<p>hi.
I am sure Yale's english department (my prospective major, wherever I end up) is top-notch, but i am curious about writing programs/resources at the school.
i am also considering brown, and know that brown has a Literary Arts program that seems awesome. Does anyone know about programs and such at yale that provide opportunites and resources to writers (i'm a creative/fiction writer).</p>
<p>Thanks, whoever may respond. I am trying to find where I fit best. Presuming nothing.</p>
<p>Even though this is the "Yale" forum, I've heard U of Chicago and JHU have great creative writing programs.</p>
<p>Yale has always had a lot of students interested in writing, and a relative paucity of formal writing courses. I think it has more of the latter now than it has ever had -- six or seven, most of which are oversubscribed seminars -- and there is a writing concentration in the English Department that essentially lets you count four writing courses towards an English major. For several generations, though, the core writing course at Yale has been Daily Themes, a pretty unique 100-year-old course that requires, yes, daily submissions, and has always been considered great training for journalists and novelists alike. Because of its proximity to NYC, Yale often offers one-off seminars by brand-name writers, too. And, as mentioned, there is a great community of student writers there.</p>
<p>That said, Yale is not especially known for its formal creative writing program. Others do it better, and differently, and more.</p>
<p>My daughter is an English major at Chicago who has been writing short stories seriously since she was 10. She made a conscious decision to go to Chicago notwithstanding a second-rate writing program there; sometimes she regrets it, sometimes not. Places whose writing programs she admires (based on research and information from friends) are: Carnegie-Mellon, Columbia, Johns Hopkins, Penn. Brown probably has the biggest program of all, but its very size may dilute its quality somewhat, and at least half of the undergraduate courses are taught by MFA students. Chicago's program (six or seven oversubscribed seminars) is not on a par with any of those, based on faculty or on student quality. (Some of the slots for introductory courses are awarded by lottery and get taken by people with no interest in writing as a profession who want a fun course; some of those people wind up in upper level courses, too. That may be true elsewhere as well, but the big-name writing programs attract a higher proportion of serious writers.) </p>
<p>In the LAC world, Kenyon has always been known for creative writing programs, but I don't have any current information.</p>
<p>I would suggest Columbia, but then again I'm somewhat bias. :)</p>
<p>I've heard VERY good things about NYU's and the Tish school of arts. It's very contemporary and has a lot of connections to the writing and publishing. I believe they also offer a summer program so wherever you end up, that's always an option.</p>
<p>I don't know much about creative writing at Yale but I know that as a whole we are very well regarded in the arts/humanities and I think the above posters are probably underplaying Yale's strength. </p>
<p>USNews is definitely not an end-all-be-all, but it ranks the Yale (Grad) English Department as #1 so obviously the department must have something going for it...</p>
<p>I will also be honest that the best writer (creative writer) I know goes to Columbia. He is also a drug addict, likes to sleep in public restrooms for fun, takes showers once a week, and chose Columbia in order to stay in the city where he grew up (he applied ED).</p>
<p>I don't see any reason whatsoever not to apply to Yale for creative writing -- if you are lucky enough to get in, then you can try to figure out where is the best fit.</p>
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<p>Well, that was a failure.</p>
<p>My apologies. The comment was merely meant to show that the guy really, really stands out and leads a pretty darn unusual life. Is there a way an op can delete it?</p>
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Well, that was a failure.
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<p>rofl (10char)</p>