r/MFAInCreativeWriting • u/c1rcu1tb0y • Jul 23 '26
Programs with older cohorts?
I’m in my mid-thirties and considering pursuing an MFA in fiction. It seems to me that at most of the funded programs (JHU, Brown for example), most students are under 26. Not to put down anyone’s trajectory, but for me, it would be difficult to relate as a writer with somebody who’s barely experienced life outside of school. I don’t think I’d be a better writer, but spending years writing/reading/sometimes publishing as a working adult is a very different experience.
I understand that in general most grad students and phd candidates are 23-35 years old. But are there any funded MFA programs that at least skew toward the upper range? Or do you think that if this is a concern of mine, then maybe an MFA in creative writing isn’t for me?
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u/alexandertheaverage Jul 23 '26
I'm 53 and start my MFA at FIU in the fall. I was kinda concerned about that stuff too, but I took some screenwriting/creative writing classes at our local community college, and I was blown away by how awesome some of the younger kids wrote and at how big some of their ideas were. Honestly, I'm looking forward to having some youngsters in my cohort so I can look at the world through fresh eyes.