2026 Creative Writing MFA Applicants Forum

[labmate]

I've gotten four rejections and one waitlist so far, and I'm still waiting on five more decisions. I'm kind of shocked I still haven't heard from half of the programs I applied to, and I know I'll probably hear from all of them by the end of the month. I've been really detached these past three and a half months, and getting four rejections in a row really helped me stay busy with other things and not think too much about it all. But now with a waitlist, I'm absolutely itching to hear back from the rest. I need decisions. 🤣

[Purplesunscreen]

Can someone tell me whether UT Austin NWP and University of Arizona have sent out fiction acceptances? 

Edited March 8 by Purplesunscreen

[maxmaxmax]

9 hours ago, BowelMovement said:

This! Manifesting BU, Iowa, and Columbia poetry decisions next week for closure...

I mean there's also a waitlist reported on GradCafe, but idk how things work in BU admissions. Their FAQ page says that apps initially go through alum readers and the rest are passed onto faculty but who knowsss

[impatientjoy]

11 hours ago, lisichka said:

about 2 weeks since NC State fiction acceptances went out, fiction waitlists a few days ago, and still nothing reported for poetry 🙃 is it safe to assume that all offers went out and accept this as a soft rejection?

Obviously idk for sure!! But it does seem odd that we wouldn’t see an acceptance or a waitlist on draft for poetry

[merpgirl]

11 hours ago, Jitterbug98 said:

I think it’s really just that Jess and the other mods have already put a TON of work into managing the spreadsheet and  moderating the group. Creating drop downs would just be very time consuming for them and it would be easy to accidentally leave out programs since there are people in the group applying to MAs, international or online programs, screenwriting programs, PhDs in addition to the classic full residency MFAs. 
 

In terms of adding info like time of notification and last initial, I think that’s stuff that people could add in the “other notes” column if they want to! But honestly, I think we already have access to a ton of information through the draft and gradcafe and sometimes more information isn’t better. If anything it might just cause more anxiety!

yeah, I just thought it would be worth it in the long-term since it would just take a few hours max in total, and that would make info easier to parse and help avoid mis-clicks that render the data a bit unreliable. i think ppl are already stressing themselves out regardless of the extra info but it's not a huge deal, just offering my feedback as a user of the sheet

[SocialKonstruct]

1 hour ago, merpgirl said:

yeah, I just thought it would be worth it in the long-term since it would just take a few hours max in total, and that would make info easier to parse and help avoid mis-clicks that render the data a bit unreliable. i think ppl are already stressing themselves out regardless of the extra info but it's not a huge deal, just offering my feedback as a user of the sheet

The spreadsheet is autopopulated through Google Forms so a dropdown menu would not work via the current interface. If this were Microsoft Access then that’s another story.

[waitinglikeits99]

Anybody hear from brown for the other tracks? Only see poetry notifications so far....

[merpgirl]

4 hours ago, SocialKonstruct said:

The spreadsheet is autopopulated through Google Forms so a dropdown menu would not work via the current interface. If this were Microsoft Access then that’s another story.

i think google forms does have drop-downs actually, just checked

[SocialKonstruct]

7 minutes ago, merpgirl said:

i think google forms does have drop-downs actually, just checked

Alas you are correct: https://www.jotform.com/google-forms/dropdown-in-google-forms/

Regardless, I don't think that Jess and her team have the time or the funds to redo 7-10 years worth of data into dropdown style tables... Volunteer work for just maintenance is already hard enough.... unlesss

You volunteered eh LOL?

[merpgirl]

2 minutes ago, SocialKonstruct said:

Alas you are correct: https://www.jotform.com/google-forms/dropdown-in-google-forms/

Regardless, I don't think that Jess and her team have the time or the funds to redo 7-10 years worth of data into dropdown style tables... Volunteer work for just maintenance is already hard enough.... unlesss

You volunteered eh LOL?

i was more just saying that for next year's and the following years' sheets they could make it a drop-down to standardize things and make it easier to filter and stuff, no need to edit or standardize all the past years' data

[MamaCats]

Brown fiction just dropped in draft. 

[SocialKonstruct]

34 minutes ago, merpgirl said:

i was more just saying that for next year's and the following years' sheets they could make it a drop-down to standardize things and make it easier to filter and stuff, no need to edit or standardize all the past years' data

Considering that there would be over 250 domestic MFA programs and 30-50 PhD. programs not including the international MFA/PhD programs to toss into a dropdown option menu, I am pretty sure that either the form will crash or the amount of labor by the team would be way too onerous at that point :D...

