University of Southern California Masters in Professional Writing

Reviewer's Name:

Will Entrekin

Review Date

March 19, 2009

Year of Graduation:

2008

Review Title:

Changed my life and made me a better writer

Full Review of the Program:

I can't imagine a better experience than I had at USC, even despite that major administrative changes began the semester after I started. I began classes in May of 2006, when the program was well into its third decade. James Ragan was the director, and its teachers included Irvin Kershner, Janet Fitch, and Marc Norman. Those names were what made me apply; a blockbuster director, an Academy Award winner, and an Oprah Book Club pick, respectively.

As with all such things, the experience you get is less what you might expect but rather what you need. For my part, the directorship changed in December 2006. I never got to study with Marc Norman, unfortunately (though I did meet him during a class called the Academy Series, in which Academy-Award nominated/winning writers, directors, and producers came to our class to discuss their work), but I studied film with Kershner and fiction with Fitch.

I can't imagine having had a better experience, and it challenged me, both as a person and as a writer, in ways I never expected. As with any such endeavor, you get what you put in: during my two years there, I revised my novel with the man Ray Bradbury called the greatest writing teacher ever, published a collection of short stories to positive reviews, and became a writing instructor at one of the most prestigious universities in the country. I met wonderful people and forged solid friendships, and I gained new understanding of my craft.

I think the quality of a program is directly proportional to the energy you devote to your work, and the measure of its efficacy in how much better your work is after having attended it than before. Only time will ever tell if I manage greatness, but I graduated USC a far better writer than I was when I started.

Advice to Prospective Students:

One word: research. It's not a program for everyone, certainly, because it eschews more nebulous concepts like "art" for more practical ideas like, you know, publishing and selling your writing; a few classes required us to write query letters, which is, apparently, an exception to a general rule among Fine Arts program (which you'll note USC is -not-). USC's program is practical and versatile, and I can't imagine a better one.