MFA Students Speak: Is an MFA Worth It?
It might be unfair to assume that everyone pursuing the writer’s life (whatever that even means) considers pursuing an MFA these days. In fact, many writers are vocally against immersing themselves in what is sometimes referred to as a writers factory. Both the pro- and con-MFA camps offer valid arguments. And we sometimes wonder ourselves if deciding to pursue an MFA is worth it at all. Sure, it may give you hope, and may finally validate your efforts into something more concrete (i.e., your book- length thesis) than your two part-time service jobs. But at what cost? At the very least, there will be a literal cost in the thousands of dollars for grad school tuition, but is there a chance your writing would also suffer? We don’t know! We wanted to find out, so we went in search of degree holders and seekers to inform a rounded answer to this fundamental question.
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