2025 Creative Writing MFA Applicants Forum

[Nauna]

1 hour ago, quadcrossedfingers said:

Big ole i-feel-ya hug, friend. The anxiety is almost unbearable, and time is stupid and made up, but the phrase that has helped me along is you only need one. But waiting for it....ugh. I also missed all my top programs. But if it wasn't the right fit, it just wasn't. My mentor had really good advice when they were like you *know* you work has so much merit, that's not the factor, people at these programs want to take in folks they know they are well-suited to guide. The right one will see you. ❤️

Thank you and everyone... so much! I just love that we are all in this together; it makes the endurance much more bearable. xo 

[exvat]

27 minutes ago, Nauna said:

Thank you and everyone... so much! I just love that we are all in this together; it makes the endurance much more bearable. xo 

Echoing this, and adding that yesterday, while driving around my Bible Belt town, I passed a church whose marquee read:

 

What if we joined our sorrows, I'm saying.

        I'm saying: "What if that is joy?"

                — Ross Gay, The Book of Delights

 

In the wise words of Greg from Over the Garden Wall: ain't that just the way?

[goodluckbabe]

8 hours ago, exvat said:

NYU began sending acceptances Monday and continued all week. Someone here got accepted Wednesday. Two folks (me included) got in today. Not sure if they're done or heading to waitlist or what. I wouldn't lose hope though!

gotcha, thank you! i hope they're not done haha, though i've started to lose hope... 

congrats on the admission!! from what i've seen lurking here it's beyond deserved + thank you for all the advice you gave!

[pananoprodigy]

10 hours ago, Jitterbug98 said:

Does anyone have recs for comforting books, tv shows, movies, video games? My mental health is not great right now (I’m sure plenty can relate)— MFA apps are a factor but it’s also just life in general. I’m hanging in there but feel like I could really use something comforting to get lost in and forget about things for a bit 

Sorry you're having a tough time 😕 it's rough out here for sure. I've been on a classic Parks & Rec binge, and I've also been shamelessly consuming fanfic. Those are sort of my go-tos. Oh, and and I also started watching youtube walking tours of random cities I've never been to while I walk on the treadmill (i.e. fantasizing about moving to a remote Swedish village if the whole MFA thing doesn't work out)

[MegHe]

10 hours ago, Jitterbug98 said:

Does anyone have recs for comforting books, tv shows, movies, video games? My mental health is not great right now (I’m sure plenty can relate)— MFA apps are a factor but it’s also just life in general. I’m hanging in there but feel like I could really use something comforting to get lost in and forget about things for a bit 

Video game wise: a weird one I absolutely loved recently was My Life as a Teenage Exocolonist. It's a growing up/dating sim in space, with monsters and mysteries and it gets pretty meta at one point (you're supposed to play it more than once, kind of Kate Atkinson Life After Life-y). 

[exvat]

42 minutes ago, goodluckbabe said:

gotcha, thank you! i hope they're not done haha, though i've started to lose hope... 

congrats on the admission!! from what i've seen lurking here it's beyond deserved + thank you for all the advice you gave!

Thank you!! And fingers crossed for you 🤞🤞🙏

[DJ Lambchop]

11 hours ago, Jitterbug98 said:

Does anyone have recs for comforting books, tv shows, movies, video games? My mental health is not great right now (I’m sure plenty can relate)— MFA apps are a factor but it’s also just life in general. I’m hanging in there but feel like I could really use something comforting to get lost in and forget about things for a bit 

I've been rewatching Gilmore Girls lately. It's comfy but also well-written lol

[exvat]

11 hours ago, Jitterbug98 said:

Does anyone have recs for comforting books, tv shows, movies, video games? My mental health is not great right now (I’m sure plenty can relate)— MFA apps are a factor but it’s also just life in general. I’m hanging in there but feel like I could really use something comforting to get lost in and forget about things for a bit 

I've been escaping into Murakami novels the last several weeks (sometimes on a good sativa). Both Norwegian Wood and Kafka on the Shore have been great emotional breaks from All This. I was reading Rachel Cusk books before that, and while they're AMAZING, they're super stressful 😬

[Nauna]

2 hours ago, exvat said:

Echoing this, and adding that yesterday, while driving around my Bible Belt town, I passed a church whose marquee read:

 

What if we joined our sorrows, I'm saying.

        I'm saying: "What if that is joy?"

                — Ross Gay, The Book of Delights

 

In the wise words of Greg from Over the Garden Wall: ain't that just the way?

Ross Gay is one of my all-time favorites! 

[Nauna]

I just found out the hard way that U of Memphis's application deadline of March 1 actually means February 28 at 11:59 PM. 😑

[prufrock_]

12 hours ago, Jitterbug98 said:

Does anyone have recs for comforting books, tv shows, movies, video games?

i feel like it's rather subjective, but my most rewatched comfort shows are Friday Night Lights, Scrubs, Monk and Taskmaster (UK). The first two are deep and can get dark, but are generally uplifting.  The last two are just fun.

[alexisapoet]

16 hours ago, pearadox said:

Federal funding is apparently getting cut down to like 15% or something crazy, and everything is totally insane (like "oh we'll have to cut our Cancer Research Division of the school" type conversations. I can't help but wonder where poetry funding is on the chopping block lol) . While that school is not one that I'm applying to this cycle, I can't help but wonder how many of these programs are getting screwed by factors completely out of my and their control.

