Match Me: Asian creative writing student from CA, 3.9 UW, band kid, scattered ECs (I have no idea what I'm doing)

  1. You don’t need awards. You need to do things…awards are just recognition of doing things - but if you worked at a grocery store or walked dogs at the shelter - guess what - you did great things but you don’t get a reward. I mean look at your ECs - the reward is all you are doing (band, counselor, museum volunteer, starting clubs)…make sure not to embellish - not saying you are - but you list a lot and a lot of hours.

  2. 3 BS - you don’t need to justify. You got 3 BS and a ton of As…what you learn is what matters and 3 Bs is no problem.

So the first thing I see is a who who of big name schools - if you have no cost constraints and you have a big interest in writing, the gem of public schools (top flight and easy admission is U of Iowa). Ole Miss is another - it’ll depend on how important diversity is, etc. Then there are many LACs which people generally mention for creative writing - a Kenyon, Oberlin and a Vassar, Wesleyan type (a bit reachier). Also, in Tennessee you’ve got Sewanee. And Emory is known.

OK - there is partying at most every school - and I see the rural - so maybe scratch Kenyon and Sewanee.

That you have other interests - you can look at schools with open curriculums - from a Vassar, Rochester, Wesleyan, Amherst, Hamilton (rural), Smith (all female).

Give your major, costs is a factor - because you may find yourself in an under employed or underpaid field - so are your parents willing to spend $90K plus for that? The WUE is awesome -

Have you done any visits - to large, medium, small schools, etc- to get a sense of the campus type you like? BU is nothing like UCLA which is nothing like some of the Ivies. You have to be somewhere for four years, day after day - so you want to be in the right environment. And I’m not sure the name, so much, depending on what you utlimately do, will matter.

Just to give you an idea - for creative writing, the four year WUE schools are - and you may check their programs:

CSU SB
Adams State in Colorado
Colorado State
Boise State
Lewis Clark State College
Idaho
Montana
North Dakota
Southern Oregon
Oregon State
Portland State
Black Hills State
Weber State
Utah Valley
Western Washington
Central Washington

I get it - you mention UCB and I throw up Idaho. But look at curriculums - do they offer what you want? What are the class sizes - UCLA publishes a schedule. Look at class sizes (I just did - the intro class shows 15 - so that’s awesome. But in other classes (not saying English), it’s over 300. And when I wrote in creative writing only one class appeared - so does their English major have more? I’m sure it does - but look and ensure it fits your needs curriculum wise - each school.

Really - before you get too far ahead - figure out - what you want - size, campus (city, grass and traditional), weather. You say not urban - but again, BU is different than UCLA. Beloit (small, supposedly strong for your major, great merit) is different than Kenyon or Sewanee (rural).

And talk to your folks - because for you, college could be $20K a year or $90K+ - and multiply that by 4 - and are you sure cost doesn’t really matter?

Great record.

Good luck.

25 Best Colleges for Aspiring Creative Writers (thecollegepost.com)

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