I still to this day after to defend even my undergrad choice. I went to UNC-Greensboro and I’d always get – so why didn’t you go to Chapel hill? Goodness people UNC-Chapel Hill is not the only school in NC!

Sorry, I ended up ranting but I love this post. I would LOVE to teach in an MFA program someday. I think we went down similar paths Jeannine 🙂

I end up defending MFAs a little myself, perhaps mostly because I run in these genre circles, where the culture is more centered around self-made creation myths than academic mentorship ones. I think your bottom line, do what’s right for you, is right on. MFAs vary too much — and so do writers — to issue a ruling on them as a whole. I have been saying since before I graduated that everyone gets their own MFA: each person puts something different in and gets something different out. There is no single MFA, no single MFA student, and thus, no single outcome.