2025 Creative Writing MFA Applicants Forum

[Cosmicinkwell]

6 minutes ago, everything bagel lover said:

Historically, CU Boulder sends out automated notifications all at once or on one day. Then, last year, they sent out waitlists and rejections 2 weeks later. So I assume if we did not get the acceptance email, that we're not accepted. But a waitlist is still possible!

Ah, that's a solid set of data. Someone I know who goes to CU for something else told me that they're notorious for spreading out notifications through their system, but I doubt that applies to their MFA system so I'm more inclined to believe you.

Though at this point I think a waitlist would be the best thing to ever happen to me after 10 rejections and I would cease to exist upon receiving it.

EDIT: Seriously considering going and emailing to get that final bit of closure so I can move on from my MFA dream for a year or two.

Edited March 6, 2025 by Cosmicinkwell

[OctopusCactus]

8 hours ago, fakepoet said:

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.

NYU's given him the boot.  Good riddance.

[seah0rse]

brown playwriting acceptance dropped - seems like poetry follows according to previous years' data - fiction after that. here we goooo 🫠

[fakepoet]

23 minutes ago, OctopusCactus said:

NYU's given him the boot.  Good riddance.

Last I heard he was back on the course catalog for this spring and people were upset—has something changed recently? If so, rest in piss. If not, I'm praying on his downfall

[exvat]

2 hours ago, exvat said:

Just got off my post-email acceptance call with Columbia (poetry). Really lovely and chill convo, kept it very real. Affirming balance of encouraging me to make the best decision for myself, and really hoping I'll be their resident Old Poet in the cohort 😆 

Will keep the option open until my other offer shakes out, but likely politely declining because of money. Maybe my spot and $20k will roll to someone for whom they'll make All The Difference 🙏

Also, a word of comfort for those—and their supporters/recommenders—who were surprised by certain outright rejections. The professor I talked with had assumed—assumed! without my even bringing up the school!—that I had gotten into UMass, my alma mater. He thought so highly of my poems and overall application (SOP played a significant role btw!!!!) that he couldn't even fathom the idea that Columbia would have me, but not UMass. I told him that I can't presume to know what sort of cohort they're building in Amherst, but it would seem I'm not a good fit for their vision.

And I do believe the difference between an A and an R can be as slim as fit.

[OctopusCactus]

32 minutes ago, fakepoet said:

Last I heard he was back on the course catalog for this spring and people were upset—has something changed recently? If so, rest in piss. If not, I'm praying on his downfall

He posted on his substack this week that he's been kicked out of NYU.

[Tinky C. Clown]

omg waitlisted at boulder 

[MegHe]

10 minutes ago, OctopusCactus said:

He posted on his substack this week that he's been kicked out of NYU.

What a bold thing to put in a substack 👀

[exvat]

24 minutes ago, OctopusCactus said:

He posted on his substack this week that he's been kicked out of NYU.

[Jack Nicholson from Mars Attacks!]

NYU still employs 2 out of 3 professors that I wrote in my SOP I wanted to work with—and that ain't bad.

[bucket]

1 hour ago, seah0rse said:

brown playwriting acceptance dropped - seems like poetry follows according to previous years' data - fiction after that. here we goooo 🫠

trying to remain calm......... key word "trying"

[Tinky C. Clown]

anyone know how large the cohort size at boulder is?

[thelovelyunkown]

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    🕯️   Brown  Acceptance    🕯️

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Best of luck to everyone who applied! Hopefully decisions will be dropped soon 🤞. 

[saintjdog]

Rutgers-Newark just sent me an email with the subject line "You're invited to a..." and it was to a goddamn info session i'm so riled up

[Cosmicinkwell]

2 hours ago, everything bagel lover said:

Historically, CU Boulder sends out automated notifications all at once or on one day. Then, last year, they sent out waitlists and rejections 2 weeks later. So I assume if we did not get the acceptance email, that we're not accepted. But a waitlist is still possible!

