Honestly, most writers and faculty in MFA programs typically advise students to minor in CW and not to major in it. A minor only won’t be a problem.
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I can tell this is going to be a very long and winding thread just clarifying what the OP means by CW. They’re going to get a lot of pushback against the idea that you can just take a 5 or 6 courses in the English Dept. (no matter how fine a department it may be) and call it a CW degree.
Also, at this point in my life, the more I hear about the career choices that emerge from every Harvard graduating class (e.g., “extreme right tail outcomes”), the more I almost consider it a “fit” school. Here’s a Thought Experiment: The best creative writers come from the top 10 R1 research universities.
To your point, and in case this is helpful to the OP, here are the list of colleges that the Fiction category of Guggenheim Fellows for 2026 (announced yesterday!) currently teach at. Note that not all are professors associated with a college, but many are.
And to add, I wouldn’t choose a college based on this (unless there’s a writer you’d be particularly interested in studying under, but even then maybe do that for your MFA). But it might be interesting to see the variety here.
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Iowa has an amazing writing program.
During HS, my D24 spent a summer at the Iowa Young Writer’s Studio. It was a great experience and she got to meet young writers from throughout the country. One of her teachers graduated from Princeton and was doing her MFA in creative writing at Iowa.
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Congratulations on making yourself a strong applicant for any college! Others are much more familiar with some of the most competitive schools for admission and their nuances, so I will primarily leave that discussion to them, though I will have to put a plug in for Brown as I think it could be a really good fit for combining your interests.
The schools I’m listing below are those that I think your family would consider paying full freight for or that offer merit aid packages that would bring the price down to be competitive (or well below) UIUC’s cost for in-state students.
U. of Pittsburgh (PA ): About 26k undergrads at this school that gets almost universal raves on CC from people who have visited. It offers various options for people interested in creative writing, with a major in English writing with concentrations in Fiction, Poetry, and Nonfiction as well as a creative writing minor. And if you want to major in Physics, Physics & Astronomy, Physics & Quantum Computing, Actuarial Mathematics, Applied Mathematics, Mathematics, or one of many different engineering fields, Pitt’s got you covered with strong programs as well. I also suspect that you would be competitive for consideration for the Chancellor’s Scholarship, a full ride that is available to a select number of students admitted to the Frederick Honors College. And Pitt is part of a consortium that allows students to take classes at other area universities, including the next school I’m going to mention.
Carnegie Mellon (PA ): Less than a mile away from Pitt is CMU. This school has about 7400 undergrads and is very encouraging of interdisciplinary studies. Although there doesn’t appear to be a perfect with a BXA degree (which are comprehensive majors involving a fine arts major with a major in the CS, engineering, humanities, or math/sciences), I would definitely reach out to CMU to see about options that would integrate your own interests. CMU offers a creative writing major and minor, and you may potentially be interested in the Humanities Scholars Program, if invited to participate. Though CMU is definitely known as a STEM school, it also has an impressive set of alumni who have gone on to be well-known in the arts. Like Pitt, there are cross-registration opportunities available here as CMU is part of the Pittsburgh college consortium.
U. of Rochester (NY): About 6600 undergrads at this school that is not hesitant to try and woo exceptional applicants with lots of merit aid. It has a very flexible curriculum which seems likely to be able to provide you with sufficient room to maneuver in all of your areas of interest. There’s a major as well as a minor in creative writing, and significant depth in your other areas of interest as well (various math areas, physics, astronomy, etc.)
Johns Hopkins (MD): About 6400 undergrads at this school (that is also part of the Baltimore college consortium that permits students to cross-register for classes). Its Writing Seminars major is focused on writing fiction and poetry though I think narrative nonfiction is also included (a minor is also available). And math, physics & astronomy are in the Krieger School of Arts & Sciences (along with Writing Seminars), the engineering college has applied math and an array of engineering majors. You may also be interested in the combined Bachelor’s/Master’s degree program that also has a fellowship covering 50% of the graduate tuition. And unlike most colleges with highly competitive admissions, there is the slim possibility of receiving a merit scholarship.
