2026 Creative Writing MFA Applicants Forum

[greenleaf]

hi y'all. just got waitlisted at NYU. given that rejections were coming in on the draft, i was sure that it was a rejection email, so i was very shocked to be waitlisted, and am very happy! i have a possible job opportunity in nyc so I impulsively applied to a couple of CUNY programs over the weekend as a last-ditch effort but those are looking unlikely since none of my recommenders have replied to my emails lmao. will keep holding onto the NYU hope!

[moonfang]

59 minutes ago, Hank Moody said:

Has NYU send waitlists already and I missed it? Why are they sending out rejections before waitlists otherwise?

I got notified that I was put on the waitlist just now!

[wombatcat87]

2 minutes ago, iamnotapoet said:

just got waitlisted at NYU.. wow. first time applying, right out of undergrad, im so shocked. i thought for sure i wouldn't even be waitlisted anywhere. of course its not an acceptance, but im thrilled. wow. i spoke to NYU at AWP, and they were... not my type of people. so I dont even know if I would go there, but im so ecstatic, this is definitely a confidence booster. Don't give up!!

would be very curious to hear about your experience talking to NYU at AWP if you'd be willing to elaborate! strongly considering going there

[Hank Moody]

1 minute ago, moonfang said:

got notified that I was put on the waitlist just now!

Congratulations! Guess I'll refresh my email a hundred times per minute now to see what fate awaits me

[puzzlebook]

omg same also on the NYU waitlist! for fiction

[iamnotapoet]

6 minutes ago, wombatcat87 said:

would be very curious to hear about your experience talking to NYU at AWP if you'd be willing to elaborate! strongly considering going there

totally, maybe they were just tired of talking to people all day, so I dont wanna call them out completely, but they were very dismissive of my conversation trying to get to know more about them and the program (they were mfa students). they were a bit rude to me and it definitely turned me off from going to their reception event later that day. they just seemed like daddy's money kinda folks. a bit disappointing.. but just my personal experience!

[ojo534]

omg all of these nyu waitlist posts.... im gonna tweak out.... heaven if you are listening to me... please 😭

[yamselot]

30 minutes ago, OnTheWhaleRoad said:

I have an evidence-free hypothesis that they largely don't accept anyone until the very end and then they select acceptances from the waitlist and applicants who have survived the cuts without notification. Effectively the opposite of everywhere else, lol. 

Every time I see a rejection in the sheet, I wonder if I lived to see another day or they just haven't read my application yet. 

You've fueled my hopes that I'l be accepted or waitlisted another day!

I could see this lining up though; it feels strange that there haven't been any acceptances. As far as I'm aware of at least!

[matchasimsbury]

just got waitlisted at nyu OMFG

[after]

3 hours ago, frootkoops36 said:

Hi friends, I’m afraid this is my last post for this cycle as I got my last rejection. I’m feeling very discouraged, but hopeful at the same time. 
 

I turned 24 this year and took two years after undergrad to apply again, so this is my second cycle. I will say that I have had many a revelation this time around in terms of fine tuning my voice as a poet. I have much to work on and read, and most of all, I haven’t really submitted anything for publication. I am wanting to dedicate this next year to doing just that and writing. 
 

for any of you who might be my age or older, did you find that it does truly take time to get into a fully funded MFA? The creeping doubt and anxiety is saying that I will never get a shot at it, but I know this is just my blues talking. 
 

good luck and congrats to all who already have offers and acceptances/waitlists. Take care. 

This is my first time posting, because I really wanted to respond to this. I haven’t seen stories of paths to an MFA similar to mine, so I’d love to share and give some variety (especially from an older perspective) along with a heap of encouragement to keep doing you. 

I did not study writing in university. After graduating, I worked a series of random jobs I can only describe as “for the plot.” I always loved jotting down thoughts, but I never considered writing formally until I started taking ad hoc online workshops about 3 years ago, in fiction, which I soon realized wasn’t a good fit. Speaking only for myself, I discovered my true obsessions only when I was older, the recurring themes that I kept thinking of from every possible angle. I started writing poetry 2 years ago, finally finding the form best fit for capturing those obsessions. 

