Brilliant bohemian in a unique situation

College Search & Selection
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<p>Hi there all! (2nd time I've tried to post this)</p>

<p>I would GREATLY appreciate any ideas anyone has about elite or interesting two year programs nowhere can I find a two year program that fits my unique personality and perspective on life. Here is my situation and a little bit about me if you would be so kind to read futher. </p>

<p>I am a 25 year old female who is planning on eventually getting her masters degree and teaching creative writing at the college level. I am a very devoted and brilliant student who is a creative writing major; I have a unique gift of being able to write beautifully and brilliantly about a range of subjects, like Chekov and David Foster Wallace, who I just adore reading! I am certain that my admissions essay, grades not withstanding, could get me into anywhere, even a place like Deep Springs. I am the type of girl who will write a twenty page masters thesis when asked to do a four page assignment in community college (which I actually did one time.) The allure of the college life, and the life of the mind, has always faccinated me. I grew up very sheltered, almost a homeschooled type, playing in the woods, and with dolls tea parties, and 1940s movies, with literally about 25,000 books in my home and was only permitted to watch pbs as a kid  . I am INTENSELY DEVOTED to learning, almost to an insane level, and truth be told this obsessiveness has caused my grades to falter because I don't have enough time to complete assigments: lots of D and fs, lots of As. I'm getting better. </p>

<p>But anyway, this life of the mind feeds me spiritually in no small way. I have the dream, and have had for many years, of going away to an elite university where I am known by my professors, challenged and provoked, confronted in a very familial way by my professors to become bigger. I would prefer a college atmousphere that is beautiful, and carries with it the ancient beauty of archecture and pastoralism that inherent to the liberal arts tradition. </p>

<p>But here is the catch: After high school, and recieving a 3.0 and being recruited by Brown and Stanford for Cross country and Track, I had a severe mental breakdown in my twenties because of an anxiety disorder and really faltered in community college. I had wanted to go to an elite university so bad, it was my dream. But instead I've got about 2 years of college, with a 2.3 grade point average. I did enjoy community college, because I made it my own experience. I soley stayed in the philosophy and english departments, totally throwing myself into the experience, taking the same professors over and over, and writing insanely overdone reports that often exceeded twenty pages. I have about ten professors who have written me admissions essays which basically BEG the universities to take me, and using the word briliant over and over. </p>

<p>But anyway, enough bragging eh?  I haven't been to college in about four years, because of severe mental dibilitation. I couldn't even get out of bed for two years. But now I want to start my life. I am very devoted toward pursuing my dream once again of getting into an elite bachelariate program. But in order to do this, I am going to have to go to a lower division school, and recieve top notch grades for two years. I know I can do this. But I also know myself, and I know that I would do best in a very sheltered, personal, kind, residential, and place devoted to the life of the mind. </p>

<p>I need to be nurtured, because I am not that strong. And yet I can be strong if I have the support, because I have been before.
I would also like to be in a fairly liberal environment, because I am sort of a hippy dippy kind of gal, not just a stodgy pbs viewers. I lived in a gypsy carvan for a year that I built myself, and was sort of living off the grid for awhile. (I love beat poetry, and would love to be a poet, and write a volume.) I love the bohemian life. </p>

<p>So anyway, I have searched and searched for a nurturing program that would give me the experience I desire. I checked out Cottey College, an all womens 2 year school, but I'm not sure how they are with transfers and I suspected that I would be too old for the average age there. (19). I have also searched out private liberal arts 2 year colleges that are like community colleges, except without the whole "technical feel" and feeling like a number, and so impersonal and beauracratic. (I think that a lot of young people get lost in the whole "middle of the road experience" of middling state colleges and community colleges, thus the interest in the private experience.) A good question, (one out of many, lol) I like to ask any of you, is if any of you know of any intensely personal and "special" two year programs that focus on the liberal arts, that are residential, secluded within their own domains, but perhaps part of larger universities. Anything out of the ordinary, I am into the "cool colleges" experience, but I need this kind of support for the next two years until I can follow my dream. </p>

