Best colleges/universities for English major in Texas? (Houston, San Antonio: student loan, theater)

[markslave]

Best colleges/universities for English major in Texas?

[John Shaft]

In what capacity? What do you want to do with it? What do you want to study (e.g. literature - specific areas of literature, composition, critical theory, etc.)?

[fitguru]

Oh yes, I am interested in an answer as well. My daughter wants to get her Masters in English Literature (ultimatley her PhD) and teach at a university. She is doing her undergrad work at MTSU in Tennessee.

[awecelot]

fitguru - have your daughter look into the PhD program at SMU SMU English Department Graduate Programs

I would also recommend SMU to the OP for undergrad.

[char65]

My opinion is biased, but the University of Houston has an excellent program, especially if you are interested in writing. I believe they have one of the top three writing programs in the US.

[TexanWest]

For literature: UT-Austin
For creative writing: University of Houston
For technical writing: Texas Tech (though Austin Community College has a great 2-year tech writing degree).

One school that is rapidly building a competitive creative writing program is Texas State University.

Hope this helps.

[love roses]

I have a friend who majored in English at UT-San Antonio. She's a theater manager now.

[TexanWest]

Originally Posted by fitguru

Oh yes, I am interested in an answer as well. My daughter wants to get her Masters in English Literature (ultimatley her PhD) and teach at a university. She is doing her undergrad work at MTSU in Tennessee.

My advice: you may want to tell your daughter to forget about getting a good teaching job at most universities. I have my BA and MFA, and the best I could find was part-time teaching (lousy wages, no benefits). I always tell people majoring in English or considering it to rethink their options. Most full-time teaching slots are filled by tenured profs or lecturers with year-long contracts who defend their jobs like guard dogs. They know that if they lose their teaching slots that they'll have a tough time in the private sector.

You may also want to tell your daughter to consider moving into tech writing so she can get a good-paying job. I managed to get a job as a copywriter, which pays the bills. All of my PhD pals are roaming the country, still part-time teaching or working at places like Barnes and Noble hoping that a full-time teaching slot opens up somewhere while trying to pay down massive student loan debts. They're jealous that I managed to get a stable full-time job using my writing skills, even though my job doesn't pay that much. If I had to do it all over again, I would have gotten a degree in business and minored in English.

If she's really insistent, maybe she could go to UT-Austin for a literature degree, then get a certificate in tech writing over at Austin Community College, just in case.

[John Shaft]

TexanWest makes some good points...there was a glut of English PhDs while I was working on my MA, and there still is. I went into the private sector and never looked back. Finding a career outside of the stereotypical English degree positions (tech writer, editor) may take some creativity but they're out there for certain. If you can write a paragraph that actually communicates your message effectively, you've got a leg up on 50+% of the workforce.

[JamesAbilene]

I recommend that she get a public school teaching certificate with her English degree. There is still a need for good public school English teachers.

If she simply majors in English without technical skills or teaching credentials, she might need to learn to say, "Do you want fries with that?"

By the way, my wife got her English degree at University of North Texas, and she thought their program was excellent. She then got a teaching certificate, and she has been teaching high school English ever since.