I am a senior in highschool and am looking at colleges and majors. I want to become an author but also get a smaller job in a publications agency or media marketing company to supplement income. I have to stay in state due to scholarships and there aren’t any colleges that I can go to in state that offer a Bachelors in Creative Writing (only 3 and there is a reason of why I can’t go to all 3). So, I am considering majoring in English with an emphasis on Creative Writing. Will there be too many major differences between these? I know that there will be differences, but I don’t want them to be too major. I still want to focus on Creative Writing but I wasnt sure if it would or not. Also, would I be able to get a minor if I was already getting an emphasis in something? I might want to get a Media Marketing minor but wasn’t sure if it was possible let alone feasable.
Maybe - it depends on the college. You can compare them by comparing the course curriculum between your school and another school’s major using the course catalog. At most schools, a creative writing major will be required to take some literature courses - because a good writer starts off as a good reader, one who learns literary devices and good writing style through imitating and learning from the work of others.
Where the programs might differ is how many of your core and elective courses are focused on creative writing. At some schools, an English major with a concentration in creative writing would have more foundational literature classes in its core, reserving most CW classes for elective classes or maybe one core class. UCLA’s [url=<a href=“http://www.english.ucla.edu/academics/undergraduate-/52-creativewriting%5Dprogram%5B/url”>http://www.english.ucla.edu/academics/undergraduate-/52-creativewriting]program[/url] is a good example of that - the major is essentially 7 literature courses and three creative writing workshops However, I did look up some schools where creative writing was a concentration that had some pretty heavy creative writing coursework in the core - like [url=<a href=“http://www.english.northwestern.edu/undergraduate/literature/guide-to-the-literature-major.html%5DNorthwestern%5B/url”>http://www.english.northwestern.edu/undergraduate/literature/guide-to-the-literature-major.html]Northwestern[/url], where CW is baked into the core courses too and the entire curriculum is pretty much CW with some additional literature courses as electives.
However, for a job in publishing and marketing, a major in English with a concentration in creative writing might actually be better than a straight-up creative writing major. It teaches you how to both read and write great pieces of writing, which is important for publishing and marketing. Besides, not all publishing is creative!
Regarding the minor, a BA degree typically requires a minor. I doubt the writing emphasis would count for that. But you should check with the specific university to be sure.
I disagree with this - a BA generally does not require a minor. However, you do normally need a major to graduate (i.e. you can’t “triple minor” in place of majoring).
Generally you should be able to get a minor and major with emphasis. Usually “emphasis” courses will count towards the overall major so it isn’t too much extra work. Many schools will not let you “double count” classes (i.e. apply them to both your major and minor) but as long as you don’t change your major too often or take too many non major/minor courses you should be able to graduate on time.
Agree with post #1, it depends on the school so check required courses on their sites for the details.
Yes, obviously you must have a major. I was responding to the OP’s question about whether a minor was feasible. It is, as most schools expect you to take something in addition to the major, particularly for a BA. (BS, BFA, BM are different, usually don’t have the same expectation.) Instead of a minor it could be a co-major, second major, or sometimes a concentration. But regardless, it is typically feasible to take a minor with a major, particularly for a BA degree. But I agree it is always best to check with the school to understand their specific requirements and constraints.
This is misleading. Many schools have unit requirements to graduate, but the vast majority of schools will not require a minor/co major/second major. You need to have a major and meet the unit and general eduction requirements (i.e. one math class, one science class, one year of languages, etc.). I have never heard of a school requiring an additional minor/co major etc. I would guess that yours does since you’re saying this, but it would be the exception and not the norm.
My D’s school does require a minor with the major. My S’s school requires a concentration outside the major as part of their gen ed, but that is also fulfilled by a minor or second major. Most others we looked at were similar.
But again, to the OP’s question about the feasibility of taking a minor, in most cases that will be feasible with a BA as schools at least expect the possibility, if not required outright like the schools we viewed.