Saturday, February 9, 2008

Pick Up the Phone!

Granted, I applied to graduate school in the days before people became accustomed to obtaining life-affecting guidance from strangers on internet discussion boards. But somehow, I think that if I were going through the application process today (say, for an MFA), and I had a question about a program's application guidelines (and/or financial aid application guidelines), I wouldn't rely on advice I solicited from random discussion board participants (who might or might not even deign to answer my query).

Rather, I'd follow one of these two not-so-complicated strategies: 1) I'd e-mail the relevant program directly, or 2) I'd telephone the relevant program directly. Call me crazy, but I believe in going to the source. I say as much when I see these questions posted online. But some very lazy people apparently just skip right over my advice, and issue their questions anew. So all that's left for me to say is that I'm just glad that I'm not going to be studying with (or, for that matter, trying to teach) these unmotivated, unresourceful people.

--Prunella

1 comment:

Peeves and Rants said...

I agree with you, Pru. I often receive questions from people about things that are clearly available on official websites or that would be better answered by people contacted to specific programs. Pick up the phone indeed!

--Curly