So this year (fall 2021) I’m going to apply to colleges including either GW or UW-Madison. I will enter as an English major with a focus on creative writing. Which school would give me the leg up academically and opportunity-wise?
-Maybe relevant information-
-the schools are the same driving distance from home so that doesn’t really matter
-My ultimate goal is to get a Ph.D. and become a prof. while being an author
-I’m Catholic
UW may be slightly stronger, but they are basically the same.
I hope you apply to more than two schools. We don’t have your statistics but there’s a lot of schools and you are studying creative writing - depending on your hot buttons there could be better choices.
what’s your GPA, level of rigor?
You mention Catholic - does that matter to you?
Are you a city or suburb person…do you want huge or small? Do you want a campus or none - i mean, GW doesn’t even have dining halls…it’s very “unique” - my daughter hated it but loved American and Gtown.
Is money an issue? If so, what state do you live in?
So much more has to go into it.
I realize the question was buried, but try again.
Either. Can’t imagine for a major like that it really matters. All schools will have strong programs. You are going to grad school. and want a PHD so probably the biggest names but both of those are strong names - but add to your list.
Professionally, that’s a brutal major but since you know you’re going to grad school, find the right school for you, not the one you think will give you a leg up. Kids from Murray State go to grad school at Harvard. Kids from Yale go to grad school at name your regular school - say Iowa.
I’d find the right school for you - GW and Wisconsin are so far apart on every non-rank level - from size to locale to sports scene to everything - I think you need to dig much deeper - and worry less about the leg up part.
Just my opinion.
I forgot to mention these,
-my GPA is 3.7 unweighted
-I will be applying to more schools than this, just need help determining which one to apply to over the other
-I currently live in rural Ohio and would rather be somewhere else
Truth is that neither are top schools for creative writing, and I wouldn’t recommend either.
Since you don’t want to stay in Ohio, I won’t suggest one of the best creative writing programs in the country - Kenyon College. However, Emerson in MA, Knox College in Illinois, Sewanee, and University of Iowa would be good matches/safeties, while, for reaches, Emory and Bucknell.
As for PhDs, Emory, Bucknell, and Knox are in the top 100 colleges for percent of undergrads who go on to do a PhD. Neither Wisconsin nor Georgetown are on that list. Oberlin is a top 20 and Kenyon is in the top 50, but both are in Ohio.
These are the colleges which are at the top of lists produced by people in the creative writing field, BTW. That means that these colleges have the faculty and programs which will provide you with the connections and the opportunities that you will need.