<p>Anyone know anything about the Undergrad English Program?? Strengths, Weaknesses? I'm trying to decide which Ivy is the best for this.</p>
<p>What kind of English?
Princeton has a very strong Creative Writing department. (Toni Morrison, Joyce Carol Oates)</p>
<p>thats exactly what i need. awesome. is that the best creative writing program in the Ivys?</p>
<p>Well, the fact that Princeton focuses on undergrads is helpful, it means you will get a lot of attention from the professors (which is especially important in something like creative writing). I don't think there is a ranking for best creative writing programs, but I would like to think that Princeton is the best :)</p>
<p>You have to apply for the Creative Writing program I believe.
Here for more info:
<a href="http://www.princeton.edu/%7Evisarts/cwr/index.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.princeton.edu/~visarts/cwr/index.html</a></p>
<p>okay. thanks so much. i posted the same question on all of the Ivy boards, which i guess was a waste of time because now i know where i want to go! thank you.</p>
<p>lol great!
I'm sure you'll get even more information when Phil and other people who are intereted in Creative Writing come back and post :)</p>
<p>lol. im new here. who is phil???</p>
<p>He's just another one of the friendly 09ers on the pton board. His sn is Philntex and he's expressed some interest in creative writing before (and he seems to know everything about pton) so he'll probably talk more in-depth about the cw program.</p>
<p>hey guys, 08 here. i'll second that comment about the creative writing program. i'm an engineer but i'm really interested in it, so i'll probably put together a portfolio this year and see if i can snag a seminar sometime. english is one of the most popular majors here, and it's for a reason -- not just creative writing. the entire department is absolutely stellar. as for best in the ivy league, i wouldn't know how to compare, i can only brag about my own institution.</p>
<p>Ahhh, the CW department. Well, here's the thing, there are two ways you can get into creative writing at Princeton: the Program in Creative Writing (which offers not only the opportunity to work with famed authors and poets like Toni Morrison, Joyce Carol Oates, C.K. Williams, and Paul Muldoon, but the chance to produce a creative thesis under one of theirs guidance) and Program IV (English and Creative Writing, which offers you the opportunity to take more creative writing courses within the English dept and the creative writing program). Classes are small and competitive (i.e. you have to apply with samples of your work to get in, and it can be pretty tough), but once you get in, I hear it's an amazing experience. Classes aren't too "hard," per se, but you have to churn out a poem a week (or a short fiction every two weeks, depending on what class you take). Within the Program in CW, you can take classes in poetry, fiction, or translation, and even if you sign up for say a lower-level poetry class, you can switch to whatever as you go up (with permission and application, of course). Because creative writing classes are small (read: ~12 students), they offer a lot of student-professor and peer-to-peer interaction. Classes are based on criticism (i.e. you produce, others comment). What an experience!</p>
<p>The culmination of your creative writing experience will be the production of a creative thesis, which is usually either a collection of poems or a novel (some of which have gone on to success outside of Princeton academia). It's a lot of work to do senior year, but I hear it's one of the most rewarding theses to produce (like the creative thesis produced within the Program in Theatre and Dance). So yeah, creative writing at Princeton is amazing simply because you have both the opportunity to work with some incredibly accomplished faculty and the opportunity to strike it out on your own and produce your own work.</p>
<p>I'm sure there's more that I'm missing, but those are some of the highlights as to why creative writing at Princeton is fantastic and probably one of the best programs out there. As zante said, I don't think there's a ranking for creative writing departments, but if there were, Princeton would (or should) undoubtedly be at or near the top. Hope that helps :)</p>
<p>Told ya Phil would know...
did you like my shameless plug for you, phil? :p</p>
<p>Hahaha, I did, zante. I did. I heart Princeton. A lot. More than I probably should without having set foot on campus more than once :D</p>
<p>Phil is a walking brochure. He bleeds orange and black.</p>
<p>I think that makes brown, hahah :p</p>
<p>What a coincidence, eh? Hahaha ;)</p>
<p>Wow. I'm really liking the way Princeton sounds.</p>
<p>wow that creative writing program sounds sooooo amazing!!!!!</p>
<p>Wait, phil, since you seem to know everything :D - do you HAVE to take poetry classes if you're in the creative writing program? I can't write poetry for the life of me.</p>
<p>Yea, AJPicardi, I saw some of the other replies, since you posted this in other schools' forums, and I was like why are they all telling you about how interdiscinplinary it is? He asked about creative writing, not africana studies :confused: </p>
<p>koala, I don't think you have to take poetry, I think that's just a route you can take, but I'll let Phil give the final answer on this.</p>
<p>You can go down whichever route you want (poetry, fiction, or translation) as long as you are accepted into the class once you apply.</p>
<p>hurray! :D</p>