2025 Creative Writing MFA Applicants Forum

[pananoprodigy]

5 minutes ago, prufrock_ said:

i haven't gotten a letter from iowa and would love to join the delulu train.

let's fuel it: my iowa portal still says under consideration. 

Would anyone who has received a rejection letter from iowa be able to confirm their portal is updated? (also sorry for picking at your scabs, please only look if it wont hurt!)

Just checked mine - under Admissions Decision it says "In Progress" (I got my letter in the mail yesterday fwiw)

[prufrock_]

okay thanks, i think i just gas lit myself -- mine says 'in progress' not 'under consideration'. I'll take it that my mail just got lost!

[Mr Good Man]

32 minutes ago, womanonline said:

UTK waitlists just went out! i made it 😁

Congrats! 

Poetry or fiction? 

[tomat0tomat0]

1 hour ago, tomat0tomat0 said:

also i 100% got too excited and misread the email here-- it's true that they accept 6ppl/yr (in fiction at least), but not sure how many on the waitlist (not sure why gradcafe wont let me edit the og post?)

will ask in email of continued interest & update asap

update: received incredibly kind follow-up email from current prof; 12 people on fiction waitlist, not officially ranked.

[womanonline]

19 minutes ago, Mr Good Man said:

Congrats! 

Poetry or fiction? 

Funny thing is... I applied for Creative Nonfiction? Or I thought I did. I saw a post on Draft awhile back that alluded to UTK only having fiction and poetry, but I don't think I would've applied if it hadn't allowed me to choose CNF? I've been concerned about that since seeing the post (and still a little concerned since they didn't mention genre in the email). 

But this has spiraled me into a longer post. Basically, I had no idea what I was doing the last two years attempting to apply to MFAs. I wasn't apart of these groups and my professors did not fully prepare me for what it would be like or the stakes of applying. I didn't know about stipends or financial packages, didn't consider location/rent or cohorts, didn't realize how few people they accepted. I didn't even know what the best schools were to apply to. I applied to Emerson College last season and got accepted despite not having all of my recommendations (and having objectively not great samples), but I wasn't able to go because I ended up having to do another year of undergrad due to a schedule mix-up. This year I was waitlisted at UTK (with a much better application and full recommendations). Both years, those were the only schools that I applied to. 

I found this group (and Draft) a few months ago when trying to find out when I'd hear back from UTK. It has sincerely opened my eyes (and taken over my life a little bit). I've learned so much and been so grateful -- but also, to some degree, still feel left out. I never had the experience of applying to far-away or prestigious universities in undergraduate because of primarily fear and doubt (and lack of knowing what I wanted to study) but also due to financial reasons. I've always wanted to be able to apply to a bunch of great schools and see if I got in just to even have that experience at all, even if they were rejections. I regret that external worries about the future led me to apply late and to only one school (of which I'm still not sure if they would have a focus in my genre). 

All of this is just to say that I have regrets. And despite being so grateful and excited for this waitlist, I will be taking myself off of it. I want to try again. I'm not sure that Knoxville is the place for me anyway. I've lived in rural Mississippi my entire life, and I want to see if I could get further away. I just want to see realistically what my options are. I feel more confident to be able to do this after this experience and learning so much from this group. 

(Side note: Am I crazy for this?)

Also, for those that are wondering, UTK said they sent out five acceptance offers. I'm not sure if that is fiction or nonfiction at this point, but I really thought I applied for nonfiction. They also did not mention if it was a ranked waitlist or how many people were on it. They didn't even spell my name right in the email lol. 

Last thing -- Considering everything I've said, does anyone have recommendations for which (fully funded) universities to apply to next round for CNF? 

