MFA creative writing programs

[Alissasavestheworld]

My husband applied to 5 MFA creative writing in fiction programs last year and was weight listed for one. He doesn't want to take the GRE because our money is tight and he'd rather use that money to apply to another college. I am interested in any advice from those who have applied. He was told to write a piece that had an attention getting first paragraph... Can anyone suggest any colleges? He wants to apply to those that are fully funded.

Any advice on how I can help him at least begin to searh would be great. He knows what he is doing but I just want to be able to know what he is doing and what areas I can help him in. That you all!

[Melissa333]

Hey, I just posted a thread about this in another category! Honestly, a grad program in creative writing is a personal and important choice! I wouldn't just take suggestions from other people. Look at geography, if they offer full funding, stipends, course loads and all that fun stuff.

I help monitor LitBridge for the literary community. A team is gathering interviews from graduate programs that offer an MFA or PhD in creative writing. Check it out here. These students answer some questions about their program. It doesn't include every MFA program but certainly lists the prestigious and highly ranked ones.

http://www.litbridge.com/writing-programs/interviews-with-graduate-programs/

I hope that helps!

[danyeleb]

Hey there. Hopefully, I have some information that can help your search. Getting accepted to any MFA creative writing program is difficult. Generally speaking, the acceptance rate is around 1-2%. Naturally, fully funded programs are more attractive to applicants, so those programs could be even more competitive. I'm sure your husband is aware of this given last year's results. I understand the need to apply only to fully funded program because what good is admittance if you can't afford to attend, right? However, the fact that he also hasn't taken the GRE narrows his choices even more. It might be wise to spend the money to take the GRE to open up some new options rather than shell out the money for a season of applications only to be denied again and have to start over the following year. Of course, there is the possibility that, even after taking the GRE and applying to new schools, he still won't get accepted anywhere, but that's how this whole application process works, unfortunately. If the school allows it, I would reccommend that he reapply to the program for which he was waitlisted, if he still would like to go there. Obviously, they liked his work, so it's possible that they'll have room for him this time. As for other options, like Melissa333 said, it's really a personal choice. For example, when I was choosing where I was going to apply, location was a very important factor. I knew I would be miserable if I lived anywhere other than a major city in the Northeast, so I didn't waste time or money applying to schools anywhere else in the country. I think the best thing for your husband to do right now would be to work on his writing samples. Of course, he also needs to figure out where he wants to apply, but his writing samples are the most important part of his application for any school, so they should come first. And maybe you can help him with revision. I don't know your academic background, but it doesn't neccessarily take an expert to provide useful feedback for revisions. Anyway, good luck. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask.