2025 Creative Writing MFA Applicants Forum

[Cosmicinkwell]

26 minutes ago, isabella swan said:

i wanna know firsthand how it feels to get an acceptance email😭

Real

[carly rae jepsenn]

36 minutes ago, jinny-r said:

Congrats to carly rae jepsen for getting into Michigan. I hope you release another album this year! Love, ur #1 fan

THANK YOU I LITERALLY CANT BELIEVE IT lol

[rhaenyra]

1 hour ago, Tuxedocat said:

GUYS I GOT INTO MICHIGAN FOR POETRY OMFG

Congrats omg!!!

[everything bagel lover]

@carly rae jepsenn CONGRATULATIONSSSSSS THAT'S AMAZING!!!!!!

 

Edited February 21, 2025 by everything bagel lover
omg i didn't even tag her lol

[isabella swan]

1 minute ago, carly rae jepsenn said:

THANK YOU I LITERALLY CANT BELIEVE IT lol

If it isn't too intrusive to ask, did you send the same portfolio to every program, or did you send different stories according to the program's assumed fit?

[Mystic_Sunshine]

I'm stressed because I looked at when I should hear back from places and it's looking like I won't have definite answers for another couple of weeks. 

AH. 

Also why does LSU notify so late?? 

[Tinky C. Clown]

aaaand umich is out. 

[kpoetrottenapplecore]

anyone still waiting to hear back from UNC Greensboro or University of South Carolina?

[exvat]

Well, if past reports from the Results page are any indicator, looks like NYU might send acceptances next week 🤞

Let's keep this band-aid rippin'

[carly rae jepsenn]

3 minutes ago, isabella swan said:

If it isn't too intrusive to ask, did you send the same portfolio to every program, or did you send different stories according to the program's assumed fit?

Not intrusive, happy to answer questions. I only had 2 stories I could submit; I'd been working on them both for about 2 years. Both of them were fairly long – one of them was 4K words and the other 5K words, so depending on the page limit per program I submitted one or the other. (I kind of just gauged which one to submit based on the "vibe" of the program, which is very much an imperfect science.) Michigan's page limit was much longer than most other programs' limits, so I was able to submit both stories, and one of my friends who had previously gotten accepted to Michigan helped me decide which story to lead with (I learned from her that order matters!).

[DJ Lambchop]

Currently at 3 hard Rs, 4 soft Rs, and two pending. This is truly depressing. So glad I wasted so much time and energy on this. 

[Eloise2897]

I am kinda climbing the walls over here waiting to hear from Syracuse (fiction). I'm assuming I was not rejected, since it looks like all of those were sent out days ago. Could they actually be doing acceptances after rejections? Does that ever happen? Or should I be expecting a waitlist? And when 😭? Feels weird being so miserable about this since either an acceptance or a waitlist would count as good news...I just really, really want to know which one! Applying there was for sure my biggest reach. 

Edited February 21, 2025 by Eloise2897
forgot to specify genre

[Cosmicinkwell]

6 minutes ago, DJ Lambchop said:

Currently at 3 hard Rs, 4 soft Rs, and two pending. This is truly depressing. So glad I wasted so much time and energy on this. 

It's really brutal out here. I'm sorry, I'm feeling kind of pessimistic as well.

[pananoprodigy]

huge congrats on umich @Tuxedocat and @carly rae jepsenn!!! AMAZING!!!

ALSO feeling bewildered bc I just got a waitlist email from Arkansas??? Despite not having submitted the second part of the app? Taking the W regardless but threw me for a loop since I didn't have it on my list lol 

[everything bagel lover]

1 minute ago, pananoprodigy said:

huge congrats on umich @Tuxedocat and @carly rae jepsenn!!! AMAZING!!!

ALSO feeling bewildered bc I just got a waitlist email from Arkansas??? Despite not having submitted the second part of the app? Taking the W regardless but threw me for a loop since I didn't have it on my list lol 

Hype!(?) That's amazing! Congrats!

[rrrooossseee]

It's really heartwarming seeing people here and on the Draft write that they got an acceptance after multiple rejections. Really, really happy for you guys.

Edit: This reads kind of insincere lmao, but I really mean it!!!! Congrats :')

Edited February 21, 2025 by rrrooossseee

[DJ Lambchop]

To anyone who's on their second round AND has gotten an acceptance--did you receive any acceptances or waitlists the first round? I'm thinking this is going to be 100% hard Rs for me this year and I'm thinking this means I will not try again.

