English Language and Literature Ph.D.: 13.2%
History Ph.D.: 14%
*Statistics for NYU are based on the number of enrolled students and not the number of admitted students. Therefore, expect actual acceptance rates to be slightly higher.
Unfortunately, grad school admissions statistics tend to be more difficult to find than undergrad acceptance rates. But there are ways to search for them — you just have to do a lot of digging and possibly a little reaching out.
Below are our top four methods for finding grad school acceptance rates for the programs you’re applying to.
By far the most reliable resources for grad school admissions statistics are school websites.
Start your search by consulting program and departmental pages, particularly admissions and FAQ pages. Look out for any statistics-related keywords or phrases, such as “admission(s) rates,” “acceptance rates,” “enrollment,” “facts and figures,” etc. Use ctrl+F to move swiftly through large chunks of text.
Not all schools publish grad admissions information online, and those that do don’t always report it in the same way as others. For example, Princeton offers a handy PDF containing acceptance rates for all academic fields of study. On the other hand, Notre Dame gives separate admissions charts for each of its grad programs (which you can access by selecting a program and then clicking “Admissions Statistics”).
Additionally, many schools release admissions statistics without explicitly publishing acceptance rates. In this case, it’s your job to take the statistics provided and use them to calculate an acceptance rate. To find the acceptance rate of a school or program, you’ll need the following information:
The acceptance rate equals the total number of applicants offered admission divided by the total number of applicants and then multiplied by 100, or:
$$\acceptance \rate = {\number \of \applicants \offered \admission}/{\total \number \of \applicants}100$$
Be sure to avoid conflating the number of students who were offered admission with the number of students who accepted their offers of admission. These two concepts sound alike but are actually different. What you’re looking for is the first statistic — that is, the number of admitted students (regardless of whether they decided to enroll).
If you’re having trouble finding admissions statistics by browsing school websites, search on Google for “[Your School] graduate acceptance rate” and see if any relevant school pages appear. While searching for acceptance rates to use in the table above, I consistently swapped “acceptance rate” with similar phrases, such as “admission(s) rate,” “facts and figures,” “student statistics,” “admittance rates,” and “admission(s) statistics.”
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Don’t be afraid to get creative! You can also use phrases like “Ph.D. admissions statistics” or “master’s admissions statistics” to narrow your search even further. Try to think outside the box as you do your research. What are other ways people talk about acceptance rates?
If your school or program doesn’t offer any admissions statistics on its website, go to U.S. News . This website offers official rankings of grad programs as well as lists of the most (and least) selective programs in various fields.
For example, I found a 2016 list of the most competitive online M.B.A. programs and a 2015 list of the most competitive online graduate engineering programs .
If U.S. News doesn’t offer any relevant lists for you to use, try skimming the current grad school rankings to gauge how competitive your program is compared with others in the same field.
One less reliable method for looking up grad school admissions statistics is to look for (unofficial) websites discussing acceptance rates for your school or program.
The Grad Cafe’s admissions results section is a solid place to start. Here, applicants post whether they’ve been accepted, rejected, or waitlisted for grad programs.
Search for your program to get a rough feel for how many acceptances and rejections go out each year. You might notice that certain types of applicants are more active than others. Creative Writing M.F.A. applicants, for example, are prolific posters in winter and spring (during admissions season).
Occasionally, Google itself will provide you with grad school acceptance rates, but this only appears to work consistently for well-known law schools, medical schools, and business schools.
Additionally, while using Google, don’t assume that any acceptance rates that pop up are directly connected to your search terms. For example, when I searched “stanford graduate acceptance rate,” Google gave me this result:
This 4.8 percent acceptance rate is not the acceptance rate for Stanford’s grad programs (what I searched for) but rather the acceptance rate for undergrads. So always cross-check any statistics Google gives you.
You can also consult grad school data websites such as Peterson’s and StartClass . Take their grad school acceptance rates with a grain of salt, though — their data isn’t always verifiable online. If possible, try to compare any data you find on these types of websites with the school websites themselves or U.S. News .
If the internet isn’t giving you the help you need, call or email your schools. Be polite but upfront: ask whether the school calculates acceptance rates for grad programs and where you can find this information online (if available).
If a school refuses to divulge admissions statistics or simply doesn’t report acceptance rates, see if they can give you estimates for how many applications they receive each year, or for how many acceptances they usually extend to applicants in your program.
By this point, you might be wondering how likely it is you’ll actually get into the grad program you wish to attend. After all, acceptance rates are pretty broad — they tell you what everyone’s odds are but not your odds specifically.
Below are three easy steps for determining your odds of getting into grad school, including advice on when it’s better to go for it or choose another program.
First, go to your program’s website and pinpoint the admissions requirements page. Now, ask yourself: do you meet all of the program’s basic requirements? If not, you’ll likely wind up with a rejection (and might not even be able to apply).
However, if you’re still interested in applying, contact the program and ask if they’ll make an exception for you. Your chance of getting accepted is still low, but you’ll at least have your application considered.
If your program strongly recommends qualities you lack, don’t interpret this as an automatic rejection. Sometimes, applicants can make up for deficiencies in other ways. For example, if your undergrad GPA is 3.1 and your program recommends applicants have a minimum 3.2, don’t write off the program — you might still have a shot at getting in as long as the rest of your application is solid.
On the other hand, even if you meet all of a program’s requirements, you’re not necessarily a shoo-in. Remember, all other applicants have met these requirements, too, so you’ll need to find a unique way to make your application stand out.
Your next step is to look up your program’s average GRE scores and GPA to see how your own scores and GPA compare with those of previously admitted applicants.
