<p>Hey I'm looking for colleges and universities with the best creative writing and english programs. I've heard that at many colleges you can major in english with an empthasis in creative writing, something like that I'm interested in too. Also I've heard many different opinions but does anyone know the quality of the creative writing and english majors for USC( southern california) and Vanderbilt? I want to be an author and I'm really just looking for the best programs out there. Any suggestions?</p>
<p>What are your stats? If they are high, perhaps look at Cornell, Johns Hopkins, UVA, Princeton. Iowa has a fabulous MFA program and a good English Dept. but I don’t know what their undergrad cw program is like (in general, though, if you’re serious about creative writing, a strong MFA program is a plus for you, since you will be able to meet, hang out with, and learn from more advanced writers.)</p>
<p>Yeah my stats are high, I just didn’t know if there was a list of ranked programs.</p>
<p>Google “best MFA programs”–Poets and Writers list a top 50–these will be excellent on the undergrad level as well. I see that Vanderbilt is listed at #18. There are also LACs that have strong creative writing programs, e.g. Kenyon, that won’t be on this list.</p>
<p>Take a look at these guidelines for undergrad creative writing programs:
[AWP-</a> Director’s Handbook](<a href=“AWP: Page Not Found”>AWP: Page Not Found)</p>
<p>It might be useful to compare programs that interest you in terms of these guidelines.</p>
<p>I think that SUNY Purchase has a great program, with portfolio required.</p>
<p>Take a look at Oberlin College. They have a Creative Writing major.<br>
I believe at Purchase you might only be able to get a BFA rather than a BA. At Oberlin, you can get a BA.</p>
<p>Knox College has a nationally-ranked creative writing program. Creative Writing is one of the most popular majors at Knox.</p>
<p>Can go to business to find inspiration.</p>
<p>If you are looking to be an author, don’t be an English major.</p>
<p>I know, sounds strange, right? I’m serious on this one. Your whole four years will be basically sapped writing creative “assignments” for nothing more than a grade and no further worth of your time. When you finally graduate, you’ll be so sick of the process that you’ll be thrilled to make a career out of flipping burgers, sad to say. Unless you want to write “literary fiction,” which most people outside of the intellectual upper crust don’t care to read (this is about 95% of the “normal” population), do something else for a major (and maybe for a living) that incorporates work in the humanities, and you can write in your spare time.</p>
<p>John Grisham studied law; that’s why he writes such gripping tales about the courts. L.J. Smith, who writes “The Vampire Diaries,” worked as a legal secretary. (OK, so both know a lot about bloodsuckers, if you know what I mean.) J.K. Rowling studied foreign languages, but she wanted to be an English major. Maybe if she had, she’d be a miserable Scrooge or more like Snape instead of the magickal Muggle mum every wannabe wordsmith wizard wishes to be. (Snape speaks German, by the way…Bruce Willis can tell you that.) Stephenie Meyer got a B.A. in English but was a full-time mom before “Twilight” made her a gazillionaire. (Her kids won’t have to worry about Financial Aid.) Hell, Kurt Vonnegut was a used-car salesman about 40 miles from where I live right now!</p>
<p>Creative writing isn’t like any other kind of subject that can be “taught,” per se, unless, for example, the student wants to write in a foreign language (usually English) that he/she doesn’t fully understand. But mechanics of grammar are just that – mechanical – and one must possess not only a talent for, and appreciation of, the myriad nuances of language, but a desire to make these words come to life. Otherwise it’s just that, words on a page, black-and-white symbols without any soul.</p>
<p>It all depends on what you’re after, and apologies if I sound biased, but this is how I’m starting to feel as a writer myself. If it’s “respect,” so to speak, literary honors and high-ranking accolades, then by all means go for the BA or BFA, MFA, Ph.D., etc. The way I’ve come to think, Ph.D. stands for “Piled High and Deep.” Not only your assignments, paperwork, research articles, etc., but the stuffy air rife with methane that goes along with the supposed prestige of “academia nuts.” I’m not suggesting anyone write juvenile Pokemon fanfic or anything, but it’s like what if they gave a war and nobody came? I’d be more than happy with a few comma splices here and there, mass-market paperbacks, and a legion of regular-folk fans, rather than a blue-ribbon thesis that I felt “compelled” to write (or forced, that is).</p>
<p>Not to brag, but one of my professors said that I should apply to Brown’s creative writing program. Another has said I could win a Pulitzer, that I should be an adjunct at Oxford, yada yada yada and all that jive talkin’ from the underbite. If only I’d give it the effort, they say, ah, well, eff’it – “all your theses are belonging to dust.” Now say “theses” with a lateral lisp, and that’s about the size of it. </p>
