Goldsmiths College, University of London

London

Is English at Goldsmith's really that bad?

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Reply 20

Little Student

Original post by mmela

thats great that you got into Queen Mary and KCL and still decided on Goldsmiths, good for you!

Thankyou

I do like to brag about it to people! haha

I wanted to go to Goldsmiths because it seemed more innovative and i want to be in a creative atmosphere, with the funnest people :smile:

I think kings and queen mary looked a bit generic when i visited them.
Goldsmiths really spoke to me personally :smile:

where are you going?

Goldsmiths College, University of London

London

Reply 21

SophiaKeuning

Original post by Little Student

Thankyou

I do like to brag about it to people! haha

I wanted to go to Goldsmiths because it seemed more innovative and i want to be in a creative atmosphere, with the funnest people :smile:

I think kings and queen mary looked a bit generic when i visited them.
Goldsmiths really spoke to me personally :smile:

where are you going?

Sorry if this sounds out of the blue, but what A Levels do you have? 'Cause I'm thinking of apply to the same unis for the same course next year, and I'm curious as to what the competition is like. :ninja:

Reply 22

english

I’ am in quite a dilemma for choice myself. I was wondering if anyone can give any suggestions because I was rejected by Goldsmiths for English and creative writing because of my personal statement, it did not reflect enough of creative writing. But I was accepted for English. For this reason I wanted to ask if anyone knows if goldsmiths include any creative writing modules for an English degree??
I have also been given an offer by Queen Mary but they don’t do any creative writing modules.

Not sure whether I should study English at Queen Mary, or opt to maybe change my English course to English and creative writing if there are no creative writing modules for studying English at Goldsmiths.

So I wanted to ask if anyone knows what I should do??

Reply 23

akmd

According to the course description for English, you have the option of doing creative writing in your 3rd year although I gather you would like it to be present through all 3 years of your degree rather than just the final year?

Here's the link with the full details:

http://www.gold.ac.uk/ug/ba-english/

Reply 24

Little Student

Original post by SophiaKeuning

I'm doing English Language, English Literature, History and Business
I kept all four on because like you say its very competitive and all my subjects are pretty complementary to each other

Reply 25

Little Student

Original post by english

I was a bit anxious when i saw the lack of creative writing in the comparative literature course myself....
At the applicants day i was reassured that there are poetry and short story modules though where you do creative writing and they have great networks for all English students to send creative writing to their tutors and attend the open lectures... So i don't think you should worry.
A girl i was talking to did first year comparative and then changed.... which is what i may be tempted to do

Reply 26

chazbc4

I've firmed my Goldsmiths English offer, with my 2nd choice being Edinburgh Uni, which is 11th for English on the UK. It's really weird as edinburgh has only asked for one B at Higher (I'm Scottish) while Goldsmiths has asked for AAB at Advanced Higher. Crazy. Even so I loved the atmosphere of the place, and hopefully I'll like the college too. Only thing I'm worried about is the cost, I don't understand SAAS (the scottish funds thingy) at all. Yeah, I was almost going to apply for creative writing as well - I might ask to change once I get there haha. I don't think I could stick pure essay writing for 3 years...

Reply 27

Ms. Bukowski

Original post by english

I'm going to study English at QMUL and I want to write professionally after my graduation. Still, I wasn't looking for Creative Writing courses and preferred the classic English course, as I think before you start writing, you should learn to read, anlyse, interpret and compare what was written by others. I'm very sure that almost no one really benefits from a pure creative writing course in terms of developing unique and mature writing skills without having done other academic subjects before that deal with topics of other humanities at all, especially people that directly come from school.

May I ask what you want to write about aged 20sth or even younger? What kind of stories can you tell that can touch people being 20 or 30 years older than you? If you look at the few successful writers of today, most of them worked in other jobs for years before they wrote theit first line, jobs that were in no way related to creative writing or similar. These jobs were basically where they gained WHAT TO WRITE ABOUT. And no one of them ever learned a technique of how-to-write-a-short-story, because their need to write was so acute, that there would have been no other way to express it than the way they did, authentically and nowhere near standardised.

