something I am pondering
Dec. 27th, 2007 10:04 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rmIn the wake of the reaction to some of my really good LJ Idol stuff, and a realization I've had about a unifying theme in my work, I am currently considering applying to MFA programs.
Well, not exactly.
I am currently considering applying to the CUNY non-fiction MFA program, because it's local, I think I can get in, and I can afford it.
Pro's?
- having more than a damn BA
- specifically, being qualified enough to teach writing classes, good for the non 9-to-5'ers life (I want to get rid of the Germans).
- Being forced to write
- Gaining structure to what is now at least a moderately structured idea for the non-fiction book people have been trying to get me to write for years.
- Some small credential to help in the publishing game.
Con's?
- Dealing with a school, especially a city school, will make me crazy. I will have to meet obligations I find idiotic and insulting.
- Good-bye free time.
- $$
- Application process: irksome
- Okay, it's a short list, but I can't really emphasize enough how easily annoyed I am.
Issues?
- Writing samples. I could clean up that thing about why I went to Australia and IT WOULD ROCK, but I am afraid the committee would also be all "oh, Jesus fuck, more sex work, SHUT UP."
- I have several great people to ask for recommendations. I feel uncomfortable asking all of them.
- Like Chinese food, this may just seem like a good idea before it actually shows up.
So now you know.
ETA: Having just looked at my transcript, it seems exceedingly unlikely I could possibly be admitted to the program, with an appallingly low GPA both overall and in my major and no real trend of improvement over 4 years. Yup, what I did form 1990 - 1994 DETERMINES ALL. Hey, at least I have a bazillion other careers.
Well, not exactly.
I am currently considering applying to the CUNY non-fiction MFA program, because it's local, I think I can get in, and I can afford it.
Pro's?
- having more than a damn BA
- specifically, being qualified enough to teach writing classes, good for the non 9-to-5'ers life (I want to get rid of the Germans).
- Being forced to write
- Gaining structure to what is now at least a moderately structured idea for the non-fiction book people have been trying to get me to write for years.
- Some small credential to help in the publishing game.
Con's?
- Dealing with a school, especially a city school, will make me crazy. I will have to meet obligations I find idiotic and insulting.
- Good-bye free time.
- $$
- Application process: irksome
- Okay, it's a short list, but I can't really emphasize enough how easily annoyed I am.
Issues?
- Writing samples. I could clean up that thing about why I went to Australia and IT WOULD ROCK, but I am afraid the committee would also be all "oh, Jesus fuck, more sex work, SHUT UP."
- I have several great people to ask for recommendations. I feel uncomfortable asking all of them.
- Like Chinese food, this may just seem like a good idea before it actually shows up.
So now you know.
ETA: Having just looked at my transcript, it seems exceedingly unlikely I could possibly be admitted to the program, with an appallingly low GPA both overall and in my major and no real trend of improvement over 4 years. Yup, what I did form 1990 - 1994 DETERMINES ALL. Hey, at least I have a bazillion other careers.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2007-12-27 05:21 pm (UTC)Apply anyway. Seriously. You have DONE THINGS since then, many things, that speak to competence and ability handle an academic workload on the graduate level.
Also, when I completely failed to get into any MFA programs out of college (when my career plan was: Be A Writer), one of my professors consoled me with this: Writers are made, not born. You have to live a little. I made the appropriate listening noises and snuffled off to lick my wounds.
(I also stopped writing for almost ten years. Fandom brought it back, and made it *better*. It helps, also, that I now have real stories to tell, which I didn't, so much, at 22.)
Anyway, my point is, you have, by any measure, done the living, and you have stories to tell. If the CUNY people are hung up on your *GPA*, of all things, and ignore life experience, work experience, your actual writing ability, etc, then, well, fuck them right in the ear. And, also, they're doing it wrong.