Best colleges in New England?

Best Colleges in England for English Literature major w/ Creative Writing?

• I am an American student, looking to study in England. I was wondering what are the best colleges for someone seeking an English Literature & Creative writing degree. I was also hoping to be in some of the bigger areas as well, Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool. London would be nice, a little too big though Please and thank you

• Answer:

  What kind of grades do you have? Because to be honest, creative writing is not the kind of degree that is offered by most 'good' universities here in the UK. They tend to stick to traditional subjects, so will offer English literature on its own. If you are not too bothered about 'prestige', or don't have the grades to get into a higher level uni anyway, the following link gives a list of all English and creative writing courses in the UK - http://search.ucas.com/cgi-bin/hsrun/search/search/StateId/Dh6CXo83LeqNtA83b2I_WSGhV5MHI-3OL_/HAHTpage/search.HsSearch.submitForm?txtSubject=english+creative+writing&cmbQual=&cmbAttend=&cmbInst=&button1.x=0&button1.y=0 The only universities on there that are viewed as being prestigious are Nottingham, Warwick, Birmingham, Goldsmiths and Royal Holloway. If you're looking for a city experience then Goldsmiths, Birmingham or Nottingham would probably be your best bet. Both Warwick and Royal Holloway are some distance from the nearest big town. I've never been to Nottingham but know people there and it has a reputation for being an amazing city for students - loads of stuff to do, lots of fun etc. If you have the grades, that would be my first choice. Goldsmiths is viewed as slightly less prestigious than Notts in general, but is very well reputed for the Arts. So applying there might also be a good idea. Don't worry about London being too big - it is, but at the same time it's kind of like a collection of small towns. all with their own shopping areas, loacl pubs and clubs etc so it's not all that scary. The availability of museums, theatre, art galleries and other places of interest is also amazing. I don't know too much about Birmingham but it's certainly a big city and will offer plenty of stuff to do. If you're not worried about prestige at all, and are only concerned with the cities, then there are universities offering your degree in each of the places you mentioned. If you want an idea of how reputable each of the universities are, have a look at rankings for English on here - http://extras.timesonline.co.uk/tol_gug/gooduniversityguide.php?AC_sub=English&x=22&y=7&sub=25 There won't be rankings for creative writing specifically as that's not such a popular course, but the English rankings will give you some idea. Be aware when you're looking that there are usually at least two universities with similar names in the same town, but these are NOT the same - e.g. Manchester Metropolitan is not the same as Manchester University, Liverpool John Moores is not Liverpool University. Sorry if that sounds patronising, but I've come across a few people who thought that Oxford Brookes was the same as Oxford University, for example. Hope this was some help, and good luck!