2025 Creative Writing MFA Applicants Forum

[glowingbrightly]

Waiting for brown to reject me now feels like waiting for my ex to block me after getting engaged… are they the one that got away?

[misssalem]

2 hours ago, _redrabbit7 said:

Just received a call. Someone I know got into Brown for fiction. The email was sent to them yesterday, at 9:32 p.m.

Ah...okay. now I need to accept the inevitable :((

[gradschoolpspspsps]

Sorry if this is a stupid question, but does anyone know how much time a school would give you to decide if you want to accept a waitlist offer? I know accepted students have to decide by the 15th but what about if you don't hear until after the 15th? I'm realizing I don't know a lot about the minutiae of the process, I'm 25 and this is my first time applying for any type of grad school program.

[tomat0tomat0]

well everybody i think im calling it for myself 🫡 rejected from rutgers-camden and havent heard anything from brown (nor the multiple other soft rejections but whatever)-- ik technically brown's still up in the air but based on my stats so far i don't think it'll be happening for me. good luck to everybody still waiting on the last few schools and pls pls pls tell the thread where u end up accepting!!

i'll definitely still be lurking out of curiosity. will update if i get off the university of florida waitlist-- not much abt UF on the spreadsheet nor on the draft fb group for some reason. i wonder why. it's fully funded, 27k/yr stipend, 1:1 teaching load, fab faculty, 3 yr program. do people just not want to move to florida that bad lol??

Edited Friday at 11:20 AM by tomat0tomat0

[zaira]

While I'm feeling deeply thankful for my waitlist, I was also hoping to be done with this process by now. It's hard to let it go completely when so much is still up in the air. I'm counting Brown as a rejection, but that leaves Boston (???? No clue what's going on with that) and the UVA waitlist. Realistically I'm looking at another couple weeks of uncertainty before I can finally put the MFA stuff to rest. I'm so tired, y'all! 

[analog_e]

6 hours ago, _redrabbit7 said:

Just received a call. Someone I know got into Brown for fiction. The email was sent to them yesterday, at 9:32 p.m.

Well, I'm going to eat some French toast and cry for a bit. Thanks for keeping us informed through this process.

[saara_is.me]

I saw one person heard from UF about being waitlisted, but has anyone else heard?  Im still waiting to hear from them (they’re the school I’m currently at for my undergrad, and they’re also the only American school I applied to)

[glowingbrightly]

3 hours ago, tomat0tomat0 said:

well everybody i think im calling it for myself 🫡 rejected from rutgers-camden and havent heard anything from brown (nor the multiple other soft rejections but whatever)-- ik technically brown's still up in the air but based on my stats so far i don't think it'll be happening for me. good luck to everybody still waiting on the last few schools and pls pls pls tell the thread where u end up accepting!!

i'll definitely still be lurking out of curiosity. will update if i get off the university of florida waitlist-- not much abt UF on the spreadsheet nor on the draft fb group for some reason. i wonder why. it's fully funded, 27k/yr stipend, 1:1 teaching load, fab faculty, 3 yr program. do people just not want to move to florida that bad lol??

Don’t let the stats discourage you. I know a Brown fiction grad who got all Rs first cycle and then didn’t get in anywhere but Brown their second cycle.

[everything bagel lover]

What schools are folks still waiting on that aren't soft r's? I know a good amount of people are done receiving news for this season.

For me, it's just UNLV. A current student in the draft said they're on spring break this week and then AWP is coming up. Part of me is optimistic because you never know, but the other part of me feels like I'm swinging outside of my league. 

Edit to add: I'm having a hard time breaking the habit of checking the forum, the draft, and the spreadsheet. I'm in at two great programs and the info on funding from CSU won't come through any of those means unless whoever has the GTA currently wants to pop in and tell me your plans lol I've been manifesting that you get into your top school that you'd prefer over CSU, wherever that is ❤️ 

But I've been obsessing over these things for months now and it's hard to break even though it's not fruitful in any way. What do I do instead? My work? Write something?

Edited Friday at 03:06 PM by everything bagel lover
insanity

[Tinky C. Clown]

I'm basically at 0P and 99.9% sure where i'm going, but my brain cannot shake the urge to do the check spreadsheet/check gradcafe rotation every 20min. waiting for decisions is awful and i am happy to be done, but there's something grossly satisfying about waiting and hoping and checking. maybe i should start gambling for more dopamine hits.

[Nnenna14]

If you’ve been accepted at Brown and/or have any related info, can we connect please? Would really appreciate, as it’s crucial to where I am in my mfa process rn. Thanks in anticipation. 

