2025 Creative Writing MFA Applicants Forum

[DJ Lambchop]

6 minutes ago, strawberrymatcha said:

anyone else at 0a/0w right now? I only have 3 schools left and am starting to feel a bit hopeless about the process

Yes. I had one hard reject and four other soft rejects. No acceptances or waitlists. I feel 100% hopeless and even find myself picturing the same outcome if I applied to all these schools again next year. 

[programedlove333]

8 minutes ago, strawberrymatcha said:

anyone else at 0a/0w right now? I only have 3 schools left and am starting to feel a bit hopeless about the process

yes lol im at 0/0 and i keep being like did i dream that i applied to places?

[Mystic_Sunshine]

13 minutes ago, strawberrymatcha said:

anyone else at 0a/0w right now? I only have 3 schools left and am starting to feel a bit hopeless about the process

I've just been trying to tell myself that it's okay if I have to apply again. I can continue to write and try again at different schools next year. That this was a learning process and to give myself grace. 

I also cry a lot though

[exvat]

11 minutes ago, strawberrymatcha said:

anyone else at 0a/0w right now? I only have 3 schools left and am starting to feel a bit hopeless about the process

Yup, nada from my 4 schools, but looking like 1 soft rejection so far. Probably UMass or bust for me at this point, considering I need a full ride + a job (or a benefactor) to afford a program.

If no UMass with TO-ship, then probably no MFA for me in this lifetime.

[onionstackr]

got accepted to UW-Madison!! my first acceptance and one of my top programs  I’ve only heard back from IU so far (waitlist) so I feel like I can finally calm down now.

[pananoprodigy]

6 minutes ago, onionstackr said:

got accepted to UW-Madison!! my first acceptance and one of my top programs  I’ve only heard back from IU so far (waitlist) so I feel like I can finally calm down now.

CONGRATS!!! That's amazing!!!

[misssalem]

8 minutes ago, onionstackr said:

got accepted to UW-Madison!! my first acceptance and one of my top programs  I’ve only heard back from IU so far (waitlist) so I feel like I can finally calm down now.

Congratulations!!!! Let's gooooo! 

[Tinky C. Clown]

you guys. as a successful second round applicant. it’s okay! i have been in the 0a despair pit before-and i spent a year+ being mad about it every day. but it really truly isn’t the end of the world. you apply again. now i wish i spent the energy i wasted wallowing… writing… reading… thinking about my previous work and identifying weaknesses and making new work aimed towards those weaknesses. it really did not end up being that bad. your time will come next year or the year after with patience and persistence. self pity isn’t effective i’ve learned. sorry to sound like your bad high school football coach but it’s true 

[Mystic_Sunshine]

8 minutes ago, Tinky C. Clown said:

you guys. as a successful second round applicant. it’s okay! i have been in the 0a despair pit before-and i spent a year+ being mad about it every day. but it really truly isn’t the end of the world. you apply again. now i wish i spent the energy i wasted wallowing… writing… reading… thinking about my previous work and identifying weaknesses and making new work aimed towards those weaknesses. it really did not end up being that bad. your time will come next year or the year after with patience and persistence. self pity isn’t effective i’ve learned. sorry to sound like your bad high school football coach but it’s true 

Did you apply to many of the same schools or different ones?

And did you change your sample completely? 

You don't have to answer if you don't want

[Tinky C. Clown]

Just now, Mystic_Sunshine said:

Did you apply to many of the same schools or different ones?

And did you change your sample completely? 

You don't have to answer if you don't want

most of the same schools and lots more new ones 

 

of course i changed my sample? would have been idiotic to use the same one… especially at the same schools. i took a long hard look at the old sample and realized the reasons it wasn’t great. you gotta grow to have any chance of a different result 

[Mystic_Sunshine]

1 minute ago, Tinky C. Clown said:

most of the same schools and lots more new ones 

 

of course i changed my sample? would have been idiotic to use the same one… especially at the same schools. i took a long hard look at the old sample and realized the reasons it wasn’t great. you gotta grow to have any chance of a different result 

I just meant more did you rework any of your old stuff. 