You can usually find GRE score information on admissions requirements or FAQ pages. You can also search on Google for “[Your School] [Your Program] average GRE scores.” For step-by-step instructions on how to find average GRE scores, check out my article on average GRE scores by school .
For GPAs, you can use the same basic methodology. Check admissions requirements and FAQ pages and use ctrl+F to search for “GPA.” If GPA information is available, you’ll most likely come across minimum GPAs or average GPAs (or both). For more tips on how to find GPA information for your grad schools, read our guide .
Now, compare your own GRE scores and GPA with the averages you’ve found. Below are all possible scenarios and what they mean for you and your odds of getting into the program:
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Now, we get to the final question: do you apply to the program or not? This is a vague question that’s difficult to answer as is. The real questions you should be asking yourself are as follows:
Although acceptance rates and GRE/GPA comparisons are helpful, don’t base your decision to apply solely on how difficult the program is to get into. We can’t know for sure what kind of applicant a grad program is looking for or who they’re willing to make an exception for.
Take a moment to think deeply about how interested you are in this particular program. Be realistic about your chances of getting in — but don’t cross the line into pessimism. If you don’t meet most or all of a program’s expectations and you’re not super invested in it, consider applying elsewhere.
But if you meet some, most, or all of a program’s expectations and you’re extremely interested in enrolling, give the application a go. Remember, it’s totally normal (and even encouraged) to have a few reach schools. Plus, you’ll never get in if you don’t apply!
Grad school acceptance rates quantify for us the selectivity of grad schools and programs. More specifically, acceptance rates tell us what percentage of applicants were offered admission to a particular grad school or program.
With grad school, acceptance rates are often reported for individual schools or programs, not entire universities. Acceptance rates can vary widely depending on program prestige, the type of degree you’re seeking, and how much (or how little) funding a program offers.
Unlike undergrad acceptance rates, grad school acceptance rates are somewhat difficult to locate online. You can look for them using any of the following four methods:
When trying to determine your odds of getting into a program, look at your program’s requirements as well as the average GPA and GRE scores of previously admitted applicants to your program. If your GRE scores and GPA are comparable to those of your program, you have a decent shot at getting accepted. If one or both are lower than your program’s averages, however, you can always try to raise your GRE score with a retake or address your GPA in your statement of purpose.
At the end of the day, what ultimately matters isn’t that you get accepted to a highly competitive grad program but that you make the right decision for you and you alone!
Need help with your grad school application? Learn about the most common grad school requirements and get tips on how to write a grad school CV or resume !
Is your GPA good enough for grad school ? Read our in-depth guide to learn how you can make up for a less-than-stellar GPA and ultimately raise your chances of getting into the school of your dreams.
Do you have to take the GRE for grad school ? When are grad school deadlines ? Check out our guides for answers to these questions and more.
Hannah graduated summa cum laude from the University of Southern California with a bachelor’s degree in English and East Asian languages and cultures. After graduation, she taught English in Japan for two years via the JET Program. She is passionate about education, writing, and travel. View all posts by Hannah Muniz
University of Notre Dame
Department of English
College of Arts and Letters
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The Ph.D. in English is a highly selective doctoral program at a top-ranked private research university that trains students for the academic profession of literary studies while building knowledge and skills relevant to a wide range of careers. As a student in our program, you will enjoy access to outstanding scholars working in a variety of fields and practicing diverse theoretical and methodological approaches.
Through our classes, individual student mentoring, and professionalization practicums, you will gain advanced training in the many facets of scholarship and professional life, including research methods, pedagogy, writing for publication, applying for funding, and the job search. Our faculty are committed to helping you develop your interests, voice, and skills as a researcher, writer, and teacher.
“I chose Notre Dame for my English Ph.D. because I wanted to land in a program with as much community support as possible. The stresses of graduate school are real, and it's important to be surrounded by supportive people who respect your needs, interests, and personal career goals. Notre Dame’s English Department is filled with faculty and administrators who truly care about setting their students up for success, whether that's on the academic job market or beyond. Throughout my dissertation process, I've been grateful to have a network of faculty and graduate students who are interested in supporting both my area of research and my personal goals.” — Logan Quigley, Ph.D. May 2022
Notre Dame is home to renowned centers and institutes that enrich doctoral study and help build interdisciplinary connections. As a student here you will have the opportunity to participate in projects and colloquia—and apply for additional research and conference support—from institutes including:
“As an applicant many years ago, Notre Dame struck me as a place where graduate students were encouraged to find multiple intellectual homes outside their own departments, through centers and institutes that recognize not only the promise of graduate student's intellectual contributions but the precarity of those contributions if left unsupported. I'm happy to say the University delivered, rewarding me time and time again with some of the richest, most rigorous academic conversations and, to boot, the means to pursue the research questions that those conversations generated.” — Arnaud Zimmern, Ph.D. May 2021. Now a Postdoctoral Fellow in the History of Philosophy and Science at Notre Dame
As a Ph.D. student in English you might also decide to pursue one of five graduate minors:
Our Ph.D. program provides exciting opportunities to participate in an array of international opportunities, events, and partnerships. You might, for instance:
And, of course, you will have access to support from the department and a range of other university sources for research and conference travel.
