Creative Writing...

College Search & Selection
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<p>I just wanted opinions on what I should do along the lines of Creative Writing.</p>

<p>As of now I'm a psych/eng major, and looking to transfer to another school come next year. However, not sure what school to go to allow the lines of English, because I'm not sure what I want the exact major to be.</p>

<p>I'm interested in both psychology and creative writing, and love law as well. So my plan was to go to graduate school for law. However, not sure what english-type major I should be.</p>

<p>Should I go to a school with just a focus on CW? Or with a CW major? I would guess that the latter is far better than the former, so I'd probably go for CW. However, I'm also really really interested in screenwriting and, if that major exists, I'm curious if I should think about that or not. Would it be too narrow? Writing is really a hobby of mine and something I enjoy, but I think overall creative writing (although I would love to write a movie/tv show) might leave me better off, especially if I plan on going to law school.</p>

<p>Anyway, just curious about what I should do along the lines of being an English major.</p>

<p>Also, if anyone has an idea of good schools for creative writing (with good psych program too), I'd appreciate it if you gave me ideas.</p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

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<p>Kenyon college in Ohio has (arguably) the best English/Creative Writing dept. in the country. Was just there today, the campus is amazing as well...</p>

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<p>Hmm... I'll look into that. How is the psychology dept though? Since I'm equally interested in psychology. I'll do some searches I guess and see.</p>

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<p>I heard Knox's Creative Writing department is amazing, as well. However, I haven't heard anything about their Psychology department. (Didn't inquire about it.)</p>

<p>Perhaps you could go to Livejournal and check out if the colleges you're curious about have a community there (search under "Interests") and post questions there. The Knox community is pretty helpful. :)</p>

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<p>Bowling Green State University has a very good CW program. So does Sarah Lawrence</p>

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<p>University of Michigan seems to combine everything you want: Top ten Psychology, English, and Creative Writing. Their screenwriting courses, as I've heard from a few people, are supposedly a hidden gem. </p>

<p>An English degree with Creative Writing concentration is much better than just Creative Writing, I bet. Psychology is an interesting combo. If you plan on going to law school, I would try a Pre-Law cirriculum as well. It's not a total major, it's just a handful of courses (like a minor) that are good for preparing one for law school. </p>

<p>What school do you attend currently?</p>

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<p>University of Southern California</p>

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<p>I think, for undergrad, English would be a better major. Creative writing seems kind of limiting, but that's just my opinion.</p>

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<p>There are past threads with creative writing schools, including those with only concentrations and with full majors.</p>

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<p>CollegeKid,</p>

<p>I received my law degree 20 years ago. I was an English lit major and Psych minor at the University of Puget Sound. I took no pre-law courses, and my education absolutely prepared me for law school--I received a scholarship to law school based on my academic record, and I graduated in the top 5% of my law school class.</p>

<p>If you are interested in law school, don't worry about taking any "pre-law" courses (unless you really want to take the class regardless). Major in whatever interests you. I believe that a good liberal arts education, particularly one that emphasizes writing across the disciplines, is the best preparation for law school (or almost any graduate school, for that matter). </p>

<p>Pick a school that you like, with strong departments in what you are interested in, and then do your best work. (It's also good to develop close relationships with your professors, so they can write informed recommendations for you. This is easier at some schools than others.)</p>

<p>By the time you receive your undergraduate degree, you may have changed your mind about law school, but you will still have received a great education and be ready for whatever you choose to do next.</p>

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<p>Thank you so much for all the replies.</p>

<p>I have read posts on Michigan AA, and it seems (as of now) that might be my #1 choice.</p>

<p>Anyway, as of now I am attending Hofstra University. I didn't put any thought to the whole college thing; I really have no idea what was going through my head. I just didn't look into the future at all. My grades were decent (surprising considering my HORRIBLE work ethic) and just kind of applied because it was something you were suppose to do. I actually applied for accounting because it was good for getting a job after school.</p>

<p>Yet, now, after some miraculous epiphany, I know what I actually want to do and enjoy, so I'm going to pursue it (try to at least). So, considering Hofstra isn't exactly a great school and doesn't have strong programs in what I'm interested in, I'm going to apply elsewhere. </p>

