About Master’s Program,
Thank you for your interest in the Boston University MFA Program in Creative Writing, one of the oldest and most prestigious programs in this country. Our alumni in poetry include Elizabeth Alexander, Erin Belieu, Rafael Campo, Melissa Green, Glyn Maxwell, Carl Phillips and Don Share; in fiction, our alumni include Peter Ho Davies, Arthur Golden, Ha Jin, Jhumpa Lahiri, Askold Melnyczuk, Melanie Rae-Thon, Weike Wang, and Lisa Taddeo. The Atlantic magazine has ranked our program among the top five percent of all creative writing programs for the distinction of its faculty and alumni, and has ranked ours among the top ten programs overall.
Most notably, however, our program offers to poets and fiction writers in a single year (usually including summer study) a rigorous combination of literary study and focus on craft equivalent to what other MFA programs accomplish in two years. Our program also offers practical experience in teaching creative writing at the high school or undergraduate level through teaching fellowships. Such an intensive curriculum is only possible because of the dedication, talent, and energy of the students who choose to attend the BU MFA Program.
Master’s Program Degree Eligibility with GPA,
You’re welcome to send your scores. Our GRE code is 3087.
Fiction writers, please submit two or three stories or selections from a novel, up to a limit of roughly forty double-spaced pages; poets, ten poems, please. The manuscript you submit is far and away the most important criterion for selection.
GRE scores are now considered optional.
Master’s Funding Coverage,
Tuition costs will be covered for every admitted student for the MFA degree in the BU Creative Writing Program. In addition, admitted students will receive one year of university health insurance, and all admitted students will receive stipend support for the academic year; for the 2024-2025 academic year, stipends total $20,000 per student. To receive their stipend, students must teach for one semester of Creative Writing at at Boston University at nearby Boston Arts Academy, a dynamic public high school for painters, musicians, dancers, actors, composers, and choreographers.
Stipend support is made possible for fiction writers through the awarding of the Leslie Epstein fellowship, the Saul Bellow Fellowship, and the Helen Deutsch Fellowship. MFA fiction writers are also eligible for the Saul Bellow and William A. Holodnak Fiction Prizes. MFA poets are eligible for the Hurley Prize in Poetry.
Finally, upon completion of their academic requirements, all MFA poets will be eligible for a Robert Pinsky Global Fellowship, allowing for up to three months of travel, writing and study outside the United States; MFA fiction writers will be eligible for a Leslie Epstein Global Fellowship. Global Fellowship amounts in 2024-2025 will be approximately $4500 per student.
Application Requirement,
Writing sample. For poetry, submit ten poems. For fiction, submit no more than forty double-spaced pages; if you submit stories, please submit more than one.
Personal statement. This should be no more than two double-spaced pages in length.
At least two letters of recommendation. Our application system can accept up to three letters. All letters must be received by the application deadline. Recommenders must upload letters online, and our program does not accept letters through Interfolio.
Up-to-date CV.
Transcripts from any college or university you have previously attended. Please submit all transcripts, including those from institutions that did not award you a degree.
Optional: Examination scores from the GRE General Test. We no longer require you take the GRE in order to be accepted into our program. If you have already taken the test, please feel free to send your scores. Our GRE code is 3087.
Please DO NOT send any materials to the Creative Writing office.
Application Deadline,
Jan 09, 2026
Application Fee,
The application fee is $95.