Best type of writing manuscripts for MFAs in creative writing?

[B-612]

Hi everyone,

 

I'm applying to some fully-funded MFA programs in creative writing. They are option to various types of manuscripts, giving only a page limit--but they say things like, "You may submit a chapter from an extensive work, a short story or a combination of the two." 

 

I'm wondering if you all know any particular strategies. Would a combination work best? My writings are diverse, so I'm wondering what sort of thing I should send them: magical realism, fantasy/sci-fi, action, drama, LGBT, Southern Gothic, religious? A lot of my writing takes place at the intersection of religion, gender and sexuality. I'll probably write about that in my admissions essay.

 

I'm setting my sights pretty high: I'd love to get into the Iowa Writers Workshop, but have plenty of safety schools I'm considering as well. 

 

Would it be safe to assume that places as respected as the Iowa Writers Workshop would prefer serious, dramatic writing to the more commercial action-adventure stuff--and that the samples I give them should somehow tie into the essay I plan to write?

[TonyB79]

I'd avoid anything "genre" (action/adventure, sci-fi, fantasy, etc.), and I wouldn't mention those pretensions in your essay - at least, not if you want to have a better than slim chance of getting in. If you write really amazing, descriptive, literary/bordering on high falutin' Southern Gothic or gay fiction (without any vampires, witches, trolls, and so on), might be best to just lead with a great writing sample, rather than going into it in your essay. If you're applying to a Southern school - Virginia Tech, University of Virginia, and Virginia Commonwealth are all fully funded or close to it, as I recall - they might be more interested in fiction with a strong Southern bent.

 

As far as genre-friendly programs, your best bets are North Carolina State, (possibly) Brown University, Rutgers University-Camden, or Southern Illinois University. N.C. State isn't officially fully funded, but rumored to be headed in that direction; Rutgers isn't, but the stipend is pretty generous if you get a teaching assistantship. University of Houston is also rumored to be genre friendly.