FAQ

• What does Low Residency mean?

  It means you work online for most of the academic year in asynchronous classes (we use Canvas) where you’re taught one-on-one…and then you come to the desert for ten days in December and ten days in June for a period of concentrated study – including workshops, seminars, lectures, screenings, interviews, and more! 

• What’s the Palm Desert part?

  Our offices are based out of UC Riverside’s Palm Desert Center, which is a satellite campus forty-five minutes from the main campus. Our residencies take place a few miles away at the Tommy Bahama Miramonte Resort in Indian Wells. 

• How long have you existed?

  Our first class started in fall 2008. Since then, we have graduated over 500 writers. 

• Can I take a minor?

  Everyone in the program is required to work in an elective – what we call a cross-genre workshop – each of their first 6 quarters. You can effectively minor in a secondary genre by remaining in one cross genre for all 6 quarters. 

• Do you have a core faculty who teach every term?

  Yes! You’ll find them listed under faculty & staff.

• Do you have guest faculty?

  Yes! Every residency we bring in ~30 guest faculty to teach and meet with students. We change it up every residency. A number of those guests each residency are alumni of the program. 

• What does the academic calendar look like?

  Fall quarter typically begins the last week of September. Residency is always the first Friday of December through the following Sunday. Winter break typically runs from the end of residency through the second week of January. Winter quarter typically begins the second week of January and concludes March 15^th. Spring quarter typically begins April 1^st. Residency is always the first Friday of June through the following Sunday. Summer break typically runs from the end of residency through the last week of September.

  Unlike many low residency programs, we begin work immediately online and conclude our terms with residency. We feel this better prepares the students versus being thrust into a workshop prior to being taught. 

• Do I ever take classes in-person in Riverside?

  No.

• If I attend full-time, when will I graduate?

  The program is 7 quarters long. If you start the program in fall, you will graduate in December, two years later. If you start the program in spring, you will graduate in June, two years later. 

• Can I attend part-time if need be?

  Yes. However, in order to qualify for a student loan, you must be enrolled in 6 units every quarter. So if you’re feeling like you need to take a lighter load, it’s absolutely possible, but there’s a conversation that needs to be had with the program manager or director. All things are possible. 

• Do you take transfers?

  We do! You can transfer up to 8 units from a previous MFA program. Please contact the program manager or director for more information. 

• What can I do with an MFA?

  First and foremost: This is a professional writing program. So, what we hope you’ll do in this program is write…and then write some more. 

  You’ll write your book, your movie, your tv show, your plays, your essays, your stories, your poems, your podcasts, your combination of all the above. We pride ourselves on being open to wild invention. Have an unusual hybrid in mind? Talk to us. Let’s make it happen.

  What else? An MFA is a terminal degree, which means you’ll be eligible to teach at the undergraduate and graduate level, which many of our alumni do. You might decide to use it to become a film or TV producer, which many of our alumni have chosen to do. You might decide to move into editorial work or professional publishing, which many of our alumni have chosen to do. You might decide to work in the arts, in journalism, in public relations, or you might even run for Congress. Our alums have done all of those things, too. You will develop critical writing skills in this MFA – in addition to creative writing skills, of course – and that's an ability relevant to a hundred different jobs.

  Our students have primarily used the MFA as a springboard into the writing life. How that looks to each of you is special and different and particular to your desires.  

• Do I need to have a background or previous degree in writing to apply?

  Nope! While some of our students come to us with a background or degree in writing, most come from every other career you can imagine. We've had judges, doctors, actors, scientists, athletes, veterinarians, and everything in-between.

Contact Info

Palm Desert MFA 
palmdesertmfa@ucr.edu

Kathryn McGee
Program Manager 
kathryn.mcgee@ucr.edu
(760) 834-0939

Tod Goldberg
Program Director
tod.goldberg@ucr.edu 
(760) 834-0928