<p>My daughter is in the top 3% of her school, has a 2120 SAT combined score and wants to major in Creative Writing. She is looking at Pomona, Kenyon, Washington University in St. Louis (her sister is there), Northwestern, Emory, Hampshire and possibly Seattle University and University of Denver. However I feel that most of these are reach schools and I would love to know if there is another perhaps less of a reach school that would be a good option for her. She will need to get merit and need scholarships to make this work. She is going to apply to her state schools in AZ, but would rather go out of state. Any ideas would be really helpful.</p>
<p>I’m a senior also looking to major in English or Creative Writing-- as I’m going through the process myself, I’m not sure how reliable my advice will be, but I thought I’d reply anyway.</p>
<p>I’m applying to Northwestern as well, but they don’t give any merit-based scholarships (unless your daughter is a National Merit Finalist who listed Northwestern as her first-choice school). </p>
<p>Washington University is my ED school, and they <em>do</em> offer merit-based scholarships. I’m applying for three. One of the scholarships they offer is the Howard Nemerov Scholarship, which is specifically for creative writing. However, I’ve heard that the percentage of students who earn merit-based money from Wash U is very small…</p>
<p>Kenyon is supposedly one of the best schools in the nation for writing, but they’re ridiculously expensive (not like all private schools aren’t). I’m not sure how their scholarship programs work, but their creative writing program is supposedly phenomenal. </p>
<p>As far as whether or not these are “reach” schools for your daughter… well, top 3% is nothing to sniff at. Neither is that SAT score. Assuming that she knows how to write (I mean, she wants to major in it after all), the combination of her fantastic grades, test scores, and essays should make her a qualified candidate for the schools you listed, as long as her EC’s are decent. I know that Wash U is really big on test scores and Kenyon’s huge on the essays, but I’m not sure about the others. </p>
<p>I think a decent safety school could be St. Olaf-- my class rank is a little below your daughters (top 7%. 35 ACT, though I don’t know how that translates to the SAT score), and St. Olaf is one of my safety schools. They’re a small liberal arts college (around 3,000 students) in Northfield, Minnesota. They’re most well-known for their music programs and science programs, though I believe their English department is pretty strong as well. There’s also Carleton (which is less than a mile from St. Olaf, also in Northfield), though Carleton may be a lot harder to get into. St. Olaf would probably give you money, though, and she would still get a great education.</p>
<p>These are decent suggestions, shandsy7, I’m not so sure that my daughter would last in Minnesota - but we will take a look at it. You have a great ACT score - you should be set on getting into these schools. good luck.</p>
<p>University of Iowa is #1 in the nation in Creative Writing for grad school - I would think undergrad would also be very strong. It consistently beats out all the more prestigious universities in Creative Writing. </p>
<p>Iowa City is a very charming town with lots of activities and nightlife. And don’t think because it’s Iowa that it’s a bastion of closed-mindedness. It’s a very liberal enviroment that matches the east coast. Gorgeous campus.</p>
<p>If she likes Pomona, she should take a look at some of the other schools in the consortium. I self-designed a major in creative writing at Scripps and loved it (took classes at all the colleges, what an awesome resource!)</p>
<p>Sarah Lawrence is another LAC known for having a pretty good writing program.</p>
<p>Check out Ursinus College, which has a JD Salinger writing scholarship - full tuition plus you get to live in Salinger’s dorm room!</p>
<p>University of Iowa is the clear winner. She should have no trouble getting in academically though you do have to apply to the creative writing program. They have graduated 28 pultizer prize winners. They do offer merit based to a select out of state applicants. </p>
<p>This is from personal experience. I use to want to be a creative writing major, so I’ve done some research. I decided against it because having a creative writing degree will not help you get published. For the most part, you either have the talent to write or you don’t.</p>
<p>i would like to point that DCMERRELL seems somewhat misled. there is not a creative writing program you can apply to, i think you are mixing up the MFA program and undergrad. i looked up on their website and there is only a creative writing track within the English dept, which is just like any other major. the Iowa Writers’ Workshop is a graduate MFA program, not for undergrads. some of the writers/professor from the Workshop do probably teach undergrads at times, but most, or at least the most accomplished one, focus on the graduate students. they’re grad program may be the best in the world, but that doesnt necessarily say much about the undergrad program. when looking for good undegrad programs, just look up the accomplishments of a school’s writing faculty.
i would also like to point out how it is sometimes misleading to be turned off by creative writing as a major since one may think it is not necessary for getting published. creative writing classes are not about teaching someone how to be a writer at their core, they are about creating an environment where one can develop their craft. in order to become a better writer you need to have people, who know what they’re talking about, being constantly reading your work. you will never grow as a writer without that critiquing. most great writers have had an environment like this where they were constantly having their work read and critiqued by others, such as Ernest Hemingway, who never went to school for writing, but the lucky guy had a couple of the greatest American writers mentoring him. so you don’t have to be a creative writing major to become a successful writer, but you did need a similar environment at least</p>
<p>If those schools are reach for a top 3% student, how bad is her school??</p>
<p>Look at UPenn. They give HUGE amounts of financial aid for those students who contact the Kelly Writers House directly - highly suggested. And just looking at my bookshelf, I can find a Pulitzer prize-winner alumni. “A Visit from the Goon Squad” anybody?</p>