Admission

Applicants must meet the general requirements of the Graduate School, with the additional requirement of a 3.000 grade point average in their previous coursework in English. The director of creative writing evaluates the applicant’s transcript, prescribing additional undergraduate hours for those who have fewer than 24 credit hours of acceptable coursework in English. Courses in freshman composition, grammar, teaching methods, journalism, speech, etc. may not be included in the required 24 credit hours. Exceptions may be made for outstanding students who have majored in related fields. With the permission of the director of creative writing, gifted writers may study in the program as special students with no specific degree intentions. Priority deadline for application: February 1. Admission will be for fall semester only.

Applicants who earned their undergraduate degrees more than 10 years before their application for admission must be interviewed by the director of creative writing before they are admitted into the program.

Applicants who have earned their degrees in countries where English is not the native language must score at least 600 paper-based, or 100 internet-based on the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) Examination or an overall band score of 7.5 on the IELTS or a score of 73 on the PTE-Academic before they may be admitted to the program.

Degree Program Status

Applicants who seek to be admitted with full standing in the degree program must submit a sample of original writing in literary fiction (approximately 20 pages) or poetry (about six poems), as well as three letters of recommendation and a sample of expository prose.

Advising

All MFA candidates in English are advised by the director of creative writing who will help the student establish a plan of study taking into account the student’s interests and future vocational plans.

Transfer of Credit

A minimum of 24 of the total 48 credit hours required for the degree must be taken at Wichita State. No more than 24 hours of credit may be counted toward the degree from other graduate work taken at Wichita State or at another school. If the credit to be transferred comes from a program in which the student took a graduate degree, the time limits imposed by the Graduate School on transfer of credit will not apply.

Program Requirements

All MFA students are required to take ENGL 700. Teaching assistants must take  ENGL 780 unless specifically exempted.

Coursework

The 48 credit hours of coursework are apportioned into two categories: required and elective courses.

Elective Courses

Elective courses may be taken to pursue historical, technical or theoretical studies that the candidate finds useful, to strengthen areas of weakness, or simply to enrich their degree program appropriately. All candidates must successfully complete a minimum of 15 elective credit hours in English courses numbered 800 and above and in approved 500-, 600- and 700-level courses. Candidates may take up to 26 elective credit hours in approved English courses numbered 500 and above. Other exceptions may be made as approved by the director of creative writing and with the consent of the department chairperson. Graduate students in 500-, 600- and 700-level courses are expected to meet higher standards of achievement than those imposed on undergraduates in the same courses. Within this unit, as many as 9 credit hours total of ENGL 880, ENGL 881 and ENGL 850 may be taken.

Comprehensive Examination

All candidates are required to pass a written comprehensive examination in the final semester of their coursework. This examination is based on a reading list of 30 books chosen from the creative writing program master list by the candidate’s final writing project director and the director of creative writing in consultation with the candidate.

Final Writing Project

The MFA final writing project in creative writing consists of a body of original work of publishable quality. The manuscript must be of such length as is appropriate to published books in its genre and is to be written under the direction of a member of the program staff. Candidates may preface their final writing project with a short introduction if they choose to do so.

Final Writing Project Review

Once the candidate has submitted the final writing project, a committee composed of the project director and a second reader will examine the work and determine whether or not the project meets the standards of acceptance.

Applied Learning

Students in the MFA in creative writing program are required to complete an applied learning or research experience to graduate from the program. The requirement can be met by the final project, in which students gather and produce a collection of poetry or fiction.