Edited March 13 by womanonline
added more lol

[Tinky C. Clown]

2 hours ago, Jitterbug98 said:

Hi just curious how long ago did you get the scholarship offer from Emerson?

first week of February! it’s rolling tho so don’t count it out. emerson seems really sketchy to me and the director was being weird about not wanting to offer me an official scholarship if i wasn’t likely to accept. they honestly seem desperate to me and i wouldn’t advise anyone to go if they had other options, and even if you don’t, id sooner apply again than go there 

[Jitterbug98]

3 minutes ago, Tinky C. Clown said:

first week of February! it’s rolling tho so don’t count it out. emerson seems really sketchy to me and the director was being weird about not wanting to offer me an official scholarship if i wasn’t likely to accept. they honestly seem desperate to me and i wouldn’t advise anyone to go if they had other options, and even if you don’t, id sooner apply again than go there 

Hmm good to know. I was accepted there around that time too but I haven't gotten an official scholarship offer. The director emailed me recently asking if I have any questions for her and reiterating how they'd love to have me join in the fall, so maybe that's her trying to suss out how likely I am to accept their offer if they give me a scholarship. Not really sure. 

Edited March 13 by Jitterbug98

[Chex]

1 hour ago, womanonline said:

Funny thing is... I applied for Creative Nonfiction? Or I thought I did. I saw a post on Draft awhile back that alluded to UTK only having fiction and poetry, but I don't think I would've applied if it hadn't allowed me to choose CNF? I've been concerned about that since seeing the post (and still a little concerned since they didn't mention genre in the email). 

But this has spiraled me into a longer post. Basically, I had no idea what I was doing the last two years attempting to apply to MFAs. I wasn't apart of these groups and my professors did not fully prepare me for what it would be like or the stakes of applying. I didn't know about stipends or financial packages, didn't consider location/rent or cohorts, didn't realize how few people they accepted. I didn't even know what the best schools were to apply to. I applied to Emerson College last season and got accepted despite not having all of my recommendations (and having objectively not great samples), but I wasn't able to go because I ended up having to do another year of undergrad due to a schedule mix-up. This year I was waitlisted at UTK (with a much better application and full recommendations). Both years, those were the only schools that I applied to. 

I found this group (and Draft) a few months ago when trying to find out when I'd hear back from UTK. It has sincerely opened my eyes (and taken over my life a little bit). I've learned so much and been so grateful -- but also, to some degree, still feel left out. I never had the experience of applying to far-away or prestigious universities in undergraduate because of primarily fear and doubt (and lack of knowing what I wanted to study) but also due to financial reasons. I've always wanted to be able to apply to a bunch of great schools and see if I got in just to even have that experience at all, even if they were rejections. I regret that external worries about the future led me to apply late and to only one school (of which I'm still not sure if they would have a focus in my genre). 

All of this is just to say that I have regrets. And despite being so grateful and excited for this waitlist, I will be taking myself off of it. I want to try again. I'm not sure that Knoxville is the place for me anyway. I've lived in rural Mississippi my entire life, and I want to see if I could get further away. I just want to see realistically what my options are. I feel more confident to be able to do this after this experience and learning so much from this group. 

(Side note: Am I crazy for this?)

Also, for those that are wondering, UTK said they sent out five acceptance offers. I'm not sure if that is fiction or nonfiction at this point, but I really thought I applied for nonfiction. They also did not mention if it was a ranked waitlist or how many people were on it. They didn't even spell my name right in the email lol. 

Last thing -- Considering everything I've said, does anyone have recommendations for which (fully funded) universities to apply to next round for CNF? 

This makes sense and I think you have the right idea. Congratulations on your success so far! UTK is a strong program and getting waitlisted there points to the fact that you're a competitive candidate. 

If you do reapply, here are some fully-funded schools with respected CNF programs to consider: Ohio State University, University of Arizona, University of Minnesota, University of Iowa, Washington University in St. Louis, University of Pittsburgh, Northwestern University (Litowitz), Rutgers-Camden, Rutgers-Newark, University of Washington-Seattle, UMass Amherst, University of Nevada-Las Vegas, Florida State University, Oregon State University, University of Alabama, University of Wyoming, Iowa State University (Ames), University of Idaho, and some more I forget now. NYU also has a nonfiction program but only a lucky few get full funding, the rest receive partial offers. The same goes for George Mason University, I think. 

You could also use the spreadsheet on Draft to research what nonfiction programs others applied to. Wishing you the very best! 

