unwinding-dreams
Active Member
I am currently in the process of applying to the UT-Austin Screenwriting MFA program, which is one of my top programs in the grad school slog, so I'd like to not screw this one up! I've requested 3 really strong academic references from professors, each of whom have had me in at least 2 writing-related classes (2 in screenwriting, both of which have worked on my first feature script with me, and 1 in fiction which included an honors fiction course).
I was reading the "FAQ" for University of Texas at Austin - Screenwriting and came across this wording when it came to letters of recommendation: "For the MFA programs, at least one letter should be from a faculty member and at least one letter should be from a former employer or internship sponsor (we would like to hear about your professional experience). The third letter may come from either an academic or professional source." I have no idea how I missed this in all the 500 times I perused their website. The deadline is Dec 1 and I am in PANIC MODE!!!
I have a reference I could ask from a student cinema club as "professional experience." Basically, I did film bookings with distributors for our club's screening events at a local independent, nonprofit cinema, and my mentor is a programming director who does film booking professionally. We meet weekly in-person and exchange emails almost daily; it's internship-level experience in programming even though it's not technically an "internship." The deadline to submit applications is next Friday and that is super short notice for the programming director to drop everything and write a letter over Thanksgiving weekend. I have checked all 4 of my other schools and no other school has this kind of requirement, so that recommender would only submit for one school (quick + dirty). I'm a little nervous to ask him, because it would be disrespectful to ask for something that important on such short notice, and it makes me nervous to potentially have a rushed letter over someone who's had their letter in mind for over a month now.
I know I'm stressing out too much over this because letters of recommendation are usually the 3rd or 4th thing they look at, so it's ultimately not quite as important as things like the writing sample, but it's still stressful! Is there anyone here who can assuage my anxieties or has advice?
I was reading the "FAQ" for University of Texas at Austin - Screenwriting and came across this wording when it came to letters of recommendation: "For the MFA programs, at least one letter should be from a faculty member and at least one letter should be from a former employer or internship sponsor (we would like to hear about your professional experience). The third letter may come from either an academic or professional source." I have no idea how I missed this in all the 500 times I perused their website. The deadline is Dec 1 and I am in PANIC MODE!!!
I have a reference I could ask from a student cinema club as "professional experience." Basically, I did film bookings with distributors for our club's screening events at a local independent, nonprofit cinema, and my mentor is a programming director who does film booking professionally. We meet weekly in-person and exchange emails almost daily; it's internship-level experience in programming even though it's not technically an "internship." The deadline to submit applications is next Friday and that is super short notice for the programming director to drop everything and write a letter over Thanksgiving weekend. I have checked all 4 of my other schools and no other school has this kind of requirement, so that recommender would only submit for one school (quick + dirty). I'm a little nervous to ask him, because it would be disrespectful to ask for something that important on such short notice, and it makes me nervous to potentially have a rushed letter over someone who's had their letter in mind for over a month now.
I know I'm stressing out too much over this because letters of recommendation are usually the 3rd or 4th thing they look at, so it's ultimately not quite as important as things like the writing sample, but it's still stressful! Is there anyone here who can assuage my anxieties or has advice?
