2026 Creative Writing MFA Applicants Forum

[frootkoops36]

Irvine poetry ?? U of O poetry ?? UW poetry ?? 😓

[LB349]

NYU fiction? Surely they're not done based on past years..? Always a follow-up of email-only notifs.

[PLSSSSSSSSSSSSS]

i wanna cry waiting for the following poetry programs but im not in draft — I go raw — so who knows: UNLV, BU, RICE, BROWN. AND ALSO PROB REJECTS BUT NOTRE DAME, JHU, AND YEAH THEY DEF THREW OUT MY NWP APP LOL WTFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF SO MANY EMAILS AND PHONE CALLS AND THEY SAID THEY'D STILL READ IT DESPITE THE TRANSCRIPT FROM 2 WEEKS OF SCHOOL MISSING LIKE ITS FINE IF UR NOT GOING TO BUT JUST SAY THAT THOUGH UNLESS MAYBE THEY STILL ARE BUT GIRLLLLLLLLL 

[greenleaf]

6 minutes ago, PLSSSSSSSSSSSSS said:

i wanna cry waiting for the following poetry programs but im not in draft — I go raw — so who knows: UNLV, BU, RICE, BROWN. AND ALSO PROB REJECTS BUT NOTRE DAME, JHU, AND YEAH THEY DEF THREW OUT MY NWP APP LOL WTFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF SO MANY EMAILS AND PHONE CALLS AND THEY SAID THEY'D STILL READ IT DESPITE THE TRANSCRIPT FROM 2 WEEKS OF SCHOOL MISSING LIKE ITS FINE IF UR NOT GOING TO BUT JUST SAY THAT THOUGH UNLESS MAYBE THEY STILL ARE BUT GIRLLLLLLLLL 

one poetry interview for rice on 2/23.

three poetry rejections for boston on 2/27.

two nonfic acceptances for unlv, nothing for poetry.

nothing for brown but i know we're expecting if not this week then soon.

two notre dame poetry acceptances on 2/27

several hopkins poetry acceptances/waitlists on 2/12-14

sorry to hear about NWP. fingers crossed for you and thanks for sharing your experience, its useful for others even if torturous for you. i hope it works out

[PLSSSSSSSSSSSSS]

1 minute ago, greenleaf said:

one poetry interview for rice on 2/23.

three poetry rejections for boston on 2/27.

two nonfic acceptances for unlv, nothing for poetry.

nothing for brown but i know we're expecting if not this week then soon.

two notre dame poetry acceptances on 2/27

several hopkins poetry acceptances/waitlists on 2/12-14

sorry to hear about NWP. fingers crossed for you and thanks for sharing your experience, its useful for others even if torturous for you. i hope it works out

LOL TY still holding out hope for rice TBH...after they made me pay that $80...weird tho bc they told me no interviews at all! BU im hopeful...long story but IK a lot of them there and it would be fierce...ik they read in waves and send out in waves so heres hoping lol. UNLV is sick. been writing since 16 and have had lit pressed chapbook and a bunch of poems in weird indie journals. I think my writing is such a turn off for academics sometimes bc it's based in total rejection from Trans perspectives. in undergrad they really only liked it if they were young LOL...sometimes a rejection lowkey means being ahead and you should just keep making ur weird shit and celebrate the inside not wanting you. but thats just me and yk i still want an MFA so LOL

 

[greenleaf]

5 minutes ago, PLSSSSSSSSSSSSS said:

LOL TY still holding out hope for rice TBH...after they made me pay that $80...weird tho bc they told me no interviews at all! BU im hopeful...long story but IK a lot of them there and it would be fierce...ik they read in waves and send out in waves so heres hoping lol. UNLV is sick. been writing since 16 and have had lit pressed chapbook and a bunch of poems in weird indie journals. I think my writing is such a turn off for academics sometimes bc it's based in total rejection from Trans perspectives. in undergrad they really only liked it if they were young LOL...sometimes a rejection lowkey means being ahead and you should just keep making ur weird shit and celebrate the inside not wanting you. but thats just me and yk i still want an MFA so LOL

 

sometimes programs don't do interviews across the board, so i'm hoping you still have a shot at rice. i believe its their first year offering the mfa so im sure theres still elements theyre ironing out.

fingers crossed for you, we need weird trans shit!! i hope you get the visibility and support that comes with an mfa, though i'm heartened to know you know ur ahead of the game

i write weird trans shit and one of my recommenders advised against applying to iowa and a few other schools cuz they wouldnt really support that kinda work. gotta find your people!

[arghgradapps]

a little annoyed about Rutgers-Camden...i feel like they should have just put the program on pause last year??? Instead of allowing deferrals AND letting other people think that we were all under equal consideration for seats and funding. SOOOO crazy to me. I want my money back tbh since I couldn't get a waiver from them. 

