misery and i just needed to wait a few hours for that shiny beautiful waitlist email to arrive!!! [still full of so much joy, even if it's an imperfect result]

2] do we know roughly how many applicants per genre iowa takes in every year? i couldn't seem to find the answer and i wanna prepare myself now so i don't work myself into any more of a tizzy about late notifications.

3] UCI gave contact info for some current students so i could ask questions but does anyone have any advice for what kinds of real and practical questions i should ask? I'm already very familiar with location/housing/cost of living type things [LA native] and so literally all my brain keeps wanting to ask them is: hi are you happy?? do you like each other?? Which is very important but like, not the only important thing. [Sorry for a long one today] 🌻🌻

Oh! Also huge fucking congrats to everyone accepted/waitlisted at North Carolina, Iowa, Michigan, Boston, Arkansas...............god so many schools just announced okay well just a big messy congrats to you all! Y'all did that shit. 🔥

 

1a/2w/2r/4p

25 per year per genre i believe 

[Lady Gladys]

33 minutes ago, Mystic_Sunshine said:

 But even with all that being said, if Iowa wants to give me that call now it'd be greatly appreciated

I hear you!!

Thank you for the advice. I will make sure she is thinking about mentorship.

[greenmoss]

Long time lurker here. First application cycle for fiction! Do we think Boston is done sending out rejections? I didn't see any acceptances/waitlists from here/the Draft

[nikolairostov]

1 hour ago, MegHe said:

Fiction

Oof. Okay, thank you. My name is very late in the alphabet so I’m praying they’re still making calls tonight or else left off for tomorrow/Monday lol

[smallchange]

6 hours ago, Catpaw said:

So. This is true, all other things equal. However. I have a friend who applied with only a novel excerpt, and they got into one of the most selective programs and were also waitlisted at two others (with a guarantee of getting off the waitlist for one of them).

I think there were a number of factors that made my friend's application really work for the schools who admitted them. And, all other things equal: being able to submit two stories, or a novel excerpt + a story, does up your chances a lot. A couple of MFA professors have expressed their hesitations on social media about novel excerpts, since an excerpt doesn't reliably show them whether an applicant can 'land the plane' with endings, so to speak. So including at least one short story is a way to say "oh I absolutely can land this plane, check this out, vroom vroom" et cetera.

But if you feel that your stories are a notable caliber below what you're able to do at novel length, and that your novel writing is your strongest by far—submit the novel!

I don't think my friend would have gotten into any school with their short stories at the time. Their novel-in-progress was a caliber above. And yes, their novel excerpt still  got them rejected from a ton of schools, but it also really impressed a couple others, and that's all it takes to get in. You just need to impress one.

I'm glad to hear someone else was stressed out by the 40 page limit....Iowa's 80 page limit made me feel like I could actually get across the different genres I write in (psychological realism and surrealism/magical realism) without just being like "hey trust me on this lol" but we'll see if that worked. I actually felt more strongly about the stories than the novel excerpt but the novel was what I felt like I could "pitch" if that makes sense - I know it has a strong hook and it's the most personal work. I probably should have thought less about that aspect of things, but that's where I was at at the time. I come from a film background and was working at a PR firm at the time these were due, so I was thinking about the process through perhaps a different professional lens than I should have....

I'm sorry about your rejections. Choosing what to submit was the most stressful part of the process for me and it sucks that some forms just don't lend themselves as well to this process. I had lunch with a prof who wrote me a letter of rec today who told me many of her former students have applied two or three times to these programs - which of course we all know but it's always validating to hear how common it is that very talented and qualified people get rejected. 

 

 

[smallchange]

1 hour ago, Mystic_Sunshine said:

Just to add on to this conversation with my own thoughts -

I think most people dream of getting into one of the most prestigious programs. However, the beautiful thing about an MFA is that the work that you go on to do is mostly dependent on you. No degree will ever be able to define the type of writer you become or even the career you have. And your writing life is so much longer than the MFA. 

Funding is important. Location can also be important and impact accepting/denying a program. However, mentorship can be found at both presistigious and less prestigious programs. 

For me, the things I'm looking in for a program are mentorship and an active literary community. I've received zero acceptances (but one round 2) and I'm really super excited about that program because I think it has the things I'm looking for. And they are excited about me (unless it turns into a rejection this will age badly) and that makes me excited about their program. I think my sample could have been improved but I truly put forth work that represents me as a writer and having a program be eager about that makes me feel like I could thrive there. 

You don't have to say yes to ANY program (or your friend in this case) but I think deciding why you want an MFA and if a program can provide that are important and that isn't always linked to prestige. 

But even with all that being said, if Iowa wants to give me that call now it'd be greatly appreciated

I can only add based off of my undergrad experience but I will say - I went to a very well-known, prestigious film school and found it very difficult to do the kind of work I wanted to do. Undergrad is hugely different from grad school, but I think at any prestigious institution you'll run into the big fish small pond problem. At a lesser-known school, depending on the school, you'll likely find less ego in the faculty, potentially better mentorship, and less competition for certain opportunities. I regretted a lot of my undergrad and beat myself up for not "making the most of it" when I could, but a few years out of school my friends who went to smaller, less prestigious schools are the people I know who are still making films! 

MFA's are different - you're going to have an intimate cohort anywhere funded, and the work is much more solitary. However, I think there are many merits to non-top 10 schools in any discipline that people often overlook. And the ego and pressure of going somewhere that's considered the best of the best is real - for faculty and students. Being free of that can be very liberating, imo

[everything bagel lover]

1 hour ago, AyvaM said:

hiya lovely people!🌻 three things:

 

1] i had a smol cry this morning when i checked Draft and saw my inbox was notably absent of a helen zell email. but, as it turns out, i am the source of my own misery and i just needed to wait a few hours for that shiny beautiful waitlist email to arrive!!! [still full of so much joy, even if it's an imperfect result]

2] do we know roughly how many applicants per genre iowa takes in every year? i couldn't seem to find the answer and i wanna prepare myself now so i don't work myself into any more of a tizzy about late notifications.

3] UCI gave contact info for some current students so i could ask questions but does anyone have any advice for what kinds of real and practical questions i should ask? I'm already very familiar with location/housing/cost of living type things [LA native] and so literally all my brain keeps wanting to ask them is: hi are you happy?? do you like each other?? Which is very important but like, not the only important thing. [Sorry for a long one today] 🌻🌻

Oh! Also huge fucking congrats to everyone accepted/waitlisted at North Carolina, Iowa, Michigan, Boston, Arkansas...............god so many schools just announced okay well just a big messy congrats to you all! Y'all did that shit. 🔥

 

1a/2w/2r/4p

Holy shit congratulations!!!!

[gordonandwafflesandmrblik]

I can’t see the Facebook draft, can anybody please update how many Iowa acceptances have been reported 🙏

[Tinky C. Clown]

2 minutes ago, gordonandwafflesandmrblik said:

I can’t see the Facebook draft, can anybody please update how many Iowa acceptances have been reported 🙏

still one

[riskerofjoy]

hey there! been lurking around here for a couple of days and finally made an account. just wanted to say good luck to all of the folks still waiting, hope + light to anyone who received a rejection/rejections, and congrats to those who’ve gotten good news! just got waitlisted for poetry at Arkansas today, and i am excited/relieved/terrified/anxious/waiting lol. i’ve also gotten two rejections and am waiting to hear back from four more programs. this is my first time applying, so not sure what to expect. fingers crossed!