The Experience Factor

In last week's post, which can be found here, I missed one point in my "The case for:" section. Namely, it's a good thing that I've been out of college for four years before applying to an MFA in Creative Writing. But why? Why wouldn't I want to get cracking at that next Great American Novel™ as soon as possible? Why in the world would I, anyone, want to waste their time not doing the single most thing they love?

Here's the problem. When I graduated, my writing wasn't very good. Which is an obvious point. No one's writing ever is good the first time around. And that's the reason why you apply to grad school in the first place -- to grow, to write, to learn. But the thing is, I managed to do all those things in my time out of school. I improved. Probably not with the same intensity or rigor that only school can provide, but I learned a whole lot of other stuff in the meantime. Stuff like working an 8-5 job I hated. Working an 8-5 job I enjoyed. Traveling to Prague. Making new friends. Going to writing conferences. Joining writing groups. Traveling to Hong Kong. I could go on. My point is, there's a bit of wisdom and value in being outside of the sheltered academic world. I can say without hesitation that I was able to do a lot of things I couldn't do in school.

Simply put, I wasn't ready at 22 -- both in writing ability and maturity. Yet, what's right for me isn't right for everyone. I understand that. Some people are ready the moment they get out of undergrad. Some people need ten years. Others fifteen. There's no magic number. And I'm not even sure that four is the magic number for me. Maybe I should have applied last year. Maybe I need to mature and develop as a writer for a couple more years. I don't know. All I know is that it feels right, and at the end of the day, it's really all we can ever go by.

In the beginning...

About a year ago, after getting my first story published, I began to think that maybe, just maybe, I could live the dream. Get into a top-notch creative writing program and get paid -- paid! -- to do nothing but write (and maybe teach) for two full years. So I went out and bought a copy of Tom Kealey's excellent MFA handbook and started to save money in the hopes of making my dream a reality.

Now it's almost October and applications are due in three months. Where do I stand? What have I done (or haven't done) that would convince a faculty to take me? What have I done (or haven't done) that would convince a faculty to throw my application into a garbage can and light that garbage can on fire?

The case for:

• I have a degree. So far so good. That degree happens to be a BS in Genetics from Purdue University, 2004. While that may sound impressive, it's actually quite horrible -- see the "The case against:" section down below.
  
  
• I currently have a job that I'm quite good at in the very relevant area of editing, and I even have the word "Senior" in my title.
  
  
• I've had two short stories published.
  
  
• My Verbal GRE score isn't half bad (650).

The case against:

• My GPA, weighing in at an awful 2.46. No, I'm not making that up. This, besides my manuscript of course, will be the thing that sinks me. To all you undergrads looking towards grad school: I can't stress how important it is to finish with a decent GPA. While having a sub-3.0 GPA won't immediately sink your chances for an MFA (an MFA in Creative Writing being one of the few degrees out there that don't always require a GPA minimum) it will be a barrier to you for a number of schools. Why? A GPA minimum is one that the Graduate School (not to be confused with the program) will often require. There are the occasions where the Creative Writing program has enough autonomy where they can take whomever they want, but as with a lot of places, you have to get accepted into the Graduate School first -- thus the GPA minimum.
  
  
• I lack a "relevant" degree. This is more important to some schools than others, but having a non-English degree ranges from very mildly important to not important at all. This is kind of a throwaway point.
  
  
• My referees are not former professors or teachers. Two of them are supervisors and one is a writing group chum. I don't know if this is a valid "case against," as I've been out of school for about four years, but it illustrates how important it is to kiss ass while in school and to keep in contact with past teachers.
  

So there we have it. To be honest, my GPA blemish scares me to death more than anything else. In compiling my list of schools, I've had to cross off at least a half dozen schools on that basis alone. I've also since emailed a handful others asking if the GPA requirements would immediately disqualify me from contention. Needless to say, it's been a huge source of stress for me of late, and I can't emphasize enough how important it is to get good grades in school. Yeesh. I sound like my mom.

Obviously all of the above is moot in relation to my writing. But I can't account for my manuscript, which no one can tell you is any good until you actually do the deed and submit your work. And, of course, it's always too late when you find out that your work isn't good enough, but that's the nature of the beast, isn't it?