<p>I'm applying to undergrad now, and as of now, i want to eventually go to grad school and get an mfa in creative writing. generally, how competitive are programs at big state universities?</p>
<p>i ask this because my dream school, mcgill university, has everything i want except VERY VERY VERY LITTLE creative writing. would it be feasible for me to get into a well recognized creative writing grad school without taking any, or taking very few creative writing classes?</p>
<p>i’m about to graduate and start applying to mfa programs. you should buy “the creative writing mfa handbook” by tom kealy. invaluable resource. from what i’ve learned about mfa’s–nothing really matters as much as the writing sample. it constitutes 90% of the admission decision. if you haven’t ever taken a course, if your gre score sucks, if you have crappy grades, but your sample rocks, then you’re in. admission is really competitive, even at the big state universities, especially if the program is well funded. Although many schools don’t release their selectivity info, the norm is less than 10% acceptance rate. and admissions are VERY subjective, as you can imagine. </p>
<p>basically, you don’t need to take cw classes, but it certainly helps develop your writing, unless you are self-motivated and have a solid group of people who can critique your stuff. personally i know i would have had a really hard time writing stories etc if i didn’t have a class to motivate me. </p>
<p>good luck!</p>