<p>I’ve tried asking these questions on a few other forums on this board, but I’m not getting any answers, so I figured I’d try here. </p>
<p>I’ve applied to 7 schools so far:
Gonzaga University (Accepted, 6,500 a year scholarship)
University of Portland (Accepted, 9,000 a year scholarship)
University of Puget Sound
Santa Clara University
Boston University
Boston College (Convinced I won’t be accepted)
Vanderbilt University (Convinced I won’t be accepted)</p>
<p>I thought I was done applying, but I am incredibly indecisive, and I am starting to find things wrong with all the schools I’ve applied to. I am worried that I won’t be accepted anywhere on the East coast so I would like to apply to a few more schools. </p>
<p>Here are the ones I am looking at:
University of Iowa
Washington and Lee University
Tulane University</p>
<p>But I have questions about all of them. </p>
<li><p>University of Iowa: I am worried that this school is too big for me. I don’t want to get lost in a sea of students, especially in a state that I’ve never visited. My main reason for wanting to apply is the incredible creative writing program, but I am not sure how selective it is or how I even go about applying. </p></li>
<li><p>Washington and Lee: It is very white. I am white, but I am the minority at home. I am worried about the lack of diversity. And I am worried about the conservative/religious thing. And the rich thing. And I have researched the English department but any comments about it would be appreciated. </p></li>
<li><p>Tulane: I think it sounds wonderful but my parents visited New Orleans a few years ago and told me that I would hate it. “It’s very dirty and there is a lot of poverty.” This worries me. I don’t mind the hurricane thing…I would love to get involved and help volunteer. I am also curious about the English/writing program here. And the weather. I am tired of the year around heat/humidity, but I heard that it’s like that in New Orleans…only more severe. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>Thanks a lot…and as you can see my list of schools is very diverse…I think it has to do with my indecisiveness :)</p>
<p>Deep breath, surfette. Some of your indecisiveness and “cold feet” is a natural reaction to the waiting - sorry, kiddo, it may well get worse before it gets better.
Go for a long walk, or go to a coffee shop away from your usual hang-outs, somewhere that you can sit down with your own thoughts and perhaps a bit of paper, and list all the criteria that are important to you in choosing a college. I think your list is fine, and I certainly don’t see how those particular 3 schools will improve your choices - except maybe Univ of Iowa for a writer - I get that.</p>
<p>Why do you want togo to the East Coast, particularly? If it is for the typical reasons of wanting to be close to the excitement of a large city, those 3 don’t cut it! NOLA is a shadow of what it used to be, and wasn’t really a large city in the NYC/Chic/Philly mode anyway, W&L is very rural, etc.
If you are looking for a Catholic school with a good English/writing dept, you will probably get some ideas here, but otherwise, you have 2 acceptances - is the money going to work out? If not, you may also want to look elsewhere - Tulane is generous with merit aid, but W&L is probably more selective, and Iowa will have the typical restraints and formulae of a state school.</p>
<p>Honestly, Surfette, I think you are more having normal cold feet, and just need to take some deep breaths.</p>
<p>The University of Iowa is known for its graduate program in creative writing. While tons of undergraduates flock there for that reason, you are likely to be taught by graduate students, not the famous professors you might hope for. Check it out. Have you looked at Lafayette? Gettsyburg? (Gettysburg has its own nationally distributed literary journal, the aptly named The Gettysburg Review.) These are much smaller schools than the ones you named, but you said you were afraid of some being too big. You might also want to look into Goucher and Bryn Mawr (if you’re a woman). </p>
<p>Tulane students love their school, but it’s difficult to say that you would. You really should try to visit if you’re serious about it. You can apply now, and plan to visit if it’s still in the running when your acceptances arrive.</p>
<p>I really don’t know which schools are still accepting applications. Syracuse might have been a good choice for you (although I don’t know your stats), but I think the deadline was Jan. 1. </p>
