I have occasionally pondered on the possibility of getting an MFA in creative writing. The idea has never really appealed to me, especially weighing the cost/benefit. Would it make me a better writer? Likely, but not certain. Does it guarantee a writing career? No, not particularly. Would it put me in a awful state of debt? Without a doubt.
I have come across several comments on the pros and cons of MFA writing programs. I respect a good number of the writers who teach at such programs (Ethan Canin, Marilynne Robinson, Kelly Link, and Tony Early among a few), but they are only a handful. I suppose if I wanted to teach at a university and write on the side, a MFA would be a good choice. But being a working full-time writer probably requires a different path.
I like Garrison Keillor's advice,
"Skip the MFA in creative writing…. If you want to write, sit down for a few weeks with the most gripping book you’ve ever read and analyze it to a fine hair—how it’s organized, the structure, the time sequence, the characterizations—and then set out and write something similar. Don’t turn up your nose at genre fiction—which MFA programs tend to do. Learn how to write a workmanlike novel. And if it doesn’t get accepted for publication, no problem—go on and write another one."