TonyB

Poola, Don't admire me too much! As it didn't exactly work out for me, LoL. I'm planning on applying to at least 6 programs this year, possibly as many as 8 (if I can swing it). Jessica, As I told Poola earlier, I would avoid applying with genre work, and one of the profs on the admissions committee at UW: Madison (where I was waitlisted, but not ultimately admitted) told me to avoid first-person narration, as it's apparently very common in MFA applications. Beyond that, I can tell you that Carbondale is a pretty well-respected school, but offers a small stipend ($12k/year, I think). I'm also pen-pals with a recent MFA grad who started out there, but later transferred to a low-res program; she said she had some trouble controlling the students in her freshman comp classes -- in particular, a male student got very aggressive with her, threatening her and such. She said the administration was not very helpful with the situation, and she was basically just told to "deal with it." I've looked at Wichita State as well; heard some good things about them, but their stipend is VERY small ($7-8k), so just bear that in mind, if funding is a big concern for you. The others on your list are all well-respected mainstays, of course. Good luck!

Hey folks, I'm thinking of applying to BGSU's Popular Culture master's program for next fall. I've managed to dig up some information about the history of the program, etc., as well as a newsletter from a couple years ago stating that all of the program's students, at least at that time, were fully funded. I was just wondering if anyone here had any info on the program, especially pertaining to funding, teaching load, and the like. Thanks in advance to anyone who's able to help me out! There doesn't seem to be much info available online about this one (kind of surprising, considering how unique it is).

I'll say this much: I was also told to avoid first-person narration, as it's very common in MFA writing samples.

In case anyone's interested: according to the editor of the Blue Mesa Review (University of New Mexico's literary magazine), the program is fully funded.

Where'd you find this info? During the application process, or... ?

What's the cheapest 1 or 2-bedroom apartment you could possibly get within half an hour's drive of the NB campus?

I was thinking of applying to Rutgers - Camden until I read a downright terrifying reddit thread about the city. How does New Brunswick stack up?

Just ask Hannibal Lecter!

I never heard about Southern Illinois until shortly before compiling that list, but have been told by a few people that they turn out "elite" writers and are generally one of the more high-falutin' programs (if that's your cup of tea). Their funding is mediocre at best -- only 12k a year -- and Carbondale, Illinois is basically the ass-end of nowhere, but again, based on what I've heard, they're quite well-regarded among those in the know. Sort of a "sleeper" among prestigious programs, if you will. Hopkins is one that's hard to pin down. I've heard $22k/year but I've also heard $18k. And, of course, their actual page doesn't list any specifics. So I'm reluctant to endorse Hopkins too heavily, given the wishy-washiness.

Thought this could be a catch-all for these types of questions. I'll start: I've been looking into the program at UNM (University of New Mexico, Albuquerque) lately. They apparently offer $20k/year stipends to their graduate and teaching assistants, but that info took some digging to find -- meaning there wasn't a "funding" section on the main MFA page, and/or it wasn't specific -- and I haven't been able to find any info on what percentage of their acceptees are fully funded, etc. Anyone who has this info, your help would be greatly appreciated! And just for sh*ts and giggles, here's a list of the programs whose funding scheme I *am* aware of: U. Texas - Austin: 27k Johns Hopkins: 18-22k, depending on source Vanderbilt, WUSTL 26k Cornell 24k Virginia Commonwealth: $11-22k, depending on source Michigan 22k Wisconsin, New Mexico 20k Ohio State, Iowa, Syracuse, U.C. Irvine 17k New Mexico State, Virginia Tech, Louisiana State, U. Mass. 16k University of Florida 15k South Florida, Central Florida, University of Minnesota 14k University of Alabama 13.5k Arizona State 13k Southern Illinois University 12k North Carolina State 11k Boise State, Oregon State, University of Oregon 10k Bowling Green, Brown 9k Wichita State 8k

Don't mention it. What sort of funding did you get at Georgia? I was considering applying there at one point myself.

For what it's worth: Best-funded programs University of Texas - Austin (Michener): 27k/yr Cornell, Vanderbilt: 24k University of Michigan: 22k UW: Madison, WUSTL/WashU: 20k Genre/Popular Fiction-friendly programs North Carolina State University of Kansas Southern Illinois University Most prestigious programs University of Iowa U.T. Austin (Michener Center) University of Michigan Brown University Southern Illinois

I got an interesting bit of advice from a lady at UW: Madison (where I was waitlisted for the creative writing program this year) - she said to avoid using first person, present tense in writing samples, as this is apparently a very common stylistic choice for "literary" stories. I mostly read popular/genre fiction, in which those tenses are quite rare, so that never would have occured to me!

Thinking of applying to WashU. for Fall 2015. I've lived in Dayton, Ohio (southwestern part of the state, just north of Cincinnati) most of my life, and was just wondering if anyone knew how the St. Louis area would compare - politically, in terms of average rent, temps and snowfall during the winter, etc. Thanks!

