Does anyone have a child in the creative writing dept at Oberlin? Do they, or don’t they, like it and why?
As you await personally informed replies, this article, in which Oberlin appears, may be of interest:
My kid is at Oberlin right now. It has a top Creative Writing program, one of the best in the nation. My son is not in the program but has one of its professors this semester and absolutely LOVES him. He had a high school friend who was truly torn between going to University of Idaho or Oberlin (Both are nationally renowned for Creative Writing). His friend chose Idaho and it really was a coin flip. My son was bummed about it.
You might want to talk to Oberlin’s Admissions Department about declaring the actual major. I think my kid recently told me that everyone goes into the college undeclared and I am unsure how easy it is to get into the writing classes first year. My kid told me something about not declaring a major until the end of the second year. You really might want to check with this.
I do know there is ample opportunity on campus to seriously write outside of the classroom.
It is a top school for Creative Writing. They have excellent professors.
I agree with this, and also suggest reaching out to the head of the dept. to ask questions. https://www.oberlin.edu/arts-and-sciences/departments/creative-writing/faculty-list
You do have to apply for the creative writing major at Oberlin, one can’t just declare it.
The application is both rigorous and holistic, assessing students’ development over three main areas: professionalism, workshop citizenship, and artistic commitment. Typically, the application requires a reflection on the student’s experiences in creative writing thus far, a proposed course of study in the major, either a close reading of a work of literature or an example of a feedback letter written to a peer, and a portfolio. Applications are reviewed by the entire creative writing teaching faculty. Students not accepted into the major may often still complete the creative writing minor.
My understanding is it can be difficult to get creative writing classes even into soph year, and some (many?) require a student to ‘apply’ by submitting a portfolio of writing to the prof, who decides who to admit to the class. This info is from an AO, as well as from parent posts on the parent FB page, so I would verify this info to see how difficult it may be to get classes/major in CW. Students can take a max of one CW class per term.
Also agree there is ample opportunity to write outside the classroom. Good luck.