I've heard of people doing a mix. Like significant revisions on a story paired with something new. 

[KennyK]

21 minutes ago, Tinky C. Clown said:

you guys. as a successful second round applicant. it’s okay! i have been in the 0a despair pit before-and i spent a year+ being mad about it every day. but it really truly isn’t the end of the world. you apply again. now i wish i spent the energy i wasted wallowing… writing… reading… thinking about my previous work and identifying weaknesses and making new work aimed towards those weaknesses. it really did not end up being that bad. your time will come next year or the year after with patience and persistence. self pity isn’t effective i’ve learned. sorry to sound like your bad high school football coach but it’s true 

Did you submit under fiction or poetry? And what schools have you gotten accepted into this time around if you don’t mind me asking?

[pananoprodigy]

19 minutes ago, Tinky C. Clown said:

most of the same schools and lots more new ones 

 

of course i changed my sample? would have been idiotic to use the same one… especially at the same schools. i took a long hard look at the old sample and realized the reasons it wasn’t great. you gotta grow to have any chance of a different result 

Idiotic's a bit harsh lol, I can see some situations where using a piece you applied with in the past would be valid. I used totally new pieces this year for my second try but I do know a person I was in workshop with this past summer who applied with the exact same samples and got in their second round. 

 

edit: And to me to that's all the more evidence of how subjective and sometimes arbitrary this process is, and why you shouldn't take rejections personally (to the extent that's possible)

Edited February 15 by pananoprodigy

[Tinky C. Clown]

21 minutes ago, pananoprodigy said:

Idiotic's a bit harsh lol, I can see some situations where using a piece you applied with in the past would be valid. I used totally new pieces this year for my second try but I do know a person I was in workshop with this past summer who applied with the exact same samples and got in their second round. 

 

edit: And to me to that's all the more evidence of how subjective and sometimes arbitrary this process is, and why you shouldn't take rejections personally (to the extent that's possible)

yeah true, i guess i wasn’t thinking about revisions 

[zaira]

26 minutes ago, pananoprodigy said:

edit: And to me to that's all the more evidence of how subjective and sometimes arbitrary this process is, and why you shouldn't take rejections personally (to the extent that's possible)

Absolutely. I keep circling back to this. I'm proud of my samples. I wish I could sit here and say, yeah, they're terrible and that's why I've had one firm rejection and two soft rejections. I can't say that. Are my samples perfect? Absolutely not. Am I happy with them anyway? Yep. I wouldn't have wanted to apply with anything else. If I don't get in this year, it's not necessarily because my samples were trash. I've had tons of amazing feedback on them from people I trust. Sometimes it's just not the right fit for this year's cohort, and that's totally alright! 

[Tinky C. Clown]

31 minutes ago, KennyK said:

Did you submit under fiction or poetry? And what schools have you gotten accepted into this time around if you don’t mind me asking?

fiction!

[exvat]

27 minutes ago, zaira said:

Absolutely. I keep circling back to this. I'm proud of my samples. I wish I could sit here and say, yeah, they're terrible and that's why I've had one firm rejection and two soft rejections. I can't say that. Are my samples perfect? Absolutely not. Am I happy with them anyway? Yep. I wouldn't have wanted to apply with anything else. If I don't get in this year, it's not necessarily because my samples were trash. I've had tons of amazing feedback on them from people I trust. Sometimes it's just not the right fit for this year's cohort, and that's totally alright! 

Amen. My sample poems are, frankly, extraordinary (modesty be damned). Further, my motivations and aspirations for attending a program are pure. My recommenders are top shelf and enthusiastic. If, all these considered, I still don't get into a program, then I can relax into the assurance of knowing it ain't me—it's the fit. And I can't really be mad about someone declining to dance with me. I'ma dance anyway, albeit alone.

