<p>I am a transfer student who has been accepted as an English major to Berkeley, UCLA, and UCI. I would really like to focus more on creative writing and probably minor in film. All three have their advantages and disadvantages. Logically, UCI seems the best choice for creative writing, however I live only 15 minutes away and would really like get away and get the college experience and there's not much prestige and very little excitement. Berkeley is the number one public school and has a great English program and UCLA is not far behind. Can anyone enlighten me on any of these schools creative writing and/or English programs?</p>
<p>I’m exactly in your position, except I haven’t applied yet. Those are the three schools that I am looking at for English (particularly creative writing), and I plan to minor in film as well. I understand why you would consider UCI, since it has one of the top creative writing programs in the country (or so I’ve heard), however it seems as if you want to work as a writer of some sort in the movie industry. That’s just what I am assuming as you are majoring in film. If this is so, I’d definitely go to UCLA. You’ll be right in the heart of the movie industry and you’ll meet some great people to network with. That’s just my two cents though, good luck with your search!</p>
<p>I’m having the same problem, however it’s mostly between UCLA and Cal for me. I’ve visited both schools, and i enjoyed UCLA much, much more than Cal. Even though Cal has the better degree, i’m probably gonna go with UCLA, because i’d rather have a better time getting my degree than be unhappy at Cal. Plus, it’s not like UCLA is a bad school… it’s the #4 ranked public school, it’s in friggin’ Westwood, and it has Bruin Basketball. There’s not a whole lot more to ask for. I say go with UCLA, and hit me up when you get there :)</p>
<p>I vote UCI, because the quality of the graduate students who may be teaching your creative writing classes will be amazing. I would have killed to take a class taught by Michael Chabon. But then again I don’t live 15 minutes away from UCI so it’s less repellent to me.</p>
<p>I’m going to sound like a hater, but no one can teach you how to write or do art, they can teach you the skills to write and do art, but at the end of the day what matters is what you have to say. From my experience 21 year olds very rarely have anything worth saying, including myself. Heck even 30 year olds have anything worth saying.</p>
<p>I personally advocate you to get an education, and understanding the masters before you can start “writing creatively” is much more important(in my opinion) than being concerned with what I presume is a creative writing major.</p>
<p>sorry, dooder… i liek you, and everything, it’s just that THAT was some pretty closed-minded and historically incorrect **** to say.
seriously, though… you’ve got to be past your late 30s to say anything valid / relevant / meaningful / entertaining / original / empathetic / articulate / expressive / as you put it, “worth saying.”</p>
<p>I disagree with that statement entirely. If you have ever read some anthologies of young writers, you’d be surprised by the amount and quality that exists. An example is Zadie Smith, who published a several-award winning novel in her 20s called White Teeth, and now lectures at Columbia University’s MFA program. That novel was even placed in TIME’s 100 Best English Language Novels of all Time at the time of publication, not that I’m saying that TIME is the only yardstick to go by, just a pretty good one. She even acknowledges in her introduction of Best American Nonrequired Reading 2003 that her notion that you have to be old to write a convincing anything that’s “worth reading,” was destroyed when she looked through the anthology. Interesting, coming from such a young writer herself.</p>
<p>The time that passes by with age can wise up people, but it doesn’t mean that age should be the just ruler for when people can start “writing stuff worth saying.” Some people just get it earlier, some take years to mature. It’s all dependent on the person itself, so it’s a rash generalization to discount people due to their age.</p>
<p>That said, a Creative Writing major is interesting, but it may be more relevant to pursue it as a minor, or as a focus underneath another major. Minors are usually much more condensed/focused than majors, so you may want to check the coursework before deciding on finally pursuing a Creative Writing major at any of the UCs.</p>
<p>I actually agree that most writers haven’t reached their creative potential until the age of 30, 35 or 40. while yes, a genius is going to be producing great work as a seventeen-year-old, what they write then will pale in comparison to what they do later in life. however, I think there are a FEW authors out there, perhaps zadie smith is an example, who reach their potential very early and can produce brilliant work at a very young age. they are in the vast minority though, I’d say 1 in 100 writers operates this way. if I were you, I’d go to UCLA or UC Berkeley, whichever you like better (they’re both great schools, so maybe go to the one you think will offer a more culturally stimulating environment), learn a lot about the world, and go to a great school like irvine for your mfa. because if you end up not being a writer, and going into publishing, or teaching, or something else instead, you’ll want that degree from ucb or ucla, not uc irvine. and you can learn to write anywhere, if you’re really committed to practicing your craft.</p>
<p>John Keats wrote some of the greatest poetry in the English language when he was around 21-23. But then again he was a genius, and died at 25. I can’t even begin to imagine what he would have accomplished had he lived to write another 20 years.</p>
<p>I had a published writer with an MFA from NYU visit my fiction writing class the other night. He talked to us about writing, MFA programs, and read us some of his work. </p>
<p>I talked to him abit, and he advised me to wait a few years after undergrad before applying to MFA programs because from his observations, the worst writers in his workshops were always the students who entered the MFA program right after undergrad.</p>
<p>I’m guessing this is due to a lack of diversified life experiences. I mean college life can be pretty pampered and shallow.</p>
<p>Loved reading the comments on this thread!
Conman88, where did you choose?</p>
<p>I chose UCLA. I’m trying to decide between the Basic English major or the major with Creative Writing concentration. Subtle differences in course selection, but I wonder if it even matters in the long run…</p>