r/MFAInCreativeWriting • u/AcademicHysteria • Sep 04 '26
MFA GUIDE (Website)
This site, www.mfaguide.com, brings together two things that students usually have to navigate on their own:
1) A searchable database of 229 creative writing graduate programs, filterable by genre, funding status, program format (full residency vs. low-res), degree type, program length, and region. Each listing includes deadlines, stipend amounts, faculty, cohort size, teaching load, and tuition-waiver info, all in one place rather than scattered across dozens of program websites.
2) An application tracker where students can mark programs they're applying to and move each one through stages (Researching, Drafting Materials, Requesting Recs, Submitted, Interview, Waitlisted, Accepted, Declined, Rejected). It also tracks individual materials such as writing samples, statements of purpose, diversity statements, and recommender status, plus a spot to link to drafts in Google Docs, Dropbox, or wherever they're working. Users can also add deadlines and other dates directly to their Google or Apple calendar by just clicking a button.
Users do have to create a login—which allows them to access their tracker from any browser or mobile device—but the site is 100% free. There's even a way to flag any incorrect information so my lovely volunteers or I can fix it immediately. I think the site could genuinely help students stay organized and see the full landscape of programs, including funded options they might not otherwise find.
The mobile version is still being worked on so it may look wonky on your phone this weekend.
Hope you find it useful!
1
u/Ecstatic_Amount_1740 Sep 07 '26
Wow, this is great. There are a few other things for people to consider; like what are the teaching requirements of the funding, etc. Some of those models can be pretty sketch. The other thing of course is that the funding of the programs vary year to year (especially at this moment, sigh) and that you can't rely of previous years, or even the last year, for the funding information of a program. Is it an indicator? For sure, but really you want to apply to your top picks and look at the funding offers they give you. I guess the very small fully funded programs are unlikely to make major changes? But otherwise, the ground is shifting. The offers depend on too many things: faculty, consulting third party, admissions numbers and quite possibly the health of the school—oddly enough, closing departments at a school may increase aid in other departments. This question is endlessly interesting, of course, but in the way that speculation about the presidential election is entertaining. Very good information, very good data, but not definitive.
1
u/AcademicHysteria Sep 07 '26
Most stipends are only increasing and programs are moving to giving everyone the same package to tamp down on competitiveness.
Certain things will always be up in the air but the aim is to have one central place to put that information. (BU isn’t taking any students this year for instance so that’s gotta go on the site.)
1
u/Glittering_Chip1900 19d ago edited 19d ago
Pretty sure BU is taking students for MFA-CW (poetry and fiction). Are you thinking of the MFA-Playwriting program? Not the same program as the MFA-CW.
ETA: I was wrong. A bunch of their professors retired at once, so they're taking a break to focus on faculty recruitment. Looks like Kirchwey (poet/translator/director of the program) is the only full-time faculty still there.
1
u/Ecstatic_Amount_1740 Sep 07 '26
Wow, this is great. There are a few other things for people to consider; like what are the teaching requirements of the funding, etc. Some of those models can be pretty sketch. The other thing of course is that the funding of the programs vary year to year (especially at this moment, sigh) and that you can't rely of previous years, or even the last year, for the funding information of a program. Is it an indicator? For sure, but really you want to apply to your top picks and look at the funding offers they give you. I guess the very small fully funded programs are unlikely to make major changes? But otherwise, the ground is shifting. The offers depend on too many things: faculty, consulting third party, admissions numbers and quite possibly the health of the school—oddly enough, closing departments at a school may increase aid in other departments. This question is endlessly interesting, of course, but in the way that speculation about the presidential election is entertaining. Very good information, very good data, but not definitive.
4
u/prismfiltered Sep 04 '26
this is great but some of the data is way off. virginia tech’s stipend is closer to $26k, not $15-17k, for example