Super Productive Woman!

Okay, I've done it. I have finalized my MFA application list. For real.

1. University of Wisconsin at Madison
2. University of New Mexico
3. University of Idaho (only 4 hours away from my love!)
4. Hollins College
5. Arizona State University
6. Rosemont College
7. Mills College

See? I got it down to 7 schools and it'll only cost me, oh, $376 to apply to them all. Piece of cake, right??

Yeah.

On a cheerier note, I finished my Statement of Purpose (SOP) for Mills College. Mills and UW's application deadline is December 15th so for obvious reasons I'm doing them first. Sadly, my SOP for Mills is way better than the one for UW. I'll have to look at the UW SOP again and try and determine why it is so lackluster. It may have something to do with the fact that Mills allows up to 5 PAGES while UW is 500 words. Which makes sense considering how many applications UW receives. But in any case, it feels good to have completed a second SOP. Only 5 left to go!

I even got all fancy and organized by creating a MFA filing system of sorts. They're just regular file folders, one for each program. In each folder I've included an instruction sheet or checklist for the paper applications. For the online applications I'm just going to print the confirmation emails I receive when I submit them. I slapped a page on the front folder specifying due dates and app fees for each program and inside each folder I attached an index card so I can document the dates I submit materials -- a double check system to make sure I didn't forget anything. If that sounds hyper organized, that's because it is. I usually am not so meticulous but it's the only way to alleviate a lot of the anxiety I feel about forgetting something or keeping all the programs straight.

OY!

Oooo, I also e-mailed a UNM student asking if she would be willing to answer some questions and got a positive response. I'm hoping she'll let me do an interview format for the blog here -- since it seems so difficult to get insider information on MFA programs, it would be great to have some of that info made public so other potentials can see it. We'll see how it goes!