The following are requirements for each applicant for admission in addition to the application for admission.

Undergraduate Grade Point Average

Applicants for admission should present an cumulative undergraduate grade point average of 3.0 or better.

Undergraduate Preparation

The Master of Arts in English program consists of advanced study in the discipline of literary analysis and criticism. It is assumed that students have a knowledge of the discipline equivalent to an undergraduate major or a substantial minor in English. Applicants for admission who are accepted into the program without demonstrating such preparation may be required to take additional courses in English; these foundational courses do not count toward the total hours required for the graduate degree. Typical foundational courses include the history of theory and criticism, and the historical surveys in British and American literature.

Graduate Record Exam Scores

Applicants for admission are required to submit scores for the verbal and analytical writing sections of the GRE. These scores will be taken into consideration when making an admission decision, but no minimum score on either section is required. However, recently successful applicants have attained a score in at least the fiftieth percentile.

Letters of Recommendation

Three letters of recommendation should be supplied from persons who can address the applicant's intellectual ability, maturity and academic motivation. Letters from instructors at the college level with specific knowledge of the applicant's academic work are preferred. The recommendation form can be downloaded by clicking the "Recommendation Form" link at right.

Writing Sample

Each application should include a sample of the applicant's academic writing. An essay written for an upper-division English course or a course in another discipline in the humanities is preferred. If such a sample is not available, some other substantial writing demonstrating the student's ability to organize information, develop an argument and clearly express ideas should be supplied.

International Students

All applicants for admission whose native language is not English are required to take the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) and submit a combined scored of 550 or better (new scoring of 213 or better) or the Internet-based test scoring of 80 or better. Please contact the Office of Graduate Studies for additional information; the office's contact information is at right.