[merpgirl]

13 minutes ago, SocialKonstruct said:

Considering that there would be over 250 domestic MFA programs and 30-50 PhD. programs not including the international MFA/PhD programs to toss into a dropdown option menu, I am pretty sure that either the form will crash or the amount of labor by the team would be way too onerous at that point :D...

just curious - why are you so against it? this is just my feedback as someone who uses the sheet, and it would only improve things. it's not a criticism, just input, just a suggestion. and it would make things a lot easier for future users who want to filter the spreadsheet. yes, it could require some more work, but not too much, and it would be a great improvement. what's the issue? 

not to mention, there are already existing lists of all these programs that could easily be copied and transferred into the survey, and more could always be added with recommendation by users applying to programs that aren't in the data. it could be a great resource. why are we against improvement?

Edited March 8 by merpgirl

[SocialKonstruct]

10 minutes ago, merpgirl said:

just curious - why are you so against it? this is just my feedback as someone who uses the sheet, and it would only improve things. it's not a criticism, just input, just a suggestion. and it would make things a lot easier for future users who want to filter the spreadsheet. yes, it could require some more work, but not too much, and it would be a great improvement. what's the issue? 

not to mention, there are already existing lists of all these programs that could easily be copied and transferred into the survey, and more could always be added with recommendation by users applying to programs that aren't in the data. it could be a great resource. why are we against improvement?

I am not against the idea if this process were automated. However, the amount of unpaid labor to install this option I would be against. We tend to take people’s time for granted and the fact that Jess and her team have to volunteer to maintain spreadsheets plus three Facebook groups is a lot of unrecognized labor for a small team of volunteers.

[merpgirl]

1 minute ago, SocialKonstruct said:

I am not against the idea if this process were automated. However, the amount of unpaid labor to install this option I would be against. We tend to take people’s time for granted and the fact that Jess and her team have to volunteer to maintain spreadsheets plus three Facebook groups is a lot of unrecognized labor for a small team of volunteers.

as i said, it's just some feedback. no one is forcing jess or THEIR team to do any extra work. Just offering some suggestions to make the data even more useful than it already is. plus I think lots of people, MOST people I'd argue, in this group really love and appreciate Jess and THEIR contributions to the group. 

[anxious-totoro]

dooooo we think Iowa is done calling poetry acceptances. Yes, right? also...waitlists? don't see any iowa waitlists for fiction or poetry on draft atm.

just wondering if I can put this one to bed yet 🤒
 

[lizard in a blizzard]

1 hour ago, MamaCats said:

Brown fiction just dropped in draft. 

RIP. Do they usually do all acceptances at once?

[bluecarpet]

Had an exceptionally cruel dream last night that I got a fully funded acceptance from one of the schools I'm still waiting on (but that will almost certainly be a rejection). 😭 

[MamaCats]

1 hour ago, anxious-totoro said:

dooooo we think Iowa is done calling poetry acceptances. Yes, right? also...waitlists? don't see any iowa waitlists for fiction or poetry on draft atm.

just wondering if I can put this one to bed yet 🤒
 

Haven't seen waitlists. But it's been a week and usually all acceptances are called in a week or so.

1 hour ago, lizard in a blizzard said:

RIP. Do they usually do all acceptances at once?

From what I recall, it's usually only a day or two.

[westwide2]

I haven't been rejected by Brown for poetry yet? I am under no illusion that I'm on the waitlist or anything. They never contacted me. Just funny not to have the portal update when everyone else has. 

Rougher cycle for me! Only one waitlist so far. Like many, had higher hopes. Fully funded MFA game is a brutal game. 

[ojo534]

11 hours ago, bluecarpet said:

Had an exceptionally cruel dream last night that I got a fully funded acceptance from one of the schools I'm still waiting on (but that will almost certainly be a rejection). 😭 

Literally had this same sort of dream the other night and i woke up so optimistic then remembered it wasn't real lmfaoooo (we are in hell)

[rumi77]

One Brown fiction acceptance dropped in the draft yesterday but crickets since. If I don't hear back today should I just assume a rejection?

[impatientjoy]

Anyone else thinking we’ll hear from a lot schools this week? 👀

[MamaCats]

4 minutes ago, impatientjoy said:

Anyone else thinking we’ll hear from a lot schools this week? 👀

I sure hope so!!!

[gafoo]

33 minutes ago, impatientjoy said:

Anyone else thinking we’ll hear from a lot schools this week? 👀

Feel like this is probably the last "big" week we'll get... seems like most movement on the draft sheet after this week historically comes from waitlist shifting. 

Really hoping to get closure on a couple of my close waitlists this month... don't wanna string along my one acceptance too long but I've gotta hold out a bit to hear from Ohio State nonfiction!!