My MFA Journey: Deciding on a Grad School

This is the first in a series of blog posts going over the different parts of my MFA journey from applying to grad school to graduating and all the moments in-between. I’m hoping that by writing this series, I can reflect on my experiences, share what I’ve learned, and help a fellow writer along the way.

Next Posts in This Series:

Why an MFA? or How I DIYed an MFA Experience

When I first started writing fiction and decided that I’d be a writer as my career, I knew that at some point along the journey I’d get my MFA. At the time, it was because I had no idea what I was doing or where even to start, and like a lot of writers, I thought an MFA would help me figure all of that stuff out.

Except, I couldn’t go to an MFA at the time.

I was working two jobs on top of learning how to write and attending undergrad classes in writing. There wasn’t much time to think about or even consider how I’d make getting an MFA work, so I put it on the back burner for years and instead went the DIY MFA route and began structuring my personal learning as though I was in an MFA or another intensive workshop experience. I did this simply by reading through available class information for grad level classes at MFA programs and workshops. Readers who have been following me for a while and writers who know me on a closer level will know that I build and work through reading lists, learning objectives, and practice A LOT.

All of that has been to try and give me the teachings that I would learn if I did go to an MFA in my twenties. My writing group and the other writing communities I’m a part of are also hugely related to that intention. One of the biggest advantages I noticed many MFA grads talked about was the community of writers all committed to learning or at least writing. Without a doubt, I know that shaping my personal learning the way an MFA is structured has had a huge impact on the flow of my career and the successes I’ve had.

With the trajectory of my career going in a great direction and making headway in the accomplishments I wanted to make, I started thinking about an MFA again but thought that it was unnecessary because I was doing great without the degree. Then a few years passed, I stayed doing great wit the makeshift MFA experience I had designed, but something started happening. I started bumping up against writing ideas, terms, and techniques that I couldn’t quite get my head around. It was like I was hitting this ceiling in my skills and trying to teach myself how to get out of the cage wasn’t working, so an MFA started looking really good again.

Since I am at a stage in my writing that many writers who have gone to an MFA wish they were at, I knew that I didn’t want to go to an MFA in the way that others went to MFAs. Just to use it as a time to write. I have the time to write. I have so much time to write. All my days are writing and editing and reading, but what they aren’t is that steady churn of close academic study of a subject, technique, or story.

I think it was 2019 or 2020 that the full idea of pursuing an MFA came back into my mind, and I started the process of honing my skills more and finding schools that I wanted to go to. It wasn’t until 2022 that I rounded out my list to four schools I wanted to apply to. That was another thing I didn’t want to do that a lot of MFA applicants do: apply to tons of schools. I know lots of writers who have spent thousands of dollars in one year just on applying to 20+ MFA schools hoping one would accept them. I don’t have that kind of money to put into application fees, so I gave myself a budget and stuck to it.

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Another thing that an MFA provides me as I go deeper into my career, is an official higher level degree for landing gigs and speaking and teaching roles. While I love my job as a marketing writer for the rest it gives me from my author career, I don’t ever want to step away from helping other writers through mentorships, teaching, workshops, and other forms of learning experiences that bring more writers into the world of publishing. I know for a lot of people an MFA didn’t do much to improve their career, craft, or even relationship with writing, which is why I wanted to go about this in my way, a way that is a bit unorthodox but that I think will set me up for all the opportunities and projects I want to do in my career.

The Schools & Their Whys

I spent two years researching different MFA programs, reading the books of the faculty at the schools that interested me, and reaching out to admissions offices and program directors to figure out what schools would really help me become the best writer. The schools that made the list are:

Iowa Writers Workshop

I’ve known about Iowa since high school because one of my favorite English teachers, Mr. Winters. He went there to get his MFA in fiction. The main thing I remembered was sorta how bitter or disillusioned he was with “making it” as a writer. But he always said that the school was truly the best. So, I sorta always had my eye on Iowa since the early 2000s and watched it from afar to see what the students that came out of there had to say and write. It wasn’t until a couple years ago when I started to dig into each program that Iowa became a truce contender. Iowa faculty and graduates had the most books I loved and connected with that straddled the line of literary and speculative.