I’m now in my early 30s, I still haven’t tried to publish anything, and winter 2025 was my first application cycle. Only applying to fully funded programs, I received a handful of acceptances and waitlists, at more than half the places I applied. I'm still in shock that I’ll be going to my dream school in the fall. It took time for me to get in, not because of multiple app cycles, but because I literally needed time. To prep, I’ve started doing academic and craft reading that, most likely, the majority of my cohort will have done. I’ve seen already how my submitted work could have been stronger.

I know this isn’t the best time economically, but still keep the option open of doing something that allows you to develop your singular obsessions. Anything that comes next is for the plot, and it’ll enrich your writing, even if it has nothing to do with writing. Between now and your next app cycle, whether later this year or in a handful of years, try to be guided by intuition and some whimsy, and remove the pressure of putting writing “out there,” because it’s not as important as fully inhabiting yourself. 

 

[OnTheWhaleRoad]

2 hours ago, LouPatt said:

I do know that waitlists have been sent out, maybe not all, but some. I saw someone on the FB group say they were waitlisted on 2/28, and I received one on 3/16. Not sure if this is helpful at all. Good luck!

Congratulations! May I very nosily inquire when you submitted your application and if any information about waitlists or accepted students was shared with you? 

[after]

1 hour ago, OnTheWhaleRoad said:

Congratulations! May I very nosily inquire when you submitted your application and if any information about waitlists or accepted students was shared with you? 

 

Edited March 19 by A.M.
whoops, originally thought this was a response to me

[moonfang]

3 hours ago, yamselot said:

Literally! I've seen some rejections trickling in though. Has anyone gotten a Poetry acceptance yet?

I was accepted a few days ago... I got the call and everything but still waiting for the official letter to come through from the grad school for it to feel actually real. My body still hasn't really processed any of this lol 

[YH94]

4 hours ago, frootkoops36 said:

Hi friends, I’m afraid this is my last post for this cycle as I got my last rejection. I’m feeling very discouraged, but hopeful at the same time. 
 

I turned 24 this year and took two years after undergrad to apply again, so this is my second cycle. I will say that I have had many a revelation this time around in terms of fine tuning my voice as a poet. I have much to work on and read, and most of all, I haven’t really submitted anything for publication. I am wanting to dedicate this next year to doing just that and writing. 
 

for any of you who might be my age or older, did you find that it does truly take time to get into a fully funded MFA? The creeping doubt and anxiety is saying that I will never get a shot at it, but I know this is just my blues talking. 
 

good luck and congrats to all who already have offers and acceptances/waitlists. Take care. 

Made an account just to respond to this lol

I'm 31 turning 32, and this is actually my first application cycle with a single waitlist at my top-choice, funded school (crickets from the others and they were only 4 in total!). No publications. Not even a Creative Writing BA. (Sorta) Unrelated career. Lots of detours I took on purpose even! 

Frankly, though, I don't regret how I ended up here and see that one measly waitlist as proof I took the right path so far no matter how "late" or amateur.  At twenty-four I experienced family crises, moved abroad for years, pivoted fields, and met so many amazing people who inspire me (creatives and noncreatives alike!). I've discovered topics that ended up mattering more to me than I realized and why, and also developed myself outside of writing. I'm a passionate polyglot, educator, hobby artist, daughter, friend, community member, and Disability activist : ). These things drive me as much as writing (which has always felt like another heart in my chest tbh), and I'm at a point where I want that writing to be the vehicle that shares these passions with an audience.

You're going to get your shot, because you're going to be discovering just as much between now and your acceptance. I'm sure you already also write beautifully about things that matter to you. Just keep being curious about the world and your place in it as both a writer and a person.

EDIT: Just saw @A.M.'s reponse. Exactly thiiiiiiis. Love love love the idea of "fully inhabit yourself". Let that guide you!!!

Edited March 19 by YH94
added thoughts

[LouPatt]

47 minutes ago, OnTheWhaleRoad said:

Congratulations! May I very nosily inquire when you submitted your application and if any information about waitlists or accepted students was shared with you? 

