Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Incomplete Transcripts

Future Thinkin' on the F-Train writes...

I dropped out of college when
I was 20, acquired some life experiences and yadda yadda yadda, and by
the time I turned 27 I found myself writing fiction. One story was
recently published in Open City and featured in the New York Times,
while other pieces have found homes in respected literary websites
like McSweeney's and Pindeldyboz. Now I'm 29 and back in college,
slated to graduate in spring of 2007.

My question: if I want to proceed directly to grad school in the fall
of 2007 after graduating college, (which I do!) should I start sending
out applications/rec letters even before I graduate college? Will an
MFA program look at my writing samples without the proper final
transcripts which indicate I've graduated? I'm just now starting to do
research and would like to know exactly what to expect here. I figure
I've lost enough time screwing around and would like to avoid waiting
around another year after college because I didn't plan correctly.

F-Train, programs will accept incomplete transcripts during the consideration process. If you're accepted, it will be contingent (in most cases) on earning your undergraduate degree. So, go for it. And be sure to make a small note of the situation both on your application and in your personal statement. Rock on.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey--Yes, I think you should apply, and you should apply to Michigan, because that's where I'll start in the Fall and I think it would be awesome if you came here in Fall 08. Why do I sound so eager? I remember reading your story in Open City 20 and thought it was great--it's a story that's stuck in my mind for months. (I ran the new writers in the last couple Open Citys through Pindeldyboz's website, because some of the stories in Open City I've loved, and some I was just indifferent to, and I wanted to see if the guy how posted this wrote one of the stories I loved). Beyond my own selfish reasons for wanting to work with someone whose stuff I really like, Michigan is very accepting of people who haven't gone through college the typical way. One guy who went through the MFA program here recently, Patrick O'Keeffe (his collection just won the Story prize, beating out Edwidge Danticat and Jim Harrison), didn't start his undergrad until he was 30, came here and has gone on to success. Plus they're willing to take people straight from undergrad. Also, UM has great funding (they're offering $18,000 the first year now, though the website hasn't been updated). And you wouldn't be alone here in terms of what you're writing--a friend of mine published in McSweeney's his first year in the MFA at UM, and another incoming student has a story appearing in the next print issue of P-boz.

Anonymous said...

Oh, in my shameless plug for Michigan, I forgot to mention the most important thing--the students and faculty all felt open, smart, supportive when I visited. Hopefully it'll still be that way in the fall.

Anonymous said...

Thank you! I'm impressed by your sleuthing. Michigan is certainly on my list of schools I'll be applying to--from what I've heard and read about it so far, it sounds great.

Anonymous said...

i know who you are too even though we haven't met, because i took a class with a certain gotham teacher whose initials are r.r. and i also enjoyed the "open city" story a lot.

i'm going to cornell in the fall, which beats out the funding at michigan and is closer to nyc. ;)

Anonymous said...

okay, I'll bite. What's the name of the story in Open City? And what's the name of the McSweeney's internet story?