HI Cathy,

good thinking and i’m fine with the proposed changes. My only thought is to make them the same length 12-20pp and to broaden the terms, to include hybrid works that might supplement an application: short films (max 5 minutes or 5 minute extract), sound pieces (max 5 minutes or 5 minute extract) or equivalent multi-modal electric writing. Or some variant thereof,


cris



> On Sep 22, 2017, at 2:20 PM, Cathy Wagner <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> 
> Hi writers,
> 
> Currently we're all over the place with the MFA writing sample requirements we're listing on various web pages (ENG grad handbook, Grad School, application website, etc).
> 
> Would it be OK to unify them by going with the current length stipulated for Low-Res MFA applications? It's 15-20pp prose, 10-15pp poems. 
> 
> This is shorter than the old CW MA stipulation, which was 25-40 fiction, 15-20 poetry. 
> 
> I think best to avoid confusing applicants by continuing to ask for samples of different lengths, and reading more than about 10-15pp has never made me change my opinion of an applicant. So I think a shorter sample length is fine. But if you all would like to keep the sample longer, we can talk to Eric about increasing the Low-Res sample length. 
> 
> If I don't hear from you by mid-week next week, I'll assume the change is OK with you.
> 
> 
> Thanks,
> Cathy