“As an Irish grad minor, I participated in the Irish Seminar and traveled to Dublin and Kylemore Abbey where I had the wonderful opportunity of learning about Irish literature and culture from renowned international scholars. My participation in the Irish seminar was complemented with my engagement with INCH. For the INCH annual retreats, I traveled to Athens and Rome and got the opportunity to work with scholars and graduate students from various universities in the US and Europe. The international exposure generously provided by the program has significantly enriched my scholarship." — Shinjini Chattopadhyay, Ph.D. January 2022. Now Assistant Professor of Global Anglophone Literatures at Berry College
Have questions about the Ph.D. in English? Contact:
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Application deadlines, the appliation for fall 2025 will be available in september 2024. application deadline is december 1 2024..
PhD Admissions Open House Want a PhD in English? Why NYU? New York University, Department of English
Friday, October 20, 2023 at 11:00AM EST https://nyu.zoom.us/j/91310527661 (approximately 1 hour)
2022 Open House: Zoom Recording
Are you considering a PhD in English? Come meet faculty and graduate students from the NYU Department of English, who will share their experiences about the structure and culture of the program. You will get a quick overview of what a degree here entails, including the university’s new Advanced Certificate in Public Humanities. We hope to highlight what we (and New York City’s landscape of civic and arts institutions and archives) can offer you as you prepare for a future in teaching, research, and writing.
Your application to the PhD program should consist of the following components:
All accepted Ph.D. students in English receive up to five years of funding through the Graduate School’s MacCracken program. In 2024-2025 students will receive a $35,000 stipend for nine months, plus a full tuition scholarship, registration and services fees, and full coverage of NYU student health insurance for an individual under the comprehensive plan. The MacCracken award includes a one-time $1,000 Dean's Supplementary Fellowship Grant. This grant is intended to provide support for start-up research and educational expenses such as books, academic supplies, and computer equipment. In addition, the Department of English offers a one-time $3,000 Supplementary Grant that may be used at the student's discretion and a $7,000 summer stipend during your first and second years of study and $3,000 summer stipend for your third year of study. While teaching is not required as a condition of the MacCracken award, the English Department still sees teaching as crucial to the professional development of its doctoral candidates. We therefore expect that our Ph.D. students will teach for four semesters starting after the second year of study, typically scheduled across the third through fifth years. Students who participate fully in the department's teaching program will receive in excess of $22,000 in adjunct-instructor compensation for their four semesters of teaching service, over and above the fellowship stipend payments they will receive during the term of the MacCracken award.
The English Ph.D. program is designed to be completed within the five-year term for which the MacCracken award ensures full funding. However, students can arrange to set aside as much as half of the fellowship stipend they receive during each semester in which they teach, to be drawn on at later points in the period of their enrollment. Thus if they follow the Department’s recommendation and teach for a total of four semesters during the MacCracken term, they can guarantee themselves an additional year of full funding in case they require a sixth year of matriculation in order to secure employment and complete the degree.
Teaching opportunities primarily include serving as a recitation leader in general education courses in the undergraduate college, and in departmental undergraduate survey courses. Students who follow the department's teaching protocol will be assigned to a range of different courses over their four semesters of service, and will thereby achieve the breadth of literacy-historical knowledge appropriate to doctorate holders in the discipline. Students who forgo teaching may be required to demonstrate the breadth of their literary-historical knowledge through other means.
If your question is not answered, please contact the director of graduate admissions, Jenny Mann.
Students who are admitted to the Ph.D. program are invited to attend our annual Open House for Newly Admitted Doctoral Students, which this year will take place on (dates to be determined). Admitted students will be asked to arrive in New York City the afternoon of (TBA), when there will be an informal cocktail party with English Department faculty and current students. Scheduled events on (TBA) will allow admitted students the opportunity to interact with faculty as well as current graduate students and other admitted, prospective students, attend classes and tour the campus.
Information.
Ph.D. in English
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
The Ph.D. in English literature is a specialist degree designed to prepare students for research and teaching at the postsecondary level. Students in our Ph.D. program embark on a rigorous program of independent scholarship under the supervision of faculty who are themselves active researchers in their fields. The English department works hard to prepare our graduates for the challenges of the academy. Our graduates have gone on to establish careers at a variety of nationally recognized universities and liberal arts institutions (including Pittsburgh, Baylor, Colgate, Southern Methodist University, the University of Tampa, Penn State Altoona, and the University of Kansas (Fort Hayes)) as well as a range of respected regional and community colleges.
Students entering the Ph.D. program have typically earned an M.A. at another institution, but the recent creation of a B.A.-Ph.D. program allows students entering with a B.A. to receive an in-stream M.A. as they pursue the Ph.D. Please see below for further details on the curriculum and program requirements.
Gsas students by the numbers, graduate students, phd students, master's students, visiting students & scholars, gsas community demographics, international students, students from underrepresented backgrounds, us states represented, countries represented, gsas funding, estimated annual financial aid budget, 2024-2025 phd stipend range, annual family subsidy stipend, funding per doctoral student over the course of enrollment, program statistics.
Below you will find alumni placement data for our departments and programs.
For the 2025-2026 graduate admissions cycle, the University of Chicago English Department is prioritizing applications focusing on literature and culture in relation to environment, ecology, and space. Possible areas of interest include (but are not limited to) the environmental humanities; built environments and literature; geography and urbanization; the atmosphere and setting of literary and artistic works and circles; ecopoetics; the poetics and politics of space. We encourage applications from students wishing to work in all historical periods, and on texts from and about any region of the world. We welcome hybrid scholars working in creative and critical modes or across media, or doing public humanities and public-facing work that foregrounds environmental and spatial concerns. For more information on faculty and current graduate students in this area, please visit the department website .
You may indicate up to five Areas of Study in which you are interested, in ranked order.
The application for Autumn 2025 will open in the fall.