Bucknell (PA ): About 3900 undergrads at this college. It’s a liberal arts college that is among the few that’s ABET-accredited in numerous engineering specialties. But, even more to the point for you, is its creative writing program that offers both a major and a minor and that boasts seven full-time faculty members to support its students. And there are a variety of scholarships available, including Arts Merit Scholarships (includes creative writing) ranging from $2500-$20k/year, , a Mathematics Scholars Program ($20k/year), as well as $40k merit awards for the Malesardi Arts & Sciences Scholars and Engineering Merit Scholars.
Miami U. (OH): About 17k undergrads at this college that many say feels like a large liberal arts school. It has engineering and math and many other STEM offerings, but it’s also strong across the liberal arts. Its creative writing program is worth checking out, which offers both a major and a minor. I suspect that you might be invited to compete for their full tuition scholarship.
Binghamton (NY): About 15k undergrads here that is pretty strong across the board, offers a full complement of ABET-accredited engineering specialties and other STEM programs, but also has a creative writing program that is worth consideration.
I would feel remiss if I didn’t at least mention Cornell/Ithaca. Cornell (16k undergrads) is often considered to have the strongest of the engineering programs in the Ivy League and would also ably support your interest in almost any field. It has an arrangement with Ithaca College (about 4300 undergrads), located less than a mile away, that allows students to cross-register for classes. Ithaca has an extremely well-reputed writing program, including creative writing.
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Thank you so much for the advice!! This is very helpful 
Yeah, I also recognize that since creative writing and most STEM majors are in completely different departments, it’s not going to be feasible to do some sort of double major or even a CW minor. I just want to enter a school that has liberal arts opportunities and encourages students to pursue it, even as a hobby—things like university literary magazines, a community of writers, etc.
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I agree! This is something my parents and I have debated at length; I think they severely underestimate how difficult it is to get into a so-called prestigious college in the first place. I think the immigrant mentality of “go to prestigious school, get high-paying job” is still prevalent.
Yes, I see what you all are saying on my EA list being just… a discombobulated list of public schools. I think my idea with this was to try to apply to some more schools early action (which have to be publics as Stanford has REA), but I see this is misguided now
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Iowa is, of course, world-renowned for its MFA program! Some of my friends have done the Iowa Young Writer’s Studio and thought it was a great experience. But I’ve also heard that the undergrad experience at Iowa is completely separate from its graduate school, so while its MFA program is fantastic, I’m pretty convinced that I would choose Illinois over Iowa for undergrad? Not sure if this is misinformed
I think you mean, STEM and CW are usually located in different schools (School of Engineering, School of Arts & Science, etc.), sometimes called “colleges” within the same university. And very often hard to cross-register for classes.
I think we are beginning to zero in on “vibe”, here. I sat down with a Wesleyan tour guide receently and she patiently explained the difference between a vibe and a niche and how they both differ from what a lot of adults have understood as “fit”.
“Fit” as I’ve always understood it, is whether a school has everything you need: academics, food, social life, etc… Sometimes, it’s framed as a question of whether you can find your “peep” at a particular place.
“Vibe” is a little bit different. It seems to be a reflection of how the student sees themselves; a prevailing style. It’s almost like choosing a college as a kind of cosplay. Can you see yourself sharing that characteristic with over half the school’s population? If not, then you’re probably looking for a niche. 
I really see your vibe as a small-ish, Ivy (Brown, Dartmouth, maybe Princeton) someplace that screams “liberal arts AND science” under one roof. Yale, Chicago and Columbia, if you don’t mind urban environments.
Stanford’s a great R1 fit where you will surely find your peep, but I see its vibe as more like a West Coast version Harvard: big and rather transactional. All about ROI, and not terribly liberal-artsy.
Hope this helps.
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That doesn’t sound quite right to me.
It is true the famed Iowa Writers’ Workshop itself is a graduate/MFA program.
But of course they have an undergrad program as well:
As explained there, current graduate students and in fact alums of the MFA program are among the teachers and faculty for undergrads. There are also lots of guest speakers and other special events.
So yes they are different programs, but they are within a broader overall community of writers.
This is not necessarily true if the STEM subject is a science or math (physics is a science). Science and math are often housed in the same division as humanities and social sciences (e.g. “College of Arts and Sciences”).
