If I learned anything from high school it was to always think about your future and start early. This time, when I go for my Master's, I will be more than prepared because I am not only finding a school for me but my boyfriend as well.

We want to get married after we graduate from our first four years of college, but that means finding a university Master's program that excels in both creative writing and economics is important.

I started looking at MFA programs my senior year of high school. I re-evaluated these choices after thorough research I did in my second year. Through reading and communicating with those already in the MFA program I have become better informed about Master's programs.

Originally, I was interested in low residency colleges with good programs because I wanted to work right after graduating. A low-residency program allows me to live where I like and then designated days out of the year I travel to my location of study and attend classes. You get your degree from home while working with some talented writers.

Then I discovered the full-residency MFA programs. In my field, I have the opportunity to have my Master's paid for and earn money while I do it. The trick is that I just have to be good enough to be accepted into these programs, some programs only admit four applicants a year.

But I do not settle, so I naturally was attracted to the schools that I thought could most further my education with their program and faculty. However, now I needed to make one college, or area, work for two completely different majors. Before when I was planning on doing a low-residency program I was not worried where Dakota, my significant other, ended up for graduate school.

He does not have the chance to have his graduate degree paid for but his major has more of a promise for income afterward.

So, I have made a list that continues to grow, and I am forever grateful that I started now. Every university has its own application fee, personal statement and various items for you to complete to apply. And they are all due at the same time.

This is much different from picking a school for my Bachelor’s degree. I applied to maybe five schools and some of the personal statements were interchangeable. Now, I plan to triple the number of schools I apply to and I am reaching for the stars.

I am a little in over my head, but at least I started now so I could give myself the time to drown.