The odds

I'm still looking into doing an MFA program (or USC's MPW). Last night I looked at a cross section of the "best" traditional and low residency programs. I ignored programs which were over $12000 a semester without funding. It's just not doable for me.

Something I noticed that I hadn't seen before.

Selectivity.

Oh my gosh! Are MFA's the most selective programs in the world? The first MFA I saw selectivity stats for, was Boston. It was something like 400 applicants, 8 get in! And I thought, maybe that's just Boston. So I checked some of the "not-so-up-there" schools and the odds weren't much better. I think the best was maybe 10 out of 200.

So now I'm worried about getting in. Partly because my undergraduate transcript is the ugliest thing since Betty. Partly because my writing is untested, and the writing sample is the main judging point.

But then, I thought. When you aim for publication, you're hoping to be in a group of a few hundred, when maybe half a million are trying to get published. And if you're not good enough to gain entrance to an MFA, will you ever be good enough to make publication?