Whether a course is difficult to register for depends mostly on whether student demand exceeds instructional capacity. If a major is more selective (either at frosh admission or for students trying to change into it), then that likely means that at least some of the courses in that major are filled to capacity with students needing it for the major, so there may not be space for those outside the major.
Physics is fine. It’s the “E” in STEM that is the confounding factor. OP seems to be “vibing” between the two.
“T” may also be located outside of Arts & Sciences, although I think it is often unclear what T is supposed to be anyway. Even something like Applied Physics (which I am thinking of because it came up in another discussion) might be in a different school from Physics.
Generally the OP seems pretty open-minded, which is good, but it is also true some undergrad programs work better for broadly-exploratory kids than others. Definitely something to keep in mind.
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Engineering Technology is a relatively uncommon kind of major in college. Probably it was included in “STEM” because the acronym is easier to say and remember than “SEM”, “SCEM” (C for CS) or some other variant.
Of course, since the majors differ significantly (biology, computer science, mechanical engineering, physics, statistics, etc.), the STEM acronym is overused in suggesting more commonality than there is.
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STEM isn’t a college-specific acronym, of course. It covers all levels of education, too!
A bit of a side note: And agree “engineering technology” which is a specific type of degree (abet accredited and all), though quite rare. RIT, some Penn State Campuses, and Purdue are probably most famous for it. College of Engineering Technology | RIT https://polytechnic.purdue.edu/academic-areas/soet - Surprisingly good job outcomes though! (e.g. here is one or this one)
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UIUC is very appealing for this reason! Their department of physics is within the engineering school, so as far as I know, it’s not too difficult to switch majors. I’m not set on what I want to do after college at all, and I really hope my experience in university illuminates some career path for me
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I like URochester for the flexibility.
Some schools make transferring to engineering from physics difficult while others don’t. At JHU, for example, I believe it’s just a matter of paperwork unless you want to do BME. At Cornell and Columbia in the other hand, there’s a gpa requirement and it may be competitive.
You might also want to check out Harvey Mudd - access to the 5CC means you could take creative writing courses across the consortium and thus have access to a wide range of offerings. HM also doesn’t make it difficult to switch to or between engineering.
If the goal is job security, then I would consider applying for something in the engineering school at schools with an administrative barrier between the science and engineering departments, for example applying for engineering physics at Cornell.
Can you share a bit of which aspects of physics your enjoy? Is it learning and applying math to real world problems, or a specific branch of physics?
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Can you tell us what state you are from? I see Illinois mentioned but I am not sure if this is confirmed somewhere and I missed it.
I am finding myself torn between “there are a lot of excellent universities with excellent specific programs that are worth considering but are not ranked in the top 10 overall”, and “you can get a bachelor’s degree at a very good in-state public university, possibly save money, and then go on to get a graduate degree or two from a very highly ranked program (even at the Stanford / MIT / “top 1 or 2 or 10 in the world” level). Also, what constitutes “top 10 (or 20 or 50) in the world” for a graduate program may depend not only on “physics versus biology” but also might depend upon subfields such as “materials physics versus cosmology versus quantum physics versus particle physics”, or sometimes even more finely focused specifics of what you want to study.
If you are in-state for UIUC then I agree, and it is very good. Also, a bachelor’s at UIUC (assuming that you do very well there and also have very good internship or job experience and associated references) can make you competitive for pretty much any appropriate graduate program, including very highly ranked graduate programs.
It is relatively common for students once they get to university to be exposed to a number of possibilities that might not have occurred to them. Some of us get a bachelor’s degree and still do not know what we want to do with our career, but then we figure it out over time. In many cases we try a bit of this and a bit of that before we find the right path.
I was wondering this also.
I’ve looked into astro and particle physics but wouldn’t say there’s one specific branch that I’m super interested in now—I definitely have to learn more about physics before I can firmly decide on that! I enjoy how it’s a more applicable version of math in a way, and I love problem-solving. Also enjoy how it reveals how the world actually works and what is often taken for granted I’ve had a good time in AP Physics C and generally enjoy physics more than, for instance, bio and chem.
Yes, sorry, I’m from Illinois. Unfortunately this makes me very doxxable so I didn’t want to include this info in the main post