[everything bagel lover]

1 minute ago, Tinky C. Clown said:

I'm basically at 0P and 99.9% sure where i'm going, but my brain cannot shake the urge to do the check spreadsheet/check gradcafe rotation every 20min. waiting for decisions is awful and i am happy to be done, but there's something grossly satisfying about waiting and hoping and checking. maybe i should start gambling for more dopamine hits.

Oh my god i just posted essentially the exact same thing lol

Can I ask where you think you're going? What's your current internal ranking system?

[crossingmyfingers1212]

checked brown portal- rejection posted 

[exvat]

Is there a Grad Cafe AWP meet-up? Even if just for hugs and therapist referrals 😂 

[Mr. Scribblo]

uni of miami interviewees--any idea if they're still sending out notifications or is it done?

and notre dame--any updates?

[nauseated]

received my Brown rejection. season done for me. Thank you all, and good luck for everyone waiting on news! Fingers crossed for all of you!!!

[Tinky C. Clown]

25 minutes ago, everything bagel lover said:

Oh my god i just posted essentially the exact same thing lol

Can I ask where you think you're going? What's your current internal ranking system?

i’m going to uw seattle and will commit after talking to current students (as long as they don’t raise horrible red flags and tell me to run). my other funded offer is alabama but there’s the obvious problems with that plus i’ve determined that a lot of people there are doing genre fiction plus the bama teaching load is way higher for less money. waitlisted at some others but i don’t think i’d choose any over uw

[bucket]

well, brown puts me at 0A this round (not surprising, since i decided to apply very last minute and only applied to three programs). i'm so thrilled for everyone who got accepted this season, and hope the experience is incredible! as for anyone else who may be facing another season of apps, i hope to see some of you around here or draft

[misssalem]

Got my Brown rejection. It's my first cycle so while I I knew the competition is insanely tough, still bummed with all rejections. I'm going to process and eat lots of ice cream. Thank you all on this thread for the support and camaraderie

[glowingbrightly]

wishing the best for all fellow brown rejections ❤️ it has been a long cycle and congrats to everyone for making it this far regardless of outcomes

[Mystic_Sunshine]

2 minutes ago, bucket said:

well, brown puts me at 0A this round (not surprising, since i decided to apply very last minute and only applied to three programs). i'm so thrilled for everyone who got accepted this season, and hope the experience is incredible! as for anyone else who may be facing another season of apps, i hope to see some of you around here or draft

 

2 minutes ago, misssalem said:

Got my Brown rejection. It's my first cycle so while I I knew the competition is insanely tough, still bummed with all rejections. I'm going to process and eat lots of ice cream. Thank you all on this thread for the support and camaraderie

So sorry! I'm dealing with the same thing. 

Gonna take until May to relax and do things I've been to stressed to do and focus on moving 

and then it's back to writing so I can reapply. 

[Hjanep]

54 minutes ago, everything bagel lover said:

What schools are folks still waiting on that aren't soft r's? I know a good amount of people are done receiving news for this season.

For me, it's just UNLV. A current student in the draft said they're on spring break this week and then AWP is coming up. Part of me is optimistic because you never know, but the other part of me feels like I'm swinging outside of my league. 

Edit to add: I'm having a hard time breaking the habit of checking the forum, the draft, and the spreadsheet. I'm in at two great programs and the info on funding from CSU won't come through any of those means unless whoever has the GTA currently wants to pop in and tell me your plans lol I've been manifesting that you get into your top school that you'd prefer over CSU, wherever that is ❤️ 

But I've been obsessing over these things for months now and it's hard to break even though it's not fruitful in any way. What do I do instead? My work? Write something?

I think there’s a wisp of hope for Montana still. Otherwise I’m done

[nauseated]

5 minutes ago, misssalem said:

Got my Brown rejection. It's my first cycle so while I I knew the competition is insanely tough, still bummed with all rejections. I'm going to process and eat lots of ice cream. Thank you all on this thread for the support and camaraderie

same here! think I'm gonna wait at least a couple of years to reapply to MFAs but still an insane learning curve nonetheless

[choltebito]

Hey all! I was waitlisted at a school a few weeks ago and sent a short response thanking them for the update and expressing enthusiasm for the program (but I didn’t say that it was my top choice, bc it wasn’t at the time). Now circumstances have changed and it has become my top choice/I’d be very likely to go if accepted. Would it be appropriate/help my chances to email them again and say that? I want to make my enthusiasm clear, but I don’t want to hurt my chances by bugging them too much. (I’m also considering an offer from another school, which I could mention if that would help…)

Edited Friday at 03:58 PM by choltebito
addition

[kaleidoscopegurl]

Got the Brown rejection. Finally done! It's a relief. Congrats to all of us for trying this application cycle. See yall next time. 

Edited Friday at 05:06 PM by kaleidoscopegurl
Missed a lot of words.