koleski
Mar 28, 2007, 9:06 PM
Post #3085 of 6267
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Re: [alishein] greensboro and GRE scores
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I was at American's grad school open house (after getting that e-mail), but we separated from the main group to hear more about the program from Denise Orenstein and met E.J.Levy too. Then all students--both accepted and still waiting to hear--had lunch together. That night, I hung out with the current students there and had an AMAZING time. Everyone seems very connected. Their program is literature-rich, and 48 credit hours, which is more than most. They're not publishing-focused; very craft-focused. The purpose of this, as Orenstein put it, is to maintain the "tension with the page," so the publishing aspect will come. Of course, a school in New York or another city will have stronger ties to the writing community, but I do appreciate some aspects about a faculty ethos that nurtures the work and trusts the rest will happen if deserved. All alumni and current students I've communicated with were/are very happy with the program and felt/feel they had A LOT of freedom in choosing courses and carving out a unique literary path. For instance, one alumna had an Afro-Caribbean lit focus and finished with a 500-page novel that an entire thesis committee read TWICE. That says a lot about the faculty, which is very diverse and available to the students...Poliner had her office hours--for that Friday--posted by a handwritten note when I walked past her door. Kermit Moyer's leaving after this semester, which really sucks, and they have very little to no funding for students (at least I wasn't on the list), but it seems to be the kind of program that could help any type of writer grow...I don't want to ramble too much, but would love to write more to anyone that wants details. E-mail me at koleski@gmail.com if you want both my perspective and the view of the alumni/current students. Lastly, I've been accepted to The New School and University of San Francisco as well, so was curious if anyone had any insight in comparing these three schools. I feel so lucky to have gotten in SOMEWHERE! Thank you to all who have comforted me and cracked me up on this forum for the past few months!!
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