2025 Creative Writing MFA Applicants Forum

[KennyK]

23 minutes ago, Tinky C. Clown said:

fiction!

CONGRATULATIONS first and foremost!!!! If you don’t mind me asking (and if you don’t tell have to tell me the school if you don’t feel

comfortable) but was it either Johns Hopkins or Notre Dame? Those are my top that I’ve been losing sleep over!

[vilum]

no news from JH or vanderbilt?

[Mystic_Sunshine]

No news for me yesterday. Wonder if there will be any today. 

[Hjanep]

6 minutes ago, vilum said:

no news from JH or vanderbilt?

FWIW I don’t think I got my JHU rejection until 2/15 last year

[Mr. Scribblo]

45 minutes ago, KennyK said:

CONGRATULATIONS first and foremost!!!! If you don’t mind me asking (and if you don’t tell have to tell me the school if you don’t feel

comfortable) but was it either Johns Hopkins or Notre Dame? Those are my top that I’ve been losing sleep over!

take a look at the popular posts on the right and u will find the answer

[KennyK]

6 minutes ago, Hjanep said:

FWIW I don’t think I got my JHU rejection until 2/15 last year

Did JH acceptances go out already?

[rhaenyra]

16 hours ago, AyvaM said:

YALL I JUST GOT A CALL FROM NATALIE FUCKING SHAPERO AT UC IRVINE I was such an idiot on the phone but she was soooo nice about it 😭😭😭😭😭 I'm just screaming over here. Baby's first acceptance 

OMG congrats!!!

[DJ Lambchop]

3 minutes ago, KennyK said:

Did JH acceptances go out already?

I don’t think so!

[Hjanep]

3 minutes ago, KennyK said:

Did JH acceptances go out already?

I haven’t seen any but they also take so few we may or may not hear if they do

[seezeegee]

GradCafe results page has an Iowa acceptance reported from yesterday -- although unclear what genre it is. It also hasn't been reported on the Draft.

[Tinky C. Clown]

32 minutes ago, KennyK said:

CONGRATULATIONS first and foremost!!!! If you don’t mind me asking (and if you don’t tell have to tell me the school if you don’t feel

comfortable) but was it either Johns Hopkins or Notre Dame? Those are my top that I’ve been losing sleep over!

it wasn’t either of those! there’s plenty of data out there to suggest when you might hear, so i suggest taking a breather until you see results on draft or on here. also if it’s your first time applying i’d try not to ride everything on these two extremely selective schools. i was very upset about my first round being all rejections but it made me hunker down and work harder the next year.

[KennyK]

8 minutes ago, Mr. Scribblo said:

take a look at the popular posts on the right and u will find the answer

I’m an old fart 😭 I tried googling popular posts on grad cafe and nothing came up—I’m sorry!

[Mr. Scribblo]

5 minutes ago, KennyK said:

I’m an old fart 😭 I tried googling popular posts on grad cafe and nothing came up—I’m sorry!

haa, no worries. just look at the right side of this page itself. u will see the popular posts there.

[Catpaw]

Responding to the stress from the previous page around our writing samples: 

I think of our samples as, "With this sample, I've committed to a perspective—a lens—through which I'm showcasing my writing for this application, and I've done my best to present that perspective coherently to the committee." Different samples to different programs can showcase our writing from varying perspectives, of course, and I think that's good and fine! We contain multitudes lol

But whether the committee recognizes that perspective, or is swayed by it, is a gamble we all take. And the people staffing MFA programs are human. They're fallible and they have subjective taste and they can miss things—even at the most selective programs. Plus, many top MFA instructors have spoken about how the final decisions come down to splitting hairs, and often in ways that have little to do with the individual quality or promise of one's writing. There is always, always an element of chance.

If you submitted a story or a chapter that you feel is some of your strongest work, and is something you feel really damn proud of... it still doesn't guarantee you'll get into any top-tier program. But this is because the whole process has so many elements of unwitting fortune—and though we wish we could control the final result through the sheer quality of our writing sample, it's not really something we can control in that way at all. 

So whether you get in, or not, doesn't change that what you submitted can still be really damn good.

