Below are a few points to remember. If we've missed any questions, email us.

	When starting the MFA program, consider taking at least one workshop and one literature course per semester. Get your requirements out of the way earlier rather than later, so you can spend more time at the end working on your thesis.
	As you work towards that milestone, don't forget these requirements: competency in a foreign language , pre-1800 literature courses, and the comprehensive examination . Any writer can tell you how useful another language can be, and the same is true for acquaintance with earlier ages of literature. The comprehensive examination is yet another opportunity to hone your skills: it shows how you've learned to apply your reading to your writing. It's the kind of practice that most working writers pursue, if not in such a codified way.
	Start by meeting with the MFA program administrator for advice, but put your thesis committee together as soon as you want. You'll need three faculty members, but they don't all have to be from the ranks of the MFA program. One of them will be the supervisor, who should be an MFA faculty member, and the other two function as readers. You'll need to circulate a committee sheet, available here as a PDF file, that all committee members sign, attesting that they've agreed to serve on your committee.
	For the comprehensive examination, you need to compile a list of thirty books that have meant a lot in your apprenticeship as a writer, whether they're novels, poetry, books on writing, journalism, or whatever you can make a case for. You'll compile your list in consultation with your thesis committee, which also grades the four-hour, sit-down, closed-book examination. You'll be tested on connections among the works, questions about style or solving technical problems, perhaps the progression of a technique through the period covered by your list, and so forth. In addition, there may be a question about creative writing pedagogy. Each committee creates an exam to fit a specific student.
	For your thesis, consult your supervisor. Whether poetry or fiction, the thesis should be a book-length manuscript; i.e., over 48 pages of poetry or over 120 pages of fiction. You probably should show portions of it in progress to your supervisor, if not the other two readers, as well, as you finish them, so that the committee can make suggestions along the way.
	Scheduling the comprehensive examination and thesis defense: The examination, which should come first by at least a month, can take place during any four-hour slot, but for the thesis defense, the student is responsible for arranging a date, time, and place that's amenable to all the committee members. In each case, members must be notified ahead of time and sign off on the committee sheet. Copies of it must be filed with the graduate school, the supervisor, and the MFA program administrator.
	Plan ahead! The committee and the Graduate School should be told at least a month beforehand about upcoming exam and defense dates. The committee must receive the student's book list at least two weeks ahead of time to prepare an exam around it, and the same is true of the student's thesis and defense. Note also that the university has its own copious deadlines for graduating, enrolling, and so forth.
	A lot of Graduate School regulations still govern everything from margins and the weight of the bond paper in the thesis, to filing the proper forms for graduation. The MFA program administrator has most of the forms for specific MFA requirements, and the graduate school has the rest. When in doubt, ask.