Quote:
Originally posted by valkyrie
Yeah, but chances are, the cats in said graduate programs are the ones teaching the undergrad writing classes. I'd rather be taught by someone in the best program in the country than someone at Backass State U. Plus there's just the whole awesome creative writing vibe that really pervades all of Iowa City.
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Eh, not really. I work for a lit mag, and thus I get to read submissions from a LOT of grad students or people who have recently graduated from various programs. The Iowa workshop is obviously famous amongst the creative writing set, but the stuff from Iowa grad students really isn't any better than the stuff from those who are in the graduate programs anywhere else. The majority of creative writing graduate programs accept extremely limited number of students per year (most programs have 8-20 students a year -- Iowa is a little different because it is so much bigger, topping out at, I think, 40ish) so once you get to that level, the quality really doesn't vary all that much from program to program. (Of course, that may influence undergrad a little -- with more potential TAs, you could have a wider variety of undergrad classes.) Plus, the acceptance process is sooo arbitrary when compared with almost any other subject. Unlike other programs (med, law, business, etc.), it's very common for people to get accepted to, say, Iowa even though they were denied by Florida (decent program, but lower ranked). Two-thirds the battle is who reads your stuff and what they like.
Plus, as always, just because someone can write doesn't mean they can teach how to write.
