We’re heading into the middle of March, and you may have already heard from a number of schools. (You can check out what applicants are reporting at The MFA Blog.) For those of you who will not be heading to grad school this fall, let’s talk. First things first: take care of yourself. If this means vegging out on back-to-back episodes of Broad City, Girls, and House of Cards while intermittently sobbing and eating take out, then please, by all means, do what you need to do to recharge.
But once you’re ready, it’s really important to assess the manuscript(s) you submitted. Read it over again. Take some notes. Ask a practicing writer (and not just a nice friend) to read your work. Getting some critical feedback is essential in understanding where the writing makes sense and where it doesn’t. And it will put you on track to putting a plan together for revising, or figuring out a way to write a better story. Remember, the goal is to grow whether you decide to reapply or not.
Affording the MFA 