2026 Creative Writing MFA Applicants Forum

[analog_e]

Resolved to apply poetry in addition to fiction next year if I do not get in. I definitely preferred workshopping poetry, even if I consider fiction my primary artform. It's been about a year since I wrote any poetry-I have tried a few times and just found the results uninspired and lackluster. Girlfriend insisted on going for a walk today so we had a little promenade around campus and ended up at the Fralin museum, which has changed out nearly everything since my last visit. I think art, more than anything, really stirs me to write poetry. Not necessarily ekphrastic poems, but poems using imagery and ideas from the works. Anyhow, I've managed to write a bit, and the idea that I can just supplement my fiction submissions with poetry submissions, and that I am properly capable of writing a capable poem, is really lovely. Also there were girl scouts and I currently have tagalogs and tea. Fuckin untouchable rn, tell you what.

[womanonline]

Oregon State’s first CNF acceptance has hit the draft, sent via email which is weird bc the fiction ones were mostly calls. Calls give me more hope that it’s staggered than emails do 😭

[hermione granger]

with umich & jhu acceptances coming in by the hour in the draft instead of all at once i’m left wondering if they are sitting around the table manually making individual decisions and sending them out byeee what is this

[lisichka]

Last year, UMich sent out rejections on the same day as acceptances and waitlists, so I'm wondering if they'll do the same tonight. In 2024, rejections went out the day after.

[callmemarioplz]

Has anyone heard from Hunter, Cornell, George Mason, or Brown? Poetry specifically!

[marsmentality]

So… silence from michigan probably means rejection at this point, right?

[greenleaf]

7 minutes ago, marsmentality said:

So… silence from michigan probably means rejection at this point, right?

Its after 5 PM Eastern Time, so I have to assume they're done for the day 😕

Edited February 13 by greenleaf
edit: time zone

[marsmentality]

So far I’ve been rejected from UIUC and I’m assuming UMich is a rejection too… I only applied to 5 schools so my chances are getting kinda slim here… hoping UOregon, University of Wisconsin-Madison, or Iowa want meeeeeeee pretty pleaseee someone let me innnnn

[TPike]

45 minutes ago, callmemarioplz said:

Has anyone heard from Hunter, Cornell, George Mason, or Brown? Poetry specifically!

I’m also waiting on Mason! Haven’t seen anything for poetry (I think that’s good news atp), but I did see a non-fiction acceptance the other day.

[Hmax]

I’ve been so obsessive between checking this thread and the draft and trying to lower my expectations as results come through, that I had started to doubt everything about my writing and if I was good at all. But then today I actually sat down and wrote something that I really liked and it was just a really refreshing reminder that all that matters is that I’m pursuing something I’m passionate about.

[ssuunn]

Hello from the other side... Just leaving a positive note for everyone! Stay strong; y'all got this! It took me two cycles to get in anywhere and it feels so wild that I am, like, 4 months away from graduating. 

That being said, if I hear anything about University of Oregon decisions, I'll chime in here but I haven't heard anything yet! And if anyone gets into UO, feel free to DM me! 😄

[idkmann]

I'm gonna sound like an ad, swear i'm not, but: If it's helpful to anyone, I found this app called Freedom where you can block sites / internet /etc. for centain amount of time from your laptop, phone, ipad whatever. (Zadie Smith put it in the acknowledgements in one of her books lol).

You can make it so you can't delete/uninstall it once you start. I did it for the last 24 hours, and it was hellish not having access to draft and this site, but not more hellish than checking every 5 minutes. Gonna do it again for the weekend. 

 

 

[womanonline]

I told my aunt this morning about my three rejections. She reached out because she hadn't heard from me; I've been kind of avoiding updating people I didn't have to. I talked previously about not wanting to tell people because they just say, "You'll get in somewhere!" But she didn't say that, she said this: 

"Then those weren't the schools for you. Or this wasn't the time. Keep going. Keep applying. Success comes from staying the course. See the rejections as a building block and stepping stone to the next present place your feet are to stand."

I wish I had told her sooner because I didn't realize how badly I needed to hear that from someone who knew me. And I know it isn't the same, but I'm passing it along to you guys if you need some strength and care right now. 

[Emblazonries]

Happy Valentine’s Day! Woke up, it’s grey out, my stomach hurts, and a lovely little UW Madison rejection was waiting for me in my inbox. I hope someone has better news! 

[impatientjoy]

Did Wisconsin already release acceptances and we just aren’t seeing those on the sheet? Or is it common for them to release all decisions on the same day?

