2025 Creative Writing MFA Applicants Forum

[everything bagel lover]

2 hours ago, muffincreature said:

I’m sure someone has asked about this before, but is it typical for programs to notify waitlisted applicants after April 15? If I get off the waitlist but have already committed to another program can I still change my mind? And if I’m notified very close to April 15, how much time will I have to decide? 

Like Prufrock said, it's usually frowned upon but not impossible! I just rescinded my commitment to NAU and the faculty were very kind and understanding (I explained the situation in full but concise terms and thanked them for the opportunity)

The April 15th resolution says that students don't have to receive a formal release either before or after the April 15th deadline, so you're free to do so! Here's the exact verbiage: "Applicants are not required to obtain a formal release from the program whose offer they accepted, either before or after the April 15 deadline. Once applicants have informed the program that they are withdrawing their acceptance of the offer, they then can accept any other offers."

It definitely gets tighter the closer to or further out past the deadline it goes. When CSU offered me the GTA yesterday, they said they'd prefer to know by the end of the week, maybeeee Monday at the latest if I needed.

Also, thank you so much @Chex and @curfew❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ 

[Magnolia Electric Co]

7 minutes ago, decayingballads21 said:

I have talked to people at both programs and they’re lovely at both places. Faculty are great at both places as well, stipends are pretty equal. COL a bit higher in one place but not significant enough to be a worry. At one program, I’d have 3 years, get a lot of teaching experience but health insurance isn’t covered…  at another I have 2 years but a light teaching load and amazing healthcare. It’s like apples and oranges at this point 

This is also something I'm struggling with: 2 years with better funding and less teaching, vs. 3 years with lower funding and more teaching. It almost feels like you get a fixed amount of money and have to decide whether to spread it out over 2 or 3 years (though obviously details vary program to program). Because 3 years seems like the ideal for many reasons, but what if the 2-year program is a way better deal for the time that you're in it?

[Tuxedocat]

3 minutes ago, decayingballads21 said:

I have talked to people at both programs and they’re lovely at both places. Faculty are great at both places as well, stipends are pretty equal. COL a bit higher in one place but not significant enough to be a worry. At one program, I’d have 3 years, get a lot of teaching experience but health insurance isn’t covered…  at another I have 2 years but a light teaching load and amazing healthcare. It’s like apples and oranges at this point 

Hmm. That’s a pretty big difference. If everything else is the same, I’d recommend the two year one unless you had your heart set on doing 3 year programs. Three years of paying for health insurance adds up. Also, from what I heard, a 2 teaching load instead of a 1 can be hard to fit in as much writing time as you want. People always hype up 3 year programs, but they also hype up lower teaching loads.

Also, speaking to students in current MFA programs, I was told not to obsess so much about the teaching experience. Obviously, you will get way more in the 3 year higher teaching load program. However, if you want to teach creative writing, I heard they will take someone with a published or forthcoming book over someone with more teaching experience and no book. So go where you can write your best work, not where you can fill your resume the most. I’d pick the 2 year program, but the right choice might be different for you.

[Magnolia Electric Co]

This is more of a general musing than something that is actually helpful. But I noticed that many of the very top-ranked programs are 2 years: Iowa, Michigan, Wisconsin, Brown, Hopkins, Cornell. It's interesting because most people seem to prefer 3 years, but many people also seem to prefer these particular schools. I wonder what the connection is - maybe in order to have such good funding, they can only take people for 2 years. But I guess even though 3 years is largely considered preferable, the programs people covet most are only 2. Intriguing!

[citrus]

2 minutes ago, Magnolia Electric Co said:

This is more of a general musing than something that is actually helpful. But I noticed that many of the very top-ranked programs are 2 years: Iowa, Michigan, Wisconsin, Brown, Hopkins, Cornell. It's interesting because most people seem to prefer 3 years, but many people also seem to prefer these particular schools. I wonder what the connection is - maybe in order to have such good funding, they can only take people for 2 years. But I guess even though 3 years is largely considered preferable, the programs people covet most are only 2. Intriguing!

i don't think this is necessarily true! michener and vanderbilt are 3 years i believe

Edited April 11 by citrus

[Magnolia Electric Co]

6 minutes ago, citrus said:

i don't think this is necessarily true! michener and vanderbilt are 3 years i believe

Right - Michener, Vanderbilt, UVA, Syracuse and many others are 3 years. So maybe I shouldn't have spoken in such general terms. I was just thinking about how a good number of top programs are 2 years.

[Chex]

46 minutes ago, Magnolia Electric Co said:

This is more of a general musing than something that is actually helpful. But I noticed that many of the very top-ranked programs are 2 years: Iowa, Michigan, Wisconsin, Brown, Hopkins, Cornell. It's interesting because most people seem to prefer 3 years, but many people also seem to prefer these particular schools. I wonder what the connection is - maybe in order to have such good funding, they can only take people for 2 years. But I guess even though 3 years is largely considered preferable, the programs people covet most are only 2. Intriguing!

