2026 Creative Writing MFA Applicants Forum

[traceykibres]

3 hours ago, itsgivingliterary said:

im writing weird shit! and applied with weird shit! My impression talking to mfa students/profs/alums is that literary spec fic is alive and well (and my impression of trade publishing is that spec fic is also having a moment, but that's a longer story). Hell, Carmen Maria Machado taught a horror workshop at Iowa last year. I don't think we have anything to worry about

I agree with the comment I've quoted. I applied with stuff that falls into the category of genre fiction. It's like, romance-adjacent, and the prose is ~risky~ or whatever (ugh I hate describing what I write, you get the idea I hope, haha). I'm no expert, but as far as I understand it, the quality of your writing and whether it is interesting (in the sense that you have something to Say) matters way more than whether your sample fits into a mold. 

 

But like, more to the point, you don't want to go somewhere that writing like yours is merely tolerated (if it even is). If you get an MFA, you should get to go to a program that is behind you-- teachers (and classmates!) who are down to get a little weird, if getting weird is what you do. That's how I've been looking at it anyway, like I want people who actually are interested in reading love stories to read my love stories. (Edit: I know OOP is not writing genre fiction, I'm just writing from my own experience and I think my point stands).

 

I hope I make some sense. It's the middle of the night here. I also want to say (and maybe this is the most important part of this post) that comparison is both poisonous and pointless at this point in the game. Your applications are most likely all already in, you can't change them; and worrying is only going to hurt you.

 

Best of luck to all of us

Edited January 29 by traceykibres

[BenAfflecksmokingacigarete]

anyone else apply to The New School / get a text to join their student community on an app called ZeeMee? wondering if it's spam or not and if it means anything promising !

[Chex]

5 hours ago, traceykibres said:

I agree with the comment I've quoted. I applied with stuff that falls into the category of genre fiction. It's like, romance-adjacent, and the prose is ~risky~ or whatever (ugh I hate describing what I write, you get the idea I hope, haha). I'm no expert, but as far as I understand it, the quality of your writing and whether it is interesting (in the sense that you have something to Say) matters way more than whether your sample fits into a mold. 

 

But like, more to the point, you don't want to go somewhere that writing like yours is merely tolerated (if it even is). If you get an MFA, you should get to go to a program that is behind you-- teachers (and classmates!) who are down to get a little weird, if getting weird is what you do. That's how I've been looking at it anyway, like I want people who actually are interested in reading love stories to read my love stories. (Edit: I know OOP is not writing genre fiction, I'm just writing from my own experience and I think my point stands).

 

I hope I make some sense. It's the middle of the night here. I also want to say (and maybe this is the most important part of this post) that comparison is both poisonous and pointless at this point in the game. Your applications are most likely all already in, you can't change them; and worrying is only going to hurt you.

 

Best of luck to all of us

I love reading love stories!

[Spicy Potato]

15 hours ago, meanwhile said:

For those of y'all who are applying again/another round and those who have MFAs who are here very kindly offering your insight to us, what thoughts/tips/advice/do and don'ts do you have on giving it another go?

This is my first time applying and even though it's still pretty really early on (no decisions received yet), I'm admittedly already losing faith 😕 I've been out of school for a half a decade (any other 2020 grads here?? fun times!) and feel so rusty. I had enthusiastic recommenders, a writing sample I'm damn proud of, but feel that my biggest weaknesses were my SOPs and not having any publications (I've never submitted anywhere either, though!).

Any thoughts on applying with the same or mostly the same writing sample to the same programs the next year? Should one not apply to the same programs again? This is absolutely a me thing, but I'm horrified to think about pulling a "Hi, it's me again!" 

I know it's completely normal to not get in on your first round of applications, but if things don't work out this time, I'm really appreciative of any words of wisdom to keep from feeling completely dejected and like this is the only chance.

I actually feel like my chances are better this year after having applied last year. I was waitlisted at 4 programs last year, and if nothing else, they will likely remember my previous application. They'll see that I'm dedicated enough to be giving it another go, and I'd like to think that means something! ❤️ 

[strawberrymatcha]

15 hours ago, meanwhile said:

For those of y'all who are applying again/another round and those who have MFAs who are here very kindly offering your insight to us, what thoughts/tips/advice/do and don'ts do you have on giving it another go?