[strawberrymatcha]

anyone else still waiting to hear back from Madison?

[vilum]

5 minutes ago, impatientjoy said:

Did Wisconsin already release acceptances and we just aren’t seeing those on the sheet? Or is it common for them to release all decisions on the same day?

from last year's data acceptances and waitlists were released on the 14th and rejections on the 15th. i get that it's a saturday but it seems strange that for a class of six there were no acceptances or waitlists reported on the draft

[strawberrymatcha]

also, does anyone know if there have been waitlists for minnesota or davis yet?

[impatientjoy]

23 minutes ago, vilum said:

from last year's data acceptances and waitlists were released on the 14th and rejections on the 15th. i get that it's a saturday but it seems strange that for a class of six there were no acceptances or waitlists reported on the draft

Agreed. I wonder if the rejections are form emails or are they just releasing them in waves?

[marsmentality]

Oh boy! Rejected from Wisconsin on a Saturday morning while at work! Still have to be here for 7 more hours! Just spent half an hour sobbing in the back office! Probably will never get a chance to escape this shitty part-time job or pursue anything creatively! 

These rejections are piling up and making me feel like the biggest fucking idiot in the world. So much time and money wasted. 

[orca_lover_19]

9 minutes ago, marsmentality said:

Oh boy! Rejected from Wisconsin on a Saturday morning while at work! Still have to be here for 7 more hours! Just spent half an hour sobbing in the back office! Probably will never get a chance to escape this shitty part-time job or pursue anything creatively! 

These rejections are piling up and making me feel like the biggest fucking idiot in the world. So much time and money wasted. 

This is exactly how I feel (I’m also at work in a service job today, where I have to constantly appear happy and pleasant and don’t get to use much of my brain). I spent almost a whole paycheck applying and couldn’t really afford groceries after that. The acceptance rates are so low. Feeling like an idiot 

[julesr]

I have applied to both Stony Brook and UNLV and would love to hear your thoughts on how they compare. I’m curious to hear any insights you might have. I genuinely appreciate this community so much. Wishing everyone the best of luck ❤️ 

[Walter Hartwell White]

7 hours ago, womanonline said:

I told my aunt this morning about my three rejections. She reached out because she hadn't heard from me; I've been kind of avoiding updating people I didn't have to. I talked previously about not wanting to tell people because they just say, "You'll get in somewhere!" But she didn't say that, she said this: 

"Then those weren't the schools for you. Or this wasn't the time. Keep going. Keep applying. Success comes from staying the course. See the rejections as a building block and stepping stone to the next present place your feet are to stand."

I wish I had told her sooner because I didn't realize how badly I needed to hear that from someone who knew me. And I know it isn't the same, but I'm passing it along to you guys if you need some strength and care right now. 

This does make me feel lucky my mom has been more of a “pessimist” in the sense of “you might not get into anywhere.” She still believes in me and thinks I have good credentials but seeing like 8-10 people max for most of these programs has her saying to me things like “well I don’t know…” which keeps me grounded lol. 

[bioluminescent sloth]

14 minutes ago, Walter Hartwell White said:

This does make me feel lucky my mom has been more of a “pessimist” in the sense of “you might not get into anywhere.” She still believes in me and thinks I have good credentials but seeing like 8-10 people max for most of these programs has her saying to me things like “well I don’t know…” which keeps me grounded lol. 

Same here--my parents are supportive and believe in me, but they've also continued asking me about my backup plans in case I don't get in anywhere. I think it's because I've made them very aware of the odds. It's sort of hard to get friends, former teachers, and other relatives to fully understand how competitive these programs are, but I do my best to explain! Sometimes it's a bit awkward when they kindly say "I'm sure you'll get into your top program" and then they think I'm being humble when I respond "I don't know, I probably won't get in anywhere". It's sweet that they believe in me though!

[2O2AMFA]

Yup, people cannot understand why a master's program for writing is even more selective than a Harvard MBA. The latter is to make graduates high-paid professionals, generally at their own financial cost, but the former is to grant us the opportunity to become best-selling authors, fully funded. If you explain to people that we are paid to be celebrities in the same league as Hollywood movie stars and Broadway musical talents, they may realize for whom these programs are set. 

It is very common that most of us will be humiliated. We should be proud as we have tried. 

Postscript: A Harvard MBA doesn't need to be exceptionally talented, but any fully funded MFA in Creative Writing is.