Request more information
“Media aesthetics” is part of a multiyear area of focus for the University of Chicago’s Department of English, in “Literary Worlds and Worldings.” This area will be our focus for the next three years, with each year emphasizing a different theme within this broad topic:
Media aesthetics involves a wide range of questions about how distinct mediums (print, theater, film, digital media, etc.) shape aesthetic experience; and/or historical and cultural approaches to media and mediation. It could intersect with any historical period and with a variety of other traditional (or nontraditional) subfields. It can be transnational and multilinguistic in scope. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
We are excited about this multiyear admissions initiative, and believe the English department has much to offer incoming graduate students working in these areas of study. Secondary MenuPh.d. requirements. We attempt to make each stage of the progress towards the doctoral degree less an obstacle race, with each stage a step to be got through before the "real work" can begin, than an integral and component part of the making of an intellectual. Course RequirementsAt Duke, the doctoral candidate must be enrolled for six semesters of full tuition. Students must successfully complete eleven graduate courses for credit in their first two years, but they may, of course, take more than the minimum number of courses, either as audits or for credit: typically students take between twelve and fourteen courses in their first three years of study. All courses at the 500-800 levels in both the English department and the Program in Literature may be counted toward the eleven-course requirement and courses in other departments for which students have an intellectual rationale can also be counted. At the discretion of the Director of Graduate Studies, up to three courses of the eleven normally required may be remitted for a student who has completed an MA degree at another university. Foreign Language RequirementOur program requires foreign language proficiency in at least one language. We ask that the student establish this proficiency within the first two years of the program, either by certifying a grade of "B" or better in a literature course conducted in the language at another college or university within two years of matriculating at Duke, or by successfully completing one of the departmentally approved modes of satisfying the requirement listed in the Handbook. Areas of ConcentrationBeginning in the second year of the program, the student selects one major and two minor fields of concentration that will form the basis of the preliminary examination on a major area of concentration. The student should also select a preliminary examining committee, consisting of a major-field faculty advisor and three other faculty members, by the end of the second year. A summer reading list is due to the Director of Graduate Study before the summer of the student's third year. For a helpful list of questions to ask as you assemble a committee and prepare for exams, please see the Graduate English Association Best Practices Sheet for Exams and Reading lists . Portfolio ReviewAt the end of the Fall semester of the second year, the student selects three papers that they have written for coursework to make a portfolio. They write a brief reflective statement about the portfolio and select two faculty members—usually one of these the prospective committee chair and one a possible committee member—who, along with the DGS, read the three papers and discuss them with the student before the end of the Spring semester. Preliminary ExaminationIn the spring semester of the third year, the student takes two written examinations, one on the major and one on the two minor areas of concentration. These take the form of two take-home 12 hour exams. The written portion is followed within two weeks by an oral examination on the major as well as the two minor fields. Both the written and the oral examinations are administered by the preliminary examination committee (see above). DissertationIn the fourth and fifth years, the student will be expected to complete a book-length thesis of original scholarship. The Ph.D. degree is awarded upon completion and successful defense of the dissertation. The dissertation committee of four members (typically, though not invariably, the four members of the preliminary examining committee) is responsible for assisting as appropriate in the dissertation research and writing, deciding on the acceptability of the work, and administering the Final Doctoral Oral Examination. Dissertation Chapter MeetingA chapter consultation for the dissertation is scheduled within six months of the preliminary examination. At this meeting, the student submits a draft of the first chapter and a brief outline of the projected shape of the rest of the dissertation for discussion with the assembled dissertation committee. From this point forward, the director of the dissertation serves as the principal advisor, and the second and third reader are typically also asked to read work in progress. The fourth reader usually reads the dissertation in full only when it has reached its final form. Time Limits and DeadlinesThe dissertation should normally be submitted and accepted within two years of the preliminary examination; extensions may be granted, but only in extraordinary circumstances will they be granted for longer than two further years. Regulations governing details such as the filing of the title by a stipulated deadline, the format, and the deadline for submission of a final version before the scheduled examination, are all set by the Graduate School and should be carefully followed. The Final Doctoral Oral ExaminationAll members of the dissertation committee must participate in this examination. Typically, the exam takes two hours, and it may involve questions not only about the content of the dissertation, but on the candidate's major field. Minor changes or corrections on the dissertation may be requested. Three committee members, including the dissertation director, must agree that the candidate will pass.
