GGSS 2008, VII

It’s almost August.  That means it’s almost Septemeber, which means it’s almost December, and December and January are when a lot of applications are due.  A staggering number of applications, unless I actually, you know, narrow it down to the select few I want.  I have to say, throughout this process, I’ve become really good at knowing what I don’t want, and really bad at knowing what I do want.  I am now beyond proficient in crossing things off lists, even though I always end up with more than one choice in the end.  But don’t worry, I’ll figure it out…soon, hopefully.  Soon would be good.

GGSS 2008, VI

I can sense it: your as-of-yet unquenched desire for more move-by-move updates on the Great Graduate School Search 2008.  Well, I’m quite the crowd pleaser right now, because I’ll give you exactly what you want.  Even more so, this is one of those sweeps week, unexpected-but-you-saw-it-coming-three-weeks-ago surprises, but probably without the you-saw-it-coming-three-weeks-ago part.  Either way, I’ve been trying to find what it is, that thing that I’d like to do, my profession, and, in the process, how to get there.

Today’s drastic change, for your consideration:

(Let it be clear before the list begins that yes, I would be incredibly poor and there would be little to no hope for financial support, but in the grand scheme of things, it seems silly to choose a profession based on whether or not I can get financial aid for the associated degree. Just a thought.)

Boston University: Screenwriting
Columbia University: Film
University of Southern California: Screenwriting
University of California, Los Angeles: Screenwriting

The short explanation: why not?  It’s what I’m good at.  Dialogue has always been my strong point and every story I ever try to write is just the book form I write down from the movie in my head.

This also just goes to show that I can’t decide anything, ever.

GGSS 2008, V

Quick observation: either I can go to school for two-ish years, pay for everything, and end up with an M.A. or some such, or I can go to school for five-ish years, pay for a whole lot less, and end up with a Ph.D.?  Very frustrating.  I mean, I understand why that is maybe.  If you’re getting an M.A., chances are better you’ll end up with a job that actually pays you enough, rather than a Ph.D. working as a professor and getting paid, well, less.

Not surprisingly, a new contender has stepping into the ring for the GGSS 2008–not going to grad school at all.  What a thought…

GGSS 2008, IV

For the purpose of more clearly following my madness, I’d like to follow up yesterday’s list with a new one.  Notice how much it changes in a single day…

In no order, unless you account for the subconscious:

Boston U. – Journalism
UMD College Park – Journalism or Creative Writing
University of Pittsburgh – Creative Writing (non-fiction)
UW Seattle – Creative Writing
UMass Amherst – Creative Writing
Brown University – Creative Writing
UW Madison – Journalism
Cornell University – Creative Writing

Down to eight!  Wow.

GGSS 2008, III

I don’t think I’m really progressing at all through this.  Schools are cut, only so that I can add on different ones later.  I think I’m closer to what I want now, but this seems to sadly correspond to how expensive and financially unhelpful the schools have become.

This is the list as it stands today, without rating because I haven’t really analyzed them fully yet.

In no order, except the top six are better than the bottom three, but not by much:

UC Berkeley, Documentary journalism track
UW Madison, Professional journalist track
Columbia University, Magazine journalism track
Boston University, Print journalism track (or Screenwriting)
UBC Vancouver, International journalism track
UM College Park, Public Affairs journalism track
UMass Amherst, Creative Writing
Cornell University, Creative Writing
UW Seattle, China Studies

Know that it was down to six, but I’m not good with choice.  Oh, and going to Japan through JET (the ideal choice) might still be possible.

Neat.

Did you know double-tapping n and p in the list of Amazon results will take you to the Next and Previous pages, respectively?  Because I did not, and I only discovered it by accident.  My n-key sucks, so I was just pressing it to see if it would register, and then the next ten results on Amazon popped up.  How neat.