<p>@Kingman, the UVA summer program is no longer housed at UVA. It’s housed at Sweetbriar college. I haven’t been there but I read about it when I was investigating and it’s a small women’s college on a lot of land in a rural setting (they have an equestrian program). @basketweaver, thanks for all those links. </p>
<p>Alpha is releasing decisions today. Does anyone know if it’s via email or snail mail? </p>
<p>Here are my comments from a related thread - I’ve sent my daughter to two other camps (in Ohio and Virginia), then after her junior year we sent her to the Iowa Young Writers’ Studio. Amazing. She’d never been around such talented, creative, and fun people before. Then the instructors all are part of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop - the best of the best. Iowa is where all great writers come, from high school aged to Nobel Prize winners. We just loved Iowa City, the program, everything. She’s headed to Princeton this fall, studying creative writing/lit and biology.</p>
<p>I should also add that she hopes to go to Iowa again for an MFA once she’s good and ready and graduated. Maybe after she works for a few years to see the “real world”. Her instructor at the summer program said that in the last few years, Iowa Writers’ Workshop grads had won a Pulitzer, a MacArthur Genius fellowship, and even a Man Booker prize. Yes, they draw writers from all over the world - two of those prize winners were from China and New Zealand, writing in English of course. </p>
<p>As promised, the UVA review. :)</p>
<p>I attended the second session of the UVA Young Writers’ Workshop in 2014. The workshop is also called YWW (pronounced Y-Dubs 
) by past and present attendees.</p>
<p>First of all, I would like to say that Johnnys1stMate’s review (<a href=“Creative Writing Summer Programs - #317 by Johnnys1stMate - Summer Programs - College Confidential Forums”>Creative Writing Summer Programs - #317 by Johnnys1stMate - Summer Programs - College Confidential Forums) was fairly accurate. Also, for more information about YWW, I would recommend (obviously) reading through the program website (theyoungwriters.org/summer-program), watching the promo video on the website, watching the local TV station’s TV feature on the workshop <a href=“the%20YWW%20part%20starts%20at%2013:08”>http://video.ideastations.org/video/2365198189/</a>, and reading this article about the program (<a href=“News and Events • Sweet Briar College”>News and Events • Sweet Briar College). I think these paint a bit of an overly-rosy picture of the program, but they will still give you a good idea of what you’re getting into.</p>
<p>In short, I had a mixed experience at YWW. The pros are probably that the kids there were really talented, smart, supportive, and nice (same with the teachers, TAs, and visiting writers); you get a lot of time to focus on writing and writing exercises; and the electives were usually fun and allowed me to try new genres without committing a lot of time to it up front. The cons were that I don’t think I improved my writing very much (even though I really put a lot of effort into my workshops and writing), we didn’t get much of any free time or freedom to roam around the surrounding area (it’s really structured), and the dining hall food sucked (and we HAD to eat it every day - couldn’t go off campus).</p>
<p>However, I think most attendees absolutely love YWW. Kids return to the program year after year, say that it’s their favorite place in the world, come back as counselors, etc., all of which speaks to how much they love the program.</p>
<p>I’m not sure if the program was worth it. I had fun, but I went mainly to improve my writing. Thus, not improving was very disappointing. I think if you’re a young writer with a fair amount of discipline and want to improve, you should just read books about how to write, read good literature, and write a lot. Honestly, I learned so much more about writing from doing those things than I did from YWW. However, if you’re looking for the social aspect, or to put a prestigious program on your college resume, then I would recommend YWW.</p>
<p>I am willing to answer any questions about YWW (or about high school creative writing summer programs in general, although I am less knowledgeable about other programs) that are PM-ed to me or (preferably) posted on this thread, so the info is up for everyone to see a few years down the road.</p>
<p>Reviving this thread. Does anyone have more feedback about Alpha? Just heard about it and I’m very excited.</p>
<p>Any pointers about the WIP that you submit?</p>
<p>Hi folks, the Princeton Summer Journalism program is not entirely creative writing, but there certainly are opportunities to write creative non-fiction. (And many alumni and counselors do write short stories, plays, etc.) It’s also free and for low income students. More info: <a href=“Princeton Summer Journalism Program application is out! (Free program) - Summer Programs - College Confidential Forums”>Princeton Summer Journalism Program application is out! (Free program) - Summer Programs - College Confidential Forums; and <a href=“Princeton Summer Journalism Program”>http://www.princeton.edu/sjp</a></p>
Sorry to bring back an old thread, but if anyone has any feedback about any creative writing programs at all, I would love to hear about them, as I am planning on applying to a few this summer! (:
Son attended Iowa, Kenyon & Columbia. Loved the first two programs, liked Columbia. Felt that the instructors and programs were better at Iowa & Kenyon. Also, he enjoyed being with many of the best young writers in the country. There’s lots of overlap of ppl in these two programs, and a number of very talented males as well as females. At Columbia, he was the only guy in his class and most of the girls were internationals from India. He thought that experience was interesting but not diverse enough. To this day, he remains friendly with the kids he met at Iowa & Kenyon. Another good result from attending these programs: he realized he’d rather attend university in an urban or college town than a small LAC in a rural area. He’s now a freshman in a suburban mid-sized university and feels like that’s the perfect fit for him.
Also, this thread gets revived annually, which I think is a great thing…it’s a wonderful tool for those who are interested to get inside info.
This thread is so informative! Does anyone know if the UVa Young Writers program will still be held at Sweet Briar’s campus now that Sweet Briar College has announced they are closing their college in August 2015?
@desie1 I would think it would still be held at Sweet Briar for this year since the two sessions are in June and July, not August.
My daughter just received an acceptance in the mail for Sewanee! So excited for her! (by the way, it’s in a very thin envelope. I thought it was a rejection)
Hey guys! I just got accepted to Sewanee on Thursday. I also applied to UVA and Iowa, but since Sewanee was my second choice I’m just waiting to hear back from Iowa. Has anyone gotten notification from them yet or are their letters going to go out closer to April 1st? (I saw that in past years everyone received notification on the same day, but on their website it says by April 1st). I’m really eager to commit to Sewanee, but I don’t think I could turn down Iowa. Also, I’m just interested to see if anyone has heard back from all the various programs yet. Good luck all!
@sfijm23 My daughter is never on college confidential but she is very interested in Sewanee. Looks lije a fool program. I think Iowa cones out ON April 1st. Wish it came out earlier. My daughter also applied to UVA, Alpha and Kenyon.
@desie1 - did she consider the Bard summer writing program?
@chd2013 No, she looked at Bard but didn’t choose to apply there. Why, is it one you recommend? (At this point however, with the Sewanee acceptance, she isn’t going to apply anywhere else.)
I’ve heard very good things from teachers, but don’t know anyone who has attended
I sent you a private message.
Does anyone know anything about NYS Young Writers at Skidmore??
I’m looking for information on Skidmore as well!