Hi! Thank you! I don’t mind at all. I submitted my application on January 7, so about a week before the deadline if I am remembering correctly. Here is what part of the waitlist email said:

The poetry faculty of Boston University’s MFA Program in Creative Writing has read your application with much interest and has placed you on a short, unranked waitlist. We have a strong record of accepting poets off our waitlist and watching them flourish in our program — we genuinely hope that we will be able to offer you a seat in our poetry cohort.

——————————————————————

there was some additional information about funding if I am accepted to the program and a a general outline of how courses and credits work. The director also put me into contact with an alum of the program who is now the Creative Writing Administrator! I’m sorry that I don’t have much more information!

[OnTheWhaleRoad]

21 minutes ago, LouPatt said:

Hi! Thank you! I don’t mind at all. I submitted my application on January 7, so about a week before the deadline if I am remembering correctly. Here is what part of the waitlist email said:

The poetry faculty of Boston University’s MFA Program in Creative Writing has read your application with much interest and has placed you on a short, unranked waitlist. We have a strong record of accepting poets off our waitlist and watching them flourish in our program — we genuinely hope that we will be able to offer you a seat in our poetry cohort.

——————————————————————

there was some additional information about funding if I am accepted to the program and a a general outline of how courses and credits work. The director also put me into contact with an alum of the program who is now the Creative Writing Administrator! I’m sorry that I don’t have much more information!

That was quite helpful, thank you! But perhaps a little crushing to my hope that since I submitted so close to the deadline, my application is simply at the bottom of the pile. Ah well, I will be happy, if poorer, to go to UMass Boston. 

[OnTheWhaleRoad]

50 minutes ago, moonfang said:

I was accepted a few days ago... I got the call and everything but still waiting for the official letter to come through from the grad school for it to feel actually real. My body still hasn't really processed any of this lol 

Wow! Congratulations! 

[Busybeez]

7 hours ago, gafoo said:

The thing I respect most about miffy and mtown is that they are mogging all of us and haven't made a single peep about it in the forum/FB group at all. I would be talking about it constantly. Good for them

My imformal and slightly comically deranged data analysis shows they are the same person. Like twins you never see together, never accepted into the same program and kinda toning down the brag. 

[PLSSSSSSSSSSSSS]

43 minutes ago, OnTheWhaleRoad said:

That was quite helpful, thank you! But perhaps a little crushing to my hope that since I submitted so close to the deadline, my application is simply at the bottom of the pile. Ah well, I will be happy, if poorer, to go to UMass Boston. 

dont ask how ik...but it doesnt matter when u send them. they are reorganized by last name. they also have a ton of stuff going on rn so its just rlly slow. lol.

 

[OnTheWhaleRoad]

8 minutes ago, PLSSSSSSSSSSSSS said:

dont ask how ik...but it doesnt matter when u send them. they are reorganized by last name. they also have a ton of stuff going on rn so its just rlly slow. lol.

 

That is very eenteresting, thank you

[matchasimsbury]

does anyone know the likelihood of getting off an nyu waitlist? ik i likely wont hear back with an update until april 15th or after, but im just wondering if it's possible to get off the waitlist or if its unheard of bc how competitive the program is

[martysupreme]

1 hour ago, matchasimsbury said:

does anyone know the likelihood of getting off an nyu waitlist? ik i likely wont hear back with an update until april 15th or after, but im just wondering if it's possible to get off the waitlist or if its unheard of bc how competitive the program is

I think NYU historically has a lot of waitlist movement because not very many people can make the cost of the program work and are forced to turn them down if they don't have outside money or don't want to take out loans

[Jitterbug98]

Admissions are so confusing to me, I’ve gotten 3 funded offers and 1 waitlist but I got a flat out rejection from Bennington’s low res program? I read that they accept like 53% of applicants but idk if that’s accurate 

[arghgradapps]

10 minutes ago, Jitterbug98 said:

Admissions are so confusing to me, I’ve gotten 3 funded offers and 1 waitlist but I got a flat out rejection from Bennington’s low res program? I read that they accept like 53% of applicants but idk if that’s accurate 

its all so subjective. ive gotten 4 offers and 4 waitlists but rejected from the Tin House/MWC Summer Workshop LOL. hope this gives everyone some perspective 

[thechain]

any word on jhu rejections?