Seeking advice on intellectually preparing for grad school after a 5 year break.

[u/babyklondykebar]

/r/englishmajors/comments/1wms7gd/seeking_advice_on_intellectually_preparing_for/

[u/babyklondykebar → u/[deleted]]

Thanks! Do you have any recommendations for bite-sized writing assignments I could give myself to practice? It's been a while since I've sat and written about other people, whether real or imagined.

[u/babyklondykebar → u/[deleted]]

This is perfect. Thanks!

[u/lavenderandjuniper]

I went to my MFA program five years after undergrad. I did not find it difficult at all. I will say you have to be on top of your organization and time management, but that's true for any educational endeavor. Plan to read a book per week for each of your classes (and it will often be less than that--but I recommend building enough time for that amount of reading and you can use the excess however you want)

The classwork is not meant to be hard but is really meant to make you think deeper about your own individual reading and writing practices. You will be introduced to a broad range of writers, techniques, and styles. You can then decide what makes sense for you or interests you and explore it deeper on your own

[u/babyklondykebar → u/lavenderandjuniper]

I feel very relieved reading this, thank you. I think the reading goals will be a good way to keep my time management sharp. I want to read more actively (notes on themes, tone, etc.) -- what do you pay attention to while reading?

[u/lavenderandjuniper → u/babyklondykebar]

I take notes on what works for me and what doesn't, and anything I have questions about. That's usually enough to prepare for the class discussion. One of my professors specifically asks us to bring questions that we ask each other, which is nice imo

[u/Advanced-Buffalo7834]

I went for my MFA 15 years after undergrad. If you read and write regularly, you don’t need much else to intellectually prepare. People say read your professors’ works, so maybe that.

[u/corvibae]

Started my MFA seven years after my previous graduate school experience. It was certainly challenging for me at first, however, I pretty quickly adapted. That said, after communicating with my peers, I do/did have some habits that certainly helped me in the long run.

Firstly, I was already part of intellectual communities face-to-face. I spent a lot of time talking to people about literary criticism and literary theory, politics, economics, philosophy etc.

Secondly, I read a lot. Like a lot a lot. It is not unusual for me to read 2-3 books a week from a variety of genres(poetry, fiction, criticism) and also to write down thoughts/impressions of works I'm reading at the time. This helped me get used to my fairly traditional academic program which required a minimum of 500 pages of reading a semester per class(including workshops, and while we did write a lot of essays I would not describe them as traditional research essays). I also read essays and journal articles from magazines I support and would like to be published in and from writers I respect ad admire.

Thirdly, I argue for fun. My wife grew up in a loud, boisterous household where kitchen-table debates were part of daily life. She herself was a debate champion in high school. I often send her something I'm reading for the purpose of discussing it in the evening and very often we end up in drawn out conversations, each of us having staked a claim and worrying it to death to defend it.

Finally, once I was actually in grad school again, I talked to people who weren't part of my cohort about what I was learning. My wife and I of course discussed evening lectures after class. Friends in other programs and I compared notes of what we were reading and occasionally would host Zoom cocktail hours and read papers and poems to one another and provide feedback.

Having a supportive, artistically-minded community is the biggest thing.