Department of English
The Department of English offers a program leading to the PhD degree in literatures in English. The department is small in numbers and its graduate students are carefully selected on the basis of their professional distinction as teachers, critics, and scholars. Because of its small size, the department affords students exceptionally focused attention. The department accepts only full-time students for the PhD. Continuance beyond each of the first three years depends on satisfactory performance in the graduate seminars and passing two foreign language examinations. Students who successfully continue are awarded an MA degree in the course of the PhD program, but the department does not offer a separate master’s program. Students proceed to the dissertation after successfully passing a qualifying examination in the third year. The PhD in English literature at Johns Hopkins consists of two years of course work and three years devoted to the research and writing of a dissertation. Students who remain in good standing will be guaranteed the same level of financial support for the full five years. Facilities for ResearchThe cities of Baltimore and Washington, D.C., jointly contain a large collection of manuscripts and printed books. Major libraries and museums in Baltimore possess more than a thousand early manuscripts and 3 million books. The 12 million books and numerous manuscripts in the Library of Congress are supplemented in Washington by many specialized collections, notably those of the Folger Shakespeare Library, with which the university is affiliated. Opportunities for research in those libraries are open to students in the English department. The Tudor and Stuart Club, along with a number of other outstanding lecture series within the university, enables students to learn about advances in research, criticism, and theory, and to confer with leading scholars. The Journal Club is a departmental series in which students present to the department papers drawn from their dissertation research. Thank you for your interest in our Ph.D. program. The Berkeley English Department offers a wide-ranging Ph.D. program, engaging with all historical periods of British and American literature, Anglophone literature, and critical and cultural theory. The program aims to assure that students gain a broad knowledge of literature in English as well as the highly-developed skills in scholarship and criticism necessary to do solid and innovative work in their chosen specialized fields. The application deadline is December 15, 2024, 8:59pm PST. N.B.: the GRE General Test and Subject Test in English are no longer required to apply to our program. For general information about applying to U.C. Berkeley graduate programs, see the Graduate Division’s admissions page (where you will also find a link to the application). For further information about English Department admissions, please contact us at [email protected] . Ph.D. Admissions FAQsWhat graduate degrees does Stanford offer in English? The English department offers both the Ph.D. and MA degree, but the graduate program is primarily oriented towards the Ph.D. degree. MA degrees are awarded to Stanford coterminal BA students or en route to the Ph.D. We do not accept external applicants directly to the MA program. How long does it take to take to earn a Ph.D. in English at Stanford? The typical time to degree is 6 years, although it is quite possible to complete all the requirements in 5 years. Most of the first two years are spent in coursework and the qualifying examination. The end of the second year and the beginning of the third year are spent preparing for the oral exam which is usually taken by the end of autumn quarter of the third year. By the beginning of the fourth year students have defined a research project and present this proposal to their committee. The remaining time is spent researching and writing the dissertation What financial support is available? Are international students eligible for financial support? All students admitted to the English Ph.D. program receive five years of 12-month funding. Financial support is provided through a combination of fellowship stipend and tuition, and assistantship salaray and tuition allowance. Students in good academic standing also receive funding in the sixth year of the program. Additional funding is provided to support academic and research expenses such as conference attendance and travel. Stanford's Knight-Hennessy Scholars program also awards up to 100 graduate students every year with full funding. Please refer to the Knight-Hennessy Scholars program page for important information. What are the language requirements for the program? Ph.D. candidates must prove reading knowledge of two foreign languages. Ideally, applicants will have language proficiency before admission, as it is not practical to acquire two languages from scratch given the rigors of the program. Will I have opportunities to teach during the program? Pedagogy is an integral part of our program and we require students to participate in a pedagogical seminar in the first year. Typically a student will teach three times as a teaching assistant in a literature course. For the fourth course, students will have the option of applying to design and teach a tutorial for undergraduate English majors or teaching a fourth quarter as a T.A.. How can I find faculty in my field of interest? Is it important that I contact a specific professor prior to applying? The faculty profiles are categorized by field of interest. Applicants are encouraged to contact faculty directly regarding research interests. However, faculty members do not admit students directly as “their own”. Students are not admitted to work with particular faculty members; rather, we admit the set of students who we feel are the strongest and would benefit the most from the kind of graduate education that we provide. That is, admissions decisions are not made by individual faculty members, but rather are made by the English Graduate Admissions Committee which includes a subset of the faculty and graduate students. Is an online program of study or are online courses in English available? The department does not offer online or distance learning instruction in English. Students in an English degree program are expected to be in residence. Can I attend the Ph.D. or MA program part-time? No, these programs are designed with the expectation that students will be devoting all their time to their graduate study. Can I start the graduate program in the winter or spring quarter? No, the department admits applicants to the autumn quarter only. Can I be a visiting student in the Stanford English department? Students enrolled as Ph.D. students at other Universities may apply to visit the English department for periods ranging from one quarter to an academic year. For information, deadlines and fees involved see Research Policy Handbook . Is it possible to transfer into the Stanford graduate program from another graduate program? We do not accept transfer students per se. Students currently enrolled in a Ph.D. program elsewhere must apply through the regular admissions process. Up to 45 quarter units of graduate coursework previously taken towards a graduate degree may be transferred towards the Ph.D. degree at the discretion of the Director of Graduate Studies after the first year of study. Typically this does not lessen the time to degree since students are expected to complete all Ph.D. requirements (qualifying exam, language requirements, dissertation proposal, dissertation, etc.), though some slight adjustments might be made to how they fulfill some of the course requirements. May I request information about your program? The most up-to-date information about English at Stanford can be found on our web site: individual faculty and graduate student interests, courses currently offered and degree requirements. If you have specific questions after perusing our pages, please email us