Creative Writing Degree

[UNmaturestudent]

Thinking of returning to Education as a Mature Student. I'm twenty five and looking to do a degree.

Has anyone got any advice or guidance for this? Real life experiences, the application process, funding, etc. I won't be able to do it without qualifying for the maintenance loan.

The whole thing is pretty new and scary!

For further information, I have a part time job, two days a week and an almost three year old who will receive free nursery funding in September. I'd like to hang on to my job as I enjoy it.

Thanks!

Don't pay 28k for a non STEM subject love. If you want to write then just do it.

I've done the MA in creative writing with the Open Uni all online. Really enjoyed it

@bottleofbeer

Don't pay 28k for a non STEM subject love. If you want to write then just do it.

Sounds patronising. There's nothing wrong with studying because you enjoy it

Sounds patronising. There's nothing wrong with studying because you enjoy it

Quite. The phrase, Knowing the price of everything and the value of nothing often springs to mind...

If the op gets a loan she won’t be paying. Will she?! She won’t earn enough to pay the grad tax and doesn’t want to. I know several people who have done degrees because they feel like it. Nothing to do with work and the OU was very popular for this reason alone. Do it for the sake of learning - our loan system still makes this possible.

I find it quite depressing that there is a trend towards thinking non STEM subject degrees are worthless.
If you want to study creative writing and have the time and the means to do it, then you should do. I took a similar step a few years ago and now make my living from it.

Go for it OP. I did a joint honours in English lit and creative writing. I loved it and don't regret it. I don't agree that this would be a waste of your time or of the funding at all.
I wonder if you could do it 'full time' actually so it takes less time. Is your job flexible?
Are you a fast reader?
My tip would be to get some of the reading material in advance of September and start reading.

*I mean, I love my degree, and I can’t wait to get cracking working for either PHE, the NHS or as a Lecturer (I have a while before I’m qualified but they are my 3 dream jobs!)

I’m not much better off financially as a student, I was on benefits before and have 3DC, and I wanted to increase my earning potential as much as I possibly could. And it just so happened that I’m good at STEM, love it, and it has fantastic earning potential. I’ll likely be paying my student loans off from the get go once I’m employed.*

I think you have a wildly unrealistic idea of what it takes to get to be a lecturer. Much, much more unrealistic than the OP would be if she were doing a creative writing degree with a view to earning her living from it (which she isn't).

Patronising or realistic? It's A LOT of money for a subject with few prospects. If you can afford it and want to study for the enjoyment, go for it! If it means loans and years of debt there are other ways to learn creative writing.

I'm a recent Creative Writing graduate and in my opinion it's a course that can absolutely be worthwhile because it can cover such a wide range of subtopics. A lot of universities combine it with Publishing or English Literature, and while I did solely CW for my degree I did have access to modules from some other courses once a semester or so. Though I went straight out of Sixth Form, there was a good amount of mature students of all age ranges across my various classes and everyone was fully included in the social aspects to whatever extent they were comfortable with. I did modules in fiction, non-fiction, media writing and PR, children's fiction, poetry, travel writing, comic book writing and then several modules on editing and publishing skills. I would highly recommend it if it's feasible for you to do- I found it a really enjoyable degree which had a solid academic basis behind it

@SarahAndQuack considering I have multiple friends who are Lecturers in STEM, I beg to differ.

[quote MyGorramShip]@SarahAndQuack considering I have multiple friends who are Lecturers in STEM, I beg to differ.[/quote]
Sorry, I should have been clearer.

I am well aware that lectureships are well paid.

What is unrealistic is deciding to do a STEM degree with a view to making your money as a lecturer, in the current climate.

It's a bit like saying 'I'm going to do a creative writing degree because JK Rowling made a mint with Harry Potter and Julia Donaldson doesn't do too badly with all those children's books'.

As I said, it’s not my only aim; there are far too many variables between now and when I finish my PhD (I’m 34 now, will be around 38 when I finish), my DC will all be in secondary school, I’ve scored nothing less than Firsts in every module so far, have just landed a 3 month paid UG research assistant role within my University (I’m 1 of 3), I will not be having more children and therefore can focus on whatever damn job I choose when I’m finished.

Nowhere did I say it would make me a tonne of money; I have one friend on 40K and one on 76K, as examples.

With respect, if you’re not in the STEM field, you can’t possibly comment on how unrealistic my sim is.

Oh, I'm fairly sure I can comment!

Honestly, it is hard to get a lectureship in STEM. Everyone else will also have the firsts and so on; it's just basic.

I'm sorry if I've upset you by pointing out possible difficulties with your career plans - that wasn't my intention - but I did feel it was a bit dubious to start advising the OP on this sort of thing when you're not being especially realistic yourself.

For the third time, it is behind both PHE and the NHS as my preferred career.

Or do you find all 3 “too much of a reach” for me, who you know nothing about?

