<p>Hi, I'm a junior and I'm trying to find schools with good english programs (that I have a chance of getting into). If it helps, my GPA unweighted is 3.9, weighted 4.9, PSAT score 216 (haven't taken SAT yet), and within the top 2% of my class. I would like to stay on the east coast but I'm flexible in terms of setting and size (for now). Thanks for your help!</p>
<p>LACs for English from Rugg's Recommendations</p>
<p>Allegheny
Amherst
Bard
Bowdoin
Bryn Mawr
Carleton
Centre
Claremont McKenna
Colby
Colgate
Colorado C
Connecticut C
U Dallas
Dartmouth
Davidson
Dickinson
Franklin and Marshall
Gettysburg
Grinnell
Hamilton
Heverford
Holy Cross
Illinois Wesleyan
Kalamazoo
Kenyon
Knox
Lafayette
Lawrence
Macalester
Middlebury
Mount Holyoke
Oberlin
Pomona
Reed
Rhodes
U Richmond
Sarah Lawrence
Skidmore
Smith
U South
St Olaf
Swartmore
Trinity (TX)
Vassar
Wake Forest
Washington and Lee
Wellesley
Wesleyan
Wheaton
Whitman
Willamette
Williams </p>
<p>Gourman Report ranking for undergraduate English</p>
<p>Yale
UC Berkeley
Harvard
U Chicago
Stanford
Cornell
Princeton
Columbia
Johns Hopkins
U Penn
UCLA
Brown
Indiana
U Michigan
UC Irvine
Northwestern
Wisconsin
Rutgers
UNC Chapel Hill
U Iowa
u Virginia
NYU
U Notre Dame
U Illinois
U Washington
Duke
U Texas Austin
SUNY Stony Brook
U Rochester
Emory
Washington U St Louis
Dartmouth
U Minnesota
UC San Diego
Vanderbilt
Pomona
Brandeis
Swarthmore
Haverford
U Mass Amherst
UC Santa Barbara</p>
<p>Are you interested in Literature or Creative Writing?</p>
<p>^ JHU has a really top notch program in Creative Writing and the English department is very distinguished to boot.</p>
<p>teenage_cliche: mainly literature but I might consider a concentration or minor in creative writing
Phead128: I've heard that, but I also know someone who majored in English, and when she was visiting JHU the counselor told her not to apply because she wouldn't get to have much contact with faculty until grad school. Is this true?</p>
<p>My main question, though, is where do I actually have a chance of getting in? I guess I should add my extracurriculars (not too impressive): NHS, FHS, Beta Honor, LINKS (tutoring/mentoring--on board), La Sertoa (service club), newspaper staff, creative writing, 9 years of piano. And I'm taking five APs this year in addition to two last year, and I'll have 6 credits of math, 5 of science, and 4 of a foreign lang before I graduate, but math's not my strong point and it looks like I'm going to get a B this quarter in AP Calc BC...So does anyone have any ideas for reach, safety schools, etc?</p>
<p>Your stats are fine and you have a shot at pretty much any school. Not a particularly advantageous shot, but certainly a decent shot worth applying. That should take care of your reaches. Figure out what your favorite reach school is (or what your ideal perfect school would be) and look for the most important of those characteristics in safety schools--SAT ranges where you fall above the 75th percentile (you can use the PSAT scores x10), selectivity rates around or above 50%. For instance, my LAC safety--also for Lit and CW--is Beloit, which isn't perfect but still satisfies me about 10 million times more than my in-state flagship.</p>
<p>I notice that you haven't narrowed down size yet, which will broaden your search. One trick is to look at the English department course offerings and see if you would want to take many of those classes. There are generally two distinct "styles," traditional offerings (AmLit, BritLit, poetry/prose/drama, time period, major authors, etc.) and more topical/cultural offerings (e.g. ethnic lit), which of course overlap. But compare Grinnell and Vassar's English courses to get an idea of what I'm talking about.</p>
<p>Keilexandra,</p>
<p>I see Beliot is on your list as it is on my D's too. We haven't had a chance to visit yet, but soon will. Have you looked at the other smaller upper tier LAC's in the upper midwest for writing programs also?</p>
<p>Some that are still on D's list include; St Olaf, Carleton, Macalaster, Lawrence, Gustavas, Grinnel, and a mostly unknown Coe College in Iowa, along with a couple of the top State U's that have good creative writing including UW Madison. Any opinions on these would be appreciated.</p>
<p>OP,
I think my D's feel for looking a good creative writing program is to first get a "feel" for what "type" of school (mostly sizewise) and then narrow down from there. I think a big consideration at a larger institution <em>could</em> be if a lot of the lower level things are taught by TA's etc, how fast will you get the "passion" for the subject? I have never been through that so I dont know, but it is a question in my mind I guess. Something to consider too is that at a larger U, there may be a wider variety of classes as compared to a smaller school, but not the intimate class size. </p>
<p>There is no 1 answer for everyone, thats for sure.</p>
<p>DJD</p>
<p>djdietz: that's a good point; I'm really torn about size because I'd prefer smaller classes but a smaller school seems like it could be kind of stifling socially. Any thoughts?</p>
<p>Keilexandra: thanks, that helps a lot! I'm definitely looking for traditional course offerings.</p>
<p>Something else: I'd prefer intellectual vs. pre-professional--though career placement is obviously important.</p>
<p>Indiana has small classes in English (my D is in a 200 level class and size is under 25 with great instructor) and as noted by Gourman report above the department is highly rated. If you're concerned about your social life, no worries there. Depending on your SAT score, your GPA will make you eligible for automatic scholarships and possibly the Honors College.</p>
<p>Have heard good things regarding English depts at these LACs:</p>
<p>Amherst
Bowdoin
Carleton
Claremont McKenna
Colby
Colgate
Davidson
Grinnell
Hamilton
Haverford
Holy Cross
Kenyon
Middlebury
Oberlin
Pomona
Smith
Swarthmore
Vassar
Wellesley
Williams</p>
<p>how's the creative writing program at vassar?</p>
<p>Here are the best schools for english:</p>
<p>Amherst College
Auburn University
Bard College
Barnard College
Bennington College
Boston College
Brown University
City University Of New York - Hunter College
Claremont McKenna College
Clemson University
Colby College
Colgate University
Columbia University
Cornell university
Dartmouth College
Denison University
Duke University
Emory University
Fordham University
George Mason University
Gettysburg College
Harvard College
Johns Hopkins University
Kenyon College
The New School University
Pitzer College
Pomona College
Princeton University
Rice University
Stanford University
Syracuse University
Tufts University
University Of California - Berkeley
The University Of Chicago
University Of Michigan - Ann Arbor
University Of Notre Dame
University Of Utah
Vassar College
Washington University In St. Louis
Wellesley College
Yale University</p>