Helloooo everybody!

Today I have a post I am really excited to share and really enjoyed putting together. I will be talking about going into college as a writer because I am a writer in my senior year, meaning I am applying for colleges this year and going into my first year in about elevenish months… Because of that, I put together some tips, tricks, and important things to keep in mind when applying for majors, minors, scholarships, and also just approaching your years to come.

Applying

First off, it is important to figure out what you are going to college to study. Is it related to writing? Is it not? These are all really important things to think about and decide before you apply for your dream school(s). Obviously.

As of now, I plan to study English and minor in Professional Communication because those are two things that could benefit my career as a writer. It is important to realize that you become a better writer not by studying it at college, but by constantly writing new things. That is the only way to become a stronger writer and you can’t go into your first year and expect that studying writing or English will instantly make you a fantastic writer who will 100% get published. It can be helpful to study something apart from writing or English that will benefit your writing like history or business; something that you can make into your back up plan or just help yourself become a more diverse writer.

I decided to study English because while I want to write novels, I also want to write short stories, articles, essays, and blog posts. I want to become better at grammar and structure because those are two things I can easily improve in, and English is all about that. My Professional Communication minor will also help that because it focuses all on business and social media writing, two things that could help me find jobs still related to writing. While being a fiction writer is ideal, that will only come in time and while we should aim high and follow our dreams, we need some realistic revelations sometimes as well.

Scholarships

Lots of scholarships require you to write essays about yourself or your career plans so if you are a writer, it would only make sense to focus on the scholarships where you can let your writing skills shine. Keep an eye out for the ones that requirer longer essays because students who don’t like to write will definitely stray away from those. I also recommend submitting just to writing contests overall because you can get prize money for them too. Find essay and short story contests, or whatever you feel most comfortable writing and submit! Sometimes writers forget that this is an option and really, it is a great way to make money for school! Here are some contests I recommend:

• WritersoftheFuture
• Ayn Rand Essay Contest
• Polar Expressions Writing Contests

Reminders

• Writing classes won’t exactly make you a better writer, especially if you enjoy writing YA fantasy or whatever genre stories. Writing classes at colleges are geared toward writing stories of “high class” literature and it’s important to remember that.
• While it may be your dream to study writing, sometimes it’s best to major in something apart from that passion…you might start to hate it or doubt yourself by the end of it all.
• Writing is the only way you will become a better writer. Focus on your own stories in your own genres and trust that success will come within time.

That is all for this post and I hope you enjoyed! Don’t forget to check out my last blog post as well as my social media accounts which are all linked below. Thanks 🙂

Last Blog Post: How I Became a Writer – Storytime

 

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