2025 Creative Writing MFA Applicants Forum

[Cdoodles]

Hey all,

I’ve seen some people posting that Columbia sent out notifications last week but have only seen poetry and a playwrite update on the spreadsheet. Any fiction applicants heard back yet? A friend of mine heard back mid march last year so I still have my fingers crossed.

[cooliejulie86]

53 minutes ago, Hjanep said:

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

Wait - I also did a Sackett workshop in Sep-Nov - was yours online and with Keija P.?

[Hjanep]

15 minutes ago, cooliejulie86 said:

Wait - I also did a Sackett workshop in Sep-Nov - was yours online and with Keija P.?

Nope ours was with Beth Morgan

[Mystic_Sunshine]

I didn't know LSU does interviews. 

So I guess I'm taking that as a soft rejection. 

[Scribe]

1 hour ago, Catpaw said:

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!

Okay, so I know about the rejections on Draft though I thought it was a total of 9. Now LISTEN UP:

I do not know rhaenyra so I will not be commenting on their specific situation. I will state that as of February 19, no rejections from Irvine had gone out. I will also state that it seems people on Draft reported emails of a portal update so I do believe it's possible they were University generated and not Program generated. This is purely speculation. If someone did in fact receive a rejection, I do not wish to give them false hope. 
Now, this next bit is interesting, but little more. At the close of business on the 19th of February they were "very very close" to 'declaring' their final selections. Also, one year ago today, acceptances went out. It's Saturday. DO NOT ASSUME ANYTHING; I just want to put this out there. 
Finally, prestigious as it is, people say no to Irvine. Remember that if you get waitlisted. 
I am loathe to give anyone false hope but 364 days ago I would have taken any hope I could get. 

I'm around if I can answer any questions. 

Edited Saturday at 11:08 PM by Scribe

[KennyK]

For my peeps on draft, just checking in to see if an UC Riverside responses have went out? Last year the released decisions on Feb. 28th, so I’m curious! Seems like they might be behind the norm

[sgrad]

13 minutes ago, KennyK said:

For my peeps on draft, just checking in to see if an UC Riverside responses have went out? Last year the released decisions on Feb. 28th, so I’m curious! Seems like they might be behind the norm

i dont see any riverside!

[Hjanep]

1 hour ago, Scribe said:

Okay, so I know about the rejections on Draft though I thought it was a total of 9. Now LISTEN UP:

I do not know rhaenyra so I will not be commenting on their specific situation. I will state that as of February 19, no rejections from Irvine had gone out. I will also state that it seems people on Draft reported emails of a portal update so I do believe it's possible they were University generated and not Program generated. This is purely speculation. If someone did in fact receive a rejection, I do not wish to give them false hope. 
Now, this next bit is interesting, but little more. At the close of business on the 19th of February they were "very very close" to 'declaring' their final selections. Also, one year ago today, acceptances went out. It's Saturday. DO NOT ASSUME ANYTHING; I just want to put this out there. 
Finally, prestigious as it is, people say no to Irvine. Remember that if you get waitlisted. 
I am loathe to give anyone false hope but 364 days ago I would have taken any hope I could get. 

I'm around if I can answer any questions. 

This group has been so quiet this year without you!! Thank you for the update. I was over here about to chill out and realized last year on Sunday was when UVA rejected me so… looking forward to a chill rest of my weekend. Hopefully someone in this group gets some good news from Irvine soon

[analog_e]

Just want to plug UVA to any who might get accepted: Lisa Spaar is really lovely if you're applying for poetry. I have taken two courses with her and they sold me on this MFA thing. Also had a fiction course with Jane Alison and she had some tremendous insight on my work. It's such an active, supportive department. Also there is so much to do in Charlottesville for a city of its size. Plentiful amazing food, lots of local music, good theaters, and a bustling Irish trad scene. Highly recommend it. I would have applied if they accepted their own undergrads.

I am a little less panicked on what to do if I don't get into Brown, as I just scored a contract alongside a friend of mine to score a video game, which is exciting and pays pretty well, got invited to be part of the band for a Ceili, and one of my poems was selected for V Mag. I think I can make a gap year productive. Would definitely prefer to get into Brown, though.