[PLSSSSSSSSSSSSS]

1 minute ago, greenleaf said:

sometimes programs don't do interviews across the board, so i'm hoping you still have a shot at rice. i believe its their first year offering the mfa so im sure theres still elements theyre ironing out.

fingers crossed for you, we need weird trans shit!! i hope you get the visibility and support that comes with an mfa, though i'm heartened to know you know ur ahead of the game

i write weird trans shit and one of my recommenders advised against applying to iowa and a few other schools cuz they wouldnt really support that kinda work. gotta find your people!

let's all give it up for all of us making weird trans art though!!!!! politics too...so much at play....i mean look at the way academia is treating Pro Palestine sentiment. It's just a weird time and space for this degree for some of us. Inside institutions nonetheless. That is also always at play. Fully funded offers favor privilege obvi... there are so many low-res or non-funded options that are SO FIERCE i wish i wasn't poor LOL. same to you thooooooo yeesssss transsss arrttttt NOWWWWWWWWWW. it only takes one! 

[delraiser]

40 minutes ago, PLSSSSSSSSSSSSS said:

let's all give it up for all of us making weird trans art though!!!!! politics too...so much at play....i mean look at the way academia is treating Pro Palestine sentiment. It's just a weird time and space for this degree for some of us. Inside institutions nonetheless. That is also always at play. Fully funded offers favor privilege obvi... there are so many low-res or non-funded options that are SO FIERCE i wish i wasn't poor LOL. same to you thooooooo yeesssss transsss arrttttt NOWWWWWWWWWW. it only takes one! 

also someone who writes a lot of trans art--- this makes me super nervous. my fiction submission doesn't go into that very much, but it def talks about sexuality. fingers crossed being vocal about it in my writing and my personal statement isn't the reason i'm written off :((

[Sumire11]

Anyone know if fiction results at Arizona are out?

[molemola]

1 hour ago, greenleaf said:

question while we wait in bated breath for this week's woes:

does anyone have any recommendations for first residencies to apply to? i've never thought about attending one, but going through this process is opening my eyes to the value of non-mfa opportunities for writing development and i'd be curious if folks have any thoughts or recommendations about where to start!

Poets & Writers has a great list to start. I think, generally, it makes sense to apply to residencies that are free or offer scholarships, or are more targeted demographics wise (e.g, Cave Canem), easy to get to/regional. Make a list that way, budget for fees, and then if you have any fee money left over, go for the big ones like Yaddo and MacDowell.

 

oh, and edit: about a third of the students in my partner's MFA were trans, and a few more non-binary, so I truly hope the landscape hasn't changed that much. hold out hope!!

Edited March 3 by molemola

[gupppy]

22 minutes ago, delraiser said:

also someone who writes a lot of trans art--- this makes me super nervous. my fiction submission doesn't go into that very much, but it def talks about sexuality. fingers crossed being vocal about it in my writing and my personal statement isn't the reason i'm written off :((

If a program writes you off for being vocal about transness it’s not the right program for you. Promise. 
I was worried about this too because my stuff is trans as hell and I even included some, uh, graphic depictions of a certain side effect of testosterone on the VERY first page of my sample. Was kicking myself about this for months but I got some acceptances and waitlists from a couple top programs! You want to go somewhere that believes in what you’re doing. 

[hermione granger]

every time i try to forget my perpetual dread as i wait for decisions my brain reminds me that my sample was lowkenuinely way too speculative i’m going to crash OUT

[fungusbeetle]

hi everyone!! I’m sure I’m overthinking this but i was waitlisted in fiction at Syracuse yesterday and I only know as i checked the portal unprompted. But it seems like all other waitlisters received emails prompting a portal check (i assume a system generated email, based on the draft notes). Should i be concerned that I did not? I’ve checked spam, etc. 
 

(and if it was system generated, i know some people still reach out but is accepting the waitlist position enough to communicate my interest? Considering there is no email to reply to, cold emailing is a bit intimidating to me…😳)

Edited March 3 by fungusbeetle

[imgonnapuke]

3 hours ago, arghgradapps said:

a little annoyed about Rutgers-Camden...i feel like they should have just put the program on pause last year??? Instead of allowing deferrals AND letting other people think that we were all under equal consideration for seats and funding. SOOOO crazy to me. I want my money back tbh since I couldn't get a waiver from them. 

is this what happened?! i was so confused that so few acceptances went out 🥲

[hermione granger]

1 hour ago, fungusbeetle said:

hi everyone!! I’m sure I’m overthinking this but i was waitlisted in fiction at Syracuse yesterday and I only know as i checked the portal unprompted. But it seems like all other waitlisters received emails prompting a portal check (i assume a system generated email, based on the draft notes). Should i be concerned that I did not? I’ve checked spam, etc. 
 

(and if it was system generated, i know some people still reach out but is accepting the waitlist position enough to communicate my interest? Considering there is no email to reply to, cold emailing is a bit intimidating to me…😳)

i’d give it to the end of the day and see what the sheet looks like (if people are getting notifications still). where did it say waitlist on your portal?