at englishadmissions [at] lists.stanford.edu ( englishadmissions[at]lists[dot]stanford[dot]edu ) . Will you mail me application materials? Stanford’s graduate admissions application is found on-line at: https://gradadmissions.stanford.edu/apply/apply-now Can I arrange a visit to the English department? Prior to visiting, prospective applicants are encouraged to contact the department’s student services manager and specific faculty to arrange individual appointments. It is helpful to include a little about your background and interests in English in your email. We do not recommend visiting the department without an appointment as faculty may be busy with prior commitments. We ask that you do not visit while applications are under review in January and February. When is the application deadline? The deadline for admission for the 2025-26 academic year is December 1, 2024. Am I eligible to apply for the Ph.D. program in English? You are eligible for admission to graduate programs at Stanford as long as you have either completed a bachelor’s degree from a U.S. college or university accredited by a regional accrediting association; or completed an international degree that is equivalent to a U.S. bachelor’s degree from a college or university of recognized standing. How selective is the admissions process for the Ph.D. program? We are able to matriculate about 4-6 students with funding from an applicant pool of 200+. What does the admissions committee look for when reviewing applications? In reviewing applications for our Ph.D. program, we look for evidence that the applicant not only will thrive in our graduate program, but will go on to put the training we offer to fruitful use in an academic or a non-academic career. We look for evidence of:
What kind of writing sample should I submit with my application? A sample of critical or scholarly writing, 12-25 pages in length (not including references). This may be an excerpt from a longer work, such as a senior thesis. It should, however, be clear of grading comments and should preferably be in your expressed field of interest. What kind of information should I include in my statement of purpose? The statement of purpose should be designed as a narrative presentation of yourself. We want to know what you’ve done in English or in related fields, why you want to study English and particularly why you think Stanford is an appropriate place for you to do it. We want to know what your literary interests are. If you aren’t sure yet what you plan to do in English, that’s fine, but we want to know that you have some idea of the possibilities. Don’t repeat things that we will learn from other parts of your application, such as your transcript, but do highlight things you think are particularly important, and do feel free to explain any things in your other materials that you are less proud of. Caution: avoid telling us too much about your childhood and your fascination with literature. The statement of purpose should be ideally 500-600 words, maximum 1000, double spaced. Do I need to take the GRE? No, the GRE General and Subject Tests are not required for the Autumn 2023 admissions cycle. I am an International applicant who speaks and reads English. Do I need to take the TOEFL? Possibly. If you have a degree from an English-speaking institution, you may not have to take the TOEFL. Please refer to the Graduate Admissions web page for queries regarding the TOEFL. Do I need to have an MA before I apply to the Ph.D. program? No. Only about 25% of our graduate students had earned an MA before being admitted to the Ph.D. program. My undergraduate degree is not in English? Does that matter? While the majority of our degree candidates have an undergraduate degree in English, we have admitted students from other disciplines, such as Art History, Philosophy and even Astrophysics! However, these students had taken an exceptional number of undergraduate courses in English and were extremely well-prepared for a doctoral program in English. Will you accept recommendation letters from private credentialing services, such as Interfolio? Unfortunately, our application system does not work directly with the letter service (such as Interfolio) process. Letters of recommendation must be submitted via the Stanford application system. Can letters of recommendation be uploaded before I submit my on-line application? Your recommenders may upload their letters as soon as you name them in the application process and they receive the instruction email and password. The letters will then be electronically stored until you submit your application. My test scores, letters of recommendation, transcripts, or writing sample will be late. What do I do? All materials for admission to the doctoral program, including letter of recommendation, must be submitted electronically by December 1, 2023. Applicants will be notified of the status of their application materials by mid January. I have been out of school for several years and there is no one left who can write an academic recommendation for me. May my employer write one? The purpose of submitting letters of recommendation is to give program faculty an indication of your ability to do scholarly research. It is recommended that current or former professors in your major-field courses be asked by you to submit letters, as they would have the best idea of your research potential. If, however, such persons are no longer available to ask, anyone who you think can best assess your potential for graduate study can be asked to write the letter. I want to send more than the required number of letters of recommendation because I feel this will enhance my chances of being offered admission. Is this true? It is not the quantity of letters, rather the quality. You should submit no more than three letters. Can I apply to more than one department? Stanford policy allows applicants to apply for only (1) one graduate program per year. However, if the department reviewing your application feels you are better suited to another program, they can opt to transfer your file to another department if you authorize this action on your application. How much does it cost to apply? Stanford uses an online application and the fee is $125. This method allows applicants to save data and work on their application from any computer on multiple occasions. Are there any fee waivers for the $125 fee? For information on eligibility for fee waivers please refer to Graduate Application Fee Waiver . What is the status of my application? Please check the Graduate Application Status Page in the application portal for updates to your application. How are applications reviewed? Applications are reviewed holistically to assess their promise for teaching and research careers. Heavier emphasis is placed on the writing sample and letters of recommendation. When do you make decisions? We make every effort to make offers of admission by the last week in February. Notices of admissions status are delivered at that time via the online application system. Once decisions have been made, you will receive an email alerting you to check your status. If I am not accepted, can I receive feedback? We recognize that a great deal of time and effort is devoted to the application and that applicants may wish to receive feedback on how it could have been improved. Unfortunately, due to many constraints, the Department of English does not provide feedback to applicants denied admission. We wish you every success in your future academic endeavors. If I am not accepted, can I reapply? You are required to complete the online application again, which incurs an application fee. Your application should include a revised Statement of Purpose. We can reuse your transcripts, and Letters of Recommendation if you wish; however, if any changes to these documents attest to your improved suitability to the program, they should be resubmitted. We are unable to access documents from other Stanford departments you have applied to previously.
