The MFA Guide: How to Decide Where to Apply

Writing sample, GRE scores, letters of recommendation, personal statement, undergraduate transcript. These are the essential elements of the creative writing MFA application, and they become both the pleasure and the burden of potential graduate writing students each October through January. And that's just the application. The actual decision about which schools to apply to can be even more complicated. But we belong to the information age now—shouldn't the Web and the rest of the digital media make this process easier?

They should. And in some cases they do. Unfortunately, too many MFA program Web sites don't offer much help to potential students. More often than not they are difficult to navigate; sorely lacking in the most basic guidelines, such as academic requirements and the necessary application materials; and devoid of information about student funding and acceptance rates.

There are ways to get the information you need, but first you must establish what that information is—which criteria you should consider when deciding where to apply.

The master of fine arts degree in creative writing is generally a two- to three-year program consisting of writing workshops, literature classes, and the completion of a book-length creative work. Genres include fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, and to a lesser extent, screenwriting, playwriting, and new-media writing. There are more than one hundred MFA programs in the United States, plus an additional one hundred or so schools that offer PhDs or MA degrees with a creative writing emphasis.

Like most degrees, the MFA is usually a residency program—the student attends classes on campus. But there is also the increasingly popular low-residency option, where students meet twice a year for group conferences (of varying lengths, depending on the program) and spend the rest of their time working one-on-one via e-mail with a writing teacher.

Before deciding between a residency and low-residency program, first you must decide if pursuing an MFA is actually the right path for you as a writer. Consider this: The best way to improve your writing is to read and write a lot, then read and write a lot more. At some point, it's very helpful to get feedback from other writers about your work. (And then, you read and write even more.) An MFA program is one way to carve out the time necessary to make these things happen, in a structured environment with a community of other like-minded people; it's a means of prioritizing writing in your life. If you can do this on your own, then perhaps an MFA program is not the right approach for you. On the other hand, if you feel that being part of a writing community and working toward externally imposed deadlines would be helpful, then an MFA program might be a good choice. Personally speaking, pursuing an MFA (at the University of Massachusetts) was helpful to me in many ways; most important, it helped me learn the discipline of actually getting the writing done. And there's a lot to be said for that.

When considering schools to apply to, many students ask, "Well, which ones are the best?" While a valid question, what you should really focus on is which program is the best for you. And before determining this, let's lay down a few ground rules.

First of all, you should apply to between eight and twelve programs. Why? Simple: It will increase your chances of actually being accepted. Generally speaking, about 10 to 20 percent of applications are accepted each year.

Keep in mind that your application's acceptance or rejection will depend largely on your writing sample—the prose or poetry that you include in your application. If the committee members like your writing, you're likely to get in. If they don't, well, you're sunk. Also, the review of applications is a subjective process. You can't predict who will be reading your work and what mood they'll be in. Eight years ago I applied to five programs, and when I was rejected by the first three and wait-listed by a fourth, I wished I'd applied to more. Do yourself a favor: Be smarter than I was and give yourself more options.

How do you narrow the list of where to apply from over two hundred possibilities to about a dozen? One would think you should aim for programs where the best writers are teaching. While this should be a consideration, it shouldn't necessarily be the first. Just because your favorite writer is on the faculty of a particular program doesn't mean that he's a good teacher, or even that he'll be available to teach. Professors take sabbaticals; theirs is a nomadic profession. You could choose a program based on the likelihood of working with one particular teacher, only to have him leave for another school. Plus, some professors with more established literary careers teach fewer classes. And besides, you'd have to decide which of the many teacher/writers you admire the most. If there are, say, three writers in your chosen genre at each program you're considering, can you read all of their books before you have to make your final decision?

Probably not.

So what other criteria should you start with? Location is one. Where do you want to live? And maybe just as important, where could you stand to live? Do you need to live near the mountains, an ocean, or a city? Do you need a coffee shop or a record store nearby? I don't mean this in jest. Yes, you'll be taking classes and becoming part of a community. But you'll also be working alone, writing. Give some thought to the kind of environment that will help you to write.

Another important thing to consider is the cost of tuition and the funding opportunities each program offers. Columbia University is considered to have one of the best creative writing programs in the country. And if you attend you'll spend about thirty-five thousand dollars a year, plus the expense of living in New York City, with almost no chance of funding from the university. If money isn't an issue for you, Columbia may be a good choice. For the rest of us: Seek out programs that have low tuition or offer student funding. You'll be living as a writer: Learn to live within your means. And if you can help it, don't go into deep debt.

“There are ways to get the information you need, but first you must establish what that information is—which criteria you should consider when deciding where to apply.”