i would like to add an application form where an anonymous user fills out info such as:
name:
age:
email:
address:
phone:
essay question 1:
essay question 2:
essay question 3:

the best way would be for the form to get stored in a database such as an .mdb. worst case scenario, the form would just be emailed with all the info to a designated email address.

any ideas?

If you use a program such as liase then this will allow you to create a custom form which will hold all of this information. Unfortunatly i think it just sends it to you and doesn't keep it in any database but i may be mistaken.

Otherwise you may want to look at other modules that you can then convert for your own needs.