<p>Can anyone give me any info on Columbia's creative writing program (beyond their own website). Does applying as a prospective creative writing major hinder or help my application?</p>
<p>because the intended major that you list on your app is really just a way for you to tentatively list your most significant interests (it’s completely non-binding) i don’t think they really consider your intended major when making the decision, although i guess if you pick a nontraditional major it may slightly help you (displaying more unusual interests). all that being said, though i don’t know anything specifically about columbia’s program, i’m pretty sure that creative writing tends to be a fairly popular major in colleges and universities that place a strong emphasis on the humanities and writing in general. really though, it’s not going to hurt you, and it wouldn’t have helped if you’d put a really unusual major. it’s an extremely insignificant part of the application compared to all the more important academic factors.</p>
<p>If you’re a strong writer and you’ve shown an interest in creative writing in high school, then it will probably help your application. If you haven’t shown any previous interest in high school, then it probably won’t affect your application. Creative writing is a pretty intense major at Columbia; only a handful of students (maybe 1-2% of the class) major in it each year.</p>
<p>That’s the thing. I’ve only been set on being a writer for about a year now. Not that I was waffling back and forth between other future career paths, just finally got that calling I suppose. What’s your major, pwoods, if you don’t mind my asking?</p>
<p>When I applied, I indicated that I was thinking of pursuing an English major. Like you, I had initially not considered myself a writer and in the beginning of my high school career leaned toward the natural sciences, particularly biology. It helped that I did very well in biology and fairly well in chemistry. In junior year, I became more interested in medicine as a bridge between my natural sciences aptitude and my growing passion for writing and the humanities. I started working in a hospital (though in the research, not clinical, department) and went to a sort of weeklong medicine career infosession at Georgetown. By the time I applied, I positioned myself as an applicant who was interested in medicine and considering pre-med, but listed English as my intended major.</p>
<p>In senior year, though, I became much more engaged in the social sciences (the hospital let me carry out a voluntary sociological survey on some of their patients) and the humanities, as I took advanced history, English, and poli/sci courses. My political and cultural persuasions also shifted. By the end of senior year, I had decided to drop pre-med, reasoning that there was no way I’d stick with it at Columbia, and desiring to devote myself fully to critical humanities and social sciences instead of natural sciences.</p>
<p>When I checked the Columbia course catalog, I saw that there were no intro English courses (other than LitHum and UWriting); the department seemed to be composed of advanced and fairly esoteric classes. I decided not to do an English major and gravitated to sociology and especially anthropology. Right now, I’m an intended anthro major, though I’m also interested in sociology and philosophy. </p>
<p>I hope my experience has shown that it’s OK to change your major and your areas of interest multiple times. First, though, you have to be admitted. I don’t think putting Creative Writing as an intended major will necessarily hurt you, so long as you’re a good writer and you can convey your interest in creative writing. If you haven’t done much in high school that shows an interest in creative writing, I’d make sure that your “favorite books/publications/etc.” reflect a literary sensibility. If you put Twilight and Shakespeare, they might take you less seriously than if you put Franzen, Shteyngart, and more obscure authors whose work you really appreciate. Don’t be pretentious, but if you’re seriously considering creative writing, don’t be afraid to mention authors whose writing styles you really appreciate.</p>