[Mystic_Sunshine]

1 hour ago, pananoprodigy said:

Idiotic's a bit harsh lol, I can see some situations where using a piece you applied with in the past would be valid. I used totally new pieces this year for my second try but I do know a person I was in workshop with this past summer who applied with the exact same samples and got in their second round. 

 

edit: And to me to that's all the more evidence of how subjective and sometimes arbitrary this process is, and why you shouldn't take rejections personally (to the extent that's possible)

Thank you for response  and the bit about your friends experience. 

I have some new pieces that I think if I had written when I applied I would have used, but I also had one piece I wrote not far before deadlines (that went in my sample) that I love but think could have probably benefited from more time/more workshops. 

 

[pananoprodigy]

38 minutes ago, Mystic_Sunshine said:

Thank you for response  and the bit about your friends experience. 

I have some new pieces that I think if I had written when I applied I would have used, but I also had one piece I wrote not far before deadlines (that went in my sample) that I love but think could have probably benefited from more time/more workshops. 

 

For sure! I think at the end of the day the only thing that's always true is that you should submit whatever your BEST stuff is. If that's something you already submitted who cares. Some of these adcoms are reading thousands of stories per cycle, I guarantee they don't remember individual pieces. Of course, whatever your/our best story is right now can almost definitely be made even better over the next year!

[KennyK]

Is notre dame known for accepting/promoting spec fiction writers? I saw that a couple of their faculty members have published novels that were spec

[rapunzel]

none of the American schools are going to be notifying on Monday, are they? this is going to be the longest weekend 😐

[exvat]

5 hours ago, exvat said:

Appears to be a Vanderbilt poetry wait-list in the Results here. If it's real, I'm gonna breathe a little easier and consider it a soft rejection.

Looks like there's a second one now, so I'm considering Vanderbilt a soft rejection.

[KennyK]

12 minutes ago, rapunzel said:

none of the American schools are going to be notifying on Monday, are they? this is going to be the longest weekend 😐

I literally forgot Monday was a holiday 😭😭😭

[Mystic_Sunshine]

14 minutes ago, rapunzel said:

none of the American schools are going to be notifying on Monday, are they? this is going to be the longest weekend 😐

Not all universities are closed monday so there could be news

[nauseated]

Hi guys. Wanted to pop in and share an experience I had today, which I have since dubbed God's practical joke on me.

After the JHU acceptances on draft, I had assumed mine to be a soft rejection, which is most likely what will happen. But still, because universities presumably notify during working hours, which is during the night for me (because timezones), I keep my Wi-Fi on and keep my ringtones up to the full volume while I'm asleep - not because I'm particularly hopeful, but because in the off chance I do get a call, I wouldn't want to miss it. Plus, the call would be from an American phone number, so if an American number called me out of the blue in the middle of the night or early morning, I'd have reasonable reason to be hopeful.

Earlier today (now yesterday, I suppose),  Saturday morning at around 11, I get a call. It's an American phone number. I have never gotten a call from an American number unless it is a family member calling, but that's almost always on Whatsapp.

I stare at the screen for a second. I pick it up. Beat. I say hello. Beat. I feel like I could throw up and shit myself and die, all at once. Beat. Someone speaks from the other end. They say hello. Beat. 

It is a random man asking me how I am. In my native language. I have never heard his voice in my life.

As he keeps mumbling hellos and how are yous, this man with an American number whom I've never heard of or spoken to in my life, my heart sinks again, this really icky acidic deflated feeling - which is insane! I knew at the time it would have been impossible to get a notification, as it would have been anywhere between 8-11 PM in the US. But it still didn't stop my heart from coming out through my throat. What are the odds that I would get a scam call during these days, and it would be a number with a +1 phone code. I can just imagine the universe laughing at me. 

Anyway, once I got over the initial shock and deflation, I laughed about it quite a bit. Sorry for the unnaturally long post - just feels like the sort of incredulous insane thing that would happen to one of us during this crazy heated time, lol. As always, good luck everyone, I hope everyone gets good news soon. If not MFA-related, then something better or redemptive. And if you want to, please send a prayer my way. Love ❤️