2026 Creative Writing MFA Applicants Forum

[analog_e]

Applications to Brown, Cornell, Vandy, Notre Dame, Minnesota, and Iowa Writer's Workshop are in, just have to finish up the app for Johns Hopkins, then I am done and can largely stop thinking about this until like February. I met with the three professors writing my letters last week and one has already submitted, the other two have promised to submit. That was an exhausting sprint but I am glad I crammed it all in early and just clicked submit to prevent myself from constantly looking back and doubting elements of them. I realized I really do not need to constantly revise my personal statement until December and can just let it be. Lovely feeling.

[SocialKonstruct]

On 9/27/2025 at 7:28 AM, jinny-r said:

to US-based applicants, may i know how the state is in the US right now? one of my recommenders, although willing to give her letter, is advising me not to proceed because of the political situation. i am a southeast asian bisexual woman and i tackle US imperialism and colonialism explicitly in my writing. 

thank you! 

To be honest, I would probably avoid coming over to the United States as an international applicant considering the horrid political situation as of late. The increasing number of ICE raids and growing marginalization of the queer/bi and trans community by the authoritarian regime makes it a high risk proposition to study here in the States. Also the banning of DEI and defunding of liberal arts makes those topics more difficult to address in any type of writing today.

On my end, I just accepted for publication in a pretty mid-size literary magazine thias past week (got a few publications under my belt so far this year) and right now I am applying to only three programs without a MFA in creative writing. I do have a MFA in studio art which makes my writing style, research, and approach rather heterodox in nature.

Right now my choices are: 1) USC Ph.D. (nonfiction, first choice hands down), 2) UC Irvine MFA (fiction), and very lastly 3) U of Utah PhD. (prose). I prefer to stay here in LA as much as I can and avoid Utah due to the political situation there. I also am applying to two other USC Ph.D. non creative writing programs just in case.

I am pretty nervous being an artist and writer in this day and age. Still I welcome the adventure and cross fingers to get into a program for the fall of next year. I just need to wait my letters of recommendation (one professor finished 2/3 of them so far) from my instructors since I finished up my essay writing completely.