Neep help picking grad school!

Alright, I'm going to graduate from the university of Iowa in May with a degree in English, a pretty much pointless degree without furthering my education. So, I'm looking for a grad school to go to the year after next...starting in fall of '07. I'd like to get my masters in english so I can teach at a community college and write on the side, or to get my masters in non-fiction writing because that is truly my passion. I'm looking for a liberal school with a good english department. I've been looking at the University of Portland because something about that area seems to speak to me, so I was wondering if anyone knows if this is a good school, or if anyone knows any other schools that might work for what I'm looking for? Thanks!

mary jane

 

The people you should be asking about this are professors in your department. They will know much more than most of us here about good grad programs in what you want to do. You'll need letters of recommendation from profs anyway (usually 3) -- so if you don't know any of your profs well, now's the time to go talk to them.

If none of your profs are particularly helpful, go to the U of Portland's webpage, find a couple of profs who do what you want to do, and email them. Be honest about what you're looking for (big/small? liberal school) and what your goals are. They'll usually be fairly honest about whether their department will be a good fit for you. And, include in your letter something like "if your dept is not an ideal fit, can you recommend any programs that would be a better fit for my interests".