<p>Consider this a constructive opinion, by the way. Better to have an infinite reserve of mutual rewards than an abundance of crisp greens that grows from rich fertilizer!</p>
<p>A lot of colleges offer Creative Writing tracks to their English major. (Like Pitzer College) Or have precedent of students self-designing their own creative writing majors, (like my college: Scripps College). </p>
<p>I think USC is best known for it’s graduate screenwriting program…</p>
<p>As for Cherry I understand how no one can teach you to be a writer. Ideas come from your mind, soul, and experiences which no MFA program can teach you. However, what a writing program can teach you is how to better let your ideas out and most MFA programs let you publish a novel or poetry book by the time your done with your degree.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for your replies, I was wondering also if there are any people who actually have an MFA or Phd, (which I eventually would like to get in writing so that I can teach college english as my job while i write on the side) Did anyone have the same plan as I do, and did it turn out ok for them?</p>
<p>I have a PhD in English and teach it on the college level. I’ve posted elsewhere about how to prepare for grad school in English. The creative writing track is somewhat different but at some schools, e.g. Cornell, you can do an MFA/PhD simultaneously.</p>
<p>Cherry’s right that you don’t need to major in English to succeed as a fiction writer but he/she is wrong that it will hurt. If you are going to be writing a lot anyhow, you might as well be getting intelligent feedback from established writers, many of whom teach at universities. Most MFA programs have poets, fiction writers, and so on coming through on visits all the time, which can be very exciting and informative for young writers.</p>
<p>The difference between “academic” and “nonacademic” writing is pretty porous, and a lot of “trade” writers have a LOT of English training, though they don’t necessarily trumpet the fact. One of my friends, a Harvard BA/Yale PhD, employed as an English professor at a research university, is regularly on the NYTimes best seller list, under a pen name, as a writer of women’s historical romance. She tells me the most successful romance writers tend to have Ivy or similar academic credentials; they’re not the stereotypical high school dropouts with a flair for words.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for all the feedback. One other thing, is it possible to get a college teaching job with only a mfa in creative writing, or should i really go the extra 4-6 years to get a phd for college teaching?</p>
<p>An MFA suffices if you want to teach creative writing. However, most good schools will want to see high-quality publications in addition to the degree. In other words, it’s not the MFA that gets you the job; it’s your fiction or poetry.</p>
<p>The PhD is the normal minimal credential if you want to teach English literature at the college level.</p>
<p>Let me know if you need any assistance in getting jobs after you are done with your course. I’ll be more than glad to help you.</p>
<p>I’ve heard good things about UCSC’s program…</p>
<p>Hey, I’m here to necro this thread…</p>
<p>Concerning the OP’s question about which colleges have the “best” Creative Writing programs…quit worrying so much, friend! =) Whose “best” are you asking for? What do you consider “best”, anyway? The highest ranked school? The ones with the highest average ACT/SAT scores? The brand name colleges with winning sports teams?</p>
<p>More importantly, whose feelings do you trust more than your own?</p>
<p>I agree with what Cherry said. For one, nobody…let me reiterate…NOBODY can learn “how to get published”. It’s something of a lottery based on so many dizzying factors. No educators, no arcane system or spell, no magical series of events will suddenly bring you answers and success. No top-tier school can teach you originality, dedication, motivation, and above all, tenacity. For all their endowments, famous alums, and social prestige, schools cannot imbue you with these necessary (and rare) traits. </p>
<p>Yes. I believe that writing workshops, dedicated and well-educated professors, and supportive peers can aid you along the way. Certainly, these things can help give you self-confidence and writing practice; they can help you improve and grow through taking criticism instead of letting criticism sap your confidence; they can even help you make decisions concerning in which field you’d like to write, and which type of writing you’d prefer to create (romance, young adult, fantasy, technical, etc). But they cannot give you magic keys to the writing kingdom. Those doors are unlocked through tireless committment to your craft. Unless you’re totally clueless about nouns, verbs, and parallelism (which is unlikely if you’re interested in pursuing an English degree), it’s likely you’re already prepared for getting started as a professional author. The magic lives IN YOU, in US. No fancy professor, brand-name university, writing workshop, or circle of friends can bring that to the surface. It’s a pet that requires nourishment in order to live well and grow strong. </p>
