Grad School Rejections vs. Other Rejections

“1. University of Iowa vs. My rejection for entry into the Jean Jacket Club in the 3rd grade:

“The jean jacket thing was worse. Sure, I would have loved to have attended U of I, are you kidding? But their rejection rate for MFA applicants is traditionally a little over 98%, while the two most popular girls in grade school let all of the girls with jean jackets into the club except me.”

Chelsea Biondolillo compares seven of her MFA program rejections to other rejections in history. Enjoy.

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Isaac Fitzgerald has been a firefighter, worked on a boat, and was once given a sword by a king, thereby accomplishing three out of five of his childhood goals. Formerly of The Rumpus and McSweeney’s and most recently the founding editor of BuzzFeed Books, Isaac is now the co-host of BuzzFeed News’ Twitter Morning Show, #AMtoDM. He also appears frequently on The Today Show to talk books, and is co-author of Pen & Ink: Tattoos and the Stories Behind Them and Knives & Ink: Chefs and the Stories Behind Their Tattoos (with Recipes) (winner of an IACP award), and the author of a YA novel and picture book forthcoming from Bloomsbury. He uses Twitter.

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