Should I just go back to working in Tesco for NMW after my PhD then? Would that cheer you up more?

The OP didn’t even bloody know that UCAS applications for October closed in January, so they have done barely any research on a degree, other than “I quite fancy this”.

Oh, FGS, calm down. I had no way of knowing how you ranked the three options, and was commenting on the one that showed me you were being a bit unrealistic, while slamming the OP for the same thing.

I don't know why you think Tesco or NMW would be somehow 'beneath' someone with a PhD; I hate to tell you but the way academia is going, it's quite realistic to factor in some minimum wage work if that's the way you want to go. Of course this is not such a worry if you're thinking of it as a third-choice fallback, but you actually referred to it as one of your 'dream' choices.

Sure, the OP didn't know when UCAS closed. But she's also been perfectly polite and clear in responding to people lecturing her about money, explaining that it is not a major factor in her decision.

Yet you only felt the need to call me out when plenty of other posters have pointed out the flaws in her very loose “plan”?

Or are you just pissed off for some reason related to working in Academia and felt the need to stick the boot in?

Yes it is ONE of my dream jobs, which is stated clearly, so are you hard of thinking or do you just lack comprehension skills? Do you have an issue with ambitious women? I’m hardly saying I want to make a Grammy award winning album.

I’ve spent my entire adult life working for NMW, barring a year on benefits, and I’ll demanded if I ever do that again.

I think I’ll keep taking my advice from the multiple, highly successful women in my life who have spent at least a decade on the STEM Lecturer path and know what the fuck they’re talking about, as well as knowing my personally.

But they are not 'flaws,' are they? They're just her uncertainties at this stage. Why shouldn't she think it all through? There's no requirement to demonstrate a minimum level of knowledge before posting.

I've no issue with ambition, or academia, or stem. But I also have no issue with people who maybe don't have all the answers, and who're looking for them. To me, the OP sounds like the latter type of person, and that's fine.

I don't know why you're so defensive about me pointing out the issues here. I don't for one minute believe you know any STEM academics who are saying 'oh sure, undergraduate student, you'll be a shoo-in for the lectureships fresh out of PhD'.

I don’t understand this has turned into an argument about STEM. A career in STEM would be pointless for a lot of people, myself included because that is not where my talent lies. I am glad that I am able to make money doing what I am good at but then again money is not the main motive for working in a creative field. The UK is blessed with many world-class creatives who contribute hugely to the cultural fabric of our nation and beyond. They should not be dismissed as not worthy simply because they don’t earn huge salaries or work in STEM.

What has any of this got to do with creative writing?

@bottleofbeer
Thee are no years of debt if the OP never earns enough to pay off 1p of it! I am not sure you understand how the loans work. They are not bank loans with a repayment date. If the op remains lowly paid she won’t pay 1p. I assume she would be maintaining herself but again a student loan is unlikely to be a massive issue.

Wow. This thread is crazy. OP, I have a degree like you describe, I loved every second of it. I am also happily working in the field! I didn’t set out with a career plan and was about your age. I just did what I enjoyed and it led places. Good luck

I dunno, I stepped away from the thread a while ago but someone decided to tag me and be a dickhead, so here we are.

Christ, you really are hard of thinking. Hardly any women work in STEM Academics compared to other departments, I have several Athena Swan accredited Unis on my doorstep, under their hiring policies I am a very attractive recruit for a number of reasons. But I cannot be arsed to keep explaining myself to someone who thinks they know about STEM when they work in an unrelated department. I wouldn’t dare assume I know anything about Social Science departments.

I’m sorry if you’ve struggled in Academics, maybe you had a baby, maybe you went to a shit Uni rather an RG one, maybe you work in a subject area that has barely any funding, but if you’re thick enough to think that any area of STEM isn’t going to have money thrown at it hand over fist after the Covid farce then I have nothing else to say.

The UK is blessed with many world-class creatives who contribute hugely to the cultural fabric of our nation and beyond. They should not be dismissed as not worthy simply because they don’t earn huge salaries or work in STEM.

YY, I agree with this. Sorry, I didn't mean to turn it into an argument about STEM - just to make the point that stamping on someone else's plans when your own are equally dubious is 1) a bit mean and 2) silly.

OP, I'm sorry I derailed, but please don't feel as if creative writing isn't worthwhile unless it's intended to make money.

Shit rather than RG

I know exactly how the loans work too TVM.

Thing is, the days of following dreams are over for most. University costs a lot of money, maybe that is ok for some, fine.

Pretty much anybody can go to uni now. It's big business. I've known people fall WAY short of entry requirements but get in through clearing. It's 27k+ for the university isn't it? Predictably, most couldn't hack it because the requirements were set for a REASON. Or they walk away with a degree that isn't worth the paper it's written on. And the capable students? Being packed into lecture theatres of 400 students. Think there is anywhere near the support there used to be?