Creative Writing

The creative writing major requires 33 hours. Students will study literary technique, style, form, genre, and the Anglo-American literary tradition while developing as poets, writers of fiction, creative nonfiction, and performance-based work.

Students who can write clearly and think creatively typically find jobs in a wide range of occupations, many of them located well beyond what is traditionally considered the career path of English or creative writing. Some of the most common jobs are editing/publishing, grant and proposal writing, feature film and television writer and digital copywriter just to name a few.

Students will:

1. Progress toward Critical Perspective: gain and demonstrate knowledge of an historically varied range of Anglophone literary texts by reading them and writing about them;
2. Progress toward Creative Knowledge and Practice: Write and present in public creative work in different creative writing genres;
3. Progress toward Professionalization: participate in a larger creative community through activities such as peer critiques, writers' groups, meetings with professional writers, attendance at public events, submitting work to publications, and presenting work in public;
4. Progress toward Self-actualization: a) articulate goals through formal written statements, informal journal entries, oral questions and answers, or other reporting methods and b) assess their own progress towards those goals through self-reflection artifacts.

Let’s start with your grade point average (GPA). Yale admissions officers will calculate based on your high school transcript, which you’ll submit with your overall application.

Last year, the reported average high school GPA of an admitted student at Yale was a 4.19 out of 4.0, what we call a “weighted” GPA. However, unweighted GPAs are not very useful, because high schools weight GPAs differently. In truth, you need close to a 4.0 unweighted GPA to get into Yale. That means nearly straight As in every class.

Yale, like the rest of the Ivy League and most other colleges, requires either the SAT or ACT for admission. They have no preference between them, so choose the test that’s a better fit for you, thoroughly prepare for it, and plan to take it multiple times.

The average SAT and ACT composite scores for admitted students at Yale varies, as you can see in the table below. However, keep in mind that unless you fall into certain privileged categories (athletes, legacies, donors, etc.), your SAT/ACT score should be closer to the 75th percentile than the 25th percentile to ensure you’re maximizing your chances of admission.

TOEFL or IELTS is required of most applicants whose native language is not English.

If you have received (or will receive) an undergraduate degree from a college or university where English is the primary language of instruction, and if you have studied in residence at that institution for at least three years, you are exempt from the English Language Test requirement and are not required to submit the TOEFL or IELTS. 

No exemptions are made on the basis of an advanced degree (e.g. M.A./M.S. or Ph.D.) from any institution.

When you complete your application, you will answer questions about your native language and the primary language of instruction at your baccalaureate institution. If either was English, you will not be required to submit TOEFL or IELTS scores when you submit your application. No separate documentation is necessary. 

Identify the program and degree you want.

Verify the application deadline for your program.

Determine what standardized tests you need to take. Register early.

Determine what standardized tests you need to take. Register early.

Complete your application.