2025 Creative Writing MFA Applicants Forum

[Magnolia Electric Co]

Thank you for the additional thoughts about 2 vs. 3-year programs @Mystic_Sunshine @OctopusCactus! Location and a potential third year are both great things to keep in mind. I hope to at least somewhat enjoy where I live, and I won't have anywhere to rush back to after the program, so hopefully I wouldn't mind having a third year. I feel like I will be trying to write a book either way, and I could either be doing that with funding and mentorship or while starting a new job.

Also, something kind of strange happened with an email from Wash U today. They emailed to let me know I was on the waitlist, but addressed the email to another applicant (I assume I was BCC'ed). I am not sure if they meant to BCC everyone and slipped up with that one person, or if they didn't mean to email me in the first place. I wonder if this has happened to anyone else before!

[Hjanep]

Do we think this is it for the week now that it’s post 5pm eastern? I *did* get five rejections this week which really feels like progress toward ending this season 💁‍♀️

[bucket]

1 minute ago, Hjanep said:

Do we think this is it for the week now that it’s post 5pm eastern? I *did* get five rejections this week which really feels like progress toward ending this season 💁‍♀️

i’m hoping it isn’t because come ON brown lol but i think it probably is 😕 

[rapunzel]

is it weird that i'm hoping my waitlists and last school don't accept me? like i'm looking back over my submission and thinking, wow i could've done better on my own, i feel like i shouldn't be going to a program until i've stagnated on my own lol

[Mia172]

26 minutes ago, Magnolia Electric Co said:

Thank you for the additional thoughts about 2 vs. 3-year programs @Mystic_Sunshine @OctopusCactus! Location and a potential third year are both great things to keep in mind. I hope to at least somewhat enjoy where I live, and I won't have anywhere to rush back to after the program, so hopefully I wouldn't mind having a third year. I feel like I will be trying to write a book either way, and I could either be doing that with funding and mentorship or while starting a new job.

Also, something kind of strange happened with an email from Wash U today. They emailed to let me know I was on the waitlist, but addressed the email to another applicant (I assume I was BCC'ed). I am not sure if they meant to BCC everyone and slipped up with that one person, or if they didn't mean to email me in the first place. I wonder if this has happened to anyone else before!

This is wild. It really makes me wonder what is happening behind the scenes. Have you sent a follow-up email to ask what is going on with your status? It's kind of disrespectful to make this kind of mistake, especially after such a long wait.

[analog_e]

19 minutes ago, bucket said:

i’m hoping it isn’t because come ON brown lol but i think it probably is 😕 

I'm really struggling with the wait for Brown. It was alright when I had accepted the soft rejection but now that I have hope again? Brother, come on~

[Magnolia Electric Co]

8 minutes ago, Mia172 said:

This is wild. It really makes me wonder what is happening behind the scenes. Have you sent a follow-up email to ask what is going on with your status? It's kind of disrespectful to make this kind of mistake, especially after such a long wait.

I ended up just responding with a thank you email, hoping they will let me know if they've made a mistake. It seems most likely that they just forgot to BCC the person whose email it was addressed to.

[Mia172]

33 minutes ago, Magnolia Electric Co said:

I ended up just responding with a thank you email, hoping they will let me know if they've made a mistake. It seems most likely that they just forgot to BCC the person whose email it was addressed to.

Great… let them panic a little..! But I hope it was supposed to be addressed to you anyways

[lakeysuperior]

I have been silently watching this forum for weeks now so excited for everyone's accomplishments and sharing in the anxiousness! This was my first application cycle and I applied for 5 schools (U Montana, U Washington - Seattle, UBC, Brooklyn College, and the New School) - I have gotten three rejections: UW, UBC, Brooklyn. And today I got my first acceptance at the New School! I won't be attending because I only got a 35% scholarship but I think that I do feel a sense of relief that I got in somewhere. 

I have been too anxious to check about U Montana on the draft to see where decisions are at haha! So many strange feelings are involved in this process. I am unsure how to feel especially considering I am not sure if I'll try again after this year. This shortly after my undergrad felt like the right time for my life to do this because I haven't established myself in a career yet. But, who knows! Maybe there will be a right time down the line. 

