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flatiron10

Mar 1, 2006, 8:39 PM

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Age of MFA students	Can't Post

Not to pry, but I'm curious. How old are people that are getting accepted into these programs? Tom Kealey's book says the average age of a MFA student is 28 (I think low-res is substantially older). I just wonder about the range of age in programs.

(This post was edited by motet on Sep 30, 2007, 11:00 PM)

augustmaria

Mar 1, 2006, 9:02 PM

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Re: [jennatelesca] Age of MFA students?	Can't Post

I'm twenty-one. Baby of the family.

HopperFu

Mar 1, 2006, 9:06 PM

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Re: [jennatelesca] Age of MFA students?	Can't Post

I'm 32. I think that if I had gone to an MFA program earlier, I would not have gotten much out of it. And to be honest, I don't think I could have gotten in anywhere.

sayra

Mar 1, 2006, 9:13 PM

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Re: [augustmaria] Age of MFA students?	Can't Post

twenty one here as well

sanssoleil
Chris

Mar 1, 2006, 9:17 PM

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Re: [jennatelesca] Age of MFA students?	Can't Post

I'm 25. Glad I didn't apply to graduate school five years ago, right out of undergrad--I would have ended up studying film theory. I would have been miserable, I'm sure of it.

franz

Mar 1, 2006, 10:06 PM

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Re: [sayra] Age of MFA students?	Can't Post

I'm 26-- I feel like I've waited just the right amount of time between undergrad and grad

Franz Knupfer, author of short stories and novels

Aubrie

Mar 1, 2006, 10:08 PM

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Re: [franz] Age of MFA students?	Can't Post

26 here as well.

darredet
Darren A. Deth

Mar 1, 2006, 10:15 PM

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Re: [Aubrie] Age of MFA students?	Can't Post

Why do I feel like I should have a cane and a hunched back? 38.

Darren

gussy

Mar 1, 2006, 10:30 PM

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Re: [darredet] Age of MFA students?	Can't Post

Thanks, Darren. This is going to sound very selfish, but learning that you're 38 makes my upcoming 33 (I'll turn 33 --sigh-- by mid-April) look sort of OK. Man, we should say that we have the best of the two worlds, that is, we're experienced people, but still with the strength of youngish healthy males (yeah, the latter could be "truer" but what the hell... :))

ciaosamin

Mar 1, 2006, 10:40 PM

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Re: [gussy] Age of MFA students?	Can't Post

i'm also 26. and i feel like this is the perfect time for me to go back to school. i'm finally ready.

now, if i'd only get an acceptance letter from somewhere....

ElRi

Mar 1, 2006, 10:43 PM

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Re: [darredet] Age of MFA students?	Can't Post

Hang in there Darren. I"m 39.

knjay
Nick Kocz

Mar 1, 2006, 10:46 PM

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Re: [darredet] Age of MFA students?	Can't Post

Darren-- I'm 41. If you're hobbling around with a crooked cane, I guess that means I'll be dragging myself into class with a dented steel walker. Or perhaps I need to get one of those sporty motorized wheelchairs.

sibyline

Mar 1, 2006, 11:19 PM

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Re: [knjay] Age of MFA students?	Can't Post

i'm happily 30. i took virginia woolf's advice to heart.

bighark

Mar 1, 2006, 11:22 PM

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Re: [sibyline] Age of MFA students?	Can't Post

I'm 30.

lavashlavash

Mar 1, 2006, 11:26 PM

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Re: [bighark] Age of MFA students?	Can't Post

24. Worked at some interesting places, met some interesting people.

sibyline

Mar 1, 2006, 11:27 PM

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Re: [bighark] Age of MFA students?	Can't Post

In Reply To

I'm 30.

and much more concise than me. i feel like such a rambly rambly rambler sometimes.... :)

gussy

Mar 1, 2006, 11:33 PM

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Re: [sibyline] Age of MFA students?	Can't Post

What is V. W.'s advice? (Shame on me!)

ciaosamin

Mar 1, 2006, 11:37 PM

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Re: [lavashlavash] Age of MFA students?	Can't Post

do tell, lavashlavash. give us a little peek into your interesting experiences to help us pass the time. please?

sibyline

Mar 1, 2006, 11:44 PM

Post #19 of 172 (11980 views)
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Re: [gussy] Age of MFA students?	Can't Post

In Reply To

What is V. W.'s advice? (Shame on me!)

