Is 28 old to be STARTING MFA? Is 29?

[pearspears]

In a three year program, if I began at 28 I'd be finishing at 30 (28/29, 29/30, 30/31) and age 32 if beginning at 29. Now, I know top-tier programs tend to state their AVERAGE age is late twenties, maybe 30. But what are BEGINNING ages? Because starting school at age 29 and being surrounded by 23 year olds is very different than starting school surrounded by 29 year olds.

 

It may sound like splitting hairs, but there is sooo much development going on in the 20s that 5 or 6 years really does make a really big difference. Especially when coming from a place where you are only one year removed from your undergraduate assignments (say 23 or 24) and 4 or 5 years of grinding it out at shitty entry level jobs and internships and trying to continue making art when you come home at night tired. THOSE I think are the most formative years of art making, even more than graduate school, because I think those are the years most people quit making art.

 

But, I don't want this to sound like a screed against those going straight through. Some people really do just have a vision early on and follow that trajectory- in creative writing for whatever reason this seems much more prevalent. In the 2-D fine arts I've seen it take a bit longer to develop a personal language.

 

Now the other unspoken (but perhaps obvious) reason is that for a young woman there are personal obligations that I would be perhaps ignoring/ putting on hold to obtain an MFA, perhaps postponing them to the point where they may make the obtainment of them more difficult. Is it very difficult to date and perhaps marry in graduate school? Does the less-structured environment help or hinder dating? I know people that have married and even had children in graduate school (I would not wish that kind of stress on anyone...) but does it actually happen a lot or was I just noticing it a lot in my particular group of friends?

 

If it's not obvious I'm kind or religious and may be attending a Catholic university, or a Christian one. I'm not sure if this would change the dynamics.

[pearspears]

no replies? seriously? I can't be the only one applying at this age....

 

[kafralal]

I'm older than that...dating is not a consideration (I'm married and have a grown family). All the grad students I've talked to are smart and thoughful—I'm not concerned about age in terms of work or discourse. I learn a lot from those younger than me and I hope it works the same the other way around. Diverse points of view challenge our own embedded ones. That said, if you feel at odds with, or have difficulting making connections with people just a few years younger than yourself, grad school may be a problem for you at this time. You might not be ready...it might be a case of too close, too soon. Maybe you should visit the programs you are interested in and talk to some students.

 

Also, it can take a day or two to get replies here, so be patient.

[Erpnope]

There are ten people in my program, with the youngest being 22 and the oldest being 34, most people are in the late twenties range. 

 

also Notre Dame has great funding and is a christian university, i am not sure which denomination

Edited November 9, 2013 by Erpnope

[pearspears]

Thank you for the thoughtful replies.

 

I am not bothered by being with younger graduate students, I would just hope there would be a "graduate school" feel, not undergrad 2.0. At my old undergrad it was mostly late twenties early thirties but I'm not sure if that's typical.

[pearspears]

Also Notre Dame being Christian is good but not necessary. I come from a pretty conservative area though, so it is a factor.

[losemygrip]

To answer your question:

 

No.  It is not.  Do not give it a second thought.

[pearspears]

Thanks for your replies. I think I may even wait a year until 29 because I want to do the JETT Programme now, haha.