This is my first time applying and even though it's still pretty really early on (no decisions received yet), I'm admittedly already losing faith 😕 I've been out of school for a half a decade (any other 2020 grads here?? fun times!) and feel so rusty. I had enthusiastic recommenders, a writing sample I'm damn proud of, but feel that my biggest weaknesses were my SOPs and not having any publications (I've never submitted anywhere either, though!).

Any thoughts on applying with the same or mostly the same writing sample to the same programs the next year? Should one not apply to the same programs again? This is absolutely a me thing, but I'm horrified to think about pulling a "Hi, it's me again!" 

I know it's completely normal to not get in on your first round of applications, but if things don't work out this time, I'm really appreciative of any words of wisdom to keep from feeling completely dejected and like this is the only chance.

this is my second round! while I did feel a bit self-conscious at first, like everyone else has said it’s very normal for applicants to apply multiple years in a row. and I think having 6 months(ish) to look critically at my materials from last year, particularly my SOP, gave me the space I needed to put together a better application this year!

another unexpected benefit was that the last round gave me more insight into what I wanted from an MFA. there were certain programs that I didn’t really feel sad about getting rejected from, which was good indicator that I didn’t need to reapply to them this year😅

[molemola]

19 hours ago, analog_e said:

Need to know someone else out there is writing ~odd~ stuff. Off kilter prose. Surreal situations. Getting a little weird with it.

I was scoping out publications by current candidates and it's all so overwhelmingly straightforward in how it's written, and what's more it's all very grounded in reality. I am not saying the writing is bad, or that my writing is stupendous and special, but it's definitely different. There is one candidate at Brown who seems to be writing surreal fiction with some prose experimentation, which fits the preconception I had of the program, but overall it's kind of worrying. It isn't that I am writing genre fiction, just lit fic that's a bit out there, maybe a bit experimental. 

I suppose I write odd stuff. Although, my "artistic lineage" is a lot more pulpy and typical SFF than you may identify with. My sample included one very out-there story, think Kelly Link but country, and one more straightforward story, still with spec elements, but formally boring.

[ocurlyfries]

Has anyone gotten an email from Syracuse yet?? I've seen some people say they've already gotten decisions, but I haven't gotten an email yet and there's no update on my portal yet soooo I'm kind of freaking out thinking there's something wrong with my application lol

[Mystic_Sunshine]

39 minutes ago, ocurlyfries said:

Has anyone gotten an email from Syracuse yet?? I've seen some people say they've already gotten decisions, but I haven't gotten an email yet and there's no update on my portal yet soooo I'm kind of freaking out thinking there's something wrong with my application lol

Rejections often come later. Sometimes waitlist come later. Rejections can go out even a month or so later. 

Different genres also have different timelines. 

 

[Mystic_Sunshine]

Also, my biggest piece of advice to everyone is not to make suffering endless or unnecessary. 

Feel your anxiety or panic and then move on. I wish I would not have spend months not living my life because I was such a mess over the waiting, the panic, the rejections ect. 

Crashing out is valid but try to schedule crash out time

[Jitterbug98]

1 hour ago, ocurlyfries said:

Has anyone gotten an email from Syracuse yet?? I've seen some people say they've already gotten decisions, but I haven't gotten an email yet and there's no update on my portal yet soooo I'm kind of freaking out thinking there's something wrong with my application lol

If you’re a fiction applicant, I don’t think anyone has heard back yet as far as I know. If you’re poetry, I’d say it’s possible you could be still in consideration or on a secret backup waitlist since some rejections have already gone out, or they may just be doing rejections in batches 

[lisichka]

For anyone who applied to Pitt, their timeline seems to be the same as last year: fiction interview emails today (1/29).

[womanonline]

Has anyone else had their initial rejection from their first program and felt a wave of relief? Obviously I'm not happy that I didn't get into Ohio State, but I've been so anxious about the potential of being rejected...and now it's already happened. And it happened first and early. So now the hard part is kind of over. I feel less anxious because the worst has happened. I was rejected and I came out okay. Since that rejection, I've been checking the spreadsheet less and worrying about it less in general. It was consuming me beforehand, and it feels nice to let go a little bit, to the degree that I can. Sharing this to see if someone agrees, but also in hopes of this perspective helping someone else calm the waiting anxiety!