Is anyone else pursuing/already in the field of healthcare while being a writer? I think that's where I am headed. Probably towards health pre-reqs after earning my English degree and then going into nursing or something while always writing poetry and music no matter what. My Fig Tree :)

Edited March 14 by lakeysuperior

[Hjanep]

13 minutes ago, lakeysuperior said:

I have been silently watching this forum for weeks now so excited for everyone's accomplishments and sharing in the anxiousness! This was my first application cycle and I applied for 5 schools (U Montana, U Washington - Seattle, UBC, Brooklyn College, and the New School) - I have gotten three rejections: UW, UBC, Brooklyn. And today I got my first acceptance at the New School! I won't be attending because I only got a 35% scholarship but I think that I do feel a sense of relief that I got in somewhere. 

I have been too anxious to check about U Montana on the draft to see where decisions are at haha! So many strange feelings are involved in this process. I am unsure how to feel especially considering I am not sure if I'll try again after this year. This shortly after my undergrad felt like the right time for my life to do this because I haven't established myself in a career yet. But, who knows! Maybe there will be a right time down the line. 

Is anyone else pursuing/already in the field of healthcare while being a writer? I think that's where I am headed. Probably towards health pre-reqs after earning my English degree and then going into nursing or something while always writing poetry and music no matter what. My Fig Tree :)

I also applied to Montana (fiction) and haven’t heard. There have been a couple acceptances on draft but generally not great info. It seems like last year they rejected people the equivalent of next week

[GoatKidd]

Has anyone heard back yet from WashU for Poetry?

 

[glowingbrightly]

Just now, GoatKidd said:

Has anyone heard back yet from WashU for Poetry?

 

there are a couple waitlists for washu poetry on draft, not sure about acceptances 

[GoatKidd]

On 3/13/2025 at 7:12 PM, Jane Wyman said:

My turn for copium ... do we think that Hunter and WashU are utterly done waitlisting, accepting, etc?

I applied to WashU and haven't heard back yet. Anxiously pacing all week.

[Magnolia Electric Co]

8 minutes ago, GoatKidd said:

I applied to WashU and haven't heard back yet. Anxiously pacing all week.

I believe someone from this forum was accepted for poetry a little while ago, and today I got waitlisted for poetry (as did some other folks on draft). Based on their email, it seemed like they are likely done sending offers/waitlists - but I don't know anything for sure

[Tuxedocat]

32 minutes ago, GoatKidd said:

Has anyone heard back yet from WashU for Poetry?

 

 

30 minutes ago, glowingbrightly said:

there are a couple waitlists for washu poetry on draft, not sure about acceptances 

I was accepted to WashU for poetry on March 1! I mentioned my acceptance both here and on the draft spreadsheet but it was a while ago so easily missed if you weren’t checking that day. Seems that was the day poetry people were notified about acceptances for WashU. 

Visiting day is next week and I was sent emails shortly after March 1st with details about visiting day that seemed to have been sent to all accepted MFA students or at least poets. So I imagine all acceptances have been done for a while. Although, it seems waitlists for poetry have been coming out today/recently.

[GoatKidd]

31 minutes ago, Tuxedocat said:

 

I was accepted to WashU for poetry on March 1! I mentioned my acceptance both here and on the draft spreadsheet but it was a while ago so easily missed if you weren’t checking that day. Seems that was the day poetry people were notified about acceptances for WashU. 

Visiting day is next week and I was sent emails shortly after March 1st with details about visiting day that seemed to have been sent to all accepted MFA students or at least poets. So I imagine all acceptances have been done for a while. Although, it seems waitlists for poetry have been coming out today/recently.

Ah, congratulations! I reached out to the program on March 4 and they said they were awaiting approval from the college to send out notifications. I’ll assume he meant rejections and that since I haven’t heard yet I didn’t get in. Thanks for letting me know, wishing you all the best with the program!

[P i e r r o t]

3 hours ago, lakeysuperior said:

So many strange feelings are involved in this process. I am unsure how to feel especially considering I am not sure if I'll try again after this year. This shortly after my undergrad felt like the right time for my life to do this because I haven't established myself in a career yet. But, who knows! Maybe there will be a right time down the line. 

I feel you. I had the same confused feeling about reapplying last year at this time. My advice (others' may differ) would be to focus only on your writing for a while and don't think for a second about the MFAs until at least September. There's no need: you'll be able to assemble everything much faster the second time, in my experience, assuming you've got polished writing in the desk drawer. 

