<p>Hello! I am an American Studies senior(with a minor in French) from Romania, which should automatically imply "NO college counseling whatsoever"( we don't even have a psychologist here, at the oldest and most prestigious university in Bucharest, for crying out loud!)...My all-time dream was to go to the U.S. and become a writer,as a consequence of which I'd like to do an MA in English Lit there,but lately everything seems to fall apart...My GPA seems to be just fine, professors like me(some told me that I'm a brilliant student), and I'm not looking for easy ways to succeed in life(will work hard, will love what I'll be doing)...However, my parents' total income is less than $12,000/year, so I cannot pay for graduate studies, I believe it's way too late to start an admission program for this fall, and, on top of all that, I think I blew my TOEFL( Internet Based--boy, was that a stupid decision!). I don't have the results yet, but my mind went blank at the speaking part, where I had 15 seconds to think of an answer and 40 to formulate it...I even cursed at some point, and let my tears stream down...
That being the case, do you have some advice for me? Should I just forget about everything-America, grad school- and take a year off to meditate upon my future, read at leisure and relax? If not, should I fight for my dream? And, more importantly, against whom, starting from where?
Thank you very much!</p>
<p>Look, you can achieve your dream if you can be patient and work hard. Take some time off, work at a job and save up some money to go to the US.</p>
<p>Thing is that English Lit MA programs are not always funded. I think that you’re really looking for MFA (Masters of Fine Arts) that includes creative writing. Again, not funded. Also remember that Romania’s pay scale is very different from the US so of course, everything’s going to be much more expensive in the US than in Romania.</p>
<p>If your TOEFL didn’t turn out well, then re-take it!</p>
<p>Ask your professor for advice on what can you do to help yourself to gain admissions in a US program.</p>
<p>If you cannot pay for graduate education, I’d advise against looking at M.A. and M.F.A. programs. Look at English PhD programs instead. You have a much greater chance of having your education paid for than with any sort of master’s program. Check with individual programs first to make sure that you have fulfilled the necessary prerequisites. You might also want to look at Comparative Literature programs since your native Romanian experience will be a huge advantage, provided, of course, that you’re willing to use it.</p>
<p>Next, you have to improve your TOEFL, especially given what you intend to study. Take it again. So what if you faltered the first time? Now you know what to expect. Test anxiety hurts a lot of people the first and even the second time around.</p>
<p>Last, if your real goal is to become a writer, whether of fiction or nonfiction, then more formal education is not essential. Would-be writers often discount the importance of life experience, reading, and learning how to self-edit. You could learn all this for almost nothing by reading voraciously and analyzing on your own why certain passages succeed and why others fail. You could join a writer’s group to give and receive feedback. If coming to the U.S. is part of that dream, perhaps you could find a position teaching Romanian or French or as a research assistant. In your off-time, take a (cheap) community college class in writing, just to get started. The U.S. M.F.A. programs that fund their students are extremely competitive, even for native English speakers, although if you already have a distinctive style and a command of English, you might get in. These M.F.A. programs concentrate on literary and experimental fiction and poetry as well as creative nonfiction. If you are a traditionalist, you’ll have trouble getting admitted.</p>
<p>If you still have time to repeat the TOEFL and fill out the applications, go for it. Otherwise, a year to plan and strengthen your application might work to your advantage. Good luck!</p>