Are any of you motherfuckers waiting to hear back from MFA programs? I'm losing my mind over here waiting...

Is chemistry?
I've been out of school for 4 years now. Only started writing after I got my bachelor's. I'm mostly applying so I can focus on writing uninterrupted for a few years.

This is why you are a shit human, shit artist, shit reader.

Freshman here, Studio Art . When should I start looking/applying?

Pls no bully this is a Christian board.

You mean high school freshman right? Otherwise you're far too late. Most people start hammering out their top 20 in middle school.

Hey yo bump

I think hardly anyone on this board is in or has been in an MFA program. Whenever we have those age/location/occupation threads you get either people in undergrad or neets. Very few people here are pursuing writing seriously.

My buddy just completed his MFA. He's teaching a course at a community college and adjuncts at well-established university. They're freshman comp and introductory lit classes so he complains about the writing level of the students a fair amount, but he seems to enjoy it overall. I'm happy for him.

>getting paid to make art for 2-3 years

I don’t get how this could be a waste of time?

I did a year of an MFA (Fiction) then dropped out because my fundjng disappeared. It has been a few years since then and I'm gearing up to apply to programs again this coming app season.
So far I'm looking at Bama, UF-Gainesville, and Wyoming. I'm still trying to figure out which others to apply to though.

Are you applying for fiction or poetry? Can you tell us a little about your publishing history and the strengths of your application?

Bloomington is my hometown, if you want to know a bit about the lay of the land I can answer some questions

>getting paid
Where on earth do you get paid to do an MFA? Certainly not America..

themfayears.com/fully-funded-programs/

This is a list of all programs that give students a tuition waiver and stipend to get an MFA. Note that they're all in the US.

For those of you who are or have been in MFA programs, at what point is it worth it to start applying to fully funded MFA programs and not have my application just be a waste?

I’ve got another year left of undergrad, I’ve published fiction with my school once and once with another small University journal with open submissions. Should I try and get a story placed in a Top 50 journal before I apply to schools? Would that even be good enough? or do I need to be published in Tin House/Paris Review/New Yorker to be able to make it? Is it more based on intangibles than that?

If I’m going to do it I want to get into a good program that will give me funding and good mentors. I’d rather keep writing on my own until I suck less than waste money on the applications.

>MFA program
>pursuing writing seriously
pick one

Bro you played yourself. The only schools worth going to are the fully funded ones that offer a stipend, my feeling is that when MFAs are discussed here, that’s what people are talking about. Schools like the University of Iowa, Cornell, Brown, UW, and UVA are the top, but even less traditionally respected schools have them too. I’m from Kansas and we have two here at KU and Wichita State. There are probably 50 or more fully funded programs.

What does “pursuing writing seriously” mean to you? I imagine people in these programs write and read a lot more per day than you do.

MFA programs in general are interested in bringing in people who they see as having potential. I've known people with no prior publication record who have gotten into top tier programs, and others who have loads of small publications who haven't. Of course, these are rare occasions, but they happen. At AWP I've spoken to a lpt of people at many different programs, and most say they came into their MFA with only a handful of small time publications.
That said, pubs don't matter. The best gauge is probably going to be talking to a writing professor at your school, and see if they think it's worth the effort. You'll also need to be cultivating this relationship because you'll need letters of rec.
Also, read up extensively on the programs you want to apply to, and not just the work of the faculty and the funding. What are the demographics of the cohort? Are they mostly fresh out of undergrad? Or do they all seem to be older? Even if the program doesn't say it outright, this can indicate whether or not they like accepting people fresh out of undergrad. I know Houston doesn't like that, but Central Florida is alright with it. (Also their AWP receptions were pretty good.)

>all work is productive
rolling my eyes

That’s good to hear because one of my professors has been encouraging me to go the MFA route, and she did a fiction MFA at UWash and has helped a couple people get into good schools.

Thanks for the info. What does AWP stand for?

>can't figure out how to make two-three years of writing productive

Association of Writers and Writing Programs. What i'm refereing to is the annual conference they hold where around 12,000 writers congregate and get to attend various lectures, panels, and readings, and 800 journals and other writing organizations set up booths. It's a great networking opportunity and all that.
Truthfully, it's also a three day long binge for about 8,000 of the attendees.

Does anybody know much about UNO? Is it even actually possible to get funded there anymore?