Edited March 13 by Chex

[Tinky C. Clown]

40 minutes ago, Jitterbug98 said:

Hmm good to know. I was accepted there around that time too but I haven't gotten an official scholarship offer. The director emailed me recently asking if I have any questions for her and reiterating how they'd love to have me join in the fall, so maybe that's her trying to suss out how likely I am to accept their offer if they give me a scholarship. Not really sure. 

yeah, she was kind of overly effusive and nice to me in a way that suggested some kind of desperation especially since she knew i had a fully funded offer. she said if they had the grad school send me an official offer they couldn’t give it to another student but when i called her out about this she kind of pretended like she never said that. stay away imo

[HalBear]

Y'all, I am crying in my cubicle at work.
WAITLISTED AT UTK.

 

[Lady Gladys]

8 minutes ago, HalBear said:

Y'all, I am crying in my cubicle at work.
WAITLISTED AT UTK.

 

I'm so happy for you!!

[inkidacat]

brown...pls...put us outta our misery...imma lose all my hair by the end of this app season

Edited March 13 by inkidacat

[Mystic_Sunshine]

30 minutes ago, inkidacat said:

brown...pls...put us outta our misery...imma lose all my hair by the end of this app season

This season has felt longgg. 

[Eloise2897]

Nothing from NMU yet. They weren't even my top school, it just feels so much worse when you live in the same town as the school for some reason 😭. 

[vagueblue]

3 hours ago, Hjanep said:

Delulu confessional time. Last year, I got my Iowa rejection before everyone. Or I was very much in the first wave despite my historically spotty NYC mail service. After I got my R (I’m pretty sure this was the order of operations), Iowa emailed what was effectively the waitlist (yes I know they already waitlisted people this year) and told people who hadn’t received the snail mail rejections that their applications were still under consideration. Just got my mail for the day. Still no rejection. Idk why I do this to myself but here I am with golden retriever level optimism. Thought I would share in case anyone else wanted a trip to crazy town. 

Joining the delulu train because I have heard nothing from Iowa. I have USPS Informed Delivery and am obsessively checking it every day. Stupidly convinced that no news is good news. Am also in NYC, fwiw. 

I had not learned of this forum until yesterday and am locked out of my FB (probably for the better), so I’m glad to be in anxious solidarity here with you all, esp my fellow Brown hopefuls!

Edited March 13 by vagueblue

[cosmo_vitelli_M1]

It sounds like Irvine may have already sent acceptances for fiction based on this MFA draft group comment from someone who emailed yesterday:

"Sure! They rejected me via email and stated they recently made offers and notified waitlist applicants. They then apologized and stated that the results will be posted to the portal this week."

 

[glowingbrightly]

hi all… long time lurker, first time commenter here! I couldn’t figure out how to reply until I made a new account today 😭

 

I was waitlisted at Irvine for poetry and got into Columbia so feeling great about my first app cycle but currently going nuts with everyone else waiting for Brown and praying that the Irvine waitlist moves no matter what happens after that 🤞

[cooliejulie86]

6 minutes ago, cosmo_vitelli_M1 said:

It sounds like Irvine may have already sent acceptances for fiction based on this MFA draft group comment from someone who emailed yesterday:

"Sure! They rejected me via email and stated they recently made offers and notified waitlist applicants. They then apologized and stated that the results will be posted to the portal this week."

 

@Scribe Sorry to bother you, but do you have any insight on this for those of us still huffing copium? 

[smallchange]

14 minutes ago, cosmo_vitelli_M1 said:

It sounds like Irvine may have already sent acceptances for fiction based on this MFA draft group comment from someone who emailed yesterday:

"Sure! They rejected me via email and stated they recently made offers and notified waitlist applicants. They then apologized and stated that the results will be posted to the portal this week."

 

Could you clarify this? I don’t see the comment. Someone emailed their admin and they said they sent out acceptances?

[Hjanep]

5 minutes ago, smallchange said:

Could you clarify this? I don’t see the comment. Someone emailed their admin and they said they sent out acceptances?

My understanding was acceptances went out but waitlists and rejections should be out by tomorrow for fiction 

Edited March 13 by Hjanep

[glowingbrightly]

5 minutes ago, smallchange said:

Could you clarify this? I don’t see the comment. Someone emailed their admin and they said they sent out acceptances?

it’s on a post from yesterday—found under UCI not Irvine. I know poetry calls went out in feb and still have yet to send rejections afaik

[Scribe]

29 minutes ago, cooliejulie86 said:

@Scribe Sorry to bother you, but do you have any insight on this for those of us still huffing copium? 