The Department of English offers a PhD in English (with specializations in Composition and Rhetoric, English Language and Linguistics, or Literary Studies). Literary Studies Pathway (MA + PhD): Students enrolled in the literary studies PhD specialization become eligible for an MA English degree in the literary studies area when they successfully complete the first-stage doctoral requirements. The literary studies specialization does not offer an MA apart from the doctoral program. The literary studies track offers a rigorous course of study leading to the completion of a doctoral dissertation in any field of English, American, or Anglophone literature and culture, or in any field of literary theory and criticism. The program prepares students for active careers in higher education among other potential fields and combines a sharp focus on conceptual approaches to literary and cultural works with a commitment to broad coverage of the field of Anglophone literature. Graduate seminars taken during the first phases of the doctoral program serve to prepare students to develop research projects for the dissertation. As they progress toward the PhD, students are invited to consider interdisciplinary subspecialties: literary theory and criticism, visual studies, ecocriticism and environmentalism, transnational and global literature, material culture, print culture and book history, digital humanities, disability studies, gender studies, race and ethnic studies, feminist theory, LGBTQ literature and queer theory, postcolonial studies. The program provides opportunities for teaching writing and literature and for administrative experience. Composition and Rhetoric Pathway (PhD): Students enrolled in the composition and rhetoric PhD specialization must have earned a master's degree prior to matriculation in our doctoral program. The composition and rhetoric track offers a vibrant intellectual community of scholar-teachers and supports research in a wide array of subfields, including literacy studies, composition theory & pedagogy, rhetorical studies, and writing centers/writing program administration. Faculty expertise in literacy, composition, and rhetoric includes emphases in migration, race and ethnicity, critical theory, historical and ethnographic methods, space and place, environmental rhetoric, science writing, visual rhetoric, and transnationalism. This multidisciplinary program with a low faculty-to-student ratio offers doctoral students close contact with faculty mentors throughout coursework and dissertation research. It also maintains close collaborations with campus programs in Communication Arts, Language Sciences, and Curriculum and Instruction, among others. The program offers varied opportunities for professional development in teaching, research, and writing program administration, and is recognized for its commitment to training well-rounded professionals in the field of composition and rhetoric. English Language and Linguistics Pathway (MA+ PhD): The English language and linguistics area is intended for students with a solid foundation in the English language, applied linguistics, and related fields. Students enrolled in the English language and linguistics PhD specialization become eligible for an MA English degree when they successfully complete the first-stage doctoral requirements. The English language and linguistics specialization does not offer an MA apart from the doctoral program. Through program of course work and seminars, English language and linguistics doctoral students attain advanced knowledge in the core areas of English syntax and phonology and in the applied areas of second language acquisition, discourse analysis, and language variation and change. On reaching the dissertation stage, students pursue individual research in close cooperation with their faculty advisor. In recent years, students have written dissertations on code-switching, critical pedagogy, interactional competence, and conversation analysis, syntactic problems in second language acquisition, classroom discourse, and psycholinguistics. Graduates of the program have taken faculty positions at universities throughout the country. If you are interested in applying to the Bridge Program in African American Studies to earn an MA and then move into the English PhD with an emphasis in Composition & Rhetoric or Literary Studies please see detailed information, Department of African American Studies Please consult the table below for key information about this degree program’s admissions requirements. The program may have more detailed admissions requirements, which can be found below the table or on the program’s website. Graduate admissions is a two-step process between academic programs and the Graduate School. Applicants must meet the minimum requirements of the Graduate School as well as the program(s). Once you have researched the graduate program(s) you are interested in, apply online .
The Department of English offers a PhD in English. Applicants choose one program pathway of study (Composition and Rhetoric, English Language and Linguistics, or Literary Studies). Applicants applying to the Composition and Rhetoric program must already hold an MA degree. The department also welcomes applications from well prepared applicants who do not have the equivalent of an English major. Such applicants may be asked to supplement the program of study by completing a small number of coverage courses. Literary Studies Pathway (MA+PhD)Applicants must demonstrate competence in one or more fields of literature in English and may have a bachelor's or master’s degree from an accredited institution. Applicants who already hold an MA from another institution or program are expected to earn the MA degree in our Literary Studies program as well. Composition & Rhetoric Pathway (PhD)Applicants may have bachelor’s and master’s degree from a variety of fields beyond English but must complete a master's degree or equivalent before beginning our Composition & Rhetoric doctoral program. English Language & Linguistics Pathway (MA+PhD)Applicants must demonstrate competence in applied linguistics, linguistics or a related field and must have a bachelor's or master’s degree from an accredited institution. In addition, entrance into the program presumes courses in the history of English and English dialects and courses in English syntax and English phonology. Applicants who already hold an MA degree from another institution or program are expected to earn the MA degree in our program as well. Graduate School ResourcesResources to help you afford graduate study might include assistantships, fellowships, traineeships, and financial aid. Further funding information is available from the Graduate School. Be sure to check with your program for individual policies and restrictions related to funding. Program ResourcesProspective students should see the program website for funding information. Minimum Graduate School RequirementsMajor requirements. Review the Graduate School minimum academic progress and degree requirements , in addition to the program requirements listed below. Mode of Instruction
Mode of Instruction DefinitionsAccelerated: Accelerated programs are offered at a fast pace that condenses the time to completion. Students typically take enough credits aimed at completing the program in a year or two. Evening/Weekend: Courses meet on the UW–Madison campus only in evenings and/or on weekends to accommodate typical business schedules. Students have the advantages of face-to-face courses with the flexibility to keep work and other life commitments. Face-to-Face: Courses typically meet during weekdays on the UW-Madison Campus. Hybrid: These programs combine face-to-face and online learning formats. Contact the program for more specific information. Online: These programs are offered 100% online. Some programs may require an on-campus orientation or residency experience, but the courses will be facilitated in an online format. Curricular Requirements
Required CoursesEach pathway has specific course requirements. Graduate seminar offerings in English reflect the faculty's current areas of research and therefore change importantly from year to year. Please consult the department website for more detailed information. Composition and Rhetoric Pathway 1Coursework is designed to offer you a balanced background in rhetoric, composition, and literacy studies. All courses are chosen in consultation with the program's faculty advisor. Courses from outside the below course lists may apply with faculty advisor approval.
