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hamholio

Jan 26, 2007, 4:17 PM

Post #401 of 764 (4955 views)
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Re: [wiksty] Current MFA Rankings [In reply to]	Can't Post

I think they were talking about Northwestern in Illinois!

wiksty

Jan 26, 2007, 4:25 PM

Post #402 of 764 (4945 views)
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Re: [hamholio] Current MFA Rankings [In reply to]	Can't Post

D*mnit

umass76

Jan 29, 2007, 3:38 PM

Post #403 of 764 (4380 views)
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Re: [wiksty] Current MFA Rankings [In reply to]	Can't Post

Wiksty,

Welcome. The much-maligned and argued-over 2007 Creative Writing Program rankings are here:

http://sethabramson.blogspot.com/...fa-rankings-tse.html

(Use the right-hand frame at this link to navigate between the TSE, TKS, and LJPW rankings, as well as the Selectivity Indexes).

Cheers,
S.

wiksty

Jan 29, 2007, 4:07 PM

Post #404 of 764 (4367 views)
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Re: [umass76] Current MFA Rankings [In reply to]	Can't Post

Ahhhh! Thank you Umass *winks*

~Wiksty

motet
Dana Davis / Moderator

Jan 29, 2007, 8:48 PM

Post #405 of 764 (4300 views)
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Re: [wiksty] Current MFA Rankings [In reply to]	Can't Post

This is the second day in a row that I've had to move off topic posts to the appropriate topic.

This thread is for discussions about Current MFA Rankings only. It is not for general discussions of MFA programs. Those conversations belong in this topic which is where the off topic posts have been relocated.

In the future, please have topic relevent conversations in the appropriate topics. Off topic posts here will be deleted.

wiksty

Jan 30, 2007, 10:22 AM

Post #406 of 764 (4245 views)
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Re: [motet] Current MFA Rankings [In reply to]	Can't Post

Sorry, I've been here for like, three days, I'm still learning...but thanks...I think I get it now *winks*

~Wiksty

Fear&Loathing

Feb 4, 2007, 12:48 PM

Post #407 of 764 (4143 views)
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Re: [wiksty] Current MFA Rankings [In reply to]	Can't Post

I did this for myself and thought it would be interesting. This is my second year applying for the lottery that is the Stegner Fellowship. I went back for the last six years to see if I could figure out who the feeder MFA programs have been. It is not a ranking of MFA programs. The school name is followed by the number admitted from said school. I'm sure Seth could do a more thorough, less error prone job, but here it is. None means there was no MFA earned in the accepted applicant. Arizona probably comes up so much because it is located on the West coast. I have no idea.

Arizona 5 None 5 ? 4 Cornell 3 Florida 3 Iowa 3 Michigan 3 Sarah Lawrence 3 UT - Austin 3 Virginia 3 Boston 2 Columbia 2 Maryland 2 UC-Davis 2 Umass 2 Arizona State 1 Arkansas 1 Emerson 1 Florida State 1 Indiana 1 Melbourne 1 Minnesota 1 New Hampshire 1 NYU 1 Oregon 1 Texas State 1 UC-Irvine 1 UNC-Greensboro 1 Washington 1 Wisconsin 1

malber

Feb 4, 2007, 5:30 PM

Post #408 of 764 (4063 views)
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Re: [Fear&Loathing] Current MFA Rankings [In reply to]	Can't Post

Hey guys. Okay, so I have a ranking question:

Personally, if these were the schools that you got into, how you would rank them and where would you go?

Michigan, Syracuse, UVA, Texas, Iowa

Just trying to pass the time until I hear from more programs! :)

renapoo

Feb 4, 2007, 6:15 PM

Post #409 of 764 (4042 views)
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Re: [malber] Current MFA Rankings [In reply to]	Can't Post

Malber -- are those your top five? Okay, here's what I'd say (I'm fiction, if that matters):

1. UVA 2. Texas 3. Michigan 4. Iowa 5. Syracuse

Syracuse has great faculty but I just don't want to live there, so that's where I'm coming from. What about if you got into these programs?

UVA, Irvine, Cornell, Texas, Brown?

Man, if I got into all those programs I'd be too drunk on my own good fortune to make a coherent decision.

prosaic70

Feb 4, 2007, 6:59 PM

Post #410 of 764 (4027 views)
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Re: [renapoo] Current MFA Rankings [In reply to]	Can't Post

1. Texas 2. Cornell 3. Irvine 4. UVA 4. Brown

also fiction.
this is a great game...

umm... Indiana, Oregon, Arizona, WashU, Cornell

malber

Feb 4, 2007, 7:03 PM

Post #411 of 764 (4025 views)
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Re: [renapoo] Current MFA Rankings [In reply to]	Can't Post

Actually, no, I didn't apply to all of those... but I thought I'd throw Iowa in for good measure. And yes, fiction.

