Best colleges/universities for English major in Texas? (health insurance, student loans)

[PanTerra]

I just did a search here and came up with Texas A&M - Commerce. College MatchMaker: Results

[austinnetx]

The University of Texas at Austin has a fantastic English faculty and program.

[cobolt]

When I was working on my Masters in English, it seemed like Univ of N Texas was the "in" place to be, or at least the place most graduates aspired to go. College Station was another "in" place and Rice was the pipe dream. 12 of us started the Masters program with the intent to continue on to the PhD. We were sold the same bill of goods: there is a glut of tenured professors who will retire in the next few years and the job market will be wide open. Lemonade and pink popcicles for everyone.

It didn't quite work out that way.

11 of us "caught on" and bailed after the Masters. One went on to the PhD at College Station and is still living the life we were over 5 years ago: eating and sleeping at the library, working for peanuts, prostituting intellectual creativity to wild and eccentric personalities, otherwise known as professors.

Many of my friends are now slumming at book stores and the like, sub teaching. One friend couldn't find any work with his English degree and ended up working as an office assistant for a marketing company in Denver. Many junior colleges now require their instructors to have PhD's, and those that don't only want to hire you on a part time basis so they don't have to pay bennies and the like.

Me? I'm working as a tech writer for an aerospace/defense company on the west coast.

Do the marketable thing. Write the great American novel in your offtime. You don't need a degree to do that.

[Lakewooder]

I also suggest SMU because it is small enough that you will have friends in different disciplines, giving you more perspective. Also since it is in Dallas, many local writers and journalists contribute, participate and teach in the programs.

[loves2read]

I have an English degree from a small private college Texas Lutheran--got a very good education 30+ years ago because I had ALL MAs and PhDs for instructors--head of departments taught several junior/senior classes--you don't get that type of education now

I have a son and a daughter in law who BOTH have BAs in English--my son has an MA in creative writing from UNT and daughter in law has MA in critical theory I believe from UNT--my son had dreams of being a poet and getting an MFA from UH--unfortunately he is not that good a poet--was not selected for their program--
is working now as writer for internet-based web programs for company that does mainly health-related programs for a variety of govt and regular businesses...but he is getting paid less than he would if he had continued teaching in public school...
his wife is working in student affairs--first at Un Dallas then UNT now at Dallas County Community College--she got promotion and is now an entry level supervisor with some people working under her---
she has quite a bit of college loans because her parents refused to subsidize her MA program (back then she wanted to go the PhD route and write critically/teach)...he has some but we paid for his tuition when he got his MA--
there is NO MONEY in college teaching unless you can either get into one of the prestigious programs--
and yes--UH creative writing MFA is one of those--they take TEN students each year--frankly you have to be an exceptional writer to get into it--it is more selective than the NBA draft or pro foot ball--think Olympics--much more selective...
Texas State has a good program that is focused more on local color type of writing and some screen/script writing --
SMU and UT Austin also have solid English programs--but the idea of making a livng as a college professor with tenure is really so so small
many people with phd's wind up teaching part time w/o any guarantee or pension in the future...
there is TERMENDOUS competition in this field--if you take a job teaching in junior college to stay alive you can pretty much kiss any kind of job from four year college goodbye--kind of death by association with the unclean...

and it is just as bad in secondary english--don't believe that it is easy to get job teaching English in high schools--most of those jobs that are in good districts with good pay are VERY hard to come by--they are usually filled by women who don't give them up...and the vacancies are usually filled by people the principal or other teachers know--

I taught English in DFW area high school--we got hundreds of apps each year basically--from new grads and teachers in other districts who were trying to move into better districts...

Get minor in tech writing or someting like instructional design (which my son does not have--he was VERY LUCKY to get the job he has)
definitely think there will be more opportunity in instructional internet design--either for home schooling or companies to do training w/o having to send people on trips or bring in trainers...
but DO NOT BELIEVE ANYTHING YOUR COLLEGE PROFESSORS OR COUNSELING OFFICE TELLS YOU
they sold my son a bill of goods to keep him in the program to bolster THEIR numbers--
same with my daughter in law--THEY NEED PEOPLE IN THOSE SEATS TO KEEP THEIR OWN JOBS...
my son has friend who finished his PhD in English at UNT--his wife also--she is teaching now at college in Columbia SC--got a decent offer of asst professorship because she is minority+woman+her teaching speciality was one they needed to beef up their women's lit side...
he wanted to write--had science fiction novel optioned by Bantam several months ago--first sale but they are hopeful he will have the other two books he has planned for this trilogy also bought...
but you don't need college degree to write...

