What does the Admissions Committee look for in an applicants creative writing sample?
The committee regards the writing sample as the most important part of the application. It’s therefore important that you send what you feel to be your strongest work that shows your demonstrated talent. It is not important to the committee whether or not that work has been previously published. Those submitting applications in poetry should send approximately a dozen poems. While the application requirement notes up to 30 pages for a writing sample in prose, the MFA Program strongly suggests that you send a prose sample of only 15-20 pages. We are interested in seeing only your very best work, which can consist of one or more stories or works of creative nonfiction or an excerpt from a novel. If you send an excerpt from a novel, please include a brief description of the work as a whole.
