interlochen summer creative writing: should i go?

Hi @beiurre I see you posted back in February, and your plans may have changed since then, but thought I’d answer based on my own daughter’s experience at Interlochen, last summer. She also chose the Creative Writing concentration, though she came to Interlochen with many other interests as well.

If you are primarily looking to build a writing portfolio with an eye toward college admissions, Interlochen is probably not the best fit. My daughter had additional goals – she was considering applying to the Academy for year-round admission and wanted to see what it was like, first – so in that sense we considered the experience worthwhile. She came to the summer program with some pieces she hoped to workshop and get professional input on. It wasn’t quite that type of experience, and she felt there was not very much actual “work” involved.

There are many wonderful aspects to the Interlochen program – please don’t consider this a negative review by any means – but if you are a serious creative writing student looking for real academic value, you might Google “online creative writing courses” and find a group that better fits your goals as well as your budget. Before the virus hit, my daughter was looking into our local community college, which offers open writing workshops, and is reasonably-priced; that is another cost-effective route for high school students.

Good luck!