/lit/ - Literature

I'll have a double espresso and a blueberry muffin to go pl0x

>>3452392
>can't spell expresso

>>3452386
Don't do journalism; do English, but make sure you do well. If you get a 1st (the US equivalent of which is a 4.0 GPA), you should be viable for internships or direct hiring. I don't see why you wouldn't be. Ignoring what >>3452392 said, you'll be fine, as long as you have perfect/ near-perfect grades.

Writing can't be taught and everyone knows it. A degree in writing will be 4 years of wasted tuition at an institute that will do little more to the development of your work than clap twice and say "good work."

Worse, everyone will know that, also. A writing degree is one of the most demystified degrees there is.

>>3452403
Is that a joke, or are you retarded?

Assuming you mean creative writing, then no, your undergrad major doesn't matter for graduate studies--all that matters for graduate programs is your portfolio. If you're the next Nabokov, they won't care that you studied mechanical engineering, and if you're the next Tao Lin they won't take you no matter how much you know about Elizabethan drama.

Major in English because you want to major in English. Lots of places will let you double major with creative writing anyway.

>>3452417
Pretty much this. Your degree title doesn't matter as long as you have latent ability and stellar marks.

>>3452403
Joke is on you buddy.

>>3452406
Aside from the stereotypical fast-food employee and something in the publishing industry, what other types of jobs can you get with good grades and an English major?

>>3452431
Marketing/ business/ computing if you do a 1-year graduate course/ editing/ teaching/ archiving/ writing technical manuals

Lots of shit.

>>3452441
The main reason people say English grads don't get good jobs, is because most of them are fucking lazy as shit. The same applies to pretty much every degree ever. This is why Oxbridge graduates almost all have very good jobs - they are astute and passionate.

>>3452431
I got a job as a pharmacy technician in a hospital

£18,000 per year.

I recently became qualified. i spent two years on day release to my local college (it was like being back in highschool).

>>3452453
Actually it's because they have friends who can give them jobs

>>3452457
>high school
>£

Hmm.

>>3452460
Nepotism isn't really a thing these days, considering Oxbridge actively avoids independent schools.

>>3452463
?

>>3452466
>Oxbridge actively avoids independent schools
Doesn't follow. Also, private/public/independent school students are still the majority there.

>>3452473
They tried to get more state school kids in because they were being accused of elitism. I should know; I got rejected with A*A*A*A*

>>3452466
>Nepotism isn't really a thing these days
>mfw he thinks we live in a meritocracy

>>3452481
I meant specifically in that context.

>>3452478
yeah... state school kids outnumber eton faggots at oxbridge.

>>3452478
>I should know; I got rejected with A*A*A*A*
Yeah, I'm not surprised that's what lies behind your poor reasoning.

>>3452386
best undergrad English program last time I checked was a tie between UC Berkeley and Harvard.

>>3452493
To be fair, it goes both ways. I remember reading an article about how they were instantly binning all pharmacology MSc applications that came from non-RG unis.

>>3452478
>I should know; I got rejected with A*A*A*A*

I knew a guy who got a rejection from oxford even though he got four a*.
he wrote a poem for his ucas personal statement.
I shit you not
is your name Tim by any chance?

>>3452507
No, it's not. I didn't write a poem, but it was a (I thought) subtle Woolf pastiche. I didn't even get to interview. I actually ended up getting 4 rejections.

>>3452501
I wouldn't pay any attention to crap like that. Pure sensationalism.

Ive heard Kenyan (I think thats how it spelled, its in Ohio I think) and UCI have good creative writing departments.

>>3452511

>>3452511
>I actually ended up getting 4 rejections.
Oh dear god...

>>3452522
>>3452523
Y-you don't have to rub it in.

Any thoughts on NYU or Cornell?

How would we even gauge that? What great writers held writing degrees?

>>3452575
I've heard good things about Cornell.

>>3452588
Oh, you've heared good things about an Ivy League college?

