I'm looking for a college that may not exist

Parents Forum
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<p>I don’t know when the OP’s son went to Chicago, or what he did there, but from my kids’ (very recent) experience it would be completely wrong to say “the arts are very anemic there”. Some of them, maybe. Dance. But theater is completely vibrant – I believe the University Theater is the student organization in which more students participate than any other, and it has 30+ productions every academic year, counting its Shakespeare troupe and the improv company. It also has alumni salted around the (also very vibrant) Chicago indie theater community, so kids engaged in theater are not limited to on-campus activities. Music is also relatively strong, and there is a dedicated fine art cohort. And a pretty active filmmaking club. Also, the English department offers a creative writing track, I believe, although the quality of the creative writing courses leaves something to be desired. My writer kid did not do that, but she didn’t lack at all for writing outlets while she was there, and she had several paid magazine-journalism gigs.</p>

<p>Yes, it takes itself seriously. And I don’t know so much about the Ancient Cultures faculty, but the couple I have met clearly smiled and laughed on occasion. Other faculty can be hilarious, although it’s dry-wit hilarious, not Judd-Apatow hilarious.</p>

<p>It goes without saying that the city of Chicago has been one of the richest sources of fictional characters in the world over the past century. The only problem is that the real characters compete with the fictional ones to see who can be more outrageous.</p>

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<p>I think this college does exist. It’s called Harvard.</p>

<p>Compared to Chicago, Harvard College strikes me as more of a meet market for brilliant individuals than a coherent academic program. However, it seems to meet every one of the 5 criteria in the original post. For the OP’s daughter, it just might be the perfect fit.</p>

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<p>OP, I will speak of Trinity in TX. About 2/3 of the students are indeed with TX addresses, but Texas is a very diverse state, and that many have that Texas address upon enrollment really doesn’t mean they have lived there too long. My D just graduated from there in May.</p>

<p>The school is 60% white, 7.5% international, and the class of 2015 is 16% 1st generation.</p>

<p>My D is from the Midwest. Of her three roommates who also just graduated we have:</p>

<p>1) A Brit born in South Africa, but living in TX for only 2 years when she applied because her Dad heads up a Dept. at A&M now. A French major, she leaves next month for Europe to study 18th Century art.</p>

<p>2) A young lady from MS, but only in TX since the age of 16, a Drama major, now working professionally in her field.</p>

<p>3) A third gal from TX, but after having lived in a number of places because her parents were military. Violin performance major, beginning graduate school this week in Boston.</p>

<p>4) D. Not from TX. A minority student, English/Spanish major, and the only non-redhead of the four. Working in SA for Advise TX for one year before she goes off to Europe for a specialized program for the EU. She also plans to write, and has been published.</p>

<p>I know it’s anecdotal, but it really is a pretty diverse place. It will likely be a safety for your daughter, as it was for mine. She could have gone to NU or Wellesley, where she was accepted, and lots of other places, but TU was challenging and very different for her.</p>

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<p>From what I read here, Reed is should be high on OP’s list especially if she wants a quirky large town (Portland, Oregon, the home of Powells book’s is a very different sort of town) but with a bright student body. It seems that OP is hesitant for what ever reason.</p>

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<p>Interesting thread. I started counting the number of schools suggested but gave up around 30. Lots of choices for a bright, enthusiastic, creative young woman. What about your financial restraints? Is financial aid a must have? If yes, do you qualify for need based aid? This is a critical factor.</p>

<p>If she’s sure she wants urban then I think Brown and Barnard are good choices. Wesleyan and Yale are “close enough” to New York and have everything else she’s looking for.</p>

<p>If the fine arts part is an important factor I’d add Williams, Smith, Oberlin, Haverford (plus Brown, Wesleyan and Yale). Williams has one of the best arts communities among LACs, including tiptop programs in studio art, art history (one of the best in the country), music and good opportunities in theater and dance. The English department is profoundly good with several fiction writers on the faculty. (Jim Shepard, Karen Shepard, Andrea Barrett) An intensive focus on writing skills, though this could be said about most academically rigorous schools.</p>

<p>Re a focused honors-type college at a large university versus a small and intimate liberal arts college: I think they are both good ideas, but are very different. Has your daughter visited both to get an idea of where she’d feel more comfortable? </p>

<p>I went to a big State U and my son a small LAC, now in graduate school at a mid-sized U so I have a good frame of reference of the pluses and minuses across the range of sizes. I’m in favor of small and nurturing for undergrad, but each student has to go with what feels right for him/her personally. Everything you need/want is available at a large U, but getting it depends on your level of assertiveness. At 18 years old, some kids are better at being squeaky wheels than others.</p>

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<p>Your conclusion isn’t entirely correct. The richer schools have the funds to attract high achieving poorer students so at the top of the selectivity scale you do get a higher percentage of diversity. Urban schools are ethnically diverse no matter what their academic rigor. Diversity at rural and suburban schools depends a lot on the school’s priorities. Because it’s important to them, schools like Amherst and Williams achieve high levels of diversity, even though the surrounding areas are predominantly White.</p>

