Saturday, March 15, 2008

ReApplying Next Year? In the Meantime...

Friend of the Blog Anna writes in with a great idea for those applicants who will be reapplying. Thanks Anna!


Hi Tom,

Thanks a lot. Here's my proposal in a nutshell:

After opening my eighth rejection letter (out of 12) for MFA programs in fiction this year, I begin to realize I may not be attending graduate school next year as I had hoped and planned. What to do instead? Keep writing, of course. Reading, writing, and revising is both (a) the only way to become a better writer, and perhaps in the future a more successful MFA applicant, and (b) what the writing life is actually about.

It would help me a whole lot to have company in this learning process. I did a studio art program as an undergrad and it's the collaboration, moral support, and intellectual challenge of belonging to a small group of dedicated artists that I miss the most--not the time to work, not the free lunches. So I'm thinking about starting an online "Peer Review" group to enable folks who are applying to MFA programs, reapplying, or just thinking about improving their work to: (1) get comments on drafts, (2) post reading notes on a comprehensive reading list (for those of us who want to fill in some gaps), and (3) help each other keep track of the thousands of journals we're supposed to be submitting to.

Anyone else feel like this might be useful and/or inspiring? Email me at annajacobs (at) runbox (dot) com. Comments and suggestions welcome.

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Sorry to have been so long-winded the first time around. And thank you again for all the work you do with this blog.

Best regards,
Anna

1 comment:

olga said...

Tom,

I'm reapplying to and MFA in screenwriting (got rejected last year from Columbia and NYU).

Do you know anyone (in New York would be great) that could help me with my application?: check my personal statement, my writing sample and creative portfolio?

I know there are people who that (for a fee) for the MBAs.

Thanks!