[pananoprodigy]

4 minutes ago, DJ Lambchop said:

To anyone who's on their second round AND has gotten an acceptance--did you receive any acceptances or waitlists the first round? I'm thinking this is going to be 100% hard Rs for me this year and I'm thinking this means I will not try again.

I had the honor of a cute and sexy full rejection zero waitlist sweep last year and now I have a funded offer and a few waitlists. Don't give up even if you get all Rs!!!!!!!!

[Mr. Scribblo]

9 minutes ago, pananoprodigy said:

huge congrats on umich @Tuxedocat and @carly rae jepsenn!!! AMAZING!!!

ALSO feeling bewildered bc I just got a waitlist email from Arkansas??? Despite not having submitted the second part of the app? Taking the W regardless but threw me for a loop since I didn't have it on my list lol 

wait, waitlist means 'progressed to round 2,' right? or am i missing something? did they already send round 1 results earlier? 

anyway, that's amazing! congratulations!!!

[Eloise2897]

3 minutes ago, DJ Lambchop said:

To anyone who's on their second round AND has gotten an acceptance--did you receive any acceptances or waitlists the first round? I'm thinking this is going to be 100% hard Rs for me this year and I'm thinking this means I will not try again.

I got all rejections save for one waitlist my first round, to my dream school (where I have been waitlisted yet again, go figure), and the final rejection from them didn't come until nearly April 15th. So it was about 4 months of holding onto hope as my odds dwindled. Getting that rejection crushed me, and it took me a year to decide to apply again, but I'm so glad I did. Even if I hadn't gotten any acceptances this year, redoubling my efforts and trying for a second round made me a much better writer. In the end, that's the most important thing. 

[programedlove333]

44 minutes ago, kpoetrottenapplecore said:

anyone still waiting to hear back from UNC Greensboro or University of South Carolina?

i am waiting for both! i applied for fiction

[everything bagel lover]

15 minutes ago, DJ Lambchop said:

To anyone who's on their second round AND has gotten an acceptance--did you receive any acceptances or waitlists the first round? I'm thinking this is going to be 100% hard Rs for me this year and I'm thinking this means I will not try again.

I'm sorry you're having a hard time and facing that dreaded wall of rejections. I will say, you still have two left! My first round, I got a waitlist at the very end. I applied to 10 schools and got waitlisted at 1 that never panned out and rejected from all the others.

I took a couple of years off between because I wasn't sure that I was ready for the taxing (mentally and financially) journey of applications so soon. I used revised versions of stories I submitted last round and one new piece, and they've been well received so far! It's not over until it's over and it's okay if you need to step back from the process if it doesn't work out this time.

Be easy on yourself and it's okay to feel whatever it is your feeling. ❤️ 

Edited February 21, 2025 by everything bagel lover
only one new piece, not several

[Tinky C. Clown]

12 minutes ago, DJ Lambchop said:

To anyone who's on their second round AND has gotten an acceptance--did you receive any acceptances or waitlists the first round? I'm thinking this is going to be 100% hard Rs for me this year and I'm thinking this means I will not try again.

i got 9 straight up R’s last year 

[Tuxedocat]

Hey everyone! Out of reactions for today so thank you for all the congrats! But I just wanted to respond to the general things I’ve been seeing lately and recent posts. 
 

This was my second time applying. Last year I applied to 9 programs and was waitlisted at the NWP at the University of Texas at Austin. I was rejected from the 8 other programs. I never made it off the waitlist at NWP. But I turned my frustration into motivation. This was not the first time in my life when people doubted me, and I knew it was because they could not see the potential I saw in myself. So I decided to show them. I read through my application again. I wrote about a project I would do if I go into an MFA program. So I just did the project on my own. I went through archives, read books on my topics, spent months researching and writing. I started writing the poems I vowed to write in my application. At the same time, I went to a summer writing workshop at one of the programs I hoped to attend. I took in every ounce of feedback. I sought out other writers to give me feedback on my SOP essay and my writing sample. I listened and changed and became a better writer. 
 

Today, as I mentioned, I got into Michigan!! I was rejected by them last year. I have 2 acceptances until my belt this season, 3 rejections, and I think 12 pending. This season is going great for me, but it’s my second try at it. It’s not the end of the world to try again. Please have hope. Please keep writing. Whatever happens, let it motivate you to try harder, be better. There’s always room to improve. And nobody can take writing away from you. ❤️

[kpoetrottenapplecore]

1 minute ago, programedlove333 said:

i am waiting for both! i applied for fiction

okay sweet i was starting to get super nervous, glad someone else is waiting too. i applied for poetry!