As far as safety issues... there was a girl who disappeared from there a couple of years ago (got quite a bit of play in the media, though not on the level of a Natalee Holloway or anything like that), though of course that could happen anywhere. I bring it up because someone was talking about their girlfriend taking a walk at 5am - maybe not the best idea. ?

Yeah - I've heard that education programs usually have you take classes in one or two emphasis areas (say English and Social Studies), so I was hoping my lit/writing courses might count toward part of that requirement, and maybe I could take some education courses or something as electives as well. I was planning on trying to pursue both degrees at the same school, if possible. As for teaching - it was my impression that education programs required X number of teaching hours, and that my hours in the college classroom might be taken to apply toward a small portion of that. Knew that was a long shot, though. Thanks for the replies, everyone!

Just curious... do you live in Utah or something? I've lived in the rural Midwest for most of my life, and while religion is certainly more prominent "in the country," I've never known it to be as oppressive or all-encompassing as what you're describing. And I'm a pretty devout atheist, who has little patience for that sort of thing. A personal story: I attended Kent State University for a semester a year or two ago. There was a religious organization that was very active on campus, trying to recruit new freshmen and new international students to come to their Bible studies and so on. I actually became friends with a group of guys who were affiliated with this group (we would get together on Sunday nights to watch a TV show we all loved), and while the religion thing continued to come up, after spending as much time with them as I did I'm convinced that they were all genuinely friendly, well-meaning people. Their tactics were a little shady (i.e., deliberately targeting vulnerable people, kids who are away from home for the first time, etc.), but I honestly don't think there was anything insidious going on. My point is that these folks were very aggressive about being friendly and welcoming to new people; so if you were new to the area and not especially outgoing, these were the people you were going to encounter. There are plenty of people in the Kent area who are NOT religious, or not as wrapped up in it as these guys were, but they also don't necessarily have the incentive to be walking up to every new matriculant with a handshake and a shit-eating grin either. So you might want to give it more time; the religious thing might not be as big of an issue as you think it will be, in the long run.

The general wisdom I seem to encounter is that a master's can be useful for a very career-centric field (such as journalism, education, or something along those lines) - i.e., a program that prepares you for a specific type of job, as opposed to being more theory-oriented - but not so much for a STEM-related field or in the humanities, unless you plan on going all the way and getting your PhD. A PhD in the humanities is essentially only good if you plan to stay in academia, whereas medical and other types of areas, such as counseling, social work, or psychology, usually require a doctorate in order to be professionally licensed. I would assume that veterinary medicine requires some form of medical degree, though of course I could be mistaken.

I lived in Kent for a semester and downtown Akron for a semester last year - can't say much about rent, as I lived on campus both places. But I actually really liked Akron; it's pretty quiet at most hours of the day, but a few blocks down on Main St you have bars, clubs, fast food places, etc. So there's plenty of night life on Friday and Saturday nights, and it's all very walkable. It's one of the prettier downtowns I've seen, much nicer than Dayton, for instance (where I worked and went to school for several years). Kent is pretty, and the buses will get you around town (though only on certain days and times of day). If you're hoping to get a job in Stow or Ravenna - the two nearest towns - and you don't have a car, you won't be able to work later than say 7 or 8 in the evening, and even earlier than that on weekends. And grocery shopping, doing laundry and such are a loyal pain when you have to schlep all your wares around on the bus. I'd definitely recommend getting a car.

So what's the average rent for a small house or apartment in the greater Minneapolis area? I don't mind living twenty minutes drive from town on the interstate. I'm thinking of going for creative writing next year, but the stipend for my program will only be 14k. Is that livable, do you think?

What's the cheapest you could rent a small house or apartment for in the greater Syracuse area?

Thanks for the link! NC State is actually one of the schools I've looked at in the past; I know that Rosemont in Philadelphia offers an MFA in Writing and MA in Publishing that can be pursued simultaneously, as well. Only having to take an additional 18 credits is actually more generous than I was expecting.

Good point. Thanks!

Essentially, I plan to go for my MFA in Creative Writing this coming fall - I'll be applying to schools in December and January. My top-tier picks include wish listers like Cornell, University of Michigan, UW Madison, and so on - they're prestigious, offer large annual stipends, plenty of teaching experience, and in some cases, automatic one or two-year teaching fellowships after graduation. I also have my "B-list" schools like Syracuse or Virginia Tech, which offer somewhat smaller stipends, are in more remote/inhospitable areas (but still within a day's drive of my current section of the country), and so on. And then I have the C-listers - small programs out in the boonies like Oregon State, Boise State, etc. These guys are on the opposite side of the country, often in remote/rural areas, and offer small (10k a year or less) stipends which may or may not be livable in those locales. Now ultimately, I'd be happy to attend any of these schools, and if, say, Oregon State was the only school that offered me a spot, I'd happily accept. But what if I get an early admission from OSU or Boise, say, and I'm tempted to hold out in case Michigan or Cornell offers me a spot? What's the etiquette in a situation like that? It seems like it would be awfully insulting to offer someone admission to what is still, at the end of the day, a very selective program, only to hear that you're not their first choice. Any thoughts would be appreciated.