Frequently Asked Questions

Admissions

When are your deadlines?

Application deadlines are always March 1 for the July semester and September 1 for the January semester. Notifications of application results are typically received within 2-3 weeks.

When is the residency?

Our ten-day residencies are always held in early January (at Blue Ridge Assembly in Black Mountain, NC) and early July (on the Warren Wilson campus). The specific dates vary. Upcoming residency dates are always posted on our website.

How selective is your program?

Our program is highly selective. We do not enroll to meet a certain quota; accepted applicants must meet our very high standards.

How many students do you admit? How many are enrolled in your program?

Our close-knit community is held steady at 70-75 students total. Enrollment in our two genres is roughly equal. The number admitted in any given round varies considerably, based on the number of openings.

What is the age range of your students?

Our students typically range in age from their mid-20s to their late 60s. Our average age is the same as the average age across all low-residency MFA programs: 36. Our median age at present is 32.

What is the length of your program?

Students must successfully complete four semesters and five residencies to obtain their degree. More than half our students, however, elect to take “Extra” semesters, to benefit more fully from our program’s resources.

Tuition and Financial Aid

What are the costs of your program, for both semester tuition and the residency periods? Are there any other fees I might incur?

Tuition is $9,675 a semester and the mandatory residency fee (covering room, board and facilities use) is $600. Dorm rooms with private baths are available in the winter residency at Blue Ridge Assembly for an additional $200. Those students attending a residency only (prior to a leave of absence, for example) pay a $1,500 fee. The fee for a leave of absence is $200. The Graduation Fee—which includes diploma and transcript—is $250, but no tuition is charged for a student’s final residency. No other fees are incurred unless a student misses a deadline. Our Holden Scholarship and Rona Jaffe Graduate Fellowship cover all fees for those students.

What financial aid resources are available to me, and how are they allocated?

Grants and scholarships in our program are need-based only; federal loans are available to any student. To apply for financial aid of any kind, please file a FAFSA before the application deadline. All students who demonstrate need are assured an MFA grant, which reduces tuition, and will automatically be considered for any supplemental scholarships for which they are eligible. MFA grants are renewable for up to four semesters, assuming eligibility continues.

In addition, students of color may indicate eligibility on the application form for a Holden Minority Scholarship which covers full tuition and residency costs for four semesters of study or for a Rodney Jack Scholarship, which provides $1000 a semester for four semesters to an LGBTQ+ student. Entering female students who qualify for aid will be considered for the Rona Jaffe Graduate Fellowship. This fellowship covers tuition and fees for the first two semesters of the program and includes a $4,000 stipend.

New students who demonstrate need via the FAFSA are also considered for smaller supplemental scholarships from Friends of Writers, Inc, ranging from $400 to $1000. Once matriculated, students may qualify for the Lisel Mueller Scholarship for students with small children, and the Carol Houck Smith Scholarship for students entering an extra or final semester.

The FAFSA also enables many of our students to finance remaining education costs through federal loans. Additional information on federal loans is available from the Financial Aid office at Warren Wilson College ([email protected]). Questions about grants and scholarships should be directed to the MFA Office.

In addition, students of color may apply, on admission, for a Holden Minority Scholarship which covers full tuition and residency costs for four semesters of study. Entering female students who qualify for aid will be considered for the Rona Jaffe Graduate Fellowship. This fellowship covers tuition and fees for the first two semesters of the program and includes a $4,000 stipend.

Once matriculated, students may qualify for additional aid, such as the Lisel Mueller Scholarship for students with small children, and the Carol Houck Smith Scholarship for students entering an extra or final semester.

Are teaching assistantships available? What training toward a teaching career would be available to me?

As we are together as a group for only ten days a semester, we do not offer teaching assistantships. Although all students must teach a one-hour class as part of their degree requirements, we don’t view that as in-service teaching training, but rather—like annotations and the degree essay—as an occasion and a lens for focused study and articulation of the critical inquiry.

Students do gain training toward a career in teaching, however, through the general excellence of the program’s instruction. Our faculty provide exemplary models; the design of our program is one our students are keen to perpetuate. Our alumni currently teach at Stanford, NYU, Dartmouth, Sarah Lawrence, Northwestern, Bryn Mawr, Colby, Auburn, University of Michigan, University of Montana, Purdue, UC Berkeley, Emerson, and many other colleges and universities.

I’ve received a scholarship and a TAship to a residential program, but the low-residency model really appeals to me. What financial argument can I make for going to Warren Wilson?

Keep in mind that the low-residency format allows students to attend a writing program without moving or changing jobs, and to work—full-time, in many cases—while studying. Students will need to factor travel to and from residencies into their costs, of course, as well as books, postage, and other supplies. But in comparing the costs of graduate writing programs, one should recognize the absence of hidden costs such as moving or being required to live in a more costly area, and the advantage of maintaining income during the period. We’re always happy to talk with you about the differences between residential and low-residency models and the multiple advantages of what we provide for your tuition dollars and your lifelong apprenticeship; feel free to contact our office at any time.

Faculty Interaction

Which faculty members will be teaching full-time during my tenure?

We have over 65 veteran faculty members who actively teach with us, and we continue to add new faculty to the mix. Usually, about half the teaching staff for any given semester are writers with long experience in the Program—a “core” faculty group familiar with the Program format and standards, as well as the evolving work and development of current students. Another third of the staff may be writers who teach with us less regularly, and the remainder are new faculty. All of our faculty are considered “part-time” employees with us, who supervise no more than 5 and no fewer than 1 student project (the average is 3) and are hired a semester at a time. Each semester’s roster is usually announced on our website about three months prior to the residency. While we guarantee no greater than a 5-1 student-faculty ratio, the usual number is 3-1; that figure is not diluted by “guest” writers.