Can I ask a question: why UVA at number 1? I've heard good things, but only in the vaguest sense. No specifics. Sure, it's a nice place to live, but is that all?

Of course, there's no way I get into all (or any!) of these programs... I just wanted other people's opinions. And i completely understand about 'cuse. It gets hella cold there, you're kind of far from major metropolitan centers, etc. but maybe thats good for writing.

As for your list, I dunno... I think I'd say:

Texas, UC-I, UVA, Brown, Cornell

but to be honest, thats because i don't know a lot about cornell... again: good things, but only in the vague way of people who're getting their info third and fourth hand. Texas: can't beat the city, can't beat the funding. UC-I is second because i like the idea of Cali and i like Amy Bender...but would depend on funding. UVA could jump it depending on how much loot they were hypothetically throwing at me :) Brown because i like rhode island... and i have a small experimental streak within me.

malber

Feb 4, 2007, 7:06 PM

Post #412 of 764 (4022 views)
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Re: [prosaic70] Current MFA Rankings [In reply to]	Can't Post

Quote

umm... Indiana, Oregon, Arizona, WashU, Cornell

this is a hard one, as i know very little about these programs (ie. i applied to none of them)... but here goes, based PURELY on speculation and location.

1. IU 2. Arizona 3. WashU 4. Cornell 5. Oregon

but like i said, no really good reasons here.

renapoo

Feb 4, 2007, 7:42 PM

Post #413 of 764 (4005 views)
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Re: [prosaic70] Current MFA Rankings [In reply to]	Can't Post

Yeah, this is great. Who needs the superbowl?

1. Cornell 2. U Dub 3. Indiana 4. Oregon 5. Arizona

I just don't think I could live in Arizona, even though--don't they have a load of money now or something? Or wait, is it Michigan who's richy rich all of a sudden?

As for UVA, I love the faculty, think the town/climate sounds good, it's not too far from my friends and family in the northeast, it's got full funding (maybe not quite enough to live on the first year, but you don't have to teach until year 2). Um. What else? Flexibility in coursework? I think??? Mostly though, this all comes down to a gut feeling of how the program presents itself and whether that jives with the kind of place you'd like to be. JHU, for example (a place I applied) is one of the top programs in the country. But the more I think about it, the lower it drops on my list (you need a foreign language, you have to teach right away, they discourage you from taking classes outside the English dept). And of course, I could be totally wrong about JHU, maybe it would be perfect for me. But it's impossible to know, so we go on making lists. Fantasy MFA anyone? I'd take UT's money, Irvine's location, Cornell's 4-year-option and UVA's faculty.

ecphraticknolls

Feb 4, 2007, 7:49 PM

Post #414 of 764 (4003 views)
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Re: [renapoo] Current MFA Rankings [In reply to]	Can't Post

For poetry:

1. Texas 2. Iowa 3. Oregon 4. Michigan 5. U of Washington

I’d add Montana if I got a TA, and Iowa can move up or down depending on the funding…

__________

Feb 4, 2007, 7:58 PM

Post #415 of 764 (3997 views)
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Re: [malber] Current MFA Rankings [In reply to]	Can't Post

Hrm...

I'd love more Austin for grad school, and the funding rocks, but I keep hearing bad things about the faculty and the program itself...

I'm trying to jettison reputation (and silly rating systems) in favor of my own silly rating system, which has more to do with the type and quality of recent student work. By faculty alone, places like Syracuse look really great--but the recent student work? Closer to the McStory than what I've seen from Iowa, which usually inspires such complaints.

In fact, it's a little depressing thumbing through those Best New American Writings each year. Cover up the names; can you tell who wrote what? McStory! McStory!

In this regard, I'd have to place Oregon higher on such lists. The students seem very friendly, and the work I've seen is intelligent, engaging, and varied.

six five four three two one 0 ->

malber

Feb 4, 2007, 8:18 PM

Post #416 of 764 (3987 views)
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Re: [Junior Maas] Current MFA Rankings [In reply to]	Can't Post

yeah, i know what you mean about not wanting to sound just like everyone else... perhaps Syracuse engenders that because it's faculty all have such strong, identifiable voices. I know if I'm reading Saunders, the next few pages I write tend to sound like him (only much less funny, etc.) So perhaps people try to go the exact opposite route, and come out sounding like McStory? interesting...

that being said, i'd still love to be in Best American... regardless. :)

my own rating system is like this:
1. FUNDING - i will not incur more loans to get a useless degree
2. Location - i kind of want to live away from Michigan for a few years, but not too far.
3. Faculty - I want to learn from the best.

just some thoughts.

minna pratt

Feb 4, 2007, 9:48 PM

Post #417 of 764 (3955 views)
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Re: [malber] Current MFA Rankings [In reply to]	Can't Post

I don't have a definite idea of what my own personal rankings would be for the schools that I applied to... but I think UVA is probably my top choice too (I applied to a bunch of other schools including Iowa, UC Irvine, Michener Center, Syracuse, Michigan). I applied for fiction. Charlottesville is a really great town, the faculty and program are amazing, and the funding is really quite good -- tuition covered both years, a TA-ship your second year and a small stipend the first year even when you're not teaching. I've heard you can get by easily with a part-time job the first year. Everyone I know who has gone there has had nothing but great things to say about it. But I agree that it probably comes down to a sort of gut feeling about what school is going to be best for you.

