2025 Creative Writing MFA Applicants Forum

[momeraths]

Hoping that Oregon is just taking their sweet time lovingly hand-crafting each acceptance email 

[FFFRANK]

Camden really needs to stop sending me more promotion emails 😭

[Hjanep]

36 minutes ago, tomat0tomat0 said:

been really quiet for me for so long, havent heard anything official since michigan on the 21st feb ?!

SAME. DAY TWELVE NO NEWS. NINE P

[Hank Moody]

36 minutes ago, FFFRANK said:

Camden really needs to stop sending me more promotion emails 😭

I swear to god! The worst part is that the subject lines always make it sound like it's good news.

[thelovelyunkown]

30 minutes ago, Tuxedocat said:

Do you have English profs who can write you letters? I think most programs only ask that a few recommenders speak to your writing. One of my recommenders was very familiar with my poetry and could speak to my work. My other two recommenders this round were English literature profs. One is a poet who had read my poems and given feedback (had nothing to do with class). The other hadn’t read my poetry but I took two classes with him. I did really well in their classes and thought highly of my recommenders. Some programs ask that recommenders speak to your ability to teach and succeed in grad school, and I thought they could do that well. 

General consensus I have heard is that LORs are usually just vibe checks to make sure you are a decent person. You should definitely have at least 1 person who is familiar with your writing. I don’t think you need all 3 to be about your creative writing. However, please consult the website for programs where you might apply: they usually outline what they want to get from the LORs which can help guide who you choose as a recommender. 

Glad to hear they seem more like vibe checks. I took four semesters of english/writing courses during my undergrad but only had two professors. I got As in both of their classes and received really great feedback from both. Unfortunately, only one of them was willing to write me a recommendation. I was expecting a rejection from the one who declined (they are very accomplished and it had been a couple years since I took their class) and I canʻt picture them being willing to write one for next round either. Hopefully it all works out! 

[ssuunn]

1 hour ago, FFFRANK said:

Are all acceptances sent on the same day? I guess I can consider myself rejected.

Waitlists follow after the initial offers, don't lose all hope yet! I think someone last year got waitlisted like 3-4 days after initial offers.

[smallchange]

5 hours ago, fakepoet said:

Yeah, there's a handful of fully-funded/stipended fellowships that include free health insurance etc etc and everyone else gets the 50% off tuition/guaranteed teaching position package. It just felt unnecessary to me, especially given the size of the program. Probably ~15-20 people per genre-specific cohort each year? They definitely help you out more than, say, Columbia, but yes, it absolutely attracts a certain type of person. My friend who got into NYU with one of the fully funded packages this year was offered a $35k stipend. Love her to death and she deserves it but giving one person in your program $70k over two years and others nothing is just strange in my opinion. Creates an unnecessarily inequitable social environment. This is why I was leery of mixed-funding programs this time around.

Yeah, def attracts a certain type of person. All of this is obviously my opinion and said opinion is colored by the way my time in the program ended, but the NYU program is definitely not for everyone. If you want to be a literary hot girl in NYC, NYU is definitely the school for you, but I am not and will never be, lol. There are lots of people who are very good at what they do and others who are not. There are many talented people who decline NYU's offers because they can't afford the tuition, even with the 50% discount and teaching opportunities. So I think they do end up admitting some dodgy people who just pay their way. The Palestine thing was crazy because I got snitched on by another guy in my poetry cohort. He is apparently kind of a social pariah there now and nobody talks to him, but the fact remains that one of us is banned from the mf property and the other will graduate with an mf A. Lmao. Also his poetry is mid. I am kind of doxxing myself here but I honestly don't care because this is part of the downside of a big cohort and people should know this. You can't know everyone's true intentions and some people are fucking weirdos. He weaponized the political environment at NYU against me after sitting in workshop with me for a semester. Keep in mind that I am early/mid twenties, and he's in his thirties. The fact that he did that after learning very intimate details about my life in workshop kinda stunned me, and is a big part of why nobody talks to him now. I thought we were peers, he thought I was a crazy little girl he needed to tattle on. Thankfully, none of you will be at NYU with him, because he graduates this spring. His debut will sell ten copies and the only buyer will be his mother.

