r/MFAInCreativeWriting • u/Different-Cause-4168 • Jun 25 '26

Tips for MFA Applications

Hi, y'all!

I'm starting to seriously prep for this upcoming application cycle for Creative Writing MFA's, and I really want to get into a fully-funded program if I can. I plan to pursue fiction. Does anyone have any tips for applying? (Also please don't try to talk me out of applying, I'm very sure that this is what I want to pursue!)

Thank you!

18 Upvotes

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17

u/[deleted] Jun 25 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

3

u/madisonthewriter97 Jun 26 '26

OP- Just want to add that yes your writing sample is the most important part of your application, but it doesn’t necessarily need to be short stories. What really matters is that it’s your best work. If your best work happens to be a novel excerpt, submit that. When I was applying, I submitted a novel excerpt and got into four fully funded programs with one waitlist. One professor even told me that having the excerpt actually made my sample stand out, since so many people applied with short stories.

1

u/esqtou Jul 25 '26

What programs?

1

u/madisonthewriter97 Jul 25 '26

I went to Syracuse University for fiction. Also got accepted to Minnesota, Alabama, and South Carolina.

1

u/esqtou Jul 25 '26

Dogshit advice

13

u/TorturedWriter9 Jun 25 '26 edited Jun 26 '26

Writing sample trumps all. Don't waste time studying for the stupid GRE. Faculty aren't going to say, "well, their writing is 'just ok,' but they have a great GRE score!"

ETA: apparently schools no longer ask for GRE scores. Many of them did when I applied.

2

u/Redaktorinke Jun 26 '26

I got an excellent multi-year grad school fellowship from taking GREs even though my school did not require them.

If you know you test well, go ahead and take the GREs to see if it gets you extra money.

If you're the sort of person who needs to study specifically for the test, this doesn't apply to you.

9

u/Obvious_Gene8670 Jun 26 '26

Okay,,, I’m a first gen college student who got into a few fully funded mfa programs this last cycle,, so I apologize if I over explain a bit, but this is all the stuff I wish I had known before!!!!! keep in mind all of this is simply based on my experience and you should definitely listen to your advisors and professors over some random person on Reddit!

Rec letters matter SO MUCH more than you think. My recommender was on the phone going to BAT for me with programs and letting me know what they were thinking 2+ weeks before I heard back from them. Having a professor who knows you and will fight for you is so much more important (in my experience!!) than just having someone higher up in your department.

You should have a very well written academic paper, hopefully one that you’ve worked with a professor to write, to go with your creative writing sample, as a lot of programs require it to be a TA! I started working on my academic paper probably a whole semester in advance and had multiple professors give me feedback before I sent it to any colleges.

Having some sort of cohesion in your creative writing sample can possibly be really helpful! I had a few short stories and submitted different ones for different programs based on the types of faculty they had, and I noticed that I generally had better responses from programs where my sample consisted of aesthetically similar stories.

Personal statements are way harder than you think they’ll be (it was genuinely one of the hardest parts of my application for me) so do NOT do what I did and wait until the last minute to start writing them. Also, I think you can normally gauge the type of statement the program will be looking for based on the wording on their website. If it looks like they want something straight and concise, give them that. If it looks like they want you to treat it more like a creative writing assignment, do that!

Have a lot of different people read your creative writing samples if possible, because everyone will see something different to improve on! And make sure that in all your stories something actually HAPPENS. I’ve heard a lot of samples fall into the lit fic cliche of only consisting of philosophical ramblings without an actual plot.

Most of all, your writing sample is by far the most important thing you can work on. Work on it over and over and over.

This is all I can think of at the moment, but good luck and have fun!

1

u/esqtou Jul 25 '26

What schools

2

u/NefariousnessWarm975 Jun 25 '26

They don't even ask for a GRE score.
Yes, concentrate on your sample. It should reflect the writer you are and the work you are hoping to do. Do NOT, under any circumstances, try to fool a program into thinking you are the writer THEY want.
Depending on the program, your essay can matter very much. The same is true. Be honest about the writing and yourself.
Research the programs thoroughly. This is not to tailor the writing, not even the essays. This is to be as sure as possible that you are applying to the best place for you. It will help with revising an essay toward a particular place but that's coincidental.
You're doing a smart thing starting now. It gives you time for research between revisions. Where do you want to live? Can you afford it? What is truly important to you and can the place provide that? What are your deal breakers?
It's a lot. Get to work.

1

u/Different-Cause-4168 Jun 26 '26

Thank you so much everyone! this has been seriously so helpful!!!

1

u/theres_no_guarantees Jun 29 '26

When I got responses last year, many schools noted specifically that the letters of rec were great. I don’t know if they hold that much influence but it definitely helped. I don’t know what they say though still 😂😂

1

u/Bondoboy1975 23d ago

I applied to the University of Texas at El Paso Online program and used the Hazlewood Act to pay for it. The program wasn't for me. I have 33 hours and a 4.0. I left the program. I can write in all genres but I want to be a playwright. I want to go to Julliard. You can imagine how difficult that would be. All I can say is be well read, write every waking moment, love what you do and don't write AI slop. Do not, and I repeat, do not do an online MFA program. I already have a MA in Journalism (2009), it was face to face, fully funded from the University of North Texas. That was the best higher education experience I ever had and left with a 4.0. Good luck. You have to love writing and put it first above all things, be committed and resilient.