Please consider this letter as a formal acknowledgement that you have been placed on our short and selective waitlist for the MFA Program in Creative Writing at The Ohio State University. All of us on the faculty here greatly admire your work and would be delighted to have you with us next year should a spot open.  The truth is, determining “who gets in” versus “who gets waitlisted” once we have agreed on a group of writers we want to admit is always ridiculously difficult. This is an inexact business (and of course it’s not a “business” at all), and ours is a very small program by design. Please be aware that you are among a distinguished group of writers who received enthusiastic “yes” votes from every one of the relevant faculty.  I can promise you that the very latest you will hear from us about your admission will be one week after April 15, which is the date by which all admitted students must either decline or accept our offer. It’s very possible that you will hear from us sooner, but I wouldn’t count on that, as many people wait until the last possible minute to say yes or no. All I can tell you for sure is that as soon as we know how many offers have been accepted, I will contact you one way or the other.

Moved on to second round

Informed by email, no financial aid information yet

4th year applying, this was a big shock

Personal email from program director, followed by a zoom call. Followed up by an automated University email and portal update.

Had a call with the director, who told me on the call.

Called by director first.

Asking to defer enrollment, seeing if they can give me funding (I applied WAY late in the season)

Low-residency, Pan-European MFA.

Deferred until Spring 2026. Low-res MFA

I was admitted (late) to New School's MFA, since I applied after the priority deadline. Asked if I could defer until 2026.

Rejected from waitlist, womp womp.

Already have a novel published in the US and ten years teaching in English literature and writing both academic assignments and creative writing in fiction and CNF.

Rejected off the waitlist in April, then an offer unexpectedly in June! So excited.