[bucket]

does anyone know if not getting an interview with notre dame automatically funnels you into a rejection? or is there some anomaly where even without an interview one may end up waitlisted (probably not accepted?? idk)??

[imgonnapuke]

3 hours ago, LB349 said:

NYU fiction? Surely they're not done based on past years..? Always a follow-up of email-only notifs.

waiting on nyu too (but nonfiction)...seems like theres no way they've sent out everything though, there's only 7 total acceptances im seeing on draft...hopefully they release the rest soon i cant take the waiting lol

fingers crossed for you!!! 

[marsmentality]

3 hours ago, PLSSSSSSSSSSSSS said:

let's all give it up for all of us making weird trans art though!!!!! politics too...so much at play....i mean look at the way academia is treating Pro Palestine sentiment. It's just a weird time and space for this degree for some of us. Inside institutions nonetheless. That is also always at play. Fully funded offers favor privilege obvi... there are so many low-res or non-funded options that are SO FIERCE i wish i wasn't poor LOL. same to you thooooooo yeesssss transsss arrttttt NOWWWWWWWWWW. it only takes one! 

I'm queer, Palestinian, and Lebanese and a lot of that makes its way into my writing... regardless of our MFA outcomes we must keep creating. A lot of these academic spaces don't value the shit we make because it's not polished enough for their palates, but who cares!!!

[AustWriter]

Hi all,

Long-time lurker, first time poster!

Apologies for jumping in with questions straight off the bat, however I'm not on facebook and can't see Draft! If anyone can help I'd be hugely appreciative, no worries if not. 

Have all Syracuse waitlists and fiction offers gone out? And, furthermore (and this is more specific to international applicants), has anyone had experience with being asked for financial support?

I assume yes to the offers and waitlists, but in terms of the financial support part...I've just checked my portal for the first time in a few weeks and noticed that an additional part seems to have been added at the bottom of mine, requesting proof of financial support. I say seems because there's every chance it's been there the whole time and I've missed it, though I am also pretty certain that I've just about memorised that page and I don't recall seeing this before today. 

I am an international applicant and proof of financial support is a requirement listed on the application page, though not listed on the application itself. This is the first time I've had the opportunity to upload it and I'm just a bit confused.

Thanks in advance for your help and again, no worries if you can't/have no idea!

On a complete side-note - reading through this forum over the past few weeks has been a particularly wonderful reminder of how spectacularly supportive a writing community can be. I'm rooting for you all, whether your path to publication is via MFA or otherwise! 
 

[ocurlyfries]

2 minutes ago, AustWriter said:

Hi all,

Long-time lurker, first time poster!

Apologies for jumping in with questions straight off the bat, however I'm not on facebook and can't see Draft! If anyone can help I'd be hugely appreciative, no worries if not. 

Have all Syracuse waitlists and fiction offers gone out? And, furthermore (and this is more specific to international applicants), has anyone had experience with being asked for financial support?

I assume yes to the offers and waitlists, but in terms of the financial support part...I've just checked my portal for the first time in a few weeks and noticed that an additional part seems to have been added at the bottom of mine, requesting proof of financial support. I say seems because there's every chance it's been there the whole time and I've missed it, though I am also pretty certain that I've just about memorised that page and I don't recall seeing this before today. 

I am an international applicant and proof of financial support is a requirement listed on the application page, though not listed on the application itself. This is the first time I've had the opportunity to upload it and I'm just a bit confused.

Thanks in advance for your help and again, no worries if you can't/have no idea!

On a complete side-note - reading through this forum over the past few weeks has been a particularly wonderful reminder of how spectacularly supportive a writing community can be. I'm rooting for you all, whether your path to publication is via MFA or otherwise! 
 

I just checked my portal and it showed an update that said I had been rejected (boo). It might be different though because I'm not international. Either way, best of luck to you!

[fungusbeetle]

46 minutes ago, hermione granger said:

i’d give it to the end of the day and see what the sheet looks like (if people are getting notifications still). where did it say waitlist on your portal?

on the main portal page there's a prompt to view your status update and the letter was there with an link to a form to join or decline the waitlist spot

[AustWriter]

41 minutes ago, imgonnapuke said:

waiting on nyu too (but nonfiction)...seems like theres no way they've sent out everything though, there's only 7 total acceptances im seeing on draft...hopefully they release the rest soon i cant take the waiting lol

fingers crossed for you!!! 

Also waiting on NYU, though hopes are dwindling. I'm genuinely panicked at this stage that I've somehow withdrawn my application just by checking it so much! The nice part about being in Australia is that much of the movement happens during my night, so I can sleep through the stressful part and just do a quick check in the morning.

[callmemarioplz]

any news from hunter college poetry in the draft?

[ocurlyfries]

1 minute ago, callmemarioplz said:

any news from hunter college poetry in the draft?

looks like one interview and one waitlist