<p>Keep in mind that you don’t have to decide now. Apply to the schools you think you MIGHT like, and then plan to visit your favorite two or three in the spring.</p>
<p>Iowa is WAY not on the East coast. If you are tired of the climate in Hawaii, New Orleans would be an odd choice. I don’t know anything about Washington and Lee.</p>
<p>Otherwise, as usual, you’ve gotten some good advice up above.</p>
<p>Is there something specifically undesireable about the two schools to which you’ve been accepted already? Spokane isn’t a big city, but it’s big enough not to be a tiny college town, and Portland is, obviously, on the edge of a major metro area. I haven’t visited Gonzaga, but the folks at U Portland have been a dream to deal with. My son has an acceptance there in Engineering, with a generous scholarship, and is seriously considering it (waiting for Olin, though…). </p>
<p>It’s really late in the application season, too, for a lot of schools. I know that my alma mater has a first-rate creative writing program, but their application date is past. All in all, I think Cangel might be right – you might just be suffering from “post-application stress syndrome.” Maybe you need a movie and some hot chocolate?</p>
<p>"My main reason for wanting to apply is the incredible creative writing program, but I am not sure how selective it is or how I even go about applying. "</p>
<p>If you are looking for an “incredible” creative writing program for undergraduates, try Bard. None of the Ivies can touch it.</p>
<p>That said, don’t undersell Santa Clara. It is full of brilliant professors, hardworking students, beautiful campus, great location.</p>
<p>You’re from Hawaii, don’t like the weather and are thinking of applying to Tulane? In a word, YIKES. I’m sure Tulane is a wonderful school, but I’ve never ever seen New Orleans’s weather listed as a plus anywhere. You do not KNOW from humidity until you’ve been there…and I’m from Florida.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t describe W&L as rural, but Lexington is a small town. Roanoke (small city) is an hour or so away. W&L has a HUGE Greek presence. 78% of women are in sororities and I think the fraternity number is even bigger.</p>
<p>Yeah, it may just be the cold feet thing…but this is my thinking. </p>
<p>I got into Gonzaga and Portland
Will probably get into Puget Sound and hopefully Santa Clara.
Will NO WAY get into BC or Vanderbilt.
And BU is a 50/50. </p>
<p>What happens if I decide I don’t want to live on the West Coast and I don’t get into BU? I also feel that the best academics are at BU, BC, and Vandy…and then there is a big drop. Well, maybe Santa Clara…then drop. So I am trying to find another matchy school that is good in writing and preferably near a city NOT on the West Coast…
Any suggestions?</p>
<p>BTW the reason I want to live near a city is because ever since I was little, I envisioned this as my college experience:</p>
<p>Walking down the street in a trench coat and cute boots and possibly holding an umbrella and a coffee as I run across the street looking uber sophisticated while on my way to my incredibly cool job. (Think “The Devil Wears Prada”)</p>
<p>It’s silly, I know, but it would be the opposite of what life is like here, and I can’t seem to stop dreaming about itt.</p>
<p>You are watching too many movies. Mostl likely if you’ve got that umbrella open because of rain, the wind will have turned it inside out, you be holding the coffee in the other hand, getting wind-blown, soaked and looking little a wet dog. They just chose not to show that in the Devil wears Prada. Lol.</p>
<p>Surfette, sweetie, (I’m a Mom, I can say that), the 2 days a year in NOLA that you could wear a coat, it won’t be raining.
You are dreaming about jobs, not college. Look at the schools others have listed, but chill, I think you have a good list, and I think you will be fine.
If you decide you don’t want the West Coast, then move to the East Coast after college.
Anyway after hearing your dream, Tulane is NOT that, walking around in Lexington (lots more chances for rainy, colder weather there) would actually be closer to that dream, but it is not a city.</p>
<p>Have you looked at Miami of Ohio for creative writing? Smaller than U of Iowa but still not too expensive for OOS. Think you can apply until 2/1.</p>
<p>My neigbor’s D attended Miami of Ohio for her Masters degree in commun ications. They said it was a beautiful campus but the town of Oxford, Ohio was about as far from urban as you can get (although Cincinnati is about 40 miles or so away).</p>