[MegHe]

14 minutes ago, analog_e said:

Just want to plug UVA to any who might get accepted: Lisa Spaar is really lovely if you're applying for poetry. I have taken two courses with her and they sold me on this MFA thing. Also had a fiction course with Jane Alison and she had some tremendous insight on my work. It's such an active, supportive department. Also there is so much to do in Charlottesville for a city of its size. Plentiful amazing food, lots of local music, good theaters, and a bustling Irish trad scene. Highly recommend it. I would have applied if they accepted their own undergrads.

I am a little less panicked on what to do if I don't get into Brown, as I just scored a contract alongside a friend of mine to score a video game, which is exciting and pays pretty well, got invited to be part of the band for a Ceili, and one of my poems was selected for V Mag. I think I can make a gap year productive. Would definitely prefer to get into Brown, though.

Is it common for MFA programs to not accept from their college undergrad pool? I applied to UVA's MFA as a UVA alum, but I wasn't in the English department and I graduated nine years ago. I love everything I've heard/researched about the program - and would second any recommendation for the school!!

[rapunzel]

2 hours ago, MegHe said:

Is it common for MFA programs to not accept from their college undergrad pool? I applied to UVA's MFA as a UVA alum, but I wasn't in the English department and I graduated nine years ago. I love everything I've heard/researched about the program - and would second any recommendation for the school!!

okay i don't know much about mfas but i know this happens with phd programs; my undergrad professors were pretty clear about that with me when i was first thinking of possible routes to go (phd vs. mfa), so i guess it wouldn't surprise me too much if mfas did something similar?

 

also super specific question but if you end up saying yes to a school that's fully funded, is there still a deposit situation involved? or is it purely verbal/written contract? and in the same vein, if you say yes to one fully funded school before april 15 but then decide to go back on your 'yes' because you got off the waitlist elsewhere, is there still a penalty?

Edited yesterday at 05:20 AM by rapunzel

[DiLo]

Hey guys, 

please can someone check if any other acceptance for WashU has been uploaded to draft?

Edited yesterday at 07:07 AM by DiLo

[thelovelyunkown]

Long story short, Iʻm almost certainly not getting in this round. I applied to one program (Brown) on a whim at the last minute knowing it was a long shot. Maybe a miracle will happen but itʻs far more likely Iʻll get a hard rejection. That being said, I am not giving up! I plan on reapplying to Brown and a bunch of other programs. Does anyone have any advice on how I should approach applications? I went into it blind the first time and want to be more prepared. I find the SOP particularly daunting and would appreciate any insight on what they are looking for content-wise. Anyway, I hope they release decisions soon because the not knowing is killing me >-<. Good luck everyone!

[Cosmicinkwell]

6 hours ago, DiLo said:

Hey guys, 

please can someone check if any other acceptance for WashU has been uploaded to draft?

Currently 1 acceptance per genre in the spreadsheet.

 

11 hours ago, analog_e said:

Just want to plug UVA to any who might get accepted:

I applied to UVA! The way this round is going it doesn't look like I'll get an offer or a waitlist though...

[ksiezniczka.monisia]

I must say, for the first time in my life, I absolutely hate weekends

[epr]

Its early for UVA still. Most likely next weekend, if past history is right

[Nauna]

3 hours ago, Cosmicinkwell said:

Currently 1 acceptance per genre in the spreadsheet.

 

I applied to UVA! The way this round is going it doesn't look like I'll get an offer or a waitlist though...

I'll just say that you never know who might vibe with your writing sample! ❤️ I applied there too, but understand that it's one of the more competitive programs. 

[pananoprodigy]

9 hours ago, thelovelyunkown said:

Long story short, Iʻm almost certainly not getting in this round. I applied to one program (Brown) on a whim at the last minute knowing it was a long shot. Maybe a miracle will happen but itʻs far more likely Iʻll get a hard rejection. That being said, I am not giving up! I plan on reapplying to Brown and a bunch of other programs. Does anyone have any advice on how I should approach applications? I went into it blind the first time and want to be more prepared. I find the SOP particularly daunting and would appreciate any insight on what they are looking for content-wise. Anyway, I hope they release decisions soon because the not knowing is killing me >-<. Good luck everyone!

