YA books set in college

Can't say which are my favorites since I haven't actually read any YA books set in college, but I would LOVE for someone to write some. Because I'm starting college in the fall, and I hate that my options are basically books set in high school, adult fiction, and fantasy. I need fictional guidance through the next four years of my life!!

Please write your books. Don't ever not write something because of the market. Write one, query it and be a trendsetter!

Most of the books with college age protags ( and college as a setting) that I've read are actually shelved under Adult Fiction.

I've pre-ordered (paperback of) Psych Major Syndrome, which looks really good is is marketed as YA.

Also, I think Looking For Alaska has a college feel about it, even though it's high school boarding school.

I read (and write) college aged books. And yes, the ones I can think of are in the adult section: Less Than Zero, The Rule of Four, Secret Society Girl, The Secret History, and my personal favorite, Flicker (by Theodore Roszak). Okay, that last one spans beyond college, but the college/grad school elements are wonderful and it never strays out of the student mindset. I love that book so very much.

Write what inspires you!

I think college books would be great. The story I'm working on now is the time between high school and college...kind of like "if you took a year off..." sort of thing

I just learned my book is yA from a critiqe from PwNA instead of just plain urban fantasy. I have my main character going to college.

I read a couple of Sweet Valley University books when I was young, probably early years of high school, and I loved reading about the characters in university. I'm currently at university myself and I think it's also a time when you change as a person. You're figuring out who you want to be, what you want to do etc. It's that time when you're really entering the adult world and looking after yourself. For me, it's been just as important and life changing as high school so I'd love to see more books set in college.

My WIP has an MC that just graduated. I'm kind of scared his age (18) will be considered too old even though the story is very very very YA (and the supporting characters are all around 17). But the college-set books I've read recently have been in the adult section, which is a little frustrating.

The only books I can think of that is set in college but is still shelved in the YA section would be the Sloppy Firsts series. BUT those started off in High School, so I dont know if it counts.

Jumpy2, two of Sarah Dessen's books (This Lullaby and Along For the Ride) are set in the summer before the MC starts college, and they're YA. I think it depends more on the tone and content, but if you feel your story is YA, then it probably is.

I"m not sure it's exactly what you have in mind, but I loved, and still love Pamela Dean's Tam Line. It's an urban fantasy, set on a slightly disguised but recognizable real campus whose name I can't remember.

It's got bits of Tam Linn, and Thomas the Rhymer and is quite lovely.

Oddly enough i was going to start a post about this very same thing! Ok so i asked before how old was too old for YA books... You see i started my series when my MC's are 13 and i refuse to stop just because they are going to college, frankly i dont think you really grow up that much between senior year and college, college is just like highschool but harder in which you dont have to live at home.

I got a lot of bad reactions from other writers saying 18 should be the limit but i'm not going to throw away all my ideas because of that. You shouldnt either. I dont really know what your books are about but for me from my first to now my 7th the language and situations havent changed to drastically mature, other then more violent and gory (horror/thriller/mystery series). I put in a few more vagly dirty jokes, because face it that's how college kid like myself are, and now my MC's are getting boyfriends and girlfriends but i'm not really going to go into sex and all that, but plenty of other YA books do anyway so really what is the big deal if your MC are in college and doing that stuff. personally i think highscool is more crazy then college.

If anything i personally think it would just open up more people like college students themselves to the book because they can relate more, and plenty of highschool kids are going to want to read it because they think college is soooo amazing and want to know more. Anyway good luck.

tinkerbell said:

Jumpy2, two of Sarah Dessen's books (This Lullaby and Along For the Ride) are set in the summer before the MC starts college, and they're YA. I think it depends more on the tone and content, but if you feel your story is YA, then it probably is.

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That is very encouraging! Although, Sarah Dessen is a name author so she probably has more leeway in these things.