The M.F.A. Program in Creative Writing

The Programs

Each year the department enrolls only eight students, four in each concentration. Our small size allows us to offer a generous financial support package which fully funds every student. At the same time, we have a large and diverse graduate faculty with competence in a wide range of literary, theoretical, and cultural fields. Students choose a Special Committee of two faculty members who provide a great deal of individual attention and encourage students to design their own courses of study within the very broad framework laid down by the department.

Students participate in a graduate writing workshop each semester and take 6 additional one-semester courses for credit, at least four of them in English or American literature, Comparative Literature, literature in the modern or classical languages, or cultural studies (typically two per semester during the first year and one per semester during the second year). First year students receive practical training by working as Editorial Assistants for Epoch, a periodical of prose and poetry published by the Creative Writing staff of the department. The most significant requirement of the M.F.A. degree is the completion of a book-length manuscript: a collection of poems, short stories, or a novel.

M.F.A./Ph.D. Joint-Degree Program

Each year one or two students may be admitted to both the M.F.A. program in Creative Writing and the doctoral program in English Language and Literature. This joint program offers a fuller integration of literature courses and writing workshops. In their first four semesters in residence, joint candidates are expected to complete four Writing Workshop courses and four or five Ph.D. seminars for credit, all of which apply to the Ph.D. course requirement of twelve courses, six for a letter grade. At the end of their fourth semester, candidates submit an M.F.A. thesis, and receive the M.F.A. degree. They then proceed to complete the remaining course requirements for the Ph.D. and write a final dissertation. Cornell offers only the scholarly Ph.D., not the Ph.D. with creative dissertation.

Special Committee

Every graduate student selects a Special Committee of faculty advisors who will be responsible for providing the student with a great deal of individual attention. The Committee is comprised of at least two Cornell Creative Writing faculty members: a chair, and one minor member. An additional member may represent an interdisciplinary field. The University system of Special Committees allows students to design their own courses of study within a broad framework laid down by the department, and it encourages a close working relationship between professors and students, promoting freedom and flexibility in the pursuit of the graduate degree. The Special Committee for each student guides and supervises all student’s academic work and assesses progress in a series of meetings with the students.

Teaching

Teaching is considered an integral part of training for the profession. The Department of English, in conjunction with the First-Year Writing Program, offers excellent training for beginning teachers and varied and interesting teaching within the university-wide First-Year Writing Program. Graduate students are assigned to writing courses under such general rubrics as “Portraits of the Self,” “American Literature and Culture,” “The Mystery in the Story,” “Shakespeare,” and “Cultural Studies,” among others. Serving as a Teaching Assistant for a lecture course taught by a member of the Department of English faculty is another way graduate students participate in the teaching of undergraduates.

Funding

All M.F.A. degree candidates are offered a two-year of funding combining:

• a first-year Graduate Assistantship working at Epoch, a periodical of contemporary literature published by the Creative Writing staff of the Department of English. Students help to read submissions, plan special issues, and assume other editorial and administrative responsibilities. This assistantship carries a full tuition fellowship.
• a first-summer teaching assistantship, which is linked to a teachers training program for which residency is required
• a second-year Teaching Assistantship with a full tuition fellowship
• a second summer fellowship (made possible by the David L. Picket ’84 Fund and The James McConkey Summer Fellowship)
• All of the above assistantships include a stipend and Student Health Insurance.

Optional MFA Lecturer Appointments

Degree recipients who are actively seeking outside employment or who are applying for fellowships and residencies are eligible to apply for further teaching for one year in The First-Year Writing and the Creative Writing programs. These appointments are limited and are not guaranteed.

Admission and Application

Applicants for admission should be aware that the M.F.A. degree alone is only a part of the qualifications needed to obtain a teaching position in a college writing program. In intense competition for such positions, a substantial body of published works is of greatest value, as well as the kind of teaching experience gained here in Cornell’s M.F.A. program. Graduates of the program also gain valuable experience which may help them should they choose a career in publishing.

Application Information

All applications and fees must be submitted on-line. Data may be saved and edited until the application is submitted, at which time no changes may be made. The deadline is December 15. Pre-admission visits and appointments are not offered at this time. However, successful applicants will be invited to visit and given the opportunity to attend seminars and meet individually with faculty and current graduate students.

• Application Deadline:
• December 15 (fall term admission only)
• Degrees Offered:
• M.F.A. in Creative Writing - poetry concentration
• M.F.A. in Creative Writing - fiction concentration
• Joint M.F.A. in Creative Writing/Ph.D. in English Language and Literature
• M.F.A. Requirements Summary (detailed summary for applicants)
  • Application and fee
  • Statement of Purpose
  • Three letters of recommendation
  • Transcripts - one official copy
  • TOEFL (if non-native speaker of English)
  • GRE General Test
  • Creative Writing sample
• Joint M.F.A. / Ph.D. (detailed summary for applicants)
  • Application and fee
  • Statement of Purpose
  • Three letters of recommendation
  • Transcripts (one official copy)
  • TOEFL (if non-native speaker of English)
  • GRE General Test
  • GRE Subject Test in English Language and Literature
  • Critical Writing Sample
  • Creative Writing sample
• Joint applicants are reviewed by both the M.F.A. and the Ph.D. committees, and subsequently may be admitted to either program or both.

Department Admissions Mailing Address

• Graduate Applications
  Department of English
  250 Goldwin Smith Hall
  Cornell University
  Ithaca, NY 14853-3201