A suitable candidate
Last week I sent an email both to The University of Winchester and University college Chichester with inquieries about their Master-programmes in Creative writing.
The excellent thing about Winchester is that if you provide them with information about your previous studies, aguired grades and such they will tell you whether or not it is likely that you would be accepted into your chose of study if you were to apply. I sent them all information about me, and on Saturday I got an email from them saying that they thought I'd be a very suitable candidate for their MA in Creative and Critical writing, and that they had sent me additional information about the programme in the post.
I still haven't heard a word from Chichester...
This will be a hard decision I think, if I'm accepted into both places. Winchester and Chicester are only about 50 km apart on the south coast of England, and really, if I end up going to the one or the other shouldn't be that big a difference, but... I sort of really had my mind set on studying at Chichester, renting a flat in the nearby village of Bognor Regis - by the ocean. I was visiting both places this spring and I could really see myself living there. And once you've made a decision, it can sometimes be a bit hard to change it. Having grown up in inland Norway I have always had a dream about living by the ocean for a while, having the oportunity to go for long walks or run on the beach, just to be able to sit and watch the sea. Then again, that's a dream, it might not be like that at all. From what I gather, there's also a lot of tough weather for those living really close to the sea so it might not be nice at all.
Once I started thinking about going to England to study I also very soon decided that I wanted to go to some place small, where I'd hopefully have some opportunity to get to know some of the people in my neighbourhood and not just disappear in the crowd. Chichester has about 100 000 inhabitants, Bognor Regis about 60 000 and Winchester about 50 000.
I also decided that I wanted to be at a university where they offer taught modules in Fantasy literature. They've done that so far at both Chichester and Winchester, but from the information I've got in the post from Chichester it seems like they're now changing their programme and that they might not do this anymore next autumn. It's one of the questions I asked in the email I sent them to which I've yet not received an answer. But even though fantasy and sci-fi are my biggest interests in literature, how important is it really to be taught in this kind of literature - wouldn't it perhaps, since I spend almost all my time only reading fantasy and sci-fi, be better if I was actually taught in other kinds of literature to sort of broaden my horizont as a writer? Then again, it probably would be a lot easier to get through such a tough study if there was at least one modul that I was 150% interested in?
Even though the two towns are pretty close to eachother, there are actually kind of large differences in the living costs. I've decided that I'll at least need a 2 bedroom furnished flat/house when I live in England. From the research I've done on the internet, I've found that in Chichester I can get this from £550 and upwards, so far, in Winchester I haven't found anything below £750. Winchester is said to be the second most expensive city in England.
I'll admit I can hardly think about anything else these days. The time for my applications to the universities is soon coming up, and after I have applied I will probably get an answer within 2 - 3 weeks if I'm accepted or not - and after that I'll have to decide.
I at least have decided that I really need to go see Winchester, both the city and the university, before I make my decision though. I'll either make it a long-weekend in the beginning of November, or wait till January - haven't guite decided yet.
Even though it's something I'm really looking forward to, it's actually really hard imagining that by September next year, I've actually moved to England. Wow!
I will of course get back to this subject on lots of occasions in the months to come, so you will get to know my decision when I finally make one. If there should be anyone passing by who has an opinion about this "problem" of mine, maybe someone who knows the cities or the universities, or anything - please feel free to give me some advice - if I'll take them or not, well, that's a totally different story.
The excellent thing about Winchester is that if you provide them with information about your previous studies, aguired grades and such they will tell you whether or not it is likely that you would be accepted into your chose of study if you were to apply. I sent them all information about me, and on Saturday I got an email from them saying that they thought I'd be a very suitable candidate for their MA in Creative and Critical writing, and that they had sent me additional information about the programme in the post.
I still haven't heard a word from Chichester...
This will be a hard decision I think, if I'm accepted into both places. Winchester and Chicester are only about 50 km apart on the south coast of England, and really, if I end up going to the one or the other shouldn't be that big a difference, but... I sort of really had my mind set on studying at Chichester, renting a flat in the nearby village of Bognor Regis - by the ocean. I was visiting both places this spring and I could really see myself living there. And once you've made a decision, it can sometimes be a bit hard to change it. Having grown up in inland Norway I have always had a dream about living by the ocean for a while, having the oportunity to go for long walks or run on the beach, just to be able to sit and watch the sea. Then again, that's a dream, it might not be like that at all. From what I gather, there's also a lot of tough weather for those living really close to the sea so it might not be nice at all.
Once I started thinking about going to England to study I also very soon decided that I wanted to go to some place small, where I'd hopefully have some opportunity to get to know some of the people in my neighbourhood and not just disappear in the crowd. Chichester has about 100 000 inhabitants, Bognor Regis about 60 000 and Winchester about 50 000.
I also decided that I wanted to be at a university where they offer taught modules in Fantasy literature. They've done that so far at both Chichester and Winchester, but from the information I've got in the post from Chichester it seems like they're now changing their programme and that they might not do this anymore next autumn. It's one of the questions I asked in the email I sent them to which I've yet not received an answer. But even though fantasy and sci-fi are my biggest interests in literature, how important is it really to be taught in this kind of literature - wouldn't it perhaps, since I spend almost all my time only reading fantasy and sci-fi, be better if I was actually taught in other kinds of literature to sort of broaden my horizont as a writer? Then again, it probably would be a lot easier to get through such a tough study if there was at least one modul that I was 150% interested in?
Even though the two towns are pretty close to eachother, there are actually kind of large differences in the living costs. I've decided that I'll at least need a 2 bedroom furnished flat/house when I live in England. From the research I've done on the internet, I've found that in Chichester I can get this from £550 and upwards, so far, in Winchester I haven't found anything below £750. Winchester is said to be the second most expensive city in England.
I'll admit I can hardly think about anything else these days. The time for my applications to the universities is soon coming up, and after I have applied I will probably get an answer within 2 - 3 weeks if I'm accepted or not - and after that I'll have to decide.
I at least have decided that I really need to go see Winchester, both the city and the university, before I make my decision though. I'll either make it a long-weekend in the beginning of November, or wait till January - haven't guite decided yet.
Even though it's something I'm really looking forward to, it's actually really hard imagining that by September next year, I've actually moved to England. Wow!
I will of course get back to this subject on lots of occasions in the months to come, so you will get to know my decision when I finally make one. If there should be anyone passing by who has an opinion about this "problem" of mine, maybe someone who knows the cities or the universities, or anything - please feel free to give me some advice - if I'll take them or not, well, that's a totally different story.
posted by Lena M Bakke @ 11:38 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home