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Program Description

• 48 Semester hours are required.
• Each student is accepted into one of three genres: fiction, poetry, or creative nonfiction.
• Up to 9 semester hours of graduate transfer credit may be accepted if the coursework has been completed in the past six years.
• Graduate Assistantships are awarded a small number of qualified students who teach online sections of freshman-level writing courses. Blackboard training is required. Graduate Assistants are closely mentored by the Director of Composition.
• Students can move through the MFA program at a pace they find comfortable, taking as few as 3 hours in an academic term or as many as 12.
• Students work with a different Faculty Mentor within their genre each semester. “Genre jumping” is encouraged as students will take a workshop in all three areas.
• Students must earn a C or better in all courses and maintain a minimum grade-point average of 3.0.
  

Application Checklist

• Official Transcripts
• Manuscript
• Personal essay
• Critical Analysis essay
• Grade point average of 3.0 or higher. (Exceptions to the gpa requirement may be made based on factors including experience in the field, time elapsed since completion of degree, etc.)
• Three letters of recommendation from writers, editors, or educators who can judge the applicant’s potential for success in a graduate online writing program.

Please wait to apply to the UAM Graduate Program until after you have received an acceptance into the MFA program.

Transcripts

An official transcript showing a posted bachelor’s degree with an earned grade point average of 3.0 or higher. (Exceptions to the gpa requirement may be made based on factors including experience in the field, time elapsed since completion of degree, etc.) Unofficial transcripts are sufficient for the faculty’s review of your application.

Transcripts of any graduate coursework must be submitted separately.

Manuscript Guidelines

Please submit one genre of your creative writing indicating talent, discipline, potential growth, and interests and intentions that can be well served by the UAM MFA program. All manuscripts must be typed and double spaced. Please do not send more pages than required.

1. Poetry: 10 pages
   Fiction: 20 pages
   Literary Nonfiction: 20 pages
2. Critical analysis: Maximum three pages exploring some aspect or element of craft in a literary work.
3. Personal essay: Maximum of three pages addressing the following:

• Applicant's background in the study of creative writing and literature
• Literary influences on applicant's writing, including the titles of books in your genre by writers you feel have shaped your thinking (not including our MFA faculty)
• How applicant's work, family, or other obligations will accommodate devoting 20 to 25 hours per week to writing and to the completion of other program requirements.
• Reasons why an online MFA program suits the applicant's level of experience and goals for future development as a writer.

Apply Now

Please apply to the University and then email mfagradprog@uamont.edu with the subject line "MFA Application" to apply.