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<p>I googled quirky and Reed college and guess what I found</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/reed-college/505789-schools-like-reed.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/reed-college/505789-schools-like-reed.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/reed-college/499156-how-reedies-quirky.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/reed-college/499156-how-reedies-quirky.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/401627-reed-college-quirky-its-own-way.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/401627-reed-college-quirky-its-own-way.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>There is a BIG difference in being IN a diverse, interesting city or town, and being 20 minutes, 30 minutes, one hour, or two hours away. At Smith, Harvard, George Washington, UMichigan, she’s likely to go to weekday author signings, lectures, poetry readings, or even take workshops often in the town/city. That’s not going to happen at Brandeis, Tufts, Bard, Mt, Holyoke, Vassar, Scripps, Beloit, Oberlin, Shimer, etc. (And, frankly, rarely at UChicago, unless the event is in Hyde Park.)</p>

<p>So you need to be clearer about what she wants in that regard.</p>

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<p>I was going to also say Smith as soon as I read the OP’s post. - and I didn’t graduate from Smith, but Northampton is definitely quirky, creative, artsy, and Smith is filled with brilliant women who don’t take themselves too seriously all the time. With the other colleges nearby, the opportunities to find good writing classes, and interesting people will be overwhelming!</p>

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<p>OK- STICK WITH ME ON THIS- how about CALTECH? if accepted, it would be a real challenge, a very unique population and plenty of characters. Have you heard of Sandra Tsing Loh (a '83 graduate of Caltech) NPR writer, performer, artist, etc, etc?</p>

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<p>^^ Cal-techs Humanities dept is MUCH smaller and weaker than MIT, CT itself is MUCH more a STEM focused college, the UG college is much smaller [ only 900 total] and is stuck in Pasadena -not exactly an oasis of free thinkers.</p>

<p>Just my personal opinion, but is she has the “chops” to get into both schools, MIT would offer her more options.</p>

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<p>completely agree with you menlo- but this was meant to bring a different choice to the table- very quirky and diverse population- you can take classes at the Art Center School of Design and Occidental- agree does not meet the criteria- but if she is already into the writing then maybe a real science challenge with a unique environment would be different.</p>

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<p>Yale students seem to consistently excel in the Atlantic Monthly’s annual writing contest ( I think they took 1st, 2nd and 3rd place last year) and the college is known for its wonderful humanities profs and courses. For a student looking for challenge and a community of peers who are creative but also excel academically, it’s hard to imagine a better environment than Yale.
I also would take a hard look at Emerson, as someone above already mentioned. This school is almost a preprofessional school for artists and writers. It doesn’t have the excellence across the board that you’d find at a school like Yale, but it does have a very creative student body dedicated to the arts.</p>

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<p>Oxford or Cambridge. Change in perspective, stimulation of a different peer group. Not big cities, but big in other respects.</p>

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<p>More of the “takes itself too seriously, like the U of Chicago where her brother matriculated” problem?</p>

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<p>^^ After ~100 college suggestions, I don’t think we have answered OP’s question as the title suggests:</p>

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<p>I believe OP has a lot of knowledge about the creative writing world in college departments, as his son is going to Chicago, he had gone through the college selection process already and he should be aware of the schools out there. And afterall, he is in that profession as well.</p>

<p>What the title implies that his is looking for a school that will generate the next Picaso, Monet,…or JK Rowling, Mark Twain etc. That is why this thread is entitled as such.</p>

<p>Writing is an art, there is no schooling can for sure to create a JK Rowling II, its magic, its luck, its a miracle… Keep your imaginations HIGH…</p>

<p>I think I have answered OP’s question.</p>

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<p>Does a really gifted writer need to go to college at all? (I do know they/we need life experience, but is college the best place to get it? Or is it just part of the “back-up” plan?)</p>

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<p>^ Yes. And, no. Why does a gifted artist go to college?
But, if Dad had said D was a gifted artist, would everyone be suggesting quirky, smart schools with small art programs? Because, after all, they have lots of inspiration around and she could take a few intro classes and workshops? And, some great artists did go there?</p>

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<p>I think we (including myself) are suggesting some very fine colleges, as the OP asked. As a professional writer, though, I’m not sure I gained a lot through that experience, except that I managed to find college experiences where I got to travel and live abroad for extended periods of time, in exotic locations, and meet some really interesting people who changed my life. I am grateful to the colleges for it, but in hindsight, I’m not sure whether they actually moved me forward or held me back.</p>

<p>Anyhow, the OP has lots to choose from.</p>

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<p>Writing is an art, there is no schooling can for sure to create a JK Rowling II, its magic, its luck, its a miracle… Keep your imaginations HIGH…</p>

<p>I would not hold JK Rowling up as an example of a great writer- popular yes- great no.</p>

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<p>Her agent was/is a GREAT agent!</p>