What is a Low-Residency MFA in Creative Writing?
A degree in creative writing can provide unparalleled opportunities for personal growth and creative expression. Pacific’s unique low-residency master’s program enables authors to sharpen their skills and form a close-knit community of authors from anywhere in the world.
Earn your MFA in creative writing and begin a lifetime of making thoughtful, compassionate art. Applications for Pacific’s innovative low-residency program are being accepted until May 15 and financial aid is available.
Creative writing MFA programs are unparalleled spaces for writers to explore and grow.
However, traditional masters in creative writing degrees can take between two and three years for full-time students to complete, leaving little in the way of career or family flexibility.
Enter the Low-Residency MFA.
Combining the essential tenets of the best MFA programs — one-on-one instruction, close-knit cohorts, inspiring faculty — with the versatility of a hybrid model, low-residency MFAs don’t force you to choose between school and life.
An MFA degree can push you to create innovative, compassionate writing projects, which can be more accessible and adaptable with low-residency programs.
Discover the unique benefits of a low-residency MFA program and how it might be the perfect space to hone your craft.
EXPLORE ADMISSIONS REQUIREMENTS
What is a Low-Residency MFA Program?
Unlike most graduate degree programs, the low-residency MFA primarily takes place outside of the classroom.
This allows you to refine your writing process from anywhere in the world while still communicating frequently with your peers and professors.
Low-residency creative writing degrees blend independent, guided study with several in-person residencies that include workshops, lectures, and individual meetings with faculty.
Low-residency MFA degrees are designed to empower those who may not have the time to devote to regular class sessions or who may live far from universities offering writing programs.
However, anyone, regardless of circumstance, can take advantage of low-residency writing programs, as they provide the same high-quality practicum and faculty insight as comparable traditional degree pathways.
Whether writing from your dining room table, a local coffee shop, or a tropical beach, a low-residency degree in creative writing offers unrivaled support.
Do Low-Residency MFA Programs Offer Scholarships?
Scholarships for low-residency writing degrees are available, as well as paid opportunities to teach creative writing at the university level.
Pacific offers five distinct merit-based scholarships for MFA cohort members, each of which lowers the cost for creative writing students.
In addition to the writing MFA program’s specific scholarships, Pacific offers general scholarships to graduate students of all disciplines, further reducing the cost of your degree.
Is a Bachelor's Degree in Writing Required to Apply to a Low-Residency MFA Program?
Thoughtful creative writing can come from any background, so a bachelor’s degree in creative writing is generally not required to apply for low-residency MFA programs.
While many programs require an undergraduate degree, at Pacific your previous college experience doesn’t need to be related to creative writing as a discipline.
Rather, your writing skill and promise comes through in the portfolio of work and the critical essay that you submit alongside your application.
Are Low-Residency MFA Programs Taught Online?
Online MFA programs are becoming more common, especially as the number of schools offering writing degrees continues to increase.
Low-residency MFA programs are not online programs, rather a portion of the instruction is mentor-guided remotely and then augmented with on-site residencies. There are no asynchronous courses or class meetings.
Despite having a significant in-person component, low-residency MFA degrees retain the most sought-after aspects of the best online MFA programs: adaptability.
The constraints that can accompany traditional MFA programs are absent in the low-residency model, enabling your writing practice to mold to your schedule, not the other way around.
What Do the Best Low-Residency MFA Programs Look Like?
A master’s in creative writing fuses a daily writing practice with intense, careful study of literature and craft guided by celebrated authors in your chosen genre.
What should you look for to help make the most of that experience?
The best low-residency MFA programs include:
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Faculty experts. Award-winning authors form the backbone of the instructional core of any reputable MFA program, and you’ll be working with them closely throughout your degree.
It’s important to search for professors who are not only experts in their craft, but who can speak about the broader publishing space to interested authors.
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Demonstrated student success. Whether as educators, community organizers, or published authors, examples of students finding success beyond their MFA program is paramount.
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Interdisciplinary opportunities. Learning from other genres and styles of writing is integral in forming creative work, and being a part of a diverse array of professors and peers can help supercharge that process.
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Supportive workshops. Feedback is essential to flourishing as an author, and surrounding yourself with a compassionate cohort will help create an environment of growth.
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Rewarding residencies. Low-residency writing master’s degrees are unique in that they allow for on-site residencies that include lectures, workshops, and opportunities for connection with faculty and colleagues.
Pacific’s unique low-residency MFA has admissions windows twice a year, so there’s no wrong time to get your application started.