<p>As I said before, I am VERY bohemian, and a college like Evergreen State that is two years, (where they read poetry on fishing boats) or Deep Springs where you ranch, (except I don't have the grades!) that really is about living the "authentic experience" of being close to either the sea or land (I thought about merchant marines, but I thought too conservative and not liberal artsy) is the best thing for me. My dream really is to read poetry on a fishing boat, haha. So anything cool, anything like in a city in New York where twenty students live together and discuss poetry, philosophy, together in a old garret above the city, would suit me fine. </p>

<p>I've done the whole "college board" site search, and they gave me a list of private 2 year colleges all over the States, but I was supspicious that going to some college in the middle of the rural atmosphere Iowa that wasn't intenely devoted to the liberal arts and VERY personal would seem disconcerting and lonely, and seem very far away from home, in a way like a city like New York wouldn't. I also looked at small two year womens colleges, but I only found Cottey. Maybe any suggestions on foregin 2 year colleges, especially 2 year women's colleges in Canada? I'm grudgingly open to the foreign expeience if I can't find anything else, as long as its an engish speaking country. There are two other colleges I looked at, Dean in Franklin Massachusetts (I like the east, and am trying to avoid the south) but I thought that Dean seemed to pedestrian and patronizing towards the "troubled kid" who hasn't met his poetential, and I also am pretty interested in Villa Maria College in Buffalo New York, where you live in a residential "college city" outside of the college, and the college is a liberal arts environment with creative writing majors. So anyway, if any of you out there could help me with some ideas, I would appreciate it so much. </p>

<p>I am very motivated, I am very romantic, and I so want to grow!   </p>

<p>P.S.
Just to be clear, I am looking for some sort of thing similar to an AA or certificate, so it doesn't have to be "creative writing" specific. It just has to be loosely centered around the liberal arts, or even a regular AA degree in a really cool place would be fine. Help, people!</p>

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<p>For clarification, are you currently enrolled in a community college? If so, what’s your CC GPA?</p>

<p>Truth be told, there’s only one two year college that closely fits your criteria, and that’s the one I attended, Oxford College of Emory. Most other two year privates are geared towards students with intense academic, behavioral, or learning issues, whereas Oxford typically takes good to excellent students. However, I wouldn’t recommend it for a 25 year old as virtually all undergrads are 17-22. </p>

<p>You may wish to look into the Ada Comstock program at Smith College.</p>

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<p>Oh, just to clarify, it does not ABSOLUTELY have to be a private, it’s just that from the searches I’ve done most are privates that meet the criterea of intamacy, etc. some college out there that wasn’t huge and was still pretty intimate and cool like I described, or a program stemming from a public university that is a small number of people that study together and share their creative writing craft/liberal studies, haha like that “garret” in New York I mentioned, some type of cool branching off program from a university, that was very cool and a unique experience, I would totally be up for that. Mostly what I am looking for is a lot of individual attention, and uniqueness. thanks for your response.</p>

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<p>I’m not understanding why you are limiting yourself to a two-year college. If the plan is to do well for two years and move on to a better institution, that can be done by attending a four year college and simply transferring after two years. But given that you have already attended college, I believe most schools would not accept you as a freshman anyway–have you explored that issue? </p>

<p>In any case, you have cooked up a complex concept of an ideal school and are now trying to find out if it exists. That’s a very odd–and frankly immature–way of approaching your education. There are many colleges with strong creative writing departments. If your goal is to study that subject, find one. But if your goal is to live in some Utopian environment ("…anything cool, anything like in a city in New York where twenty students live together and discuss poetry, philosophy, together in a old garret above the city"), I think you’re looking for a commune, not a college. So it comes down to deciding whether you want to complete your education or live out a fantasy. If the former, you need to start researching small liberal arts colleges that aren’t terribly selective and then pick out a few that sound reasonably appealing.</p>