How will I be paired with my faculty mentor?

It’s important to the Program that every student work with a faculty member, each semester, who is enthusiastic about his/her/their work and feels able to make a contribution toward the pursuit of that student’s particular goals and the development of his/her/their talent.

In advance of each residency, faculty members read the student work samples in their genre and arrive prepared to participate actively in the decisions that assign a supportive and helpful supervisor to each project. Assignments are pedagogical, not purely administrative, and seek to match the particular strengths, experience and enthusiasms of veteran teachers with the student’s goals for the semester, as briefly described on the Project Preference Forms. Faculty in each genre meet as a group on the first afternoon of the residency to review the statements carefully and make a collective judgment about appropriate mentor selection. Students may request specific faculty members, but if they choose to do so, they must name a minimum of three. It is also assumed that a student will be paired with a different supervisor each semester, unless there is some compelling pedagogical reason to do otherwise.

What access do I have to other faculty members during the residency periods?

During the residency, every faculty member offers a lecture, discussion class, or small seminar, which is open to any student in any genre. Except for the concurrent seminars, these are also attended by faculty colleagues, enabling on-going dialogue and exchange. The level of conversation in these presentations is extremely high: you can get a sense of that through downloadable lectures available from our residencies or in our seven anthologies.

Workshops are led by rotating pairs of faculty members, so each workshop group (8-10 students) will hear work discussed by ten faculty members each residency. In addition, a student’s own fiction or poetry is always discussed in a workshop session led by faculty members who have not served as a previous supervisor or workshop leader; as a result, during a student’s tenure in the Program, he/she will have direct critical response from at least 8 faculty members in his/her genre in addition to the supervisor.

Each faculty member also presents a reading—usually from new work—which serves as another sort of introduction and exposure. And students and faculty have the opportunity to meet in informal social gatherings throughout the residency. Our low student-faculty ratio, which almost never exceeds 4-1 during the residency periods, is felt directly.

The Residency

What can I expect at the residency?

The Program design stresses variety and stimulation for the residency, balanced against in-depth mentorship during the semester. The exchange of ideas, and the individuality of voices, is also a crucial component for our community. During the residency, you’ll be paired with your faculty supervisor and will plan your semester’s course of study with him or her; you’ll learn from an astonishing series of craft-based lectures, classes, and seminars; and you’ll form abiding and supportive friendships. It’s an exhilarating and exhausting ten days which will fuel and inform your study in the non-resident months that follow.

How much individual response will I receive to my work, beyond group (workshop) hours?

At the residency you will have three conferences with your faculty advisor; each of these meetings are required to run at least 45 minutes, but are usually much longer. You may well have response to your work from faculty members other than your advisor as well as your fellow students. The director also meets individually during the residency with all students entering the essay and final semesters.

How are workshop assignments made?

Workshop at Warren Wilson is distinctive in that, while the small group remains constant for its five meetings, a different pair of faculty members facilitate discussion each day. This exposes the students to a range of aesthetics and approaches, and allows direct interaction with a large portion of the faculty over a student’s tenure in the Program. We believe workshop is most valuable as a practicum in criticism—an opportunity to learn and practice how to discuss another’s work—rather than as a vehicle for feedback (given that ample feedback is received during the non-resident semester). The variety of approaches demonstrated by the faculty teams enhances student awareness of the multiple approaches for discussing a work of poetry or fiction.

We offer a cross-genre workshop and a novel workshop when sufficient interest is present, in addition to our poetry and fiction workshops. We always make sure that each small workshop (8-10 members) includes students at every point in their progress toward the degree; and that every residency a student receives direct response from two new sources.

The Non-Resident Semester

How much faculty feedback may I expect during the non-resident semester?

One of the most pronounced differences between the low-residency and residential models is the amount and depth of individual response the student receives from his or her faculty supervisor over the course of six exchanges during each of the 4 semesters. Your faculty supervisor receives work from you every 3 weeks and responds with detailed critique/advice/direction within 3 days. What’s more: in a residential program, your faculty mentor may not be fully involved in your work for other classes, but in our program, each “packet” exchange includes your responses to what you have been reading: for the semester project, all of your creative work is received within the context of your individually-designed curriculum, and attended to in this way by your faculty advisor.

A sense of community is important to me. How can a low-residency program supply that?

The distance that’s implicit in a low-residency program’s design as well as the nature of the student this model attracts—disciplined, dedicated, talented, mature, motivated—fosters, in fact, a remarkable sense of community. The vibrancy and intensity of the Warren Wilson residency and the rewarding depth and range of the semester dialogue with the faculty advisor create, in tandem, an abiding sense of belonging. Our students come from a wide variety of backgrounds and aesthetics, but they recognize each other as kindred spirits: they’re all pursuing a commitment to their writing—often realizing a long-deferred dream—in the face of multiple challenges.

The generous, noncompetitive spirit of our residencies results in enduring friendships; those friendships become essential support networks during the semester—and long after graduation. We also have a vital alumni organization which meets for annual conferences; our alumni gather regionally, as well. As our graduates will attest, the Warren Wilson MFA program not only teaches you lifelong practices for incorporating your art into the demands of daily life, but it provides you with a community of fellow writers who continue the conversation with you long after you receive your degree.

What portion of your Program is conducted online?

The MFA Program for Writers follows a mentor-based studio-research model. When the residency concludes, instruction occurs only between the faculty advisor and the student primarily through email, or, in some instances, through a combination of email and regular mail. There are no online classes or workshops in our program.