They also rehired Alex Dimitrov after a significant portion of the students in the program petitioned for him to be fired but that's none of my business xoxoxo

ETA: thank you for the congrats haha. Sorry forgot to say that cuz I got too busy going off on this tangent. I agree, it's a bummer what happened but ultimately I will find a better place

This is crazy goddamn. Glad you're getting out of there. I didn't want to stereotype but I did suspect that "certain type of people" might refer to aspiring literary it-girls and backstabbing mid poets (aka rich mommy and daddy). Ofc I'm sure there are many exceptions (@exvat) but wow. Best of luck wherever you end up! Sounds like you could write some great satire if you ever attempt it

[exvat]

38 minutes ago, smallchange said:

This is crazy goddamn. Glad you're getting out of there. I didn't want to stereotype but I did suspect that "certain type of people" might refer to aspiring literary it-girls and backstabbing mid poets (aka rich mommy and daddy). Ofc I'm sure there are many exceptions (@exvat) but wow. Best of luck wherever you end up! Sounds like you could write some great satire if you ever attempt it

🙏❤️

[zgirl]

I was accepted into Sarah Lawerence yesterday with some funding. I assume I was rejected from NYU, but I am wondering if anyone has heard from the University of Houston.

[essentialflowers]

waiting on wyoming 😭

(why does that sound like a cool novel title)  

[exvat]

1 hour ago, zgirl said:

I was accepted into Sarah Lawerence yesterday with some funding. I assume I was rejected from NYU, but I am wondering if anyone has heard from the University of Houston.

Meanwhile, congrats on SL!

[thelovelyunkown]

2 hours ago, zgirl said:

I was accepted into Sarah Lawerence yesterday with some funding. I assume I was rejected from NYU, but I am wondering if anyone has heard from the University of Houston.

Congrats! If you want any insight into life at SLC let me know. I went there for part of my undergrad.

[nauseated]

I have only 2 programs left - NWP and Brown. Assumed NWP a soft reject because people reported waitlists. Then I remembered JHU never replied to me so I have 3! out of 4 programs left. This is a lot of ominousness, especially because I've made my peace with a sweep of rejections. Very appropriately named myself nauseated here since I haven't been feeling much else lately

[fakepoet]

15 hours ago, suitcase 1234 said:

wait SOOO alarming thank you so much for sharing. you deserve way better!!! also I think I may be out of the loop, but what's the controversy w/ Alex dimitrov if you don't mind me asking?

Alex is a noted sex pest who has come onto both his graduate and undergraduate students. I can name multiple male students of his whom he's tried to initiate sexual shit with. There are also rumors about him "flirting" with teenage boys but I feel gross even alleging that in writing. He is genuinely just super inappropriate with his students. I never took his class because I was never a fan of his stuff, but apparently I dodged a bullet. His NYU classes were always at half capacity bc nobody wanted to be in his classroom lol, partially bc of this but also because I haven't heard m/any good things about his teaching style either. I have a friend who took his classes as an undergraduate at Columbia and he would always tell her weird things about his anorexia and how he wasn't eating bc he wanted to be skinny? Why are you sharing that information with a twenty year old girl as a forty year old man. His brain is full of holes from Floridian and Parisian coke. Like people legit signed a petition for him to be fired, he's that bad.

[fakepoet]

12 hours ago, smallchange said:

This is crazy goddamn. Glad you're getting out of there. I didn't want to stereotype but I did suspect that "certain type of people" might refer to aspiring literary it-girls and backstabbing mid poets (aka rich mommy and daddy). Ofc I'm sure there are many exceptions (@exvat) but wow. Best of luck wherever you end up! Sounds like you could write some great satire if you ever attempt it

 

11 hours ago, exvat said:

🙏❤️

 

15 hours ago, exvat said:

Thanks so much for sharing your experience, and I'm really glad you have the larger perspective you do. I commend your strength, resolve, and levity. And am SO happy that you have better options available to you!

NYU is my only realistic offer, and I will almost certainly accept. So any and all intel/hot goss is appreciated🙏

15 hours ago, likes birds said:

Oh no, I'm so sorry to hear about your experience with NYU. That's absolutely indefensible. 