These pathways are internal to the program and represent different curricular paths a student can follow to earn this degree. Pathway names do not appear in the Graduate School admissions application, and they will not appear on the transcript. ENGL 999 Independent Reading for PhD Prelims may be taken for the first time in the semester in which students are completing the English Course Requirements or have completed the coursework requirements. English Language and Linguistics Pathway 1Students must complete the requirements for the English MA for this pathway. All courses are chosen in consultation with the program's faculty advisor. Courses outside of the below course lists may apply with faculty advisor approval.
To earn the PhD, students complete the following courses.Students work in an area or areas of specialization and begin to create an ongoing research agenda.
Literary Studies Pathway 1Students must complete the requirements for the English MA for this pathway. All courses are chosen in consultation with the program's faculty advisor. Courses from outside the below course lists may apply with faculty advisor approval. To ensure breadth of knowledge, students must complete courses in different chronological and geographical areas. All coursework must be completed in English ( ENGL ) courses numbered 700 or above. ENGL/MEDIEVAL 520 Old English may be applied towards this requirement. These requirements must be completed before the start of the fifth semester.
Additional Program RequirementsAll students must complete the following requirements: Preliminary Exam and Dissertator StatusSuccessful completion of all major and breadth coursework allows students to take the preliminary exam. In preparation for preliminary exams, students may enroll in ENGL 999 Independent Reading for PhD Prelims in the semester in which they complete the English course requirements. Students who pass the exam obtain dissertator status, effective the following term. All students with dissertator status will enroll in exactly three credits of ENGL 990 Dissertation Research in English every required term (spring/fall) to degree completion; three credits is considered full time enrollment. Dissertation Proposal ConferenceWithin six months after passing the prelim exam, each student must hold a Dissertation Proposal Conference. This consists of a meeting with the English Department faculty member who has agreed to direct their dissertation and two other faculty members who have agreed to serve on the dissertation committee. An approved dissertation proposal should follow as soon as possible, normally no later than a month after the conference. Final DefenseA doctoral candidate writes a dissertation, with faculty guidance, representing original scholarly work of a high order and defends the dissertation. Graduate School PoliciesThe Graduate School’s Academic Policies and Procedures provide essential information regarding general university policies. Program authority to set degree policies beyond the minimum required by the Graduate School lies with the degree program faculty. Policies set by the academic degree program can be found below. Major-Specific PoliciesPrior coursework, graduate credits earned at other institutions*. With program director approval, students may transfer up to 6 credits of relevant graduate coursework from other institutions. Coursework earned ten years or more prior to admission to a doctoral degree is not allowed to satisfy requirements. Undergraduate Credits Earned at Other Institutions or UW-Madison *With program director's approval, up to 6 credits of relevant graduate level courses taken as an undergraduate student may transfer towards the MA requirements. Credits Earned as a Professional Student at UW-Madison (Law, Medicine, Pharmacy, and Veterinary careers)Refer to the Graduate School: Transfer Credits for Prior Coursework policy. Credits Earned as a University Special Student at UW–Madison*With program approval, students are allowed to transfer up to 6 credits of relevant graduate level coursework, numbered 700 or above or designated with the "Grad 50%" attribute, taken as a University Special student. Coursework earned ten or more years prior to admission to a doctoral degree is not allowed to satisfy requirements. *Note that students may request to transfer up to 6 credits of prior-coursework in total. Refer to the Graduate School: Probation policy. Advisor / CommitteeRefer to the Graduate School: Advisor and Graduate School: Committees (Doctoral/Master’s/MFA) policies. Credits Per Term AllowedStudents in the English Department’s PhD program are expected to enroll full time. Students with a fellowship, holding a university appointment % or holding dissertator status may have different credit-loads which equate to full time student status. Please see the Graduate School’s policy for full time enrollment credit requirements. Time LimitsRefer to the Graduate School: Time Limits policy. Grievances and AppealsThese resources may be helpful in addressing your concerns:
Students should contact the department chair or program director with questions about grievances. They may also contact the L&S Academic Divisional Associate Deans, the L&S Associate Dean for Teaching and Learning Administration, or the L&S Director of Human Resources.
Take advantage of the Graduate School's professional development resources to build skills, thrive academically, and launch your career.
Graduate Faculty by Area Faculty: Professors Castronovo (chair), Auerbach, Barry, Bearden, Begam, Bernard-Donals, Bow, Britland, Dharwadker, Foys, Friedman, Guyer, Hill, Johnson, Keller, Kercheval, Olaniyan, Ortiz-Robles, Purnell, Raimy, Sherrard-Johnson, Wanner, M. Young, R. Young, Zimmerman; Associate Professors Allewaert, Cooper, Fawaz, Olson, Samuels, Trotter, Vareschi, Yu, Zweck; Assistant Professors Amine, Calhoun, Cho, Druschke, Edoro, Fecu, Huang
Contact InformationDepartment of English College of Letters & Science english.wisc.edu Department of English 608-263-3751 7195 Helen C. White Hall 600 N. Park St., Madison, WI 53706 For interested applicants, please contact: [email protected] Professor Martin Foys, Director of Graduate Studies [email protected] Composition and Rhetoric http://www.english.wisc.edu/comprhet-graduate.htm Literary Studies http://www.english.wisc.edu/litstudies-graduate.htm English Language and Linguistics https://english.wisc.edu/programs/english-language-and-linguistics/graduate-program/ Creative Writing http://www.creativewriting.wisc.edu/masters.html Graduate School grad.wisc.edu
Search formPhD and MA Graduate AdmissionsOur application deadline is December 15th at 11:59 pm. Due to our application portal's technical specifications, the system may allow submission of applications after that deadline. No applications submitted after the December