True, but also:

- Cornell and Hopkins respectively guarantee 2 and 1 additional years of support (funding + other resources) in consideration for teaching; 

- Michigan and Wash U have a competitive post-grad year (some of the students in every cohort get it);

- Iowa and Wisconsin also have opportunities for a post-grad fellowship/teaching year, though I'm not clear on the details. 

These possibilities tend to sway candidates. If you knew you could have an additional year of support to keep focusing on your writing after the MFA, you wouldn't overly mind the 2-year tag. Most people don't tend to publish their MFA thesis as is, anyway. They continue working on the manuscript until they're ready to send it out. 

 

Edited April 11 by Chex

[essentialflowers]

My professor introduced me to the director of the fiction MFA program at Wisconsin-Madison and I had a really lovely 20 min convo with her today. To all of my fiction people who feel disheartened: she reassured me that EVERYONE is feeling this way, but to keep hope & choose the place you truly want to be in. 
It really affirmed my core beliefs that  an MFA is what I want, even if there are roadblocks along the way. 

[Magnolia Electric Co]

18 minutes ago, Chex said:

True, but also:

- Cornell and Hopkins respectively guarantee 2 and 1 additional years of support (funding + other resources) in consideration for teaching; 

- Michigan and Wash U have a competitive post-grad year (some of the students in every cohort get it);

- Iowa and Wisconsin also have opportunities for a post-grad fellowship/teaching year, though I'm not clear on the details. 

These possibilities tend to sway candidates. If you knew you could have an additional year of support to keep focusing on your writing after the MFA, you wouldn't overly mind the 2-year tag. Most people don't tend to publish their MFA thesis as is, anyway. They continue working on the manuscript until they're ready to send it out. 

 

That's a good point! I guess maybe I find it daunting to think of handing in a completed thesis after 2 years, even if I did get to revise and expand it in a third year. Especially with that possibility being unknown until the end of the second year.

[muffincreature]

2 hours ago, everything bagel lover said:

Like Prufrock said, it's usually frowned upon but not impossible! I just rescinded my commitment to NAU and the faculty were very kind and understanding (I explained the situation in full but concise terms and thanked them for the opportunity)

The April 15th resolution says that students don't have to receive a formal release either before or after the April 15th deadline, so you're free to do so! Here's the exact verbiage: "Applicants are not required to obtain a formal release from the program whose offer they accepted, either before or after the April 15 deadline. Once applicants have informed the program that they are withdrawing their acceptance of the offer, they then can accept any other offers."

It definitely gets tighter the closer to or further out past the deadline it goes. When CSU offered me the GTA yesterday, they said they'd prefer to know by the end of the week, maybeeee Monday at the latest if I needed.

Also, thank you so much @Chex and @curfew❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ 

Okay this is great to know. I’m wondering if I should tell the program whose offer I’d like to accept now that I’m still waitlisted elsewhere and I might consider them if I get an offer after April 15… I would hate to give them a bad surprise down the line if that happens. 

[muffincreature]

1 hour ago, Magnolia Electric Co said:

That's a good point! I guess maybe I find it daunting to think of handing in a completed thesis after 2 years, even if I did get to revise and expand it in a third year. Especially with that possibility being unknown until the end of the second year.

I’m also debating between a 3-year and a 2-year program. The stipends are similar but the faculty and teaching load are better at the 2-year one. An extra year for the thesis is definitely nice, but I wonder if people who graduated from 2-year programs felt it was sufficient as long as the support was there. 

[citrus]

one thing i'm a bit worried about (especially with longer programs, though in theory this could happen with any program) is that we don't really know what the state of the country and university funding will look like in two or three years, and it would be kind of scary to be halfway or two-thirds of the way through your course of study and find out that the university can't fund you anymore 🫠

not saying that this will happen but some of the people i know in phd programs (which i know is a different thing and more federally reliant) were kicked out halfway through because they couldn't be funded anymore, and they didn't get their degrees either which is wild

[zaira]

7 hours ago, Magnolia Electric Co said:

Right - Michener, Vanderbilt, UVA, Syracuse and many others are 3 years. So maybe I shouldn't have spoken in such general terms. I was just thinking about how a good number of top programs are 2 years.

UVA is more like a 2-year program with the option of becoming a 3-year. You can decide which option you want at the beginning of your second year. 

The third year is there for students who feel like they need extra time to work on a thesis or those who want more teaching experience. At UVA, you teach a lot more your third year than you do the first two years. It's also rare for third-year students to take other classes and workshops in their final year. It's pretty much just: teach, write thesis full-time. I think a lot of the cohort opts for the 2-year version, even when given the choice of a third year. It's interesting! 

Edit to add: the folks I spoke with said they were definitely ready for the thesis by the time their second year rolled around and they didn't regret turning down a third year. 

Edited April 11 by zaira

[inkidacat]

any news from Syracuse today? I wonder if they reached out to the waitlisted person yet?

