<p>Hello Again --</p>
<p>Further advice is sought on experience with, content of, and strengths of English programs at a number of schools for which my son has interest. Specifically, which ones have solid enough reputations and produce strong graduates with inclinations towards graduate school (English PhD) and/or law school. </p>
<p>Specifically, any thoughts on -</p>
<p>William and Mary
Washington and Lee
Johns Hopkins</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>Nice options!</p>
<p>I can’t imagine that anyone’s post-graduate prospects have ever been harmed by degrees from any of those three. W&M produced Thomas Jefferson - granted, his profs are no longer there, but it’s hard to imagine that his Alma Mater would allow a reputation in the humanities that goes back to the 17th century to slide too far. The humanities aren’t the first thing that comes to mind when I think of JHU, but I’d be more concerned about the influence of the overall student peer group on your son’s aspirations. Would an English major be inspired enough by friends who are in the process of becoming world-class biomedical engineers to spur him on to a doctoral program or law school? I’d certainly think so.</p>
<p>Might also look at Davidson.</p>
<p>English is a popular major at W&M - the website says that, amongst Arts and Sciences students (about 90 percent of the student body), nearly 10 percent are English majors. So - maybe 500 majors? There are almost 40 profs and another dozen or so lecturers, adjuncts, and writers-in-residence, whose names and backgrounds you can find here: [William</a> & Mary -*Faculty Directory](<a href=“http://www.wm.edu/as/english/facultystaff/directory/index.php]William”>http://www.wm.edu/as/english/facultystaff/directory/index.php)</p>
<p>I don’t know how many majors go on to pursue PhDs. The online handbook includes advice about applying to PhD. programs: [William</a> & Mary -*English Majors Handbook](<a href=“http://www.wm.edu/as/english/forstudents/majorshandbook/index.php]William”>http://www.wm.edu/as/english/forstudents/majorshandbook/index.php)</p>
<p>You can find info on how grads with English majors have fared here: [Outcomes</a> info](<a href=“http://web.wm.edu/career/CFM/OutcomesIndex.cfm]Outcomes”>http://web.wm.edu/career/CFM/OutcomesIndex.cfm) You can check separately for grads within the past 4 years and past 15 years. </p>
<p>Since you mention law school as a possible career of interest, you might want to look at some of these results for recent law school applicants from W&M. [William</a> & Mary -*Law School Data](<a href=“http://www.wm.edu/as/government/prelawadvising/lawschooldata/index.php]William”>http://www.wm.edu/as/government/prelawadvising/lawschooldata/index.php) I’d especially note that the average GPA for law school applicants was under 3.5 in 2009. W&M truly does have less grade inflation than many similarly selective schools - but top law schools like to see high GPAs.</p>
<p>William and Mary has a good, solid English Department. It prepares its best undergraduates well for advanced work. Johns Hopkins has a superlative but small program relative to the size of the university (probably not smaller in actual numbers than W & M’s, however). Undergraduate English majors get a ton of attention because most of the young 'uns at JHU are off doing biochemistry or the like. There is also a very strong, separate Creative Writing department and a Humanities Department which is basically Comp. Lit. plus some art history. There is lots of interaction among these related departments. It’s a pretty vital place (I did my PhD there) though some students find it too intense.</p>
<p>I don’t know anything about Washington and Lee, except that it’s a good all-round school.</p>
<p>If your son is interested in doing a PhD, he should write an honors thesis as an undergraduate. He will need to enjoy and excel at independent, original work in order to do well in a PhD program. It is hard to know whether you are good at this sort of thing just from your performance in “normal” undergraduate coursework. He should also continue whatever he’s doing to establish reading fluency, at least, in a couple of other European languages.</p>
<p>Although many students get excellent educations at LACs, my own feeling is that other things being equal, if your S is interested in getting a PhD in English, it will be very helpful for him if he goes to a school that itself has a distinguished PhD program. For one thing, if he’s a fine student, he can often arrange to take graduate classes in the later part of his undergraduate career (UVA has formalized this in a BA/MA program for exceptional students, and I suspect other schools have as well). Actually taking graduate courses, and doing well in them, at Cornell was crucial for me when I was assessing my future prospects back in the day–it’s a very tough and competitive field, and it’s hard to know how you stack up if you are only comparing yourself against other undergraduate English majors. Also, it’s very helpful to get to know graduate students on a social/intellectual basis. Universities with grad programs will also have events, e.g. series of visiting lectures, which are basically geared toward grad students and faculty but which are open to all. Most undergraduates ignore this kind of thing, but for a student interested in doing a PhD, such talks can be revelatory.</p>
<p>Johns hopkins</p>
<p>W&M has one of the best English depts in the country. You cant go wrong with any of these schools b/c if you change your mind, the other depts are top notch as well.</p>