<p>I’ll also mention that your propensity to write excessively long papers shows not brilliance, but self-indulgence, lack of self-discipline, an inability to follow instructions, and a lack of regard for your instructors’ time, none of which will work for you in college. If you write twenty pages when asked for four, the paper will likely be handed back to you unread–and rightly so. Time to stop that nonsense.</p>

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<p>Actually, the professor I gave the paper to, said that she would “never forget that paper” because she thought it so powerful. I’m a different sort of gal, and student, and there are in fact places for me, I know it. I just have to keep following my dreams and not listen to the naysayers. I in fact know quite a bit about Evergreen State college, where people do take classes like “Poetry on a fishing boat” and “awakening the dreamer”. My brother went there. And it is, in fact a sort f utopia. I know that I’ll be able to live the life I want to if I just keep searching and following my vision. One thing I’m good at is believing. And I have wonderful parents who support me in every way possible.</p>

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<p>Look into the women’s college special programs for non traditional students.
For colleges like Evergreen State College (where you would have a decent shot of admission) look into “Colleges that change lives”
[Colleges</a> That Change Lives | Changing Lives. One Student at a Time.](<a href=“http://www.ctcl.org/]Colleges”>http://www.ctcl.org/)
[Resuming</a> Students | Undergraduate Admission | Mills College California](<a href=“http://www.mills.edu/undergrad/resuming_students.php]Resuming”>http://www.mills.edu/undergrad/resuming_students.php)
<a href=“https://www.chatham.edu/admission/adult/[/url]”>https://www.chatham.edu/admission/adult/&lt;/a&gt;
[College</a> of Arts & Sciences | Admissions](<a href=“Apply Now - Trinity Washington University”>Apply Now - Trinity Washington University)
Sarah Lawrence may also be a good choice for you (not sure you have the stats to get in though but request information it can’t hurt)
[Sarah</a> Lawrence College. A Deeper Education.](<a href=“http://www.slc.edu/]Sarah”>http://www.slc.edu/)</p>

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<p>Check out Bennington (who also offer a Creative Writing MFA) in Vermont, Hampshire in MA, Warren Wilson in NC, and Quest in Canada.</p>

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<p>P.S. Warren Wilson also has a ‘ranch’ work=tuition aspect to their admissions, as well as offering an MFA in Writing.
P.P.S. Deep Springs is male only…</p>

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<p>I thought this was just making one of the occasional joke posts because of declaring they could get into the all male Deep Springs just based on an essay – until I found that they plan to begin admitting female students.</p>

<p>Can’t think of to many colleges operating in garrets:
Garret: a room or unfinished part of a house just under the roof</p>

<p>That’s a far from “ancient beauty of archecture and pastoralism”</p>

<p>There’s a lot of inconsistency in this whole mess.</p>

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<p>

It seems hard to believe that a brilliant student who stayed in her favorite areas impressed ten professors enough begging for admissions elsewhere while ending up with a 2.3.</p>

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<p>

That’s good, because I’m having a hard time believing in your story. If, by some chance, your story is for real, your problem is that you’ve been going to a community college, and not doing that well. Transferring to another college (which is what you’d have to do) is not going to be that easy–and are you really ready to do the work that would be required? My advice to you would be to get a real job for a couple of years, try to do some writing workshops on weekends or evenings, and then, after your life is a bit more stable, look at programs designed for older students.</p>

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<p>I was also going to suggest Warren Wilson. Maybe Bard or Sarah Lawrence? Columbia College in Chicago? Also, what about the writing program at Iowa?</p>

<p>As far as writing 20 pages when the professor asked for 4–not something to brag about. Sometimes the point of an assignment is to be spare, organized etc.</p>

<p>My son had one assignment in which the use of any adjective or adverb was forbidden.</p>

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<p>I understand you are new to the board, but going forward you are better off posting the same thing once (if you want to bump it forward that is ok). This way everyone responding has access to all of the comments you already received and you don’t take room away from other posters on the board.</p>