[ocean2026]

University of North Texas is pretty nice - I've been to most Texas universities and attended 4 of em. None of them come close to the University of California or Michigan, however one can learn enough English for a job at almost any of them.

[loves2read]

the question is what what KIND of job
I have friend I taught with who graduated from Baylor with English degree and edudation certification--
her daughter went to baylor also in English--got degree in journalism/public relatins and English
she is working for Southwest in public relations now after being out of college about 4 years--but they also had a friend who work for southwest who helped her get her first job there..but she is BRIGHT student--valedictorian in her hs class at Trinity in HEB--and did very, very well at Baylor--she would be credit to any job she did...

UH MFA is probably the post prestigious slot to win in TX schools--they have world scholars who apply for it...
but if you are an avg student making good grades and not the next Cormac McCarthy then you need to be practical--that means job skills--there are plenty of teachers in college now that will be there for next 15+ years--even if colleges expand they are not hiring fullt-time tenured teachers...
one area that most people in this area don't consider because we don't have that many is the very elite private schools--they are big back east and from what I understand many of them are as good to their teachers as many colleges--but they are very competitive
you probably need some foreign time as well as US university to get job slot...

[eliana_b]

UT Austin for any program.

I would also consider UT Arlington for American Literature and TCU for British Literature or Rhetoric. Rice has a strong program.

Despite what other people have written, I would advise you to instruct your daughter to follow her heart. I wanted to teach English at the college level but listened to all of the warnings. I went into Marketing and PR after I graduated. I was miserable. I did Technical Writing as well. Less than two years after I graduated, I went back for my MA while working full time in a "stable" job at a "stable" company. After being laid off (the entire department was eliminated), I went into non-profit and finished my MA. I then taught full time and as an adjunct part time. Since we wanted a family, I started teaching high school after being certified. I ended up taking over the Dual Credit classes. Eventually, the college needed a full-time faculty member. They hired me. I defied all of the rules - came from the business world, then was an adjunct, then a high school teacher, and they still hired me.

I am now working on my PhD.

I would strongly suggest to not ignore the two-year college positions. One of the benefits include being able to write and research because we want to, not because we must in order to keep our jobs. Also, if your daughter is at all interested in teaching and not just research, the two-year environment is ideal. Many two-year colleges now offer four-year programs in connection with a four-year university or college. At times, the qualified faculty at the two-year colleges are chosen to teach those classes. The four-year environment has its benefits, as does the two-year environment. I certainly don't think that we work any less hard or contribute less to the academic community.

We spend so much of our lives working, and I think that we should at least try to do what we love.

[loves2read]

the fast track to being a college teacher is to go to a quality undergrad program--try to graduate early but have superior grades in your major--get involved with the programs that bring visiting professors to campus to speak or do seminars--make contacts...
then get a slot for MA program at better known college...make contacts there as well--get published (not just posted on the Web) by legitimate journals or college presses...
try for PhD ASAP
the poster who was accepted at college to teach is right in that you are happier doing something you love but you also have to be realistic about supporting yourself
going into thousands of dollars in college loans for a job that pays less than 30K a year--which many adjuct professorships do--is just stupid...
as a woman sometimes you are lucky and marry someone whose job can subsidize your desire to teach--work on a degree--but you can't count on that as a means to an end...

have her go online and look at college/university sites for open positions--just see how many are asking for English professors and what the qualifcations of their facuty are...
when you see their background you get a feel for what they are looking for...

being published is very significant part of standing out from other applicants...
she should start working on that right now...

[eliana_b]

I thought about another point that may help your daughter last night. The first is to advise her to join some type of scholarly society dedicated to the study of one particular author or even a time period. Many are free or inexpensive to students. If she is involved in these smaller groups, she will meet like-minded people who can help her to learn about the Profession and find research positions or even employment. Of course, this is in addition to being involved with the groups that are connected to the Profession on a more general level (like MLA, for instance).

If you would like more information, please do write to me. Since I have worked in this world in a number of positions and am friends with people in different positions, I have a fairly decent understanding of "what it's really like." Again, if she really wants to do this, then she must continue to pursue it despite the naysayers (and they will appear in all forms) and bumps in the journey. We don't do this for money. Our lives are spent researching and working. Again, I would tell her to not be too proud. A high school or two-year college teaching position is still teaching, it is still the academic world. If someone is meant to be in this environment, they simply know and no other job is satisfying. If someone goes to graduate school because they don't know what else to do or refuses to consider a position that they believe to be "below" them, then they will not have a career in this field.