I'm interested that someone said that Irvine would be the ideal place to get an MFA. It's the one thing that turns me off about the school... I hear it's a town built on gated communities and strip malls. But I've never been there so maybe that's a rumour?

Also, I think Aimee Bender teaches at USC... but went to UCI for her mfa. ?

malber

Feb 4, 2007, 9:59 PM

Post #418 of 764 (3945 views)
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Re: [minna pratt] Current MFA Rankings [In reply to]	Can't Post

yes, two screwups in one email. i misspelled her name (!) and I misindentified her school (!!). i WAS remembering that that's where she went to school... so maybe the argument still holds: if they can help mold HER, then i wants me a part of that.

i know not much about irvine. but it's close to LA, so there's plenty to do there.

also, RE: UVA - maybe i need to do more research on their faculty. spend some time on their website or something. 'cause apparently, everyone and their mother has read these guys :)

SalPane

Feb 4, 2007, 10:13 PM

Post #419 of 764 (3934 views)
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Re: [malber] Current MFA Rankings [In reply to]	Can't Post

Okay how about this lineup:

UMass, Colorado State, Pittsburgh, American, Indiana

This is far more interesting than the Super Bowl.

__________

Feb 4, 2007, 10:19 PM

Post #420 of 764 (3929 views)
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Re: [malber] Current MFA Rankings [In reply to]	Can't Post

Maybe not: Bender has always identified Geoffrey Wolf as the nurturing force behind her acceptance/wizardly ways, and he's taking off. Actually, that should send the whole program in doubt, no? Since he kind of was UCI?

To keep things positive, though, can anyone share some fiction by recent grads that you've enjoyed? That would make you want to go to a particular school?

I can think of two:

Rattawut Lapcharoensap's collection Sightseeing and Stefan Kiesbye's Next Door Lived A Girl, which is so amazing I foist it on everyone. These guys really make me want to go to Michigan.

six five four three two one 0 ->

ecphraticknolls

Feb 4, 2007, 10:22 PM

Post #421 of 764 (3923 views)
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Re: [SalPane] Current MFA Rankings [In reply to]	Can't Post

what are you applying in... poetry or fiction...

and what makes you put csu so high on your list? just interested.

minna pratt

Feb 4, 2007, 10:29 PM

Post #422 of 764 (3919 views)
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Re: [malber] Current MFA Rankings [In reply to]	Can't Post

it turns out bender used to teach at irvine, now she teaches at usc.

both the fiction and poetry faculty at uva are strong. in particular, i love deborah eisenberg (both her writing and her approach to writing). i also like ann beattie and john casey's work.

here's a link to an interview with eisenberg: www.beatrice.com/interviews/eisenberg

mlpurdy
Moriah Purdy

Feb 4, 2007, 10:36 PM

Post #423 of 764 (3912 views)
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Re: [ecphraticknolls] Current MFA Rankings [In reply to]	Can't Post

I seem to change my mind every day, because so much depends on the funding, but I'll take a shot at this (I applied 13 quite different schools for poetry).

Top 5 (roughly this order): Michigan, Cornell, Wash U, Brown, UNC Greensboro
Next 5 (roughly this order): Syracuse, UVA, Notre Dame, Indiana, UNH
Last 3: UMass, George Mason, Hollins

Kind of random but I decided to cast my net wide to see what would happen.

malber

Feb 4, 2007, 10:54 PM

Post #424 of 764 (3899 views)
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Re: [Junior Maas] Current MFA Rankings [In reply to]	Can't Post

Junior:
Yeah, Stefan is great. He's actually a good friend of mine, and his novella is completely stunning in parts. How did you come across it?

I know Jolie Lewis from Ohio State was just in Tin House. I can't remember the story name for the life of me. It strikes me that THAT is a program on the rise (now, this could be because they just accepted me... i'm not sure :))

malber

Feb 4, 2007, 10:56 PM

Post #425 of 764 (3893 views)
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Re: [SalPane] Current MFA Rankings [In reply to]	Can't Post

Here's what I would say:

1. UMass 2. Indiana 3. CSU 4. Pittsburg 5. American (thought i've never heard ANYTHING about this program)

i know IU gets press, but i like UMass a little more. Colorado is beautiful. Pittsburg is so-so (how's their funding?)

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