I got this email saying they hadn't decided... and then saw waitlists had gone out already. sigh.

Thank you so much for reaching out to check in. We are in the process of finalizing admissions decisions, so I imagine that you will receive your decision by the end of next week. We have released some initial decisions, but we are not quite done with the entire process of solidifying all the decisions.

 

We appreciate your patience!

anx 

 

and f

[Tuxedocat]

1 hour ago, Tinky C. Clown said:

anyone know how large the cohort size at boulder is?

According to Poets&Writers, their total incoming class size is 6-10. But I have no idea how large this year’s cohort is. 

[fakepoet]

2 hours ago, OctopusCactus said:

He posted on his substack this week that he's been kicked out of NYU.

finally some good fucking news

[Tinky C. Clown]

33 minutes ago, Tuxedocat said:

According to Poets&Writers, their total incoming class size is 6-10. But I have no idea how large this year’s cohort is. 

for each genre? hmm. thank you!

[Tuxedocat]

13 minutes ago, Tinky C. Clown said:

for each genre? hmm. thank you!

No no—total. I’m so sorry I tried to word my prior reply in a way that made that clear but failed😭

So it is probably 3-5 per genre

[rafikiman]

What is going on with Iowa WW rejection letters? Seems nobody has received  official word yet 😩😩😩 I was hoping to get mine in the mail this week to finally put a nail in that coffin. 

[Tinky C. Clown]

14 minutes ago, Tuxedocat said:

No no—total. I’m so sorry I tried to word my prior reply in a way that made that clear but failed😭

So it is probably 3-5 per genre

good to know! thanks!

[smallchange]

I feel like people have discussed this already so sorry if I'm repeating, but does anyone have any idea how many funded programs rely on federal funding? I had sort of a fuzzy idea that most of the funding comes from endowments/private sources but I don't know how accurate that is. Any insights appreciated!

[womanonline]

somebody asked earlier if the university of tennessee poetry acceptance on gradcafe results was a fluke, but it’s also been reported on draft as well now. going crazy waiting to hear back from them. crossing my fingers for tomorrow

[prufrock_]

On 3/5/2025 at 4:08 PM, everything bagel lover said:

You're in?? How's the funding looking? Congratulations!(?)

I did get in! but in that saddest way: no funding -- BUT! they are very nice and i'm on a waitlist for funding, so we will see how things shake out.

I'm not sure if this breaks your streak, and i'm sorry if it does; I have no further intel on if more offers are going out, or their total cohort size.

 

[everything bagel lover]

1 minute ago, prufrock_ said:

I did get in! but in that saddest way: no funding -- BUT! they are very nice and i'm on a waitlist for funding, so we will see how things shake out.

I'm not sure if this breaks your streak, and i'm sorry if it does; I have no further intel on if more offers are going out, or their total cohort size.

 

Oh my god congratulations!!! I hope that you get in with funding!!!! Damn these acceptances with waitlisted fundings but I’m rooting for you! Do you know where you are on the funding waitlist? I’ve got my fingers crossed for you!! ❤️ 

omg no need to apologize, my reluctance in the congrats is because of the funding concern you expressed and then referred back to 

[prufrock_]

16 minutes ago, everything bagel lover said:

Oh my god congratulations!!! I hope that you get in with funding!!!! Damn these acceptances with waitlisted fundings but I’m rooting for you! Do you know where you are on the funding waitlist? I’ve got my fingers crossed for you!! ❤️ 

omg no need to apologize, my reluctance in the congrats is because of the funding concern you expressed and then referred back to 

Thank you!! i hope so too. based on their website, i'm guessing they admit about 7 people a year between all genres and fund 5. so, maybe only two people on the funding waitlist? complete guesswork though.

if i end up there and you end up in naropa (or 🕯️wyoming 🕯️), i'll walk around that 5x5 reading and ask people their bagel preferences, which, really, should be a standard conversation opener anyway.