it begins

I got my scores from the GRE in the mail yesterday.  I had viewed them online, but seeing them on paper made it real.  I have to apply to grad school this year. 

When you take the GRE, they let you pick out 4 schools to send your scores to for free.  I was prepared for most of the test except this part.  I hadn`t thought at all about what schools to apply to.  I was putting that off until after the test.  I also wasn`t prepared to hear that it costs $23 to send a score to a school after the test is over. 

I just picked four schools at random.  Either schools that I heard amazing things about or schools that I knew had good financial aid programs.  One of those schools was the University of Iowa.  I am obsessed with the University of Iowa.  So many writers that I respect have attended the Iowa Writers` Workshop.  It would be the dream of all my dreams to go to school there. 

I finally looked at the website for the Iowa Writers` Workshop today.  And now I am scared.  I literally shook a little as I read the admission requirements and browsed the bios of the faculty.  What the hell chance do I have to get into this program? 

I`m going to try anyways.  The application deadline for Fall 2012 is January 3, 2012. The application fee is only $60, which I`ve come to learn is pretty decent for a graduate school.  I have almost a year to get my writing together. I think I can do it.  Even if I don`t get in, I am determined to show those highly-accomplished professors my best work to date. 

I don`t know if I can handle looking at more admissions pages today.  I am so much more afraid of this than anything else.  Ever.  Except maybe caterpillars and the very tip top of mountains.