wordscantevenexpress:
I'm a biology major and I'm going to graduate in less than a year or so. I want to study creative writing and/or literature for my Master's Degree. What do I need to do to achieve that? I'm sorry I'm bothering you with this question, but you have a lot of experience and I really admire what you do with your Tumblr page. Oh. Did I forget to mention that I live in Puerto Rico?

Well first of all, if I was you I’d make sure I really wanted to get my Masters in either of those subjects. Ask yourself: Do I have a bucket of money I want to put into this? Does it not matter to me if I delay starting my career by 3 years? Do I understand that my chances of employment/publication will not be greatly improved once I get my Masters? If the answer is yes, then I would still consider it. I once asked my writing professor Randall Kenan what he thought about grad school for creative writing and he said, “Don’t go. In my opinion, grad school is for people who can’t motivate themselves to write on their own. Go start living life, have experiences, be poor. That will give you way much more to write about.” He didn’t get his Master’s and became a professor in a time before that was important, though, so take that with a grain of salt.

I don’t know if applying for graduate programs is the same in Puerto Rico as in the States, but I’m sure the process is the same—research schools with programs that seem to suit you, apply. I doubt your biology background will matter, versus having an English/creative writing background, except that a big part of your application will almost undoubtedly be comprised of writing samples. But that’s about as much advice as I can give, since I’ve never applied to graduate school and I don’t live in Puerto Rico!