If you were in the driver’s seat…
Just for discussion’s sake – err, stress relief? – here is something I’ve been thinking about for a while: how could this whole MFA application process be a lot easier, in a perfect world?
After reading over this week’s MFA Blog mailbag and P&W Speakeasy MFA forum, I think fellow bloggers are feeling some of the same frustrations I have/had about the MFA application process. Some of it’s a matter of tone – the way schools present themselves on the web, or the way they reply to you when you communicate with them. Or perhaps HOW they reply to you (just you wait, those who have not yet received a rejection envelope/postcard/email!) Other times, it’s a matter of information: what can you figure out from the website? what is a given? what can’t you know until it’s too late? when is too late?
I wonder if we can lay out some suggestions for improvement and perhaps even some praises from our application experience that would give schools some groundwork for going forward, as they’re bound to get even more applicants next year and the year after that…I mean, we might as well say what works and doesn’t work, right? And who knows, you may be applying again next year, too!
(side note: Sorry, my sentence structure is waining at this point. Applications have made my brain feel like a deep fried Twinkie.)
More for thought:
What has been the most frustrating thing/biggest monkey wrench about applying to MFA programs?
If you could eliminate one MFA application requirement, what would it be?
What is something a school presented in their application process that was the most helpful?