>>3452575
Tao Lin went to NYU and he's the greatest 21st century writer, so it must be good.

>>3452661
Get the fuck out.

>>3452661
Suddenly, I like NYU.

Where does /lit/ go to college?

>>3452704
Liverpool Uni.

>>3452478

unless your personal statement was complete shit or you applied to medicine, you should be mad

>>3452704
Community College of Rhode Island

>>3452752
Did you fuck up in high school or did you start late?

>>3452755
Fucked up in high school and couldn't get anyone to cosign my loans. I only could have managed University of Rhode Island which is a nationally renowned party school and locally renowned to be shit.

>>3452497

if later in life you plan on dealing with people who are more impressed with credentials than actual talent, you are probably correct

people who are genuinely interested in learning the craft rather than impressing strangers know the University of Iowa has the very best writing program in the US.

>>3452781
Is that actually true or are you shitting me? Also is it really worth spending 3-4 years in Iowa?

>>3452781
>>3452795
This isn't true. UI was the first to pioneer a writing program, but it's far from being the best.

>>3452795
Iowa is a happening place now.

>>3452795

writing is mostly a solitary endeavor, iowa is as good as any other place

dont take my word for it, here's a link to their website, read it (seek out a few reviews, too), decide for yourself

http://www.uiowa.edu/~iww/about.htm

>>3452781

You don't go to college to become a writer.
You get the opportunity to mix with other young, enthusiastic "writers" and you get a lot of spare time to spend on writing..... but the actual course content is throwaway

>>3452704
UCI

>>3452804

Difference between UoI and places like NYU and Harvard and Cornell is that, when it comes to admissions, the UoI admission board selects students based on their talent as writers. It doesn't matter if you're daddy went there, legacy means bupkis. Plan on playing the race card during admission, seeking special treatment based on your ethnicity ? Unlike the East Coast schools, none of those things mean anything at all at UoI.

>>3452704
Durham alumni

>>3452795
Not that guy, but that's definitely the reputation Iowa has. We get told to aim for Iowa all the way over here in Australia. It has global reach.

>>3452575
I got a BA in English at NYU, and I don't know how it stacks up to other schools, but I had a lot of excellent and knowledgable professors. No complaints about the program.

Also, if you're interested in creative writing, NYU has a lot of distinguished faculty in that department, though they only offer creative writing as a minor. On of my friends was in Zadie Smith's class, which you can't say for many other universities.

>>3452866

i went to NYU, too.

well done, anon. i'm proud of you.

A lot of great writers went to U of Iowa.
I've also heard good things about UMich's program.

ITT: Bunch of idiots

>>3452866
>>3454146

Paying full price for a half-rate education.

>>3452471
High school and the pound sterling don't jive, baby.

>>3452481
The meritocracy is nepotism nowadays.

>>3452866
NYU is ludicrously overpriced (you're just paying to be able to say you did it all at 18), but I would have fucking killed someone who signed up for her class just to get a seat.

From what I gathered when she spoke at my city's library, though, she teaches a kind of run-of-the-mill English class like DFW did.


It would have been fun to take Shtyengart's class too (does he still teach there?).

>>3452386
It really doesn't matter where you go to college outside of networking and job potential. If you just want to go to college to get an english education in literature/grammar, it's more about what you do as a student than the program itself. You'll learn the same shit no matter where you go, it's about learning to interpret and figure things out yourself, something that can be self taught.

>Ctrl+F Arizona State University
>0 results

For shame, /lit/.

>>3452588
really? fucking dipshit

There are a lot of small liberal arts colleges that focus on writing. Sarah Lawrence, Swarthmore (this one's very selective), Reed, and St. John's are some that come to mind. As for the best, I'm not sure.

I'm finishing my 4th year at University of Toronto. I have to say, if I wasn't offered two jobs by my school, I don't think I would have finished university.

>>3454146
>>3452866
lol, you're supposed to get into columbia and party with the nyu kids on the weekend