Nearly two hundred creative writing professors & MFA program directors have signed an open letter that criticizes this year’s annual MFA program rankings in Poets & Writers magazine. Featured on the list of signers are faculty members from some of the highest ranked programs.

Excerpts from the letter:

To put it plainly, the Poets & Writers rankings are bad: they are methodologically specious in the extreme & quite misleading. A biased opinion poll—based on a tiny, self-selecting survey of potential program applicants—provides poor information.

Our best advice is to do your research through the programs you’re considering. If you are able to visit those programs, ask to sit in on classes & for the contact information of current & recent students. Talk to people you respect about different programs. Read work by the instructors.

To see the complete list of signers, & to read the full letter as well as the New York Observer’s reaction to the it, visit: http://www.observer.com/2011/09/creative-writing-profs-dispute-their-ranking-no-the-entire-notion-of-ranking/.