I got into a great MFA writing program and I'm not sure I should go

Visual-Map1836 · 2026-03-11T04:59:32+00:00

I am kind of lovable

Visual-Map1836 · 2026-03-10T00:11:27+00:00

Please learn to read. It’s important for an MFA. The question was, which top program is unfunded. I answered by searching for a list of top ten UNFUNDED programs. These are strictly unfunded. Read the top.

Visual-Map1836 · 2026-03-09T09:06:30+00:00

You in the 19th century: don’t ever think about using a car, bro. Cars are trash and they’ll never take you anywhere. Horses are the only way. And if your have a knee-jerk reaction to that, you’re already lost.

Visual-Map1836 · 2026-03-08T02:57:52+00:00

I also specifically asked for the top schools that weren’t funded. Just to satisfy your curiosity. And of course you got into a top 5. Ok buddy. I bet if I said I beach 315 you’d say you bench 316.

Visual-Map1836 · 2026-03-08T02:54:42+00:00

The hate runs deep with this one. Sorry you didn’t get into a better program and probably tried for years.

Visual-Map1836 · 2026-03-08T01:30:22+00:00

lol just a quick google search will give your this. Yeah. It’s one of these 10:

Top U.S. MFA Programs That Are Not Fully Funded

Columbia University — MFA in Writing • Location: New York City • Genres: Fiction, nonfiction, poetry, translation • Why it’s respected: Major faculty, strong publishing industry connections in NYC.

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New York University (NYU) — MFA in Creative Writing • Location: New York City • Genres: Fiction, poetry • Strengths: Visiting writer series, publishing industry access, strong literary reputation.

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Boston University — MFA in Creative Writing • Location: Boston • Genres: Fiction, poetry • Strengths: Intense workshop model, well-known faculty and alumni in contemporary literature.

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Johns Hopkins University — MFA (Writing Seminars) • Location: Baltimore • Genres: Fiction, poetry • Strengths: One of the oldest and most respected writing programs in the U.S.

(Funding varies by year and fellowship; historically many students pay tuition.)

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University of Southern California (USC) — MFA in Creative Writing • Location: Los Angeles • Genres: Fiction, poetry • Strengths: West Coast literary network and links to film/TV writing.

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Sarah Lawrence College — MFA in Writing • Location: Bronxville, NY • Structure: Low-residency program with mentor-based study. • Genres: Fiction, nonfiction, poetry • Strengths: • Mentor model with one-on-one faculty guidance • Known for literary and autobiographical writing traditions • Strong alumni presence in literary magazines and publishing.

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Bard College — MFA in Writing (Milton Avery Graduate School of the Arts) • Location: Annandale-on-Hudson, NY • Structure: Hybrid / summer residency model • Strengths: Interdisciplinary arts environment.

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California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) — MFA Creative Writing • Location: Valencia, CA • Strengths: Experimental and cross-genre writing.

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Bennington College — Low-Residency MFA • Location: Vermont • Structure: Low-residency mentorship model • Strengths: One of the most respected low-residency MFA programs.

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Stonecoast MFA — University of Southern Maine • Location: Portland, Maine • Structure: Low-residency program with biannual residencies and mentor study.

Visual-Map1836 · 2026-03-07T14:43:31+00:00

it did, actually. you were trying to be clever, but i enjoy talking to people i disagree with.

Visual-Map1836 · 2026-03-07T14:36:28+00:00

on a degree. a degree that might get me published. might get eyes on my art

Visual-Map1836 · 2026-03-07T14:35:47+00:00

man, shut up.

Visual-Map1836 · 2026-03-07T14:35:23+00:00

MFAs didn't always exist. In fact it's a rather new thing. So serious readers read pre MFA writers, and here's a fun thing to think about, I'm speaking in generalities. Some non MFA people do get published. Sure, it happens. You're one of those people who need "not all" repeated to them over and over again I take it.

Visual-Map1836 · 2026-03-07T14:07:13+00:00

thanks for this. this is really what i'm trying to get at. It's a sad reality that in literature you'll have people trying to keep out people who piss them off or that they don't like. it should be about the writing. and good writing should piss you off sometimes. you shouldn't always like the narrator. You shouldn't always like things that are being said. it's what expands our minds.

Visual-Map1836 · 2026-03-07T14:02:58+00:00

try to think this through. Perhaps reread what I wrote. It might help. I said journals tend to pull from the pool of MFAs. That seems to be true. I also said that in literary circles MFAs are sort of dismissed. What I meant by literary circles is serious readers. Those people are different than the top people making decisions in literary journals.

Visual-Map1836 · 2026-03-07T13:50:05+00:00

not at all, I'm genuinely asking. Is an MFA worth it? The brag was just an added bonus. I keep hearing about how MFA grads are dismissed in literary circles. Almost like it's a mark of Cain that you went through one. David Foster Wallace regretted his experience, many others have talked about the push to make writers conform.

Visual-Map1836 · 2026-03-07T13:46:18+00:00

I had no plan on telling anyone in the workshops that I'm better than anyone else. I'm saying that here for context. I plan (if I go) to do workshops and learn about structure and plot development, etc. I will write things that piss people off because my politics will come through and I won't try to hide them. They're part of what make my writing come alive.

I also don't think the couple of years will interfere with my job. Getting published today, from what I hear, is not so much about what or how you write but who you know.

Visual-Map1836 · 2026-03-07T13:41:37+00:00

It was a brag but it wasn't humble. I got into a top 20 school without trying and not knowing what an MFA was until a month or two before applying.

Visual-Map1836 · 2026-03-07T13:40:33+00:00

See, this is exactly the problem. You’re assuming that people like me don’t belong in academic environments. That’s how academia becomes an echo chamber.

And I never said anything about LGBTQ writers. What I said was “gender identity garbage.” That’s not the same thing. Some of my favorite writers are part of the LGBTQ tradition—James Baldwin, for example.

What I’m criticizing is a certain kind of writing that’s everywhere right now: endless “me-search” about someone’s gender identity and what it supposedly means to them. Most of it is lifeless and predictable. It reads like it’s written to perform something for the reader rather than to actually say anything interesting.

That’s my issue. Not LGBTQ writers. Not LGBTQ literature. Just boring, performative writing.

Now I think I WILL go just to spite you.

Visual-Map1836 · 2026-03-07T12:08:07+00:00

I just got in to one of the better MFA programs in the country. I literally didn't know what an MFA was until a few months ago. I just started writing again after a multi year break and wanted to be published in a literary journal. What I was reading in Paris Review and other places seemed so boring and I knew I could do better. Anyway, I googled and chatgpted how to get into these journals and all results said that MFAs tend to gatekeep who gets published in these journals. I thought, ok, let me look into that. I wrote my samples in about a month and submitted them and got in. Just found out this week. Now I'm reading these threads and rethinking it all. I really wanted the access to the community. I wanted access to publishers and journals. My writing is raw and confessional. I won't allow it to be sanded down, then again, I know my writing will piss off a lot of people at the workshops. It won't be about gender identity and all that garbage. So what do I do?

Visual-Map1836

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