MA creative writing - emma watson

[HalloweenGhost]

Gosh this is going to sound like such sour grapes, but I don't mean it that way

But - how did EW get accepted on the MA- is it her celebrity status?

I know that competition is fierce, I have been published in anthologies from a local university competition, and did the CHE in creative writing at Oxford (got a distinction), but I was turned down for the MA.

Anyone been accepted on an MA and have some words of wisdom for me? Feeling useless :-(

I would assume her GPA and relevant experience was taken into account, just like any other student.

If you still want to do the MA, have you considered applying again? Sometimes it takes more than one go, or a different university.

Why should she be rejected just because she's famous? I don't like her at all, but I can't see how anyone in the public would know whether she had any talent or not if she has always kept her writing private. One thing is for certain, she hasn't asked J. K. Rowling for advice on writing.

A CHE isn't really a competitive academic qualification. It's only equivalent to the first year of a full-time undergraduate degree. Anybody can do one.

Emma Watson has an undergraduate degree in English Literature from an Ivy League university, so she's more than qualified.

Do you not have an actual undergraduate degree OP?

No, I don't think she should be rejected because of her fame. But I've not found any examples of her writing, so she's not been through any competitions or anything.
I didn't think that your GPA in am unrelated Subject would be as relevant for the MA in CW as writing experience, that's interesting to know.

Thanks for replies.

Yes, I do, and a pgce, but not in English literature, which Emma has, so I expect that was more relevant than mine.

Yes, but unfortunately it's much more expensive now and I would not be able to access it now.

I think a degree in English literature would be very relevant to an MA in a related discipline. If you really want to do it yourself, apply again, and maybe more widely.

Sadly too expensive now. Maybe some day though :-)

There's no MA in creative writing as far as I can see though? Only this?
https://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/graduate/courses/mst-creative-writing

If I could hazard a guess OP Oxford is an academic university and so they expect an 'academic' portfolio. And more literary writing, perhaps across a number of genres.

Obviously more Hilary Mantel than Danielle Steel.

This isn't to discourage you - I don't know much about your work other than you've been in university anthologies, but have you won any other competitions/been published anywhere else? Was your undergraduate degree in a field that would have lent you that depth of analysis?

I think anyone with a 2:1 or higher undergrad degree will be accepted on an MA

I had no idea she was doing MA in creative writing but good for her.

Honestly, yes her celeb status probably did play a role but as others have said, she has a good degree from an excellent university in an appropriate subject, which may well have covered a creative writing element.

She's also founded a popular reading group, which will have informed her thinking and application. As her career will have done, too.

And she hasn't entered any competitions that you know of. Even if you did have complete access to all competitions in the UK & the USA and had systematically gone through the names of all entrants (not a security breach, I'm sure) and found her missing, who is to say she hasn't entered under a pen name?

Celeb status aside, she's uniquely qualified.

Yes I think you're all right. I got a 2.2 in french and Spanish so completely the wrong thing and grade.

No I've won nothing else except shortlisted for a limerick contest 😂

That's right about the mst, though I had forgotten as it was some years ago I was looking. The MA is at UAE.

To be honest I think it's uae that carries the most prestige in terms of actually going on to get published afterwards. I was rejected there too of course - but the mst I saw more as a enjoyable thing to do. I enjoyed the che despite it being low level.

Try the Open University. My friend did her MA with them and loved it.

Hi, just sharing that I’m on my second year of a part time MA in creative writing. Very mature student but worked in a creative industry for 20 years. I got a ba hons 23 years ago and not in English lit !!! The MA is challenging, which you would expect, even part time with family life and commitments. essays are expected to be completed over holidays…not great with young school kids!! However, applying was nerve racking but absolutely worth it.
I’m just about to submit my final essay before my dissertation starts. I’m really looking forward to that but how I’ll manage my time is another story. My point is, it’s been my ambition to do this course and I’m doing it! I had to submit a portfolio of writing, which I did including mostly professional stuff. It’s exhilarating and hard but I absolutely love it and I’m already mourning it finishing. Have hope!

Ah - your enthusiasm reminds me of me, @Dellabob123! I had a similar experience, though older, full time, very niche at specialist institution, nearly thirty years after my first degree in a completely different subject and intervening professional career. Have you, by the way, shared your marvellous experience on the Mature Study and Retraining board?

Sympathies, @HalloweenGhost ! I know someone who, on enquiring about the MSt, was bluntly asked what prizes she had won. She crept away chastened, eventually went somewhere else, studied something fabulous, came out with a Distinction, won prizes, and then returned to the MSt place in a more elevated capacity.

It’s hugely helpful if you can demonstrate some connection to the professional writing world … Arts Council grants, competitive residencies, producing your own performances, or being taken up as an emerging talent by a respected institution, being published somewhere surprising …

What do you mean about it being too expensive, specifically? If you’re under 60 you’ll qualify for a Government Postgraduate Loan, which would cover your fees, at least.

Have you considered the MA at Bath Spa? Also gets great publication results and from memory you can pay off the fee in instalments.

Even a year at a adult education writing workshop will help you with your application. Or a residential weekend. Will show that you have done your time in workshops and know what to expect with group work.

You’re obviously correct that no institution is going to turn down such a well qualified and high profile candidate. They’ll be able to ask her back to give workshops and master classes for decades to come. And of course she’ll have no difficulty getting published - so again, great for the university.

Forget all that and concentrate on you. ‘Creative Writing’ is such an amorphous term nowadays - anyone with a Twitter account is a ‘writer’. Can you narrow your own writing down to a specific field? Poetry? Playwriting? Graphic novel? Essays? Look for institutions with a course focusing on that one thing.

Oh that's sad to read about your friend, thank you for sharing that. I had hoped that my che course (although lowly) and the anthology inclusion would be a demonstration of my level, but I guess there is always someone with a little bit more to offer.

In looking at the cost, the cost for the mst at Cambridge, for example, is 8.5k per year for four weekends per year, and I presume a good amount of support in between,but still, it's expensive. I hadn't thought about a postgraduate loan, but I am a little wary of loading another 16k on my student loan. I'm not working atm so might not be accepted.

Here’s how they work:

Government Postgraduate Loan

but I guess there is always someone with a little bit more to offer.

No, there are probably thousands of people across the country (not all equal in talent) elbowing their way into all the things I listed above. It is a really, really competitive world.

But the story I told you had a happy ‘ending’!

Do you mean UAE?? Or UEA?

🤣🤣🤣

Thank you. The latter!!