2026 Creative Writing MFA Applicants Forum

[arghgradapps]

1 minute ago, womaninthevoid said:

are they doing iowa (fiction) rejections in bulk or by last name or something? i haven’t received one yet. i’d just like to be put out of my misery lmfao 

im assuming its based on tier. i feel like a dog that needs to be put down kindly with soft music playing...please iowa..just send the email

[junebugboy]

Iowa and UW Seattle rejections came literally 20 minutes apart And no "we liked your work" note from Iowa, just "we can only admit a small portion of applicants" basically 

[d_webster_jr]

Just got my Iowa rejection. Is this standard? "We do want you to know that your manuscript was well-received by our readers, some of whom liked it very much. You will likely have other options this year, but if you don't land at another program, we hope you'll apply again."

Will not apply again if this is standard language lol. 

[writerinthedarkk]

Just now, d_webster_jr said:

Just got my Iowa rejection. Is this standard? "We do want you to know that your manuscript was well-received by our readers, some of whom liked it very much. You will likely have other options this year, but if you don't land at another program, we hope you'll apply again."

Will not apply again if this is standard language lol. 

That doesn't sound standard to me at all!! That's definitely a tiered rejection. 

[womaninthevoid]

7 minutes ago, arghgradapps said:

im assuming its based on tier. i feel like a dog that needs to be put down kindly with soft music playing...please iowa..just send the email

did they even do waitlists yet? seems so backwards from previous years lol

[arghgradapps]

2 minutes ago, womaninthevoid said:

did they even do waitlists yet? seems so backwards from previous years lol

not to my knowledge. seems like they're really changing things up though. this was the longest wait period between acceptances and rejections for fiction, too. 

Edited March 17 by arghgradapps

[d_webster_jr]

12 minutes ago, writerinthedarkk said:

That doesn't sound standard to me at all!! That's definitely a tiered rejection. 

Alright, alright. I'll consider another round (deep sigh) next year :). 

[strawberrymatcha]

phew UW and basic Iowa rejection on the same day😵‍💫 this week is brutal

[prufrock_]

last year i got an iowa tiered rejection and this year i got the standard! I'm backsliding!

i took a big swing this cycle and used chapters out of a novel i'm working on, which i knew was a gamble, especially cause the work is slipstream voice driven chaos. it clearly didn't work out, i hit only rejections. The advice of applying with 'one killer short story' holds true.

Anyway, that's it for my mfa journey. (I don't want to ask my recommenders to submit for me a fourth time, so I'll no longer be applying; I still want an MFA, but, alas!)

Best of luck to all this season and going forward!!!! 

[theyearshallrunlikerabbits]

I also got a tiered Iowa rejection last year and a standard this year applying with a novel excerpt! and i thought my writing got better?

Edited March 17 by theyearshallrunlikerabbits

[frootkoops36]

On 3/15/2026 at 3:11 PM, SocialKonstruct said:

UC Irvine is all completed as of two weeks ago. Formal rejections will come out soon but no phone call two weeks ago then no dice.

Is this true for poetry? 

[GreaterGood]

Does anyone have any information on UMiami fiction? Any acceptances or waitlists. 

 

[impatientjoy]

Does anyone have any experience / knowledge about NAU’s MFA program? (I feel good about my knowledge of flagstaff, so I’m mostly looking for a look at the program itself :))

[LouPatt]

One poetry waitlist for Iowa on spreadsheet just dropped. Congrats to that person!

[marsmentality]

Fifth and final rejection just hit the inbox... standard rejection from Iowa! Never have I had my own self-esteem challenged and torn apart like I have during this application cycle. So glad it's finally over, even if I'm still exactly where I started. Just means I have a time advantage for next year's applications. I've learned so much about myself as a writer and an artist, and I am grateful that I'll have another opportunity to try next year with an even stronger writing sample. Thanks to everyone in this forum for giving me a space to vent and share! Good luck to everyone:-)

[ethanthehawk]

do we think this cycle is/was a lot tougher in terms of competitiveness and the prolonged waiting time? or is it just me coping...

(if it is truly tougher, I wonder why...)

[hermione granger]

did anyone here or in draft get a waitlist/acceptance from brown (fiction) that isn’t the sunday spreadsheet entry everyone thought was fake?

[ojo534]

does anyone have any word on hunter college fiction/poetry acceptances/waitlists/rejections? i am still waiting to hear back for poetry and i fear it's a bad sign but i wanted to shout into the void and see if anyone knew anything

[pananoprodigy]

5 hours ago, Solin said:

has anyone ever heard of someone withdrawing from a program before the semester starts if they get into their top choice off a waitlist? Is this something that can be done, or does it vary from institution to institution. I've tried searching it up but only find vague info and the possibility of losing a security deposit (which is fine by me as long as full tuition isn't owed). 

This happened to me last year. I had accepted an offer from School A, and then after April 15th I got an offer from School B, where I had been on the waitlist, for much more $ and in an area with a lower COL. It was super stressful and awkward but I ended up telling School A I had to withdraw my previous acceptance, and went with School B. I do think I probably burned some bridges but at the end of the day it's just an unfortunate part of the process, and ultimately you gotta do what you gotta do. 

[gupppy]

If I didn’t receive an Iowa rejection today… could there be waitlist hope 

Edited March 18 by gupppy

[squidpoet]

does anybody know if rutgers newark is done sending out poetry acceptances? i only saw one on draft.

[bucket]

10 hours ago, gafoo said:

Found out I am straight-up:

• Ranked #1 on 2 of my waitlists 
• Ranked #4 on the other
• Ranked #1 on the waitlist for funding for one of my acceptances (my other acceptance is unfunded)

Grateful for the positive response to my work, to be sure, etc. etc. But it's hard to imagine a situation with more uncertainty than this. Teetering on the brink of acceptance for 4 schools, totally unsure what might/might not convert before April 15. Agony!

congrats!!!! that reflects very highly!!! i wish my waitlists were ranked 😭 that seems like a slightly less awful basis for the waiting lol

[nonsense]

Any news on Houston for fiction? I'm not on FB so I can't see if there's anything in the spreadsheet.

[goodoldneon]

20 minutes ago, nonsense said:

Any news on Houston for fiction? I'm not on FB so I can't see if there's anything in the spreadsheet.

i got an acceptance almost a month ago

[Solin]

I feel so awful having to decline an offer of admission. I had expressed that this school had been my top choice––and it was––but now after having considered it, I think my thinking has changed. The program only gave me a week to decide, and while I was pretty set on it at the beginning, my personal/financial circumstances have changed since the date I submitted my app. I'm rethinking the decision entirely. I would be moving across the country without a support system, guaranteed access to healthcare, or sufficient financial aid to live in a very expensive city. The program would only fully fund the second year if I get in state residency, but not the first year. 

I really wish they had given me longer than a week to consider the offer, i would have more time to plan out this commitment. As it stands, I can't confidently rush into a yes when so much in my personal life is at stake.

The situation is making me feel like maybe I'm not willing to try hard enough to reach for my goals, and I'm scared of burning bridges with the faculty for saying it's my top choice and then turning down the offer, but no matter how I put it, the decision to go would not be viable for me. I just kind of felt like shouting this into the void for a sec, the deadline to accept/decline is tomorrow for me and I'm currently drafting up a very difficult email to send...

Edited March 18 by Solin