<p>My D has a friend, "S" who says she is interested in a creative writing major/career. I have been looking into some schools for her, as it well known that I'm the go-to mom for college help/info. Her parents are concerned that she may not be good enough to actually make a living at it. My D is an art major and they have National Portfolio Days where students bring their portfolios for review by the admissions folks from art colleges all over US and Canada. S's mom is wondering (as am I) if there is a similar program for other creative types. The mom doesn't want to discourage her, but does not want her to be disappointed either if her work isn't good enough. Mom feels like she doesn't have the passion, but then again, she is comparing her to my daughter who eats, sleeps and breathes art. Are there summer programs like there are for art students who want to improve their portfolios?</p>
<p>Would love to hear from others in this situation. So far she is hooked on Emerson, but I'm encouraging her to look at U of Iowa and Purchase College in NY. She's a junior, so she has some time, but time flies!!</p>
<p>If writing is her passion, and if she wants to study language arts in college, and if she’s willing to work hard at it, then I think her parents should wholeheartedly encourage her. Because language and written communication skills will help her in any other area of study, and in life in general. At the very least, she can settle for a moderately-lucrative job in public relations or corporate communications. Even with just a Bachelor’s degree. What is more likely, though, is that she’ll migrate into some other career, and her background in writing will become a valuable asset toward that.</p>
<p>If she was born with a truly rare creative personality, then she may try different creative outlets, including writing or film or art or music or photography or whatever, and maybe she’ll be lucky enough to find a lucrative career out of one of them. But it’ll take hard work, dedication, people skills, an unfailing belief in herself, a courage to take risks, and experience actually living life (not just reading about it in books).</p>
<p>I’m in a similar situation: writing has always been my passion, and I receive steadily stellar criticism from my teachers and advisors, but compared to the geniuses out there, I’m not always sure I’ll be able to make it. I am committed to going to a college with a strong writing program. My only concern with this is that if by some chance I end up wanting to study something else - anthropology, psychology, art, what have you - I’ll have chosen a school for its writing department and will be at a disadvantage. I worry a little that because writing is what I have always wanted to do, I haven’t truly taken the time to explore other options…but at the same time, I currently have no interest in exploring other options. Argh. Advice? Maybe?</p>
<p>I think that there are a lot of people on this board who put too much stock into what major they choose, and as a consequence often times pick schools based on specific program strength. This is a horrible decision.</p>
<p>You’re right to fear picking a school for it’s writing program because the rest of the school isn’t as strong, because you should. Having a passion for writing doesn’t necessarily have to translate into a major in creative writing. In fact, unless you want to be an engineer, accountant, or some other field that requires a very specific skill set, it really doesn’t matter what you study. It is more important that you get good grades, good internships, and good references than what your major happens to be. </p>
<p>My advice: Don’t pick a school based on a program, ever. Pick a school based on prestige and personal comfort. If you decide not to listen to this advice and you want to go to a lesser known school because of a certain program, you should do two things first.</p>
<ol>
<li> Make sure the school is in a city, and that employers generally have a high opinion of it.</li>
<li> Plan on having your first job out of school be in that city, so you should like the city.</li>
</ol>
<p>If you don’t go to a school that is well regarded nationally, it may be harder for you to get as good of a job farther away. That doesn’t mean it won’t or can’t happen, it just means that employers in your school’s city are going to be more willing to pay you at a high rate because they are familiar with your program. It doesn’t matter how good the program at you school is when no one has heard of your school.</p>
<p>The thing is, I’m looking mostly at well-regarded institutions. The conflicts are more as follows:
Would it be a mistake to choose JHU for its Writing Seminars if I end up not wanting to be a writing major? Yes, it’s a fantastic school, but if it’s not a good fit for me outside of that program?
Would it be a mistake to choose Oberlin over Amherst for its writing programs, even though Amherst is better regarded?
NOT that I am even at the point of being able to choose yet!</p>
<p>Yes, it would be a mistake. Never choose a school for a single program. If you’re looking for criteria to help you decide between schools that are equal or almost equal in prestige do this:</p>
<ol>
<li> Pick a broad general academic area to help guide your search.</li>
</ol>
<p>When I was applying to colleges I knew I wasn’t going to do anything involving the humanities. I was interested in something quantitative so I looked at engineering, science, math, and econ. So I looked at the undergrad and grad rankings for a lot of the programs in these fields. Now don’t get the wrong impression for why rankings are important. Undergrads at every institution for the most part learn the same material out of similar books. Prestigious schools don’t have special books that has secret information that other universities don’t have. </p>
<p>Highly ranked programs have highly ranked faculty, which means later on if you decide to go to graduate school or get an internship (to a lesser extent), chances are you’ll have to take a class and get to know a well regarded professor. If you do well you might be able to count on their recommendation. If you don’t take a class with a highly regarded professor, chances are most of the professors you did have will still be good.</p>
<p>A school that has lots of great faculty in multiple programs that you like is a better bet than another school that has lots of great faculty in only one.</p>
<ol>
<li> Go visit the schools.</li>
</ol>
<p>Small to moderate differences in prestige don’t matter if you have a great feeling about the lesser prestige school. Too many students go to college and are unhappy when they realize after getting there that they only went because of the program, but they spend most of their time outside of class. You’re talking about 4 years of your life and 100k+ in expenses, what is the point if you hate it the whole time?</p>
<p>Prestige is something we all desire, but not at the expense of happiness and fitting in with the campus culture. If you love the environment at multiple schools, then let prestige be the tie-breaker if you like. </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Oberlin is a great school, but Amherst in my mind is elite. Don’t pick Oberlin just for the writing program, I think you should have a better reason. You need to visit both campuses and talk to the students. This is where happiness ranking comes in, how good do you think your writing is going to be at Oberlin if you don’t like it there? Same goes for Amherst.</p>
<p>If it is close after that, maybe look into the strength of the alumni network and recruiting at each school.</p>
<p>I would actually caution against a major in creative writing. I have no personal experience in it, but I have read a lot of author blogs and it is insanely hard to breakthrough in writing, and supporting yourself with it is even harder. Most have a day job, and because of that I feel it would be better to pursue a different major. Creative writing is probably up there with the least respected majors (not my own opinion, just how it looks). Perhaps a double major in something a bit more practical as a back up plan? (Not that I am advocating doing something you don’t like because it is practical. Just if there is something practical that is also good.)</p>
<p>On summer programs: have you heard of CSSSA?
It’s the California State Summer School of the Arts (aka Innerspark, the Name That Must Not Be Used). Tuition is $4,800 for OOS, and $1,485 for Californian students. There is financial aid available (but I believe for OOS they’ll only accept up to twenty kids, and I’m not sure how financial aid works with that). It might be interesting for your daughter and her friend, because you can major in several different areas (Visual Arts, Theatre, Creative Writing, Film, Animation, etc.).</p>
<p>As a student it changed me as an artist and a person. From a parental perspective, what I can say is that kids come away with great confidence in themselves, but the instructors are very realistic about how hard making a career as a writer actually is. I was already fairly certain before, but after CSSSA I knew I didn’t want to be a full-time writer. (“How do you make money as a writer?” “You don’t.”) If your daughter’s friend get in, it’s great validation that her writing is indeed exceptional and will become more exceptional after the four weeks.</p>
<p>The thing is…the deadline is February 27 for the applications. Move fast. It’s totally worth it (although I found out about the program quite late and had to pull together a Creative Writing application in one night).</p>