<p>I’d look at Emerson, Sarah Lawrence, Bennington, and take a look at some of the CTCL schools. Whatever schools you target, I’d suggest you visit/interview so you can explain your unique situation and make a case for the school accepting you into their program. <a href=“http://www.ctcl.org/colleges/list[/url]”>http://www.ctcl.org/colleges/list&lt;/a&gt; </p>

<p>And I have to agree with boysx3 – when in college you need to get some structure and stick to the limits. My kids both had professors who would penalize students for having extra pages on papers with the belief that it is necessary to learn to write a short well edited paper.</p>

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<p>You are a transfer applicant already. Yes, you have been out of college for a while, so some of those old, bad grades might be overlooked. However, your best bet is to get your tail back into community college and to ace your classes - all of them, not just a few of your classes in philosophy and literature. Then when you have a solid year of academic credits (possibly spread over several chronological years), apply to the writing programs you are interested in.</p>

<p>Nowhere in your posts have you mentioned how you plan to pay for your further education. Think about that one too. In the nearly ten years since you first were applying to college, the prices have skyrocketed. The Costs of Attendance at the Brown-class privates are pushing $60,000 each year. The COA at my own local community college is about $17,000 for students who are living with their families.</p>

<p>If all you really want to do is write, and you have your living expenses covered, there are any number of writing communities on the web where authors share their work - some even eventually get paid for their writing. One to start with is [url=&lt;a href=“http://www.scribd.com/]Scribd[/url”&gt;http://www.scribd.com/]Scribd[/url</a>]</p>

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<p>college of the atlantic</p>

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<p>2.3
Ten prof recs (they were LoRs, right, not “admissions essays”) won’t easily overcome that, for UG. There’s also the matter of meeting the transfer curric expectations.</p>

<p>On the off chance this original post is legit: “believing” one thing. You have o show these schools that you are also accomplishing. You have to show you can do the research into what is available, what they expect from you and whether what you offer meets that, in some way that makes sense to them, not just to you. Or it is just your belief, your dream of a garret.</p>

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<p>The vast majority of published novelists did not major in creative writing as undergraduates.</p>

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<p>And the vast, vast number of “writers”…</p>

<p>How about this one, Gaia U. Mexico.
Or maybe it’s too activist. (Or action oriented.)</p>

<p>Naropa, Boulder, Buddhist-inspired.</p>

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<p>This post seems to be getting a little bit complicated…I’ll sort of simplify if for anyone who can help me with any ideas on where to go next: I am primarily looking for a TWO YEAR program, where I can kind of hang and fufill my potential by getting good grades until I can go to my dream school (and yet still grow internaly and earn a diploma) My longer post probably seems kind of all over the place as far as what I am looking for, because, well, I am very wide open to a lot of different types of experiences, and I know they are out there, just check out the book “cool colleges”. I just haven’t found any two year programs like that. I am mostly looking for a stellar sense of community, and a group of people who are REALLy dedicated to the life either their minds, or their personal growth. The reason I am interested in some odd college programs like how I said “garret” and “poetry on a fishing boat” (which actually was offered in the evergreen state catalog, is because I am very dedicated, in these coming years, to nurturing my sense of development as a person, and more “odd” or “cool” programs tend to foster this. So those are two things most important to me, personal development of the soul, and development of the mind. And I just want to be around people who are extremely dedicated to that. I’ve suffered enough because of my anxiety disorder, this is a personal choice for me to make that I need to be in a nurturing environment for the spirit and mind. And nobody knows what it is like to be me or struggle with these mental issues for years, while having a lot of potential and not being able to do much about it. Its hard. And so I am trying really hard to get my life on track, and I know myself best of all and what I need, and my therapist agrees with me about what I need to grow. Thanks.</p>

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<p>And I would appreciate anyone who is sensitive to the fact that I am doing my very best to figure out my life with this anxiety disorder, and find some small window out there that perhaps exists (I don’t know, but I’m here to find out). So I would appreciate empathy and understanding, and and h and not a critique of the direction I have made a heartfelt decison to take my life in. It is a very personal decision for me to go back to a 2 year program.</p>