<p>Does anyone know of any undergraduate creative writing programs that are more accepting of non-realistic fiction writing? My son is thinking about studying creative writing either as a major, minor, or concentration and his prefered genre is definitely more aliens and zombies than realistic fiction. In looking at different schools, it's hard to get a read on how accepted those topics would be. I know we can always look in the college catalogs to look for specific classes but I was wondering if there were some programs that could be recommended as a jump off point.</p>
<p>Some schools allow you to design your own major or minor. My suggestion would be to look at the actual professors for each program you are considering and see what their interests are. Finding a professor who is interested in fiction writing is a plus (since most are literature-based), and may provide some guidance to your son in areas where literature specialists cannot.</p>
<p>Designing his own major or minor might be the way to go if you can find a good school that supports that. He could do some independent studies where he works on his own interests. It all depends on what he plans to actually do with his degree after college - go on to graduate study in creative writing? Attempt free-lance writing? Work for some company? Free-lance writing and going to graduate school are two options that his interests will help him with, but if he plans to get a general position with a company he will likely be expected to be able to write what they want and have a diverse portfolio. Some graduate programs may expect diverse portfolios as well. </p>
<p>Another option is to choose a good creative writing program, take full advantage of it, and just do a single independent study or course of interest to satisfy his desires. It is always good as a writer to be able to adapt to a variety of audiences, but as I said earlier, it all depends on what his ultimate goal is career-wise.</p>