The 2025-2026 Graduate Admissions Application is CLOSED!
https://grad.ucdavis.edu/apply
The deadline to apply to our program for the 2025-2026 academic year is January 5, 2025
Graduate Studies' Applications Page covers most campus-level admissions questions, but feel free to contact our graduate program staff for more details and specific guidance. Applications are reviewed once all supporting materials have been received. For more information about your application status, please check online or contact our graduate program staff.
Application Requirements:
- Writing sample
- Statement of Purpose
- Personal History & Diversity Statement
- Three letters of recommendation
- TOEFL or IELTS scores, if applicable
- Copies of transcripts
- Application Fee (2023-2024 cycle): $135 for U.S. and $155 for international applicants
- Admissions Requirements and Eligibility as set by UC Davis Graduate Studies
- Writing sample in your preferred genre
- To apply for admission to our Creative Writing MFA program, you are encouraged to submit your very best creative writing. Either ten to twelve poems (maximum of fifteen pages) or up to thirty pages (double-spaced) of prose. Hybrid-form work must not exceed thirty pages.
- Statement of Purpose
- Please highlight your academic preparation and motivation; interests, specialization and career goals; and fit for pursuing graduate study at UC Davis.
- Personal History and Diversity Statement
The University of California Davis, a public institution, is committed to supporting the diversity of the graduate student body and promoting equal opportunity in higher education. This commitment furthers the educational mission to serve the increasingly diverse population and educational needs of California and the nation. Both the Vice Provost of Graduate Education/Dean of Graduate Studies and the University of California affirm that diversity is critical to promoting lively intellectual exchange and the variety of ideas and perspectives essential to advancing higher education and research. Our graduate students contribute to the global pool of future scholars and academic leaders, thus high value is placed on achieving a diverse graduate student body to support the University of California’s academic excellence. We invite you to include in this statement how you may contribute to the diversification of graduate education and the UC Davis community.
The purpose of this essay is to get to know you as an individual and potential graduate student. Please describe how your personal background informs your decision to pursue a graduate degree. You may include any educational, familial, cultural, economic, or social experiences, challenges, community service, outreach activities, residency and citizenship, first-generation college status, or opportunities relevant to your academic journey; how your life experiences contribute to the social, intellectual, or cultural diversity within a campus community and your chosen field; or how you might serve educationally underrepresented and underserved segments of society with your graduate education.
This essay should complement but not duplicate the content in the Statement of Purpose. Your Personal History and Diversity Statement must be entered directly into a text box in the application, and has a 4,000 character limit including spaces.
- Three Letters of Recommendation
- Letters should be from professors or other persons situated to speak about your potential for graduate Creative Writing study. You might also think of potential letter-writers in terms of their ability to speak to your participation in a dedicated community.
- TOEFL or IELTS scores, if applicable
- Applicants must submit TOEFL/IELTS/Duolingo scores unless they have earned or will be earning a bachelor's, master's, or doctoral degree from either a regionally accredited or foreign college/university which provides instruction solely in English. See the English Language Requirement section for details.
- Transcripts
- Transcripts are required from each post-secondary institution you have attended.
Copies or unofficial transcripts are allowed. If admitted, you’ll be required to send official transcripts for every institution listed on your application. - Application fee
- The application fee is set by the UC Davis Office of Graduate Studies. The application fee for the 2023-2024 cycle is $135 for domestic students and $155 for international students, payable online. Waivers of this fee are only available to participants in one of several graduate preparatory programs. The MFA program has no ability to grant application fee waivers.
- Funding your MFA
- We aim to fully fund both years of your MFA through teaching. For first year students, funding generally comes in the form of TAships in literature courses in the English Department. For the second year, students generally work as an AI (Associate Instructor) for ENL 5, an introductory creative writing workshop.
For in-state students, tuition is covered as part of the terms of employment. For out-of- state students, a limited number of tuition waivers are available. Out-of-state students who come to UC-Davis are expected to establish residency in their first year.
Though teaching support is the program norm, there are university-wide fellowships for which incoming students are eligible. In recent years, MFA first years have been awarded University fellowships – the Provost’s Fellowship, which funds the first year with a stipend (without teaching) and the Cota-Robles Fellowship, which funds both years with a stipend (without teaching).
For additional information, please contact:
they/he/she
Graduate Program Coordinator
Department of English
ambarstow@ucdavis.edu