<p>I know Northwestern is known for having a fantastic journalism program, but I am wondering about English because I haven’t heard much about it. Northwestern is the farthest school away I am applying to, so I am wondering if it’s worth applying if I know for sure that I am going to major in English or something closely related, or if I would be better off applying to schools of equal caliber that are more known for English. Any insight would be appreciated, thanks!</p>
<p>NU has a great English program, check out the website for more, but I heard that one of the authors of the Norton Critical Edition series of books is a professor at Northwestern</p>
<p>NU has an excellent English Dept., but apply for the larger quality of a school and whether you like its atmosphere, etc.
Frankly, there are not many schools in the U.S. that I regard as highly as NU.</p>
<p>If there’s one thing that I can absolutely laud about, it would be our English department. Mind you, I am not an English major, but I have tried taking at least one English (both writing and literature related course every quarter. The professors I’ve had are fantastic and make the classes as engaging as possible. Plus, these professors and TAs graduated from schools such as Columbia, Princeton, Harvard, Northwestern, etc. Each has a different background (some even have a background in theatre!), so it’s quite interesting learning in various types of environments.</p>
<p>I understand what you’re saying - does NU offer something that you can’t get closer to home. I’m not sure that they do. They do offer screenwriting and playwriting which may be of interest to you but I’m not sure that “straight” English is something worth traveling far for depending on your other options closer to home. JMHO</p>
<p>amtc, don’t you think there’s a lot of value in travelling far from home for school on its own?</p>
<p>While NU has a lot to offer and traveling far from home has some advantages the question was would the OP be better off attending a school of equal caliber but better known for their English program. When you combine the two I believe the answer is that a school closer to home with a similar academic level of students but more known for English would probably be a better choice.</p>
<p>My generic answer to that question is, yes, going to a different geographic area for college will have an intrinsic value in and of itself, maybe positive, maybe not so positive. It depends on the student and his/her personality and prior exposure to a variety of people from all over.</p>
<p>Although I can’t say I’m an expert in the matter, I can’t imagine any employer/grad school/fellowship saying “Oh, its a shame XXXX only went to Northwestern, if only they had gone somewhere better known for English they’d be a better candidate.”</p>