2025 Creative Writing MFA Applicants Forum

[Mystic_Sunshine]

3 hours ago, everything bagel lover said:

I only looked up schools I’ve applied to (UNLV, Boulder, Wyoming) and Boulder goes in break Next week and the others go on break end of March. This is one instance where the Google AI is actually helpful in that it just pulls up the schools current academic calendars. 
Hopefully this isn’t a silent, torturous week 

I looked up Ole Miss and there spring break is next week so I'm hoping that means it could be this week. Same for boulder. 

Maybe certain programs notify over spring break? Idk 

[analog_e]

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    🕯️ Brown Acceptance 🕯️

 

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[Tinky C. Clown]

13 minutes ago, Mystic_Sunshine said:

I looked up Ole Miss and there spring break is next week so I'm hoping that means it could be this week. Same for boulder. 

Maybe certain programs notify over spring break? Idk 

i feel like programs probably would notify over spring break, tbh. it’s getting towards mid-march and i feel like most major places want to be done by then 

[Mystic_Sunshine]

3 minutes ago, Tinky C. Clown said:

i feel like programs probably would notify over spring break, tbh. it’s getting towards mid-march and i feel like most major places want to be done by then 

Good point. I would think places would want to go ahead and get offers out for waitlist/April 15th resolution if they are part of it. 

 

[spewilicious]

5 hours ago, ksiezniczka.monisia said:

So, I got accepted to Alaska at Fairbanks, which is great, BUT - waitlisted for TA (and from what I see on draft, so did everybody else), BUT their TA seems... pathetic. They potentially offer 50% tuition remission, so I'd still have to chip in, and less than $25/h with teaching load at 15h/week. So, with such a teaching load AND with classes, AND with writing, there's no way I could keep a job. And I'd have to live off $375/week. And still pay half the tuition. So, sounds great, but does it?

Hi, my best friend is currently in the second semester of his MFA at UAF. He was originally waitlisted for TAship, and then got it. If you'd like, I can give you his email, and you can talk to him about what it's actually like to live, attend, and work up there.

[Tinky C. Clown]

24 minutes ago, Mystic_Sunshine said:

Good point. I would think places would want to go ahead and get offers out for waitlist/April 15th resolution if they are part of it. 

 

yeah. also i figure that reading applications and deliberating is most of the work compared to actually sending out decisions, so i think spring break is still free game 

[Hjanep]

I feel like there was a lot of action during Feb break so spring break shouldn’t slow them down? 
 

I haven’t heard a peep since my Michigan rejection on 2/21…howwwwww

[momeraths]

Trying to divert some of my "staring at my phone, email, and the spreadsheet" energy into actually doing some writing today. We'll see how it goes lol

[saintjdog]

How many people are in Brown's cohort roughly? Esp their fiction cohort? I've had a hard time finding this info anywhere

[Lady Gladys]

4 minutes ago, saintjdog said:

How many people are in Brown's cohort roughly? Esp their fiction cohort? I've had a hard time finding this info anywhere

I just checked this a few days ago. I think the number for fiction is 5.

EDIT: Just looked it up to be sure:

In the past few years, the department has received between 900 and 1,050 applications. This year, the department anticipates offering admission to five fiction writers, five poets, and two candidates who apply to pursue work through the digital and cross-disciplinary track. 

Edited Tuesday at 05:21 PM by Lady Gladys

[pananoprodigy]

First UNLV rejection on the spreadsheet, for those who applied there 

Edited Tuesday at 05:20 PM by pananoprodigy

[KennyK]

5 minutes ago, pananoprodigy said:

First UNLV rejection on the spreadsheet, for those who applied there 

Have there been anymore updates for Riverside? I know there’s been 1 fiction and one NF posted

[Tinky C. Clown]

1 minute ago, KennyK said:

Have there been anymore updates for Riverside? I know there’s been 1 fiction and one NF posted

no

[analog_e]

I've been writing poetry and reading Infinite Jest and playing fiddle relentlessly on top of midterm assignments trying to keep my mind occupied and it's not working 😭 Brother, I just want to know...why is the only program to which I applied one of the last to notify

Edited Tuesday at 06:17 PM by analog_e

[ksiezniczka.monisia]

1 hour ago, spewilicious said:

Hi, my best friend is currently in the second semester of his MFA at UAF. He was originally waitlisted for TAship, and then got it. If you'd like, I can give you his email, and you can talk to him about what it's actually like to live, attend, and work up there.

