2026 Creative Writing MFA Applicants Forum

[prufrock_]

i know it's nearing late feb when i find myself sending text messages and emails to myself just to make sure they work -- these inboxes they're being awfully & suspiciously QUIET... 

[lisichka]

got my umich rejection :,( hoping to see some movement from minnesota, pittsburgh, and nc state this week

[strawberrymatcha]

20 minutes ago, impatientjoy said:

Is anyone else assuming Minnesota already sent out waitlists and that’s just not represented here or on draft?

I’ve been thinking this but am trying to stay hopeful haha, last year it looks like there were enough waitlists on draft that it seems pretty unlikely that there wouldn’t have at least been one? (especially since there were roughly the same number of acceptances)

as a side question, do y'all feel like it’s been more helpful (personally) to have a positive/hopeful mindset or more of a “I probably won’t get in but if I do it’d be nice” mindset? I’ve definitely been fluctuating between the two… 

Edited February 16 by strawberrymatcha

[Ogwick]

3 minutes ago, strawberrymatcha said:

as a side question, do y'all feel like it’s been more helpful (personally) to have a positive/hopeful mindset or more of a “I probably won’t get in but if I do it’d be nice” mindset? I’ve definitely been fluctuating between the two… 

I keep telling myself “only an idiot thinks he/she will get into Iowa. You did this to say you at least tried.”  That’s my mantra

[prufrock_]

5 minutes ago, strawberrymatcha said:

as a side question, do y'all feel like it’s been more helpful (personally) to have a positive/hopeful mindset or more of a “I probably won’t get in but if I do it’d be nice” mindset? I’ve definitely been fluctuating between the two… 

I approach it with a stoic philosophy: "Do not seek to have events happen as you want them to, but instead want them to happen as they do happen, and your life will go well" - Epictetus. 

 

It's silly but sometimes i remember that like a thousand people are living their mfa dreams right now and it makes me happy to think about, even if i don't know them, and even if it's not me doing it. so if i get in, i'll be happy, and if i don't get in, i'll be happy that someone else did. 

[vilum]

11 minutes ago, strawberrymatcha said:

as a side question, do y'all feel like it’s been more helpful (personally) to have a positive/hopeful mindset or more of a “I probably won’t get in but if I do it’d be nice” mindset? I’ve definitely been fluctuating between the two… 

this is my second time applying and i can definitely say that last year i was devastated that i didn't get, and i think that was due in part to the fact that i was looking at an mfa as an escape from my reality.

now, i'm planning my life as if i won't get in: renewed my contract for my job, looking for a new apartment, vaguely planning summer travels... maybe i'm a bit too extreme, but it really soothes me to think that my life isn't over if i don't get into any school. 

i would be beyond happy to dismantle my plans, but i like having them to avoid getting too invested in whether i get in or not!

Edited February 16 by vilum

[Ogwick]

6 minutes ago, prufrock_ said:

approach it with a stoic philosophy: "Do not seek to have events happen as you want them to, but instead want them to happen as they do happen, and your life will go well" - Epictetus. 

You would also make a good predestinationalist Presbyterian Calvinist minister too…  

[marsmentality]

2 hours ago, hermione granger said:

is umich not done with acceptances & waitlists and thats why rejections aren’t out? or can i accept my fate

got my rejection an hour ago..

[Bugg]

Anyone else yet to receive their UMich rejection? At this point I fear they are going to wait to send the rest until tomorrow😭 

[gupppy]

1 minute ago, Bugg said:

Anyone else yet to receive their UMich rejection? At this point I fear they are going to wait to send the rest until tomorrow😭 

yeah i haven't got mine lol i feel like they might be doing this alphabetically (my last name starts with M)

[marsmentality]

3 minutes ago, gupppy said:

yeah i haven't got mine lol i feel like they might be doing this alphabetically (my last name starts with M)

I think so too.. got my email at exactly 3PM and my last name starts with "AB"

[Bugg]

11 minutes ago, gupppy said:

yeah i haven't got mine lol i feel like they might be doing this alphabetically (my last name starts with M)

Rip yeah I’m S

[vilum]

25 minutes ago, gupppy said:

yeah i haven't got mine lol i feel like they might be doing this alphabetically (my last name starts with M)

me too! i started wondering if i'd dreamt of submitting it

[BowelMovement]

did umich just stop...can't even get my R in peace fr

Edited February 17 by BowelMovement

[marsmentality]

11 minutes ago, BowelMovement said:

did umich just stopped...can't even get my R in peace fr

honestly the way they're handling this is so dehumanizing to me it makes me never want to apply again 

[puzzlebook]

do we know how many umich acceptances/waitlists are on draft? i don't have social media 😕

[idkmann]

19 minutes ago, puzzlebook said:

do we know how many umich acceptances/waitlists are on draft? i don't have social media 😕

4 fiction acceptances

1 poetry acceptance

4 poetry waitlists

3 fiction waitlist

[bucket]

i know someone asked about this already, but has anyone heard anything from UC Davis or UMN? i saw a few Davis acceptances last week but not for nonfiction or hybrid so i’m hoping those are forthcoming??? also UMN waitlists??

[lisichka]

48 minutes ago, bucket said:

i know someone asked about this already, but has anyone heard anything from UC Davis or UMN? i saw a few Davis acceptances last week but not for nonfiction or hybrid so i’m hoping those are forthcoming??? also UMN waitlists??

regarding UC Davis, there was one nonfiction acceptance on 2/9 last week, the same day as fiction acceptances, and last year waitlists came about a week after acceptances; UMN waitlists should be notified either this week or next, considering that they were sent on 2/21 in 2023 and 2/15 in 2024

[meanwhile]

Have there been any notifications reported for poetry at U of Arizona yet? 🥲 

[mr.swifty]

Anybody have any thoughts on when Rice will come out? I expected early-ish given that it's their first year.

[lisichka]

49 minutes ago, meanwhile said:

Have there been any notifications reported for poetry at U of Arizona yet? 🥲 

not yet!

[Emblazonries]

2 hours ago, mr.swifty said:

Anybody have any thoughts on when Rice will come out? I expected early-ish given that it's their first year.

I thought the opposite! Since its their first year they might take longer due to their systems/procedures not being entirely in place yet and having a smaller team for (what I assume to be) a large application pile. Also, since it is the first cohort they might want to take extra time to make sure they hit the ground running with their student's strength to potentially "prove" that the program can hang with the rest of the established ones, in a sense. But this is entirely my speculation and with NO basis at all haha I would also hope they send it out sooner for my own anxiety! 

[mr.swifty]

12 minutes ago, Emblazonries said:

I thought the opposite!

Could be for sure. I was thinking along the lines of wanting to extend offers to their top candidates before they potentially accepted elsewhere. Good point though!

[vilum]

did anyone apply to the university of south florida?