[KennyK]

8 minutes ago, Tinky C. Clown said:

it wasn’t either of those! there’s plenty of data out there to suggest when you might hear, so i suggest taking a breather until you see results on draft or on here. also if it’s your first time applying i’d try not to ride everything on these two extremely selective schools. i was very upset about my first round being all rejections but it made me hunker down and work harder the next year.

Thank you! I’m first time applicant and had no idea people post their results on grad cafe admissions page! This just eased my nerves and brought me clarity! Thank you again! Wishing us both lots of luck 🍀 

[Mr. Scribblo]

wasn't ole miss supposed to notify the round 1 acceptances by now?

Edited February 11 by Mr. Scribblo

[seezeegee]

JHU poetry waitlist has hit the Draft :)!

[Tinky C. Clown]

14 minutes ago, Mr. Scribblo said:

wasn't ole miss supposed to notify the round 1 acceptances by now?

they said by 2/15

[Mr. Scribblo]

2 minutes ago, Tinky C. Clown said:

they said by 2/15

yeah, i was hoping they would reply to accepted students earlier and update their website on the 15th.

[DJ Lambchop]

28 minutes ago, Catpaw said:

Responding to the stress from the previous page around our writing samples: 

I think of our samples as, "With this sample, I've committed to a perspective—a lens—through which I'm showcasing my writing for this application, and I've done my best to present that perspective coherently to the committee." Different samples to different programs can showcase our writing from varying perspectives, of course, and I think that's good and fine! We contain multitudes lol

But whether the committee recognizes that perspective, or is swayed by it, is a gamble we all take. And the people staffing MFA programs are human. They're fallible and they have subjective taste and they can miss things—even at the most selective programs. Plus, many top MFA instructors have spoken about how the final decisions come down to splitting hairs, and often in ways that have little to do with the individual quality or promise of one's writing. There is always, always an element of chance.

If you submitted a story or a chapter that you feel is some of your strongest work, and is something you feel really damn proud of... it still doesn't guarantee you'll get into any top-tier program. But this is because the whole process has so many elements of unwitting fortune—and though we wish we could control the final result through the sheer quality of our writing sample, it's not really something we can control in that way at all. 

So whether you get in, or not, doesn't change that what you submitted can still be really damn good.

To second this, I had an MFA alum/published author look over one of my stories, and I had my mom look over the same one. My mom ended up understanding the nuances of my story much, much better than the MFA alum!

[Tinky C. Clown]

2 minutes ago, Mr. Scribblo said:

yeah, i was hoping they would reply to accepted students earlier and update their website on the 15th.

nobody on draft has heard and there's still four days

[Nmaryse]

1 hour ago, seezeegee said:

GradCafe results page has an Iowa acceptance reported from yesterday -- although unclear what genre it is. It also hasn't been reported on the Draft.

that feels sooo early for Iowa-- Don't they still do by-mail physical acceptances too? Or am I completely wrong?

[prufrock_]

3 minutes ago, Nmaryse said:

that feels sooo early for Iowa-- Don't they still do by-mail physical acceptances too? Or am I completely wrong?

acceptances are a phone call first (then physical mail to confirm? not sure) -- rejections are only physical mail though.

i wouldn't expect Iowa results until next week, but maybe they're going out earlier this year.

[exvat]

1 hour ago, Catpaw said:

So whether you get in, or not, doesn't change that what you submitted can still be really damn good.

I have poems in my work sample that were published in Pshares, APR, and Kenyon Review, and I still feel like any admissions committee would be justified in rejecting me for simply not being a fit for their program. If it's the work, whatevs. If it's my gender, ethnicity, or age, whatevs. It's not personal. I'm gonna keep writing and publishing poems regardless.

[Chex]

2 minutes ago, exvat said:

I have poems in my work sample that were published in Pshares, APR, and Kenyon Review, and I still feel like any admissions committee would be justified in rejecting me for simply not being a fit for their program. If it's the work, whatevs. If it's my gender, ethnicity, or age, whatevs. It's not personal. I'm gonna keep writing and publishing poems regardless.

Yep. Someone mentioned their poems had been published multiple times in elite mags and they were still rejected. They applied again the next year and were rejected everywhere but Iowa. They eventually graduated from IWW with multiple awards, accolades, and significant career recognition/success.