I know I haven't posted here in a while (school's kept me busy), but I'm having a sort of crisis...
This is my senior year at college. I'm working toward a double major in English with an emphasis in Creative Writing, and Religion.
I would like to attend Graduate School. My top choices so far are the California College of the Arts in San Francisco, and the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Other contenders are the California Institute of the Arts in Santa Clarita, and the University of Iowa in Iowa City. I would like to get a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing. I want to write books for a living.
My advisor thinks I should go for an MA in English instead of just an MFA in Creative Writing because it will broaden my horizons and give me more possibilities to teach or whatever I'm gonna have to end up doing work fast food in order to support myself.
But while most of the Creative Writing programs I can find sound fun and interesting and like something I can definitely see myself doing, the English programs just seem... threatening, boring, and have ridiculous requirements.
You want me to take the GRE? Ok. I can do that. You want me to be proficient in a language like Spanish, Italian, Ancient Greek, or Latin? Yeah... I'm not a language person. I mean, I could work at it, but I've got, what, like 7 months left before graduation? There's no way. It would have been nice of you to tell me this 4 years ago.
Oh, and I have to choose? Between doing English and Creative Writing? I mean, don't get me wrong, I love to read and analyze and read far too much into things. I'd love to be able to get an actual job sometime in the next two-three years. But what I'm passionate about is writing. Writing creatively. Plotting and planning and watching characters come alive under my fingertips. And I should totally save that last one for admissions essays, shouldn't I? I mean, that was an awesome sentence.
So it's not even about where I'll go (the $19,000/semester school in San Francisco, or the $4000/semester school 25 miles from my house where I'll have a guaranteed job and not have to pay rent/utilities), but about what I'll study. I thought I had this shit figured out years ago, but now I'm doubting everything.
Any advice?
I would like to attend Graduate School. My top choices so far are the California College of the Arts in San Francisco, and the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Other contenders are the California Institute of the Arts in Santa Clarita, and the University of Iowa in Iowa City. I would like to get a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing. I want to write books for a living.
My advisor thinks I should go for an MA in English instead of just an MFA in Creative Writing because it will broaden my horizons and give me more possibilities to teach or whatever I'm gonna have to end up doing work fast food in order to support myself.
But while most of the Creative Writing programs I can find sound fun and interesting and like something I can definitely see myself doing, the English programs just seem... threatening, boring, and have ridiculous requirements.
You want me to take the GRE? Ok. I can do that. You want me to be proficient in a language like Spanish, Italian, Ancient Greek, or Latin? Yeah... I'm not a language person. I mean, I could work at it, but I've got, what, like 7 months left before graduation? There's no way. It would have been nice of you to tell me this 4 years ago.
Oh, and I have to choose? Between doing English and Creative Writing? I mean, don't get me wrong, I love to read and analyze and read far too much into things. I'd love to be able to get an actual job sometime in the next two-three years. But what I'm passionate about is writing. Writing creatively. Plotting and planning and watching characters come alive under my fingertips. And I should totally save that last one for admissions essays, shouldn't I? I mean, that was an awesome sentence.
So it's not even about where I'll go (the $19,000/semester school in San Francisco, or the $4000/semester school 25 miles from my house where I'll have a guaranteed job and not have to pay rent/utilities), but about what I'll study. I thought I had this shit figured out years ago, but now I'm doubting everything.
Any advice?