2026 Creative Writing MFA Applicants Forum

[meanwhile]

3 minutes ago, idkmann said:

Is anyone else having a hard time sleeping? For the past few weeks, I've been waking up after a few hours of sleep, forcing myself to sleep, and waking up again intermittently every 30 minutes. I'm constantly checking this thread, the spreadsheet, my email, my phone. This is so not healthy, and I don't know how to ease the intensity. 

I’ve been on a weird cycle of this exact thing for a few days, then a few days of “everything will be ok no matter what happens” since applications began.  The only thing I’ve found to ease it a bit is honestly not fighting the overwhelming feelings and accepting that this is a somewhat brutal experience. My therapist and I have lovingly named it the “It’s So Over, We’re So Back Cycle.”

Giving it that name and being able to recognize that one will follow the other (for better or worse) has helped. It does feel very intense in a very strange way. Hoping it gets better for you and also looking forward to seeing if anyone has any other tips! 

[impatientjoy]

My first acceptance came in today!!! Did anyone hear from NAU with funding information??

[ocurlyfries]

22 hours ago, womaninthevoid said:

two questions:

1) anybody in fiction hear from FSU yet? historically the results have come out pretty early in feb 

2) does pitt do any acceptances (fiction) without interview first? if i didnt get an interview by now, should i accept my fate as rejection? 

Nothing from FSU yet, just agonizing over the idea that their offers have already been released (especially fiction).

[ladylilith]

6 minutes ago, impatientjoy said:

My first acceptance came in today!!! Did anyone hear from NAU with funding information??

I also just heard from NAU! They didn't mention anything about funding in their email, so I'm debating whether or not I should email to ask. 

[eelteamsix]

22 minutes ago, runlolarun said:

Noon in eastern time zone?

yeah, EST. looks like we might not hear anything today

[impatientjoy]

18 minutes ago, ladylilith said:

I also just heard from NAU! They didn't mention anything about funding in their email, so I'm debating whether or not I should email to ask. 

Congrats!!! Which genre?? I emailed and asked & can report back! Maybe funding is a different email?

[impatientjoy]

NAU is sending funding info early next week!

[womaninthevoid]

46 minutes ago, ocurlyfries said:

Nothing from FSU yet, just agonizing over the idea that their offers have already been released (especially fiction).

sameee:( i only saw one person add acceptance in drafts so im hoping they’re not done with offers 

[ladylilith]

30 minutes ago, impatientjoy said:

NAU is sending funding info early next week!

Thank you! Did they say anything about what the deadline to accept/decline their offer is? 

[impatientjoy]

1 minute ago, ladylilith said:

Thank you! Did they say anything about what the deadline to accept/decline their offer is? 

They didn’t! I assumed April 15th but I told them I was excited to learn more & still waiting to hear from all my schools

[bones.bell]

1 hour ago, slothgirl said:

did anyone apply/hear back from Pratt? I had an interview but haven't heard anything since

I applied to Pratt. I also had an interview a little over a week ago. Based off of what I can find from previous years, we should hear back any day now! Good luck!!

[ocurlyfries]

14 minutes ago, womaninthevoid said:

sameee:( i only saw one person add acceptance in drafts so im hoping they’re not done with offers 

My portal says that the department has reviewed my application and made a recommendation to the Graduate Office of Admissions, so I feel like a decision (whatever it may be) will likely come out soon. Anticipation is killing me!

[slothgirl]

you too! I'll let you know if I hear anything ❤️

 

[Spicy Potato]

On 2/6/2026 at 9:38 AM, impatientjoy said:

Is this a thing!?

Definitely! I've talked to a few professors in the past who confirmed that this is generally the case. It isn't at all hard and fast rule, but still leaves you room for hope. Last year I had been waiting forever on a waitlist, only to be rejected like two days before the start of the semester. Turns out, the program had been trying to get additional funding to get me in. So waiting to hear back rather than insta-rejection could actually be a good thing! 

[gupppy]

do y'all think it's a good sign if someone from one of my top choice schools viewed my linkedin profile 😪 or does it not really matter?

trying to cling onto any ounce of hope available to me here 

[runlolarun]

18 minutes ago, gupppy said:

do y'all think it's a good sign if someone from one of my top choice schools viewed my linkedin profile 😪 or does it not really matter?

trying to cling onto any ounce of hope available to me here 

Was it a professor from Michigan?

[sloth.13.5]

First-time applicant here, sorta! Applied last year, found out I needed surgery and withdrew all applications except Ole Miss (because I completely forgot to until I found out I made it to the second round...oops); so overall this stage of the MFA application cycle is new to me. I am not on social media, so I cannot see the Facebook group, etc. Did JHU already go out for fiction? Appreciate the patience, thanks all!

[gupppy]

Just now, runlolarun said:

Was it a professor from Michigan?

No, UNM

[runlolarun]

8 minutes ago, gupppy said:

No, UNM

Oh okay. Someone from Michigan viewed my profile... I have told myself it doesn't mean anything, but who knows. 

[mr vagina]

the gi distress! thought i’d hear from somewhere by now but jfc 

[SocialKonstruct]

1 minute ago, mr vagina said:

the gi distress! thought i’d hear from somewhere by now but jfc 

? I didn't understand but unsure how this relates to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JFC_International?

[mr vagina]

29 minutes ago, M.P.writer13 said:

First-time applicant here, sorta! Applied last year, found out I needed surgery and withdrew all applications except Ole Miss (because I completely forgot to until I found out I made it to the second round...oops); so overall this stage of the MFA application cycle is new to me. I am not on social media, so I cannot see the Facebook group, etc. Did JHU already go out for fiction? Appreciate the patience, thanks all!

jhu hasn’t gone out for fiction as far as i can tell !

 

also by jfc i meant jesus fucking christ 

[XXY]

4 hours ago, idkmann said:

Is anyone else having a hard time sleeping? For the past few weeks, I've been waking up after a few hours of sleep, forcing myself to sleep, and waking up again intermittently every 30 minutes. I'm constantly checking this thread, the spreadsheet, my email, my phone. This is so not healthy, and I don't know how to ease the intensity. 

I totally went through this, but during the mad rush of drafting my writing sample lmao. My brain woke me up at 3-4 AM every day to think about how my story sucked and I was doomed. I think this forum and others are really nice sources of camaraderie, but they do lead me to think about app outcomes way more frequently than I would otherwise. I think I'm going to limit myself to checking only once or twice a day, if that.

I hope you're able to relax and your sleep irons itself out soon!

[sloth.13.5]

2 hours ago, mr vagina said:

jhu hasn’t gone out for fiction as far as i can tell !

 

also by jfc i meant jesus fucking christ 

thank you!

[lisichka]

I've decided that I'm going to hold out hope for Pitt until Friday and if there are no poetry interviews reported by then, THEN I'll consider it a rejection.