<p>I agree completely with Cherry’s suggestion concerning majoring in something besides English. It makes so much sense. What good is a highly educated English major with nothing to write ABOUT? You’ve heard of the oldskool poet Charles Bukowski? A fantastic writer (I like him, anyway). Ask someone like Buke about the value of prestigious writing colleges. </p>
<p>Naturally, if you have a full life and aren’t depending on your English major for inspiration, go with it, for it certainly won’t “hurt”. In other words, if you aren’t lacking intellectual material or ideas for your writing, go for English if that brings you happiness and satisfaction, or if you’d like to earn some income by teaching undergrad English after grad school. My sis earned her English MA, and rapidly found a position teaching undergrad English. But please don’t convince yourself of the notion that majoring in English or “needing” Creative Writing as part of your coursework is some sort of dire necessity on the road to becoming a successful author.</p>
<p>I don’t care much for Harry Potter, yet J.K. Rowling is one of my few personal heroes. Her tenacity and dedication whilst writing and trying to sell HP is astounding. Yet cracking open Book One of Harry Potter, one can observe how simple, how UNtechnical, how earthy Rowling’s writing is, surely not the words of an author dedicated to the proposition that successful authors are manufactured in universities like golf balls and peanut butter. It’s all about knowing one’s audience–not impressing that audience with knowledge of tenses, Romantic literature, polysyllabic vocab words, and pronomial adverbs. Rowling’s stalwart committment to creating Harry Potter made all the difference, not a vast knowledge of the English language or the finest minute points of creative writing.</p>
<p>In closing, I’d like to mention one minor point that stuck in my mind during undergrad (as an English major, go figure, hehe). For all this, it IS true that knowing the rules of language greatly aids us in knowing how to bend and break them. What I mean is, if one knows not how to “play” with language, one may have a harder time snagging readers’/agents/publishers’ interest. I like using my favorite poet, Ogden Nash, as a prime example. Because Mr. Nash was well-versed in the use of language, he was able to become well-versed in how NOT to use language in order to grab readers’ attention, does that make sense at all? </p>
<p>“Mr. Ogden Nash
had an endless cache
of poems open-minded
that never quite rhyme-ded.”</p>
<p>Is what I’m trying to say in so many needless words. </p>
<p>So if you feel unsure about your language abilities; if you feel you’d benefit from learning the ins-and-outs of technical English, an English or Creative Writing degree may well aid you. But if you’re feeling like an English/CW degree is some missing piece of the “getting published” puzzle, please put those thoughts to rest and get back to clicking your keys. It isn’t. Your original thoughts, worlds, characters, conflicts, turns of phrase, gripping beginnings and breathless endings…these are your keys to the tower. Nobody, inside classrooms or out, can or will give them to you.</p>
<p>Oh, and one more thing…succinctness is very important when dealing with the publishing world. Take that lesson from someone who isn’t me, for after you read this post it’ll likely become obvious that succinctness is a method I’ve yet to learn ;)</p>
<p>Best of luck to you. We’re all in this together.</p>
<p>Rob</p>
<p>May I recommend Hamilton College? Its clear specialty is in teaching students how to write, which all students have to take courses in. They view it as an essential skill that every student should learn how to do, no matter what the major, so their English and Creative Writing programs are strong.</p>
<p>SUNY Purchase College has a good Creative Writing Program? Is that true, I know it is like a 95% Creative and Liberal Arts-focused school and it also was listed in The Advocate’s 100 Top Colleges for GLBT Students as LGBT friendly. I’m a non-traditional student, originally from back east in Connecticut and I know Purchase is unique for a public university. Right now I’m attending the New Mexico State-Dona Ana C.C. Branch in Associate of Arts and am debating whether to transfer to NMSU main campus which has an English Major/Creative Writing Minor; but overall is more geared toward agricultural sciences, engineering, education, and business and has a limited arts-focus and is rather conservative politically.</p>