I think the thing saving a lot of these programs is that typically MFA students' stipend is payment for (exploited, underpaid) labor, so as long as there are freshman composition classes to be taught and senior professors who want nothing to do with those classes...

That's how a program director recently put it to me, though with less of the emphasis on 'exploited' and 'underpaid'...

[inthesameboat]

On 2/28/2025 at 8:39 AM, Hjanep said:

FWIW they’re in my workshop group and are so amazing and I could see how their voice would stand out in a pile of 1000 apps. It’s actually been really helpful to know their work and watch this shake out because I’m like “yep that’s so unique and not something anyone else could write” so I get why seeing other people’s successful apps wouldn’t be THAT helpful to guide what we do going forward 

any idea what program they're leaning toward 😂 i wouldn't even know what to do with that many options!

[rapunzel]

On 2/28/2025 at 8:39 AM, Hjanep said:

FWIW they’re in my workshop group and are so amazing and I could see how their voice would stand out in a pile of 1000 apps. It’s actually been really helpful to know their work and watch this shake out because I’m like “yep that’s so unique and not something anyone else could write” so I get why seeing other people’s successful apps wouldn’t be THAT helpful to guide what we do going forward 

also what workshop group is this? (is it open to join lol it sounds really helpful)

[Tuxedocat]

ACCEPTED TO WASHU FOR POETRY!! 

[Lady Gladys]

1 minute ago, Tuxedocat said:

ACCEPTED TO WASHU FOR POETRY!! 

Fantastic!! Congrats! (gorgeous campus, btw)

[everything bagel lover]

9 minutes ago, Tuxedocat said:

ACCEPTED TO WASHU FOR POETRY!! 

HOLY SHIT CONGRATS YOURE GOATED

[exvat]

10 minutes ago, Tuxedocat said:

ACCEPTED TO WASHU FOR POETRY!! 

CONGRATS!!! 🎉 🎉🎉 Good thing you already got that tux on!!! 🍾🍾

[Cosmicinkwell]

23 minutes ago, Tuxedocat said:

ACCEPTED TO WASHU FOR POETRY!! 

Insane job! Now I gotta stress about those fiction notifs though...

[Scribe]

On 1/30/2025 at 2:20 PM, smallchange said:

I'm technologically challenged so I just accidentally made my own thread in Literary oops

Wanted to post to get updates on the programs I've applied to and commiserate!

I applied to seven programs so far (UC Irvine, UC San Diego, UC Davis, Brown, Michigan, Michener, Iowa) and still have to submit to Hunter College (should probably be working on that lol). 

I'm curious to know if any of these programs interview people. I know Hunter does and Iowa definitely does not. I thought that I saw UCI does interviews, but now I think I just saw the AI summary on google which was probably wrong. Curious also how the person who posted about UCI reading applications knows this, are you a current student?

I'm in a weird spot because I've spent the last few years working part-time/freelancing and have been looking for full-time work for a looong time and finally have a good lead but I am hesitant to start something I would have to quit so soon, though I'm also very prepared to get in nowhere!

Has anyone else applied to Davis this year or in the past? I don't think I've seen any posts on here about it. 

I am so sorry for not responding sooner but have been locked out of the forum. But no, UCI does not formally interview applicants. Of course any program might reach out for more or specific information from time to time. 

[Hjanep]

47 minutes ago, rapunzel said:

also what workshop group is this? (is it open to join lol it sounds really helpful)

Sackett street - ours isn’t currently open but recommend if you’re in NYC

[Scribe]

Question for the forum because I'm not reading from February 18 until today. Exactly who here has been rejected from UC Irvine?

 

[Scribe]

On 1/29/2025 at 11:49 PM, cooliejulie86 said:

Thanks, Scribe! Does that mean you've been recruited as a reader? 

Hey guys, I know this is super late but as I explained above, it was beyond my control. Better late than never?
The only readers at Irvine are the directors. They read every sample they get. 

On 1/30/2025 at 11:10 AM, Catpaw said:

If we applied to Irvine and opted to include the self-addressed postcard with our manuscript (aka, the postcard that gets mailed back to you as proof-of-receipt), do you know if we should we have received that postcard by now? Or do those postcards get mailed only as each individual app gets reviewed?

I've been uncertain if I should reach out to the department and confirm whether my application packet actually made it to Irvine, or if I'd be inquiring too soon... Just not sure what the appropriate process is.

I honestly do not have an answer for this, nor is anyone available to ask at the moment. It's been a minute; did you ever hear back?

[Catpaw]

5 minutes ago, Scribe said:

I honestly do not have an answer for this, nor is anyone available to ask at the moment. It's been a minute; did you ever hear back?

Yes, I did! All was resolved smoothly. I'll quote my response below (but thank you so much for asking, I appreciate it!).

On 1/31/2025 at 2:22 PM, Catpaw said:

Just a quick update on this, in case anyone ends up in a similar boat: the MFA Program Coordinator for Irvine replied a couple of hours after I reached out, and he confirmed that they got my packet—the postcard must have just gone astray in the mail. I'm glad I reached out for the ease of mind. They were quick to respond and very courteous!

[Catpaw]

29 minutes ago, Scribe said:

Question for the forum because I'm not reading from February 18 until today. Exactly who here has been rejected from UC Irvine?

 

From what I can see in the forum backlog, there were eight rejections for fiction posted to the Draft spreadsheet on February 18. One of the rejections was reported here by rhaenyra, who does post on the forum. No other rejections reported since then!

Edited Saturday at 09:34 PM by Catpaw