I was wondering how long after your interview with Hunter did you receive your acceptance letter? I just interviewed with them for fiction today, and figured it might be a while before I heard anything. Poetry and fiction could be on different timelines, so maybe not relevant, but I was curious. 

Okay sorry for double posting, I finally figured out how to multi quote on here. Thank you all so much for your kindness. I really appreciate it. And a satire is far from off the table tbh. @exvat I am very happy to talk to you about the program in any capacity that might be helpful to you—feel free to hmu at any point!! 

As far as the Hunter interview, they interviewed me on a Monday night and sent the letter Tuesday afternoon. Prayers up you get your letter today!

14 hours ago, Scribe said:

A nice way to remind them about the resolution is to ask if this is possibly a typo. I do recall Hunter being criticized in the past for having an early deadline. They know damned well not all of the results are back. 
I also want to put out there that at 11 59 on the 13th you can accept and if you get into Michigan, cancel the acceptance.  They know what they've done. 

Thank you—unfortunately I think I've already blown my cover here because I asked if I could visit before the 13th so I could have more time before the 14th deadline. I'm gonna do a little more poking around about the 4/15 res but yeah, worst case scenario I'll accept and if something else comes up that offers more security, I'll bite the bullet and be like heyyyyy guys nvm. Across-the-board rejections from this point onwards would make my life easier tbh.

Hope everyone has a lovely day filled with good news!

[Nauna]

I don't suppose anyone on here has reached out to Pittsburgh for an update? They sent that letter about the pause to applicants on 2/27, but Forbes posted an article on 2/28 that Pittsburgh had resumed admissions. 

[Mystic_Sunshine]

3 minutes ago, Nauna said:

I don't suppose anyone on here has reached out to Pittsburgh for an update? They sent that letter about the pause to applicants on 2/27, but Forbes posted an article on 2/28 that Pittsburgh had resumed admissions. 

Tbh I'm assuming if they didn't interview then they weren't actually considering those applicants. I got the letter too but im thinking they probably already have their shortlist. 

[Nauna]

5 minutes ago, Mystic_Sunshine said:

Tbh I'm assuming if they didn't interview then they weren't actually considering those applicants. I got the letter too but im thinking they probably already have their shortlist. 

Sorry, I should have noted that I did have an interview on 2/7. I just wanted to check in to see if anyone here had emailed them before I try to check in with them.

[Mystic_Sunshine]

1 minute ago, Nauna said:

Sorry, I should have noted that I did have an interview on 2/7. I just wanted to check in to see if anyone here had emailed them before I try to check in with them.

Oh sorry!!! Congrats

Best of luck!

 

[Nauna]

5 minutes ago, Mystic_Sunshine said:

Oh sorry!!! Congrats

Best of luck!

 

You too! xo

[GhostOfHermann]

1 hour ago, Nauna said:

I don't suppose anyone on here has reached out to Pittsburgh for an update? They sent that letter about the pause to applicants on 2/27, but Forbes posted an article on 2/28 that Pittsburgh had resumed admissions. 

I did email them on Tuesday asking the question if that email update went to all applicants, or if it should be taken as a sign of hope, or if there was any information they may be able to provide. It was short and very polite, but I have not received a response from them. If I do, then I will share anything I can share.

[HalBear]

I see a rejection on GradCafe's results tabs for Tennesee for Poetry.. The spreadsheet doesn't have the same data. My portal still says "Awaiting Decision." Should I get my hopes up.. or consider that one rejection as false data? Tennessee is the last school that I am waiting on so my anxiety is at an all time high.. Would love someone to talk to about this 🌹

[Mr Good Man]

On 3/2/2025 at 2:31 PM, Cosmicinkwell said:

 

Someone should please send the link to Gradcafe's results tabs

[Jim VK]

You can search this page for results @Mr Good Man

https://www.thegradcafe.com/survey/

[Jim VK]

On 2/26/2025 at 11:09 AM, Mr Good Man said:

Has anyone here received a POETRY acceptance from Uni of South Carolina? 

 

Here are the current submitted results from University of South Carolina Poetry program.