It’s time for me to start thinking about grad school applications again, since I still have a glimmer of hope that hasn’t been crushed yet. (It’s amazing how much mileage my morale got out of making it onto SVA’s waiting list this year.) Trying to get my act together, I’ve been sending away for course catalogs of new possibilities, and calling places to whom I’ve applied before to find out what I need to resubmit.
Now, if you’ve been following these adventures for a while (a sure indication that you’re a relative, have a high tolerance for boredom, or both), you know that I moped a lot when I didn’t get in last time, so it’s taken some pluck to give them a call again and set things in motion once more. I wanted to make sure they still had my transcripts and stuff on file, and whether anything I previously submitted would still count toward a new application. The very helpful lady on the phone pulled my file and said it was all in order, but I was free to resubmit anything I’d like to update. While she was checking through the recommendations, though, she mentioned that there were only two of the manadatory three. It seems that my boss from my old job never sent in her recommendation letter, which means my application never got a fair shot. Good grief.
OK, maybe the letter just got lost in the mail, but still…
That pisses me off, but at least it lets me believe that it’s less my fault and more someone else’s, and so I feel a little more confident about applying again. And I’m also reapplying to SVA, since I got as far as I did last time, and I’m looking at some programs in England and the Netherlands that just teach typeface design, because I need to embrace my true geekitude once and for all.
Going to conferences like TypeCon or the AIGA conference are always good for pulling me out of the day-to-day doldrums and reminding me just how passionate I am about all this stuff. Aside from the more pragmatic benefits of grad school (the pedigree will help my teaching career, and it’ll give me access to bigger jobs and better connections, blah blah blah), I get giddy thinking about grad school as a way to totally immerse myself in design stuff for an extended period of time, and worry about my own goals and parameters and interests instead of whether a client likes blue or feels like taking a chance on something.
By the way, if I get into a program this time, holler if you have an extra few tens of thousands of dollars lying around that you don’t need.
the geekitude of all design all the time is a bit overwhelming, but I’d forgotten what it feels like to be excited and surprised by new things on a daily basis (and be inspired by classmates). Maybe I didn’t even forget the feeling: maybe it’s just never happened before? good luck. be plucky.
Come to Reading – it’s right close to where I live and near London too! Lubin.