If you are an aspiring writer or if writing brings you joy, you might want to consider a graduate degree in creative writing.
While creative writing degrees require analysis and dissection as a means of understanding texts, they differ from a literature degree in that they also teach the process and skill of writing. You could be a great writer and have developed your own style over the years, the work a creative writing degree will do for you is to understand the various tropes and tricks of language that other writers use as well as broaden your horizons and imagination as to the possibilities of the different kinds of writing you could generate.
Here’s what we’ll look at today:
- Career in creative writing
- List of the best creative writing masters programs
A creative writing degree is highly recommended to those who are pursuing a career in writing. Whether it is writing for corporate entities or writing as a means of generating art, this program will be highly beneficial for all aspiring writers. Let us look at some of the best graduate programs in creative writing.
A private ivy league institution located in Rhode Island, Brown University offers a Masters in Fine Arts (MFA) program in the literary arts. At Brown, you can focus on three tracks for the MFA program, poetry, fiction, and digital/cross-disciplinary writing programs. There is an emphasis on intellectual exploration and the students often take electives that range from philosophy courses to courses in the performing arts. Brown University is a highly selective university with an acceptance rate of 9%. On the other hand, it has a graduation rate of 96% as well as a student-to-faculty ratio of 6:1. Thesis work can include developing a substantial work of poetry, fiction, or digital/cross-disciplinary form of writing. The program is highly impactful in sharpening one’s literary sensibilities and performing literary skills at the highest level.
The writing seminar at Johns Hopkins University is a graduate-level MFA program in poetry and fiction. The institution which is named after its first benefactor Johns Hopkins boasts a selective acceptance rate of 13% and a graduation rate of 93%. It also has a competitive student-to-faculty ratio of 7:1. The program is geared towards the extensive study of the literary arts. Its students often go on to win many influential grants and prizes. The world-renowned faculty are not the only sources of education but also several visiting faculty and guest speakers. This can be an amazing exposure for students as well. Furthermore, many of the MFA students work in the Hopkins Review. By the time they graduate, students of the writing seminars at Johns Hopkins University will have already generated a name for themselves.
Cornell university is a private ivy league university situated in Ithaca, New York. It was founded by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White in 1856. The university is extremely selective and chooses only eight candidates for its MFA/Ph.D. program in the literary arts where the primary subjects are fiction and poetry. The highly competitive school boasts a graduation rate of 93% as well as a student-to-faculty ratio of 9:1. On the Cornell website, there is an interesting “books to inspire” page by the faculty at Cornell which may give you an idea about their respective interests or fields of study. Be sure to check it out.
The University of Michigan is the least competitive of the lot with an acceptance rate of 29% and a graduation rate of 93%. Despite the high acceptance rate, the university boasts a student-to-faculty ratio of 15:1. The university is a public research university located in Ann Arbor Michigan. The Helen Zell writer’s program at the University of Michigan is a two-year MFA in creative writing. Applicants to this program are expected to submit portfolios and also to succeed in graduate-level courses. Of the universities mentioned in the article, the program at the University of Michigan is by far the cheapest coming in at less than one-third of all the other programs on the list. If you are looking for premier education in creative writing but have limited funds and/or are expecting the realistic acceptance rate to work in your favor, the University of Michigan is the right place to go.
Hope you found this list useful. Start preparing your application, if any of these are on your list of universities!
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