<p>So, it seems that elsewhere might be Michigan, although it is so far :( Well, further than the hour away I am from home while at Hofstra. </p>

<p>Anyway, thanks again for the replies so far. And mom of sus, I am hoping you're right. That was basically one of the realizations I recently came to. I am deciding to do what I enjoy and see where it takes me.</p>

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<p>Cornell is known to have this famous phsycology class taught by a renown expert who has created many new physoclogical criteria. Check it out.</p>

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<p>I majored in English with a concentration in creative writing at Connecticut College, which has a great creative writing program and, from what I hear, an excellent psych department. I recommend that you visit schools and sit in on creative writing classes. Chances are, the school isn't going to have too many creative writing professors, and so the professor whose class you sit in on will be the professor you have.</p>

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<p>^^^ yay for fellow camels!</p>

<p>for strong creative writing and strong psych:
conn college, brown, bard, kenyon, oberlin, reed, trinity college, michigan, vassar, USC, UVA, wheaton college</p>

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<p>Again, thanks for the replies.</p>

<p>Cornell was another one of my top choices actually, and I've narrowed it down to these schools for top choices:</p>

<p>Michigan AA
Cornell
Brown</p>

<p>These I've found always found to be at the top of the lists of psychology and creative writing programs. However, I think what I've found about CW is for graduate programs, but on these boards I've still heard good thnigs about those programs--plus they are just great schools anyway.</p>

<p>Some other schools I guess would be USC, NYU, John Hopkins (but I think it's the grad CW that is good, not undergrad)...</p>

<p>Then there's the schools listed above like bard, keyon, oberlin... but most of those I haven't read much about their psych programs.</p>

<p>Blah, this is damn hard. More advice would so helpful!</p>

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<p>I can attest to the awesomeness of Maas, the famous Cornell psych professor: I was in Psych 101 last semester (just for fun though; I'm not a psych major).</p>

<p>I am, however, an English major. Cornell's good for that too. I'm taking Creative Writing next semester.</p>

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<p>Not many schools have free-standing undergraduate Creative Writing programs (i.e., not part of the English Department). Oberlin's is one of the oldest and best--much stronger than Kenyon's, in my opinion.</p>

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<p>Ceramo, sounds like a good summation of what collegekid wants- writing and psyc. Collegekid, people say Brown can be too much on the liberal and artsy side.</p>

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<p>The program does not have to be free standing. I really don't even care if it's an english major with creative writing as a focus, as long as what they offer is great and they have a broad range of courses.</p>

<p>Anyway, as of now, I think I'm going to stick to the bigger schools. I went graduated from a high school with only maybe 500 kids (less than 100 in my graduating class), so I'm not about to do that again. It was nice having a small school, but, for college, I'd like a change--I want a bigger school.</p>

<p>So, a lot of the schools mention so far I think I won't bother applying to because of the small sizes (all 5,000 and under). I mean 5,000 isn't THAT small (compared to the 500 in my school), but it is for a college. I want to be able to be lost with all the people I don't know, because there is something I've heard that is really true.</p>

<p>"You can make a big school feel small, but you can't make a small school feel big."</p>

<p>So, I'm going to limit schools like Oberlin, Kenyon, Conneticut, Trinity, and the other similar sized universities that have been mentioned. I'll probably apply to one (whichever ends up being suiting me the best), maybe two, and that's it.</p>

<p>So, if more ideas of bigger schools would be appreciated. Right now I think the list is still down to these few:</p>

<p>Michigan
Cornell (but I don't think they have screenwriting courses, definite downside)
Brown (how badly "artsy" is it?)
USC (How is the psych program though... ?)
Columbia (Not sure about the undergrad CW)
NYU</p>

<p>For the smaller schools I'm not sure, but got stuff to look over outta what has been mentioned to me.</p>

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<p>I'm not sure if you'd like Columbia. It's very, very structured and has a huge score. You wouldn't be able to take very many classes that you'd like to, I would imagine, as opposed to Brown, which is a totally open cirriculum.</p>