The most consistent piece of advice I've gotten re: SOP is that it's not the place to get creative. Obviously that doesn't mean making it boring (it should still be super well written), but overall it should read much more academic than your writing sample, and should always hit a few of the same key points:

• your background & previous experience (both in writing and in life)
• your interests/focuses as a writer (maybe even what you're planning to work on during the MFA)
• your artistic influences (they want to know that you're actively reading and learning on your own)
• your readiness to contribute to an MFA program (examples of why you'd be good in a workshop setting, any prior teaching experience even if it's not writing related, etc.)
• why this program specifically interests you

I'm sure there are others that I'm missing, but these seem to be the ones I hear over and over again. Hopefully it won't matter tho and you'll get some good news from Brown!

[sgrad]

what do you think the chances are that a program sends out waitlist notifications before acceptances? 😅 I see the waitlist notifications for NC State have gone out on draft, but so far no poetry acceptances listed 

[exvat]

2 hours ago, pananoprodigy said:

The most consistent piece of advice I've gotten re: SOP is that it's not the place to get creative. Obviously that doesn't mean making it boring (it should still be super well written), but overall it should read much more academic than your writing sample, and should always hit a few of the same key points:

• your background & previous experience (both in writing and in life)
• your interests/focuses as a writer (maybe even what you're planning to work on during the MFA)
• your artistic influences (they want to know that you're actively reading and learning on your own)
• your readiness to contribute to an MFA program (examples of why you'd be good in a workshop setting, any prior teaching experience even if it's not writing related, etc.)
• why this program specifically interests you

I'm sure there are others that I'm missing, but these seem to be the ones I hear over and over again. Hopefully it won't matter tho and you'll get some good news from Brown!

Anecdotally, my SOP did double duty, hitting all those points, while couched in a fairly linear biography. This was necessary to make sense of my story/CV, which are so bizarre and nonsensical upon first/fifth glance to the point of swift disqualification without clear and concise explanation.

Edited yesterday at 07:40 PM by exvat
Add status: 1a/2r/1p

[Nauna]

39 minutes ago, sgrad said:

what do you think the chances are that a program sends out waitlist notifications before acceptances? 😅 I see the waitlist notifications for NC State have gone out on draft, but so far no poetry acceptances listed 

Let's just cross our fingers that they're people with tons of As already so can't be bothered to enter their data... and will open up the spots for you and I! 

[analog_e]

My SOP is pretty out there but also very specifically tailored to Brown. Hopefully it'll work. I had to explain my cocaine GPA and having dropped out of uni four times and feel like I did so in a pretty creative fashion. We'll see what happens!

[Tuxedocat]

1 hour ago, sgrad said:

what do you think the chances are that a program sends out waitlist notifications before acceptances? 😅 I see the waitlist notifications for NC State have gone out on draft, but so far no poetry acceptances listed 

I’m so sorry to say this but I think NC State has released all acceptances and waitlists 😭

Draft had 2 fiction acceptances on Feb 20 and 21. I got a poetry waitlist for NC State on Friday and it said among other things “the program you have applied to has reached capacity” but stated that I’m on the waitlist and should hear back about waitlist movement by May 1. So I think poets who were accepted just aren’t on grad cafe or draft or haven’t announced their results. Really wish I had better news for you and maybe I’m wrong. But the wording of the waitlist email makes me think all accepted people have been notified.

[janetdamnit]

Since the NC poetry acceptances weren't posted on Draft, but the fiction ones were, I'm getting worried the same thing is happening with Brooklyn College. Has anybody heard anything on Brooklyn's poetry acceptances? So far I've gotten 2 wait-lists, 2 hard rejections, and one soft rejection. I'm thankful for the wait-lists, I'm just terrified to get really close but not close enough. Eeeeeeep

[sgrad]

59 minutes ago, Tuxedocat said:

I’m so sorry to say this but I think NC State has released all acceptances and waitlists 😭

Draft had 2 fiction acceptances on Feb 20 and 21. I got a poetry waitlist for NC State on Friday and it said among other things “the program you have applied to has reached capacity” but stated that I’m on the waitlist and should hear back about waitlist movement by May 1. So I think poets who were accepted just aren’t on grad cafe or draft or haven’t announced their results. Really wish I had better news for you and maybe I’m wrong. But the wording of the waitlist email makes me think all accepted people have been notified.

gotcha! thanks for the info and congrats on the waitlist!