Settling on a college

[harpyblues]

So, as college decision deadline approaches (May 1?), I'm finding myself confronted with a problem. So far, I applied to University of Iowa, University of Wisconsin (@ Madison), and University of Illinois, and was accepted into all three without much of a problem. I applied as an English major (but might double major in bio as well, we'll see). My problem is that I'm really not sure about which college to pick and there's some conflicting issues surrounding that.

First, my parents are pressuring me into going to University of Iowa because I qualified for the honors program there and a $7000 scholarship. Obviously, money is a concern and Iowa and Illinois are somewhat cheaper than Madison (because Madison tends to be stingy on scholarship offers for non Wis/Minnesota residents- I hate living in Illinois). I really, really liked the Madison compus, though, and it's got great science programs and an english department.

My biggest issue, though, is the strength of the English departments at the three schools. I'm getting a lot of conflicting results whenever I try to look them up. I know Iowa has a really, really good graduate degree program for English, but I'm not at that point yet, and while I've heard that the undergraduate program is pretty good as well, it's hard to tell how it is in comparison with my other two choices since they seem to rank pretty well too.

I know this isn't really a site with loads of non-math and science majors, but does anyone have any experience/opinions on the English departments at those schools?

[Jacque]

Regardless of the strength of the English departments at these particular schools, what are you planning on doing with your English major after undergraduate? Planning on trying to get a job after, or perhaps continue on to graduate school somewhere?

[harpyblues]

I'm probably going on to law school after undergrad, we'll see. I'm definitely not going to end at undergrad, though.

[jawdisorder]

I'm at UW and it's a fantastic place to go to college, I've enjoyed every bit of it. I can't really say much about the English or Bio programs as I'm not interested in either one and haven't taken a class from either since I tested out of one of the two English classes that I will have to take going into Engineering. That said the campus is great and there are a ridiculous number of things to do here.

[Jahoclave]

Well, Iowa's grad program is notorious for it's creative writing program more than anything else. So if that's your aim then yeah, that's something of a plus for them. They also have a really nice campus as well and I've had friends who rather liked it there. That said, I was not a particular fan of the one guy who was an instructor at my university who did his MFA there. But that's hardly a reflection on their program.

[Bakemaster]

I'm afraid I don't know anything about the English programs at these schools. However, if you've heard very good things about graduate English study at the University of Iowa, that's not useless information just because you're at the undergraduate level. Many universities allow undergraduate students to take graduate-level coursework in certain areas, and even if that's not the case at the University of Iowa, the core of any great program is great teaching. As a student you will have the opportunity to interact with professors at the university even if you're not in one of their courses. Networking can be a pretty big deal; little things like introducing yourself to the right people on arrival, coming to them with questions, or just poking your head into an office every now and then to chat can open doors to things like work-study and research opportunities.

I poked around on Wikipedia article a bit as well, and found this claim: "The University of Iowa Law Library is ranked #1 in the nation by the National Jurist." You probably wouldn't have access as an undergraduate, but if the claim is to be believed, a library such as that is both a sign that the institution is putting a lot of resources into its law program and a potentially significant draw for skilled law instructors. There's also a mention on the Wikipedia article of a writers' workshop that might interest you (if you're not already aware of it).

UW-Madison and UIUC are both very good schools. In an undergraduate English program, when the choice is between three good schools that seem fairly balanced between pros and cons, your success is probably going to depend far more on your commitment and involvement than on the academics of the particular schools. But your commitment and involvement will be affected by things like how comfortable you are on campus and how much anxiety you have over paying for college. The high value your parents place in scholarship offers and the opportunity to participate in an honors program is nothing to be dismissed. The honors program should be especially attractive for someone who's considering an interdisciplinary double major and thinking about continuing to law school. These kinds of programs are more than just extra coursework and harder material; they have important social and extracurricular aspects that can help students feel more at home and apply their studies to real-world situations.

In any case, recommendations and rankings can only tell you something about how you might experience a program, while scholarships and cost-of-attendance are generally pretty straightforward issues. It wouldn't be wrong not to choose Iowa, but the Madison campus must be pretty damn nice to be possibly worth the extra financial strain and lack of honors study, if the only thing you can say about its English department is that it exists.

[jawdisorder]

There are definitely honors options at UW they just are too widely advertised, if that is something that you are interested in it would help if you asked someone in admissions about it instead of waiting for the information to come to you.

[DrSir]

As an additional thought is to maybe try visiting any of them, if not all three. Just visiting the campus in general may hopefully be able to help with your decision in some form or fashion.

[harpyblues]

To note, I have gone to all three campuses, I have talked with counselors from all three, and all three have decent to great English departments. That's not in question- they all rank highly in English, even if UIUC and UWM are more known for their science departments. I gotta defend those last two in that.

I'm probably going to go on Bakemaster's advice, if the choice of which undergrad school you go to matters less after graduate school.

"Notorious" is kind of a weird choice of words, Jahoclave.

[Windmill]

If you really think you're going to grad school, I wouldn't worry so much about the rankings of one versus the others.

What you can quantify is that cost, and if they're going to lop off a large sum of their tuition and fees, it's probably worth it to go there. You parents will save money, you won't be stressed out and in debt, and you can focus on the thing that really matters (studying) while you're there.

[Jahoclave]

To note, I have gone to all three campuses, I have talked with counselors from all three, and all three have decent to great English departments. That's not in question- they all rank highly in English, even if UIUC and UWM are more known for their science departments. I gotta defend those last two in that.

I'm probably going to go on Mr. Bakerstein's advice, if the choice of which undergrad school you go to matters less after graduate school.

"Notorious" is kind of a weird choice of words, Jahoclave.

Well, it has to do with contentions on how best to do a writing program. Their "writer's workshop" dominated the model, but there's a shift away from that, particularly towards a ph.d versus mfa. That and it's primarily literary fiction snobbery.