 

21 minutes ago, smallchange said:

Could you clarify this? I don’t see the comment. Someone emailed their admin and they said they sent out acceptances?

 

15 minutes ago, Hjanep said:

My understanding was acceptances went out but waitlists and rejections should be out by tomorrow for fiction 

 

14 minutes ago, glowingbrightly said:

it’s on a post from yesterday—found under UCI not Irvine. I know poetry calls went out in feb and still have yet to send rejections afaik

Here's the facts:
Irvine has offered five students a place at the table for fiction.
3 of those students have accepted the offers. 
Two are weighing the offer and the information they are using to decide includes the same information you kids are waiting for. 
Official rejections were scheduled to go out via email today and tomorrow and if what I'm reading here (I haven't looked at Draft today) is accurate, that has begun. 
A very few people will receive phone calls in the next two (maybe three?) days. This might have already happened. these are the waitlisters. Why so few? Historically people accept. They really are kind here and don't want to give too many people false hope. 

One other thing. If you do not receive an email or a phone call, you might be getting a snail mail rejection. My suspicion is that anyone who gets one of these would actually get the email too, but one can never tell how the bureaucracy operates.  

Keep the cafe posted on who gets what!

[Mystic_Sunshine]

23 hours ago, Magnolia Electric Co said:

Do people have strong feelings about 2-year vs. 3-year programs? I can see advantages to each: 2-year programs allow you to gain the degree more efficiently, but 3-year programs leave an extra year for things like thesis writing. Three years seems ideal from a writing standpoint, but so many amazing programs seem to only be two years. I feel like it sounds hard to relocate, then take courses, teach, and write a thesis all simultaneously in 2 years. Wondering if this is a major factor for anyone?

I know many people have answered this but I forgot. 

I just am finishing up a 2 year program masters program and while I (like many others) like the idea of a 3 year program I will say that two years feels like forever if you hate where you are living. 

I don't think I could fathom another year where I live currently. So, I'm thankful my degree is 2 years. 

So, ultimately I think location plays a huggee role. And I would have opted for a two year program over a three if I got into a more desirable location. 

Your program can feel like such a large part of your life. And it is. But it can be incredibly isolating when it is the center of your universe because you don't have other things around you to spend your time doing. I can elaborate but I think everyone gets the point. 

 

[honeytreasures]

6 hours ago, GingerBB said:

Hey guys, longtime lurker here and finally figured out how to make an account. First off, thanks to everyone who posted here — this forum has kept me going through a verrry stressful few weeks! And now, I have some info on Boston University — in case anyone’s interested!

So I got accepted on Saturday, for Fiction. Was absolutely thrilled to get the call, as this was my first time applying and I had all hard/soft rejects up until that point barring a waitlist at NYU (and no way was I going to get off it with full funding). I was also given one of the fellowships! Then, on Monday I was sent an email that had three others marked as recipients, informing us that we had all been given fellowships. I got my Graduate School official acceptance on Tuesday. 

My guess — they informed fellowship recipients first, and will share the rest next week, because I learned that BU is on spring break this weekend. So if you haven’t heard from them yet, hang in there!

And, major congrats to everyone who’s already been waitlisted/accepted!

Omg this is so nice to share! Big big big congrats so exciting!!

[glowingbrightly]

15 minutes ago, Scribe said:

 

 

 

Here's the facts:
Irvine has offered five students a place at the table for fiction.
3 of those students have accepted the offers. 
Two are weighing the offer and the information they are using to decide includes the same information you kids are waiting for. 
Official rejections were scheduled to go out via email today and tomorrow and if what I'm reading here (I haven't looked at Draft today) is accurate, that has begun. 
A very few people will receive phone calls in the next two (maybe three?) days. This might have already happened. these are the waitlisters. Why so few? Historically people accept. They really are kind here and don't want to give too many people false hope. 

One other thing. If you do not receive an email or a phone call, you might be getting a snail mail rejection. My suspicion is that anyone who gets one of these would actually get the email too, but one can never tell how the bureaucracy operates.  

Keep the cafe posted on who gets what!

thanks for all this! any insight into how many poetry candidates have accepted thus far?