I'm sure you wouldn't regret to study English... good luck!

Reply 28

Little Student

Original post by chazbc4

I was really tempted to apply to Edinburgh.... but fell in love with London! Its amazing that you got into Edinburgh with a lower grade boundary! Your personal statement must have been amazing! :biggrin:

See you at Goldsmiths (Y)

Reply 29

chazbc4

Original post by Little Student

See you at Goldsmiths (Y)

It really wasn't! It's a bit gutting actually, because it's like I could not get into Goldsmiths which is the worse of the two, even if I get decent grades which are well over the boundary for Edinburgh, the better. But yeah, hopefully see you there haha!

Reply 30

marshmallowfudgecake

Original post by fifthelement7

I had always thought it looked a pretty reasonable course.
But guardian subject tables put it at 75th!

The fact you yourself are posing the question and have doubts says it all really.

Reply 31

Eustacia

I'm studying English Lit and Goldsmiths and have been very impressed with the teaching and the breadth of courses available in years two and three. The department has also just been listed as being in the top 200 English departments in the world: http://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/world-university-rankings/2011/subject-rankings/arts-humanities/english

Reply 32

bronnih

hey! I just finished my first year at Goldsmiths doing straight English and you DO get to do some creative writing! The short story course is made up of two short essays and one longer essay OR one short story you write yourself and some analysis on your story.

The course is really good, I was in the same position, when I applied Goldsmiths was in the top twenty for English, but for some reason the next year it slipped.. I don't mind though, I love it here :smile:

P.S I have A LOT of 1st year books to sell so when you get your confirmation letters/reading lists feel free to email me at [Removed - please use PMs] and I can sell you some of my books

good luck for results
bronni
xx

Reply 33

ApostropeS

As a student in the English dept. at Goldsmiths (albeit a PhD student), I would second screenrager 2004 - go and see Goldsmiths (and any other possible choices) before making a final decision. New Cross isn't in central London (although it is only a short journey out, not like Royal Holloway which really is a way out). It has a particular charm for some, which doesn't appeal to others. As a postgrad I'm not there much, but if you're planning to live and study in New Cross you should check it out first.

I also wanted to say that your choice of university for an undergraduate degree will have little bearing on your prospects for studying a PhD, should you go that way in future. When taking on PhD students, departments are most interested your academic excellence (which can be fostered at any reputable institution) and the quality and relevance of your proposed research. The only possible exception is if you decided to apply to do a PhD at Oxbridge - they do look favourably on their own past students in some cases, but even there it is the originality and potential of your proposed research that plays the biggest part.

League tables can be misleading - make sure you know what criteria they're analysing and decide whether that criteria is also yours. Goldsmiths doubtlessly loses points because not as many people who study there go on to high paid jobs as in some other institutions, but that may be more down to the kind of people who go there than the quality of the courses. For example, I know quite a few third years that want to go on to do an MA in the department. They won't be earning anything to speak of 6 months down the line, but actually they're a good advertisement for Goldsmiths English because they liked it enough to want to stay another year.

Havng taught several undergraduate courses in the department (you are likely to get taught by PhD students - if that puts you off you're in trouble though, because pretty much all universities do that these days), I generally find most people who turn up with a positive attitude really enjoy themselves and get a lot out of it. People do occasionally drop out in the first year, but often it is because they find the quite intense reading isn't for them - that is a problem at all universities.

There are a reasonable number of opportunities for people who want to write creative pieces on most degree courses in the department - the short story course allows you to submit an independent project, for example, which is a short story of your own, but it is submitted with a critical piece of writing, also by you, which situtates your own writing in appropriate historical/cultural/critical contexts. If you are interested in making creative writing a major focus of your work, you need to be on the English with Creative Writing degree - talk to the university BEFORE you show up on the first day if you think you might be signed up to the wrong course.

Good luck to all! May you all find yourselves in the right place for you come October.