katedwyer

I got into UCLA and UCI, but I have heard that UCI has one of the top English programs. I know UCLA has the name, but I'm wondering if UCI's program is worth considering.

oorah87

Yea their english department is pretty high up there.. But I think that only applies to graduate. I think attending UCLA would make you a more well-rounded applicant if you're going to pursue graduate school..

Thedude44

UCI does have a great English department. However UCLA also has a good English department. Its really up to you but the prestige of UCLA might be a little more beneficial. And UCLA might give you an advantage for grad school.

0rganicGreenTea

I'm an english major for fall 09 and I've been thinking about these two schools aswell.

From what I can gather, UCLA appears to be geared more towards literature study than creative writing. UCLA offers an American Literature major as well as a World Literature major, and would definitely be a good place to do research for graduate school. Obviously they have great resources and a prestigious name. That being said, UCI's literature and criticism program is excellent, and offers a wide variety of courses in whatever specialization you could wish to pursue.

UCI is also a better school regarding creative writing. While UCLA only offers a workshop in short fiction, UCI offers courses in Novel writing. UCLA doesn't offer a workshop in creative non-fiction writing, but UCI offers a creative nonfiction MAJOR(its called literary journalism). Not to mention UCI has one of the best MFA programs in the nation, which definitely shouldn't be ignored. Inversely, UCLA doesn't have an MFA program. UCI also has a student run literary journal, which can provide publishing experience.

All that being said, I feel anyone could become a bomb writer and get into a bomb grad school at either college, and you should first consider where you would rather spend the next 2 years, while letting their english programs serve as the tipping factor.

I can't be certain, but i think UCI might actually have a superior program(in my opinion), whereas UCLA has a better environment.

karabear1

I think the best way to determine which program will meet your individual needs is to look at what classes are actually offered each semester. Go onto the major website and look at past class schedule within a 2 year time span. This will give you an idea of what is actually offered each semester.

As an English major, I ended up applying to UCLA, UCB, and UCR. I decided not to apply to UCI because I thought that their class offerings were silly and way too theoretical. I agree that UCI is way more focused on creative writing. Unlike OrganicGreenTea, this is one of the reasons I was completely 100% uninterested in UCI after researching their program more thoroughly.

Because I'm someone who enjoys more traditional lit studies, I was most interested in the programs offered at UCLA, Berkeley, Riverside, and Davis. However, I feel that UCLA has the widest variety of class offerings. A larger selection of classes will allow you to have a wide range of choice in picking your specialization. If you change your mind, you won't be stuck in a program that doesn't fit your interests.

I ended up picking Berkeley mostly because of my boyfriend, so UCLA still remains my top choice English program......still keeping up my hopes for grad school.......