I don't remember the exact quote, but Woolf did not publish her first novel until she was 33, and had said that people shouldn't publish until they're at least 30.

orangegirl

Mar 1, 2006, 11:52 PM

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Re: [jennatelesca] Age of MFA students?	Can't Post

i'm 28, unsure how i feel about being perfectly "average," and a refugee from the legal life. (umm, meaning lawyerdom, not on the lam from the law... yet.) i had a professor once who said that catherine mackinnon had been in graduate school for nine years (i have no idea if this is true or not) and he for eleven-- i (a) am apparently aiming for right between the two and (b) use that little tidbit to reassure myself all the time.

augustmaria

Mar 1, 2006, 11:57 PM

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Re: [sayra] Age of MFA students?	Can't Post

Yay for the young ones!

I also look noticeably younger than twenty-one--more like seventeen/eighteen unless I make an effort to age myself. I'm vaguely worried about teaching because of this. I'm also 5'2", which doesn't help.

kcole7
Kristin

Mar 2, 2006, 12:34 AM

Post #22 of 172 (11943 views)
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Re: Age of MFA students?	Can't Post

In Reply To

I also look noticeably younger than twenty-one--more like seventeen/eighteen unless I make an effort to age myself. I'm vaguely worried about teaching because of this. I'm also 5'2", which doesn't help.

I'm 25, married with one child. I started college at 22, so I'm actually starting grad school right out of college.

I have the same problem, sayra. If I don't wear makeup, I look 15-16, although on one occasion, I was offered the kid's menu at a restaurant. With makeup, I look anywhere from 19-25. I'm also 5'4". To avoid any potential issues when teaching, I plan to dress professionally (business casual) and command their respect without being bitchy. Easier said than done, I know. If you assume an air of authority, then no one will question you after a few days. Just in case, though, I plan to be armed with makeup and tall shoes.

k.c.

gussy

Mar 2, 2006, 1:26 AM

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Re: [kcole7] Age of MFA students?	Can't Post

FWIW, a couple of classmates of mine at the PhD program are around 24 but look 17 (seriously), and everything got taken care of when they dressed up rather formally, wore some make-up, and, as you say, assumed "an air of authority" which just meant being assertive when speaking, and not smiling that much. As you say, that is not tantamount to being bitchy, but it commands respect. And, believe me, if these friends of mine did it with these little savages we have here under the guise of college students, you will make it too.

brooklynpoet

Mar 2, 2006, 1:55 AM

Post #24 of 172 (11918 views)
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Re: [gussy] Age of MFA students?	Can't Post

I turned 37 on February 8th. I'm not hobbling yet. Actually, I'm just thankful I'm still fertile. Presumably--I don't know for a fact.

Anybody know any cute, intellectually minded, financially secure, witty, literate 30- or 40-something single men interested in producing creatively gifted progeny with their female equivalent? (And who wouldn't mind that she's about to move to Gainesville or somewhere equally obscure, of course.)

Oh, and I get carded occasionally. On one memorable occasion, for cigarettes. And the clerk was serious. How's that for maintaining a youthful appearance?

(I went to grad school the first time at 21. The students in their mid-thirties spent copious amounts of time grumbling bitterly about feeling decrepit in comparison to the whippersnappers. I'm gonna try not to do that. Later.)

--brooklynpoet, who had already revealed she was female, and who is now publically proclaiming that she's aged, straight, and getting desperate

gussy

Mar 2, 2006, 2:37 AM

Post #25 of 172 (11907 views)
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Re: [brooklynpoet] Age of MFA students?	Can't Post

"Anybody know any cute, intellectually minded, financially secure, witty, literate 30- or 40-something single men interested in producing creatively gifted progeny with their female equivalent?"

[With International Man of Mystery tone] That's me, baby. Behave !

I'm sorry; as part of the Comprehensive-Therapy-For-MFA-Sufferers -- I mean, applicants -- I just watched Austin Powers. And well, it's kind of catchy. (Or I should say "groovy"). Smashing, baby !!

(A more pathetic note -- yes, more pathetic than the above is possible: I used to hate Austin Powers. What is going on? What has this application process done to me????)

(Third, and last, note: of course, the "financially secure" part is certainly not true. And after watching Austin Powers, you probably think the "intellectually minded" and "witty" parts dropped, too :)

OK, I'm out of the closet: I like Nabokov and Austin Powers !! (And Liz Hurley, too, I should add, if you allow me a touch of depraved, drooling lewdness)

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