[scorchingmyfinalbraincell]

I am losing my mind rn! Is it usual for people to take until the last minute to decide? One of the schools I'm waitlisted for told me NONE of their seats have been confirmed as of this week?? Only one school's waitlist has officially closed (yesterday). I thought for sure people would start making concrete decisions this week/today. I am just so antsy; the closer we get to April 15, the more dejected I am. It's strange, but the longer people are undecided the more unlikely it feels I'll get in from a waitlist. I'm ranked first on one waitlist, so that feels even worse. Ugh!

 

[P i e r r o t]

21 minutes ago, scorchingmyfinalbraincell said:

I am losing my mind rn! Is it usual for people to take until the last minute to decide? One of the schools I'm waitlisted for told me NONE of their seats have been confirmed as of this week?? Only one school's waitlist has officially closed (yesterday). I thought for sure people would start making concrete decisions this week/today. I am just so antsy; the closer we get to April 15, the more dejected I am. It's strange, but the longer people are undecided the more unlikely it feels I'll get in from a waitlist. I'm ranked first on one waitlist, so that feels even worse. Ugh!

 

No special insight here, just hopping in to say: you are not alone in this boat. Anxiety at code red. 

People really do get pulled off the waitlist on or after the 15th, though. Don't do anything crazy just yet!

[Magnolia Electric Co]

10 hours ago, zaira said:

UVA is more like a 2-year program with the option of becoming a 3-year. You can decide which option you want at the beginning of your second year. 

The third year is there for students who feel like they need extra time to work on a thesis or those who want more teaching experience. At UVA, you teach a lot more your third year than you do the first two years. It's also rare for third-year students to take other classes and workshops in their final year. It's pretty much just: teach, write thesis full-time. I think a lot of the cohort opts for the 2-year version, even when given the choice of a third year. It's interesting! 

Edit to add: the folks I spoke with said they were definitely ready for the thesis by the time their second year rolled around and they didn't regret turning down a third year. 

That's really helpful to know, thank you! It does seem like 2 years must be enough time, if so many people choose to apply to and go to 2-year programs every year. Or maybe at least that it shouldn't be considered a huge negative, if the program has a lot of other positives. Boston is even 1 year and a lot of people are definitely interested in that program!

[kulfikat]

Saw someone turned down UVA. Anyone here from UVA yet? And do you know if they'd reach out during the weekend by any chance? 

Edited April 12 by kulfikat
Typo.

[Hjanep]

31 minutes ago, kulfikat said:

Saw someone turned down UVA. Anyone here from UVA yet? And do you know if they'd reach out during the weekend by any chance? 

@zaira

[zaira]

3 hours ago, kulfikat said:

Saw someone turned down UVA. Anyone here from UVA yet? And do you know if they'd reach out during the weekend by any chance? 

The fiction cohort hasn't been confirmed yet as far as I know. No clue what the status is for the poetry cohort.

It's possible they would reach out to waitlists this weekend, seeing as the April 15 deadline is fast-approaching. But fwiw, I heard from them on a Wednesday. 

I don't know exactly how many people have confirmed their spots aside from me. Could be anywhere between 1-4 spots unconfirmed for fiction right now. Fingers crossed for you!!! 

[kulfikat]

15 minutes ago, zaira said:

The fiction cohort hasn't been confirmed yet as far as I know. No clue what the status is for the poetry cohort.

It's possible they would reach out to waitlists this weekend, seeing as the April 15 deadline is fast-approaching. But fwiw, I heard from them on a Wednesday. 

I don't know exactly how many people have confirmed their spots aside from me. Could be anywhere between 1-4 spots unconfirmed for fiction right now. Fingers crossed for you!!! 

Thank you! Yes, hopefully I'll get in! I'm waitlisted in fiction, so fingers crossed!

[jinny-r]

Oh my god, I got a waitlist email from Ole Miss. I already went through the five stages of grief thinking there's no chance. I'm in shock!

[Chex]

10 minutes ago, jinny-r said:

Oh my god, I got a waitlist email from Ole Miss. I already went through the five stages of grief thinking there's no chance. I'm in shock!

Congrats!!! The list at Ole Miss moves quite a bit, I believe. Lots of first-round acceptees turned down their offer. Still crickets over here, but I've made my peace with it. Rooting for you! 

[gradschoolpspspsps]

14 minutes ago, Chex said:

Congrats!!! The list at Ole Miss moves quite a bit, I believe. Lots of first-round acceptees turned down their offer. Still crickets over here, but I've made my peace with it. Rooting for you! 

I was accepted off the waitlist last night! I'm very excited, emailing my other waitlists today to try to get a clearer picture. Three days to decide!

[jinny-r]

41 minutes ago, Chex said:

Congrats!!! The list at Ole Miss moves quite a bit, I believe. Lots of first-round acceptees turned down their offer. Still crickets over here, but I've made my peace with it. Rooting for you! 

Thank you, Chex! I am speechless djjdjdjd