[SocialKonstruct]

On 1/28/2026 at 10:03 AM, commandercowboy said:

Just out of curiosity, did anyone else apply to the University of Utah PhD in English/Creative Writing? I applied in poetry, and just wondering if anyone else is in the same boat... (and also has any idea when decisions may bubble up, since there isn't a huge history of that program on the draft...)

I aslo applied to the U of U Creative Writing Ph.D. track in Prose. It's a killer program and one of my friends who is in that program is publishing in literary journals left and right and winning all types of awards.

Even Lindsey Drager just killed it with the recent round of the 2025 O. Henry Awards. I love the program and man do I really hate the state and culture there. My mom lives there.

https://coloradoreview.colostate.edu/features/blackbirds/

[pariva]

Anyone know historically when the Litowitz Northwestern program releases decisions for fiction?

[lisichka]

18 minutes ago, pariva said:

Anyone know historically when the Litowitz Northwestern program releases decisions for fiction?

There's not a whole lot of data, but most likely in the first week of February, around 2/5!

[illumikitten]

Very quiet today, hopefully more noise next week. 

[strawberrymatcha]

speaking of northwestern, how likely do y’all think it’ll be that they’ll still take a similar number of applicants this year (given that they deferred their cohort last year)?

[commandercowboy]

Seeing an update to the spreadsheet about IU Bloomington acceptance in poetry... firstly, congratulations stranger!! Secondly... feeling sad as this was one of my top choice programs (poetry applicant)... anyone know the likelihood that they'll... continue notifying over the weekend? Or into next week? Wondering if I should give up on that dream lol, but no updates to my portal!

[BowelMovement]

14 hours ago, strawberrymatcha said:

speaking of northwestern, how likely do y’all think it’ll be that they’ll still take a similar number of applicants this year (given that they deferred their cohort last year)?

I may be missing some info--what do you mean by deferred?

[womanonline]

6 hours ago, BowelMovement said:

I may be missing some info--what do you mean by deferred?

Deferred is generally when either something happens with an accepted student or the school that causes them to be unable to attend that year. Some schools and programs will allow you to defer a year and attend the next year. I don’t know what caused Northwestern to defer their students last year, but since MFA programs are so small, if a cohort was deferred, they may be accepting significantly less people than usual

[BowelMovement]

38 minutes ago, womanonline said:

Deferred is generally when either something happens with an accepted student or the school that causes them to be unable to attend that year. Some schools and programs will allow you to defer a year and attend the next year. I don’t know what caused Northwestern to defer their students last year, but since MFA programs are so small, if a cohort was deferred, they may be accepting significantly less people than usual

oh shit💀 I attended their info session and definitely remember Colin Pope saying they only accepted 2 poetry applicants last cycle, so what does this mean for poetry applicants this year?...

[Jitterbug98]

My UMass Amherst portal now says “decided—decision pending”— I’m thinking a rejection since I didn’t get an interview  anyone else?

I’m kinda regretting submitting a mixed fiction/CNF sample as a prose applicant. I submitted one story and one essay, because the submission guidelines said mixed was ok. But then I heard afterwards that the prose program heavily focuses on fiction 

[pariva]

3 hours ago, BowelMovement said:

oh shit💀 I attended their info session and definitely remember Colin Pope saying they only accepted 2 poetry applicants last cycle, so what does this mean for poetry applicants this year?...

Damn I didn't know they deferred people last year. Isn't their fiction cohort only like 3 people?! My hopes just shot down significantly now lol 

[traceykibres]

It's premature to ask, but I'm wondering if anyone here who applied multiple years changed their application genre in the second (3rd, whatever) round? I'm asking because I am considering switching from fiction to nonfiction next cycle if I don't get in anywhere (which you know, statistically is likely). I can elaborate on why if needs be. Thanks

[traceykibres]

3 hours ago, Jitterbug98 said:

My UMass Amherst portal now says “decided—decision pending”— I’m thinking a rejection since I didn’t get an interview  anyone else?

I’m kinda regretting submitting a mixed fiction/CNF sample as a prose applicant. I submitted one story and one essay, because the submission guidelines said mixed was ok. But then I heard afterwards that the prose program heavily focuses on fiction 

My portal still says "submitted." I don't know what that means (prob nothing), just letting you know. Who knows! Maybe you got waitlisted.