Also—and this is the more important point—you can do this at any time. I am 37 and have a Harvard PhD in another field and lived an entire life, it seemed, before ever applying to MFAs. You'll find this story actually isn't that uncommon. All you can do is what's right for you now. The future will work itself out—because you will do then what is right for you then. 

Edited March 15 by P i e r r o t

[Hjanep]

11 minutes ago, P i e r r o t said:

I feel you. I had the same confused feeling about reapplying last year at this time. My advice (others' may differ) would be to focus only on your writing for a while and don't think for a second about the MFAs until at least September. There's no need: you'll be able to assemble everything much faster the second time, in my experience, assuming you've got polished writing in the desk drawer. 

Also—and this is the more important point—you can do this at any time. I am 37 and have a Harvard PhD in another field and lived an entire life, it seemed, before ever applying to MFAs. You'll find this story actually isn't that uncommon. All you can do is what's right for you now. The future will work itself out—because you will do then what is right for you then. 

Yep I’m also 37, have an MBA and two little kids and am already on a second career. I think you’ll realize at some point where you want to focus your time. Life is long. This is my second round applying and it was easier in a lot of ways this time around. Knowing what to expect was really helpful and allowed me to be much more systematic with apps. 

Edited March 15 by Hjanep

[glowingbrightly]

16 minutes ago, P i e r r o t said:

I feel you. I had the same confused feeling about reapplying last year at this time. My advice (others' may differ) would be to focus only on your writing for a while and don't think for a second about the MFAs until at least September. There's no need: you'll be able to assemble everything much faster the second time, in my experience, assuming you've got polished writing in the desk drawer. 

Also—and this is the more important point—you can do this at any time. I am 37 and have a Harvard PhD in another field and lived an entire life, it seemed, before ever applying to MFAs. You'll find this story actually isn't that uncommon. All you can do is what's right for you now. The future will work itself out—because you will do then what is right for you then. 

 

4 minutes ago, Hjanep said:

Yep I’m also 37, have an MBA and two little kids and am already on a second career. I think you’ll realize at some point where you want to focus your time. Life is long. This is my second round applying and it was easier in a lot of ways this time around. Knowing what to expect was really helpful and allowed me to be much more systematic with apps. 

jeez leave some advanced degrees for the rest of us 😅

[P i e r r o t]

I see the Irvine rejections are going out, so this may be too-little-too-late to be of any help, but a few details about the situation for anyone lurking who needs to know.

I talked to the program director on the phone today: extremely generous conversation, really grateful to hear from her, not least because most places don't reach out so intimately to waitlisters. 230ish applications, 5 fiction acceptances. 3 have accepted the offer, 2 have not yet and both have other offers. 

Not sure how long the waitlist is, but it is ranked. They used to accept 6 in fiction (website still says as much) but funding cuts mean 5 these days: she seemed genuinely upset about this. My impression is that they rarely pull from the waitlist, though obviously not impossible. Unfortunately it does seem nearly impossible, however, that multiples on the fiction waitlist will get off it this year, given the particulars. Would love to be wrong, of course.

Good vibes all around—will make the (inevitable?) letdown all the worse. Brutal!

Edited March 15 by P i e r r o t

[Hjanep]

Just now, glowingbrightly said:

 

jeez leave some advanced degrees for the rest of us 😅

Just a bunch of people who love school haha

[P i e r r o t]

8 minutes ago, Hjanep said:

Just a bunch of people who love school haha

This! Real life blows

14 minutes ago, glowingbrightly said:

 

jeez leave some advanced degrees for the rest of us 😅

Also, turns out a Harvard PhD isn't that useful if you march right off that stage, diploma in hand, and then immediately quit your field lol

[exvat]

1 minute ago, P i e r r o t said:

This! Real life blows

Also, turns out a Harvard PhD isn't that useful if you march right off that stage, diploma in hand, and then immediately quit your field lol

It me in 2009 walking with my MS in chemistry 💀

[rapunzel]

out of curiosity, people who've done workshops with other mfa applicants, did you see any correlation between the people who've been accepted to one or more programs and their age (years of life experience since undergrad)? 

(asking for fiction but open to discussion about any genre!)

[tomat0tomat0]

doubt we'll hear anything on saturday but hope brown / rutgers-camden decide to speak anyway 🤌 those are my only 2 left (excluding 6 soft rejections (still!))