<p>Hi, I'm very serious about pursuing undergraduate dramatic writing in college, and am constantly trying to expand my currently short list of schools that offer it. I want to have both playwriting and screenwriting as a part of the major, but if anything, I would be fine with going to school that has just playwriting or just screenwriting. </p>
<p>Doing college searches and putting in the term screenwriting or playwriting gives me a lot of results, but I'm really looking for the programs that are known to be very intensive and valuable. </p>
<p>I've got NYU Tisch, SUNY Purchase, Fordham Lincoln Center and The New School on my list already, but I really want to see if there are any other good programs that I've overlooked. </p>
<p>I appreciate any information anyone can provide me</p>
<p>Do you consider yourself a writer who wants to do scripts or a theater/film person who wants to write? I think it probably makes a difference. Many theater/film programs offer majors in playwriting–you just have to go through to see what those majors entail. Some universities offer writing programs, of which screenwriting and playwriting are a component. My nephew went to UT-Austin’s writing program. The professors there are well connected and he was one of a few students who was chosen by the profs to submit a script for a national screenwriting contest. He won with a script for “The Office” and was then given the opportunity to do a 6 week program with screenwriters and actors from Hollywood. So, if you are a writer, check out Austin and also Syracuse. I suspect California schools would have more offerings, too.</p>
<p>I’m definitely more of a writer interested in writing plays/screenplays.
I had, for a while, looked at creative writing majors and majors akin to that, but the focus of nearly all of them seemed to be creative nonfiction, fiction (being novels and short stories), or poetry. dramatic writing was barely mentioned
I live on the east coast, and my parents have campaigned against the possibility of schools in the west, so do you know of any eastern schools that have strong writing programs that would provide me with what I need?</p>
<p>University of Pennsylvania has a strong, varied writing program (but no CW major; CW is part of the English major. Non-majors can do a minor in CW.) There is also a robust extracurricular/quasicurricular program of the through Kelly Writers House. Screenwriting is offered every semester (there are three sections offered this fall, including an advanced section.) Playwriting is offered less often. If you are interested in Penn’s writing program, PM me (I am very familiar with the fiction/cnf/poetry program there, but could also get you in touch with the screenwriting professors.)</p>
<p>A lot of the times, programs are specific to either Playwriting of Screenwriting, there aren’t too many general dramatic writing majors. A few people have mentioned good Playwriting programs here, but as for screenwriting, some of the big ones are NYU, USC, UCLA, Loyola Marymount and Chapman off the top of my head. I’m biased towards USC though, because I’m going there next year for screenwriting (though I did lots of theatre growing up and am interested in doing plays too)…</p>