Students consider Iowa college writing programs

College: the best years or the worst years of life. Universities help guide students toward their careers that stays with them for the rest of their lives, as we all know. Here is the student body’s opinion on the best colleges for majoring in English.
Sophomore Sophia Woods said she plans on going to the University of Iowa for college to major in English. Although she said she doesn’t know what areas of studies she is most interested in focusing on, poetry is among one of her favorites, whereas journalism simply sparks her attention.
Woods decided on the University of Iowa because of its notorious writer’s workshop that has a reputation of forming many successful authors. The University of Iowa is not necessarily difficult to qualify for, for it has an acceptance rate of 82.6 percent and a standard GPA of 3.76.
Woods said Cedar Falls has helped her prepare for college because of the many diverse selections of classes she can take in high school that might give her an idea of what her career of choice is like. “It’s not just English 9 or English 10, there are so many different things you can take, and it helps that you can explore those options,” she said. Woods said she is excited to go to college and be on her own; however, she said, “I don’t want to rush through high school.”
Junior Paige Brown plans on taking a different course and going to the University of Northern Iowa for college. Both in-state universities have good reputations for English. Brown, who wants to focus mainly on creative writing, has been writing for 11 years and hopes to publish a book of her own one day. “I plan on taking creative writing next year, I thought about journalism, but I don’t have enough time in my schedule,” Brown said.
She said she is interested in the University of Northern Iowa because her mother went there for college, and they have some interesting programs for high school students. Brown was planning on joining a writing program last summer, but COVID hit. “I think a school that focuses a lot on English and teaching would be good for me because I’ve also played with the idea of becoming an English teacher,” she said.
Brown said she is definitely excited about college but is a little scared of student loans and being on her own. However high school has helped her a lot thanks to the many counselors that have worked with her college schedule. “I’ve talked with my counselor so many times, just to talk about English classes,” she said.
Brown has a passion for writing simply because it’s so open for interpretation. She said, “There can be a lot of different answers for one question, depending on how you look at it. Especially symbolism.” But is college mandatory for success? Woods said she does not believe school is mandatory to make a name out of yourself. She said, “Plenty of people have been successful without it.” However, if you’re going into a specific career field, she said it may be helpful.