Iowa is also fully funded and I’d get a chance to work as a research or teaching assistant and develop my teaching or research skills even further. Despite the issues that Iowa has for being the oldest and most prestigious MFA program shaped by the CIA, I know that if I went there, it’d turn me into a star.

Bennington Writing Seminars

To be fair, all of the schools I’m applying to are top tier schools with lots of great alumni and teachers connected to it. Bennington is the same, except in some circles it’s a bit more famous because of Donna Tartt who based her book the Secret History off of her time at the school and the school itself. Not to mention Shirley Jackson’s connection with the town of Bennington, Vermont. Either way, Bennington is steeped in literary history and intrigue. Though it’s not the reason I choose the school to apply to, it’s history and literary connections are swoony.

I love Bennington and it’s program because it’s based around reading and analyzing story. Iowa and the other schools are more workshop and research based programs that focus on the act of critiquing or researching as a means to get to the heart of a good story. But reading is what got me into writing and reading is what’s helped me get as far as I am now. Bennington isn’t a fully funded program, however, so it comes with an extra dollar sign to pursue. I have already gotten into this school and given a scholarship that covers at least one out of four of the terms. I will say that my feelings toward Bennington are that I truly believe it’d make me a better writer no doubt without risking falling into the realm of disillusioned artist. Bennington is also a low residency program where I wouldn’t have to move away and live near campus, but would do my studies and classwork at home with some trips to the school throughout the year for residencies.

Brown University

Brown is the school I’ve always wanted to go to for writing. Like since I realized what I was doing was writing back when I was a kid. I don’t remember why Brown. My guess is that I met a writer when I was young who went to Brown and said something that unlocked a part in me. Whatever my reasons were for wanting Brown when I was young, they are different now. Out of all the schools on my list, Brown is the one with the biggest lean into research based creative writing. While workshops and critiques are also available at Brown, their main emphasis is on research.

That’s the type of writing I’d love to do, where a reader steps into my story and is like, “Damn, this world and story is so well crafted, researched, and thought out, I might as well stay here a while. Make a home here.” No reader would actually ever say that, but hopefully, you get the picture. When I see myself at Iowa, I’m bent over a desk in class surrounded by other writers. When I see myself at Bennington, I’m home with all my loves and writing the stories that are personal and challenging to me. But at Brown? Brown I see myself in a large library surrounded by resources and not just writers, but scientists, chemists, film makers, and other academic types all working in this large, historic community.

Warren Wilson College

Warren Wilson is probably the best or one of the best low residency programs in the country, like the Iowa of low res. Low residency programs allow graduates to pursue their degree from home with some residencies on campus. Bennington is my other low res program on this list. I have a few friends who have gone the low residency route and have raved about how freeing it was to pursue their MFA without the constraints of feeling like they were back in undergrad strapped to a desk and a class for most of the day.

Warren Wilson is workshop based, so focuses more on the writing element, sorta like Iowa. Warren Wilson attracted me for the same reasons Iowa did to. The work produced by both faculty and students resonated with me and my own writing. I had also read and re-read a book put out by the teachers and lecturers at Warren Wilson and found it to be packed full of unknown or not often read writing advice. The same thing happens whenever I read one of the craft articles put out by one of the faculty or read through a graduates experience within the classroom. There’s knowledge at Warren Wilson that I want to tap into and learn.

Next in My MFA Journey

In the next post in this series, I’ll go over my full application process and what I did to pick my samples and write my statement of purpose. I’ll even share my samples and my statement of purpose for the schools and stories I am able to. Thanks for reading and sticking around to see where this whole writing thing takes me.

I hope I can return the favor someday by writing a good story you’ll love.

I’d also love to know if you’ve gone through the MFA process before and what your experience was! I’m going for fiction, but would love to hear from anyone who has attended an MFA program—even if they didn’t finish. Let me know your writing journey and story.

My MFA Journey: Applying to Grad School

My MFA Journey: Bennington Writing Seminars Residency

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