Would love that, thank you

[pananoprodigy]

15 minutes ago, KennyK said:

Have there been anymore updates for Riverside? I know there’s been 1 fiction and one NF posted

Just those two so far!

[ksiezniczka.monisia]

I'm still waiting for NWP, Texas State, and Kansas University. I wanna scream

[smallchange]

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    🕯️ Hunter interview 🕯️

 

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[obvswithoatmilk]

laughing at myself because my “word” for 2024 was “patience,” and my word for 2025 is “intuition,” and here i am, constantly refreshing everything and wondering why decisions are taking so long!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i’m still waiting for CNF from nyu, washu, depaul, and uchicago’s MAPH program.

 

it’s crazy how much anxiety i’ve experienced in the waiting processing compared to the draining, seemingly never ending application process. manifesting a week that brings clarity for everyone!!!

Edited Tuesday at 07:10 PM by obvswithoatmilk
adding schools i’m waiting on

[prufrock_]

if last years draft accurate (and i don't think it is -- programs appear to be a week behind relatively), i should be hearing from my last 7 schools this week. I'm excited to get a definitive answer; my lease is expiring in two months and I need to either renew or not by april 1st!

[smallchange]

I am surprised to hear of people getting scholarships/funding at NYU. I didn't even consider NYU because I can't afford private school tuition for graduate school but I'm curious if there are other non-funded programs which can become funded on the dl...doesn't seem like Columbia is very generous. 

[rapunzel]

On 2/28/2025 at 8:39 AM, Hjanep said:

FWIW they’re in my workshop group and are so amazing and I could see how their voice would stand out in a pile of 1000 apps. It’s actually been really helpful to know their work and watch this shake out because I’m like “yep that’s so unique and not something anyone else could write” so I get why seeing other people’s successful apps wouldn’t be THAT helpful to guide what we do going forward 

wanted to bring this back and ask, like, unique in terms of form? setting? culture? character? something else? i think in my own work my form at least tends to be relatively straightforward, and i guess i would want to know if some of these schools are looking for something else so that i'd know they're not a good fit for me lol

Edited Tuesday at 07:49 PM by rapunzel

[exvat]

16 minutes ago, smallchange said:

I am surprised to hear of people getting scholarships/funding at NYU. I didn't even consider NYU because I can't afford private school tuition for graduate school but I'm curious if there are other non-funded programs which can become funded on the dl...doesn't seem like Columbia is very generous. 

The standard acceptance package at NYU is a half-tuition scholarship, so two years would cost roughly $40k total in tuition/fees. Gotta make at least $30k to survive semi-ascetic in NYC tho.

[smallchange]

Just now, exvat said:

The standard acceptance package at NYU is a half-tuition scholarship, so two years would cost roughly $40k total in tuition/fees. Gotta make at least $30k to survive semi-ascetic in NYC tho.

insane.....

[Hjanep]

7 minutes ago, rapunzel said:

wanted to bring this back and ask, like, unique in terms of form? setting? culture? character? something else? i think in my own work my form at least tends to be relatively straightforward, and i guess i would want to know if some of these schools are looking for something else so that i'd know they're not a good fit for me lol

It’s honestly hard to dissect and say “well this character evolution combined with this precise language approach generates this effect which is probably appealing” or anything like that. I would equate it to reading the beginning of Luster by Raven Leilani and perking up and thinking “wow this is so different and not something I have thought about before!” Not that it’s the same subject matter, but I would say that is closer to my interpretation of an experience of reading these stories. Again, it’s not particularly helpful to have specifics because we’re talking about art and how that art is connecting with readers so what works for one writer isn’t going to work for another. 
 

I listened to a George Saunders interview where he talked about mimicking Hemingway in his early writerly days and realizing he really wasn’t Hemingway. And also think about what a bummer it would be if he hadn’t started doing his own weird thing that we all now know and love. I think we all need to just figure out what the thing is that works for our writing and although there’s much to be admired in other people’s writing too, in this instance it isn’t going to generate a fix that will get us in next time.