Question: Alright. Here's the situation. Went to a great Music Theatre school, decided it's not for me. Then I switched to English, and now I'm stuck trying to figure out what I want to do. If I stay at the school that I'm at, I can graduate on time. However, the program is not the best and I'm looking to find a career as a novelist (I know, one starving art form to another) and hopefully web design or teaching for actual breadwinning.
I wasn't sure where to put this post, so I apologize if this isn't exactly where it should be.
My question is whether I should switch to another school in order to actually get a good pop creative writing degree (and where would that be?) or should I stick with this not-so-good program and graduate on-time and get a graduate degree in pop creative writing?
Also, does anyone have information on how difficult it is to be certified to teach secondary school without getting a degree in education or doubling my major?
Thank you so much in advance for at least reading this, and I hope somebody here can answer my questions.
Answer: I'm in a much different field (engineering), but had the same dilemma and, looking back, made the wrong choice. So, I can hope I can help you avoid going through the same thing I went through.
I went a small engineering school that is highly ranked; however, it is not widely recognized outside of its general geographic area nor outside people "in the know". Specifically, I am referring to Human Resource staffers.
The hard truth I learned is that HR people - in general - are lazy and rather dim-witted. They equate recognition with reputation. Basically, if you attend a big-name school that's widely know (e.g. any sports powerhouse) you have a better shot at getting through the initial screening process than a graduate from a small, top-ranked school.
To remedy this, I went to a large state school (that also happened to be highly-ranked) to get my Masters and had a MUCH easier time finding a job...even though I know either its graduate or undergraduate program couldn't hold a candle to my smaller undergraduate school.
The bottom-line is this, go to a school with wide name recognotion, even if it is the "not-so-good program". You will have a much easier time finding a job. There is no way I will allow my child to attend my undergrad alma mater for this reason.
Others:
By "pop," I'm guessing you mean "popular"? There aren't a whole lot of programs in that area to begin with, especially at the undergraduate level; most creative writing professors are strictly literary fiction types. It wouldn't hurt to do some research and see if your favorite authors teach anywhere, but you may be better off than you think.
As for the other question, you don't need an undergraduate degree in education to teach; at the secondary level, it may be to your benefit to have an academic specialization. You may, however, find it a little difficult to start at that level. I'd talk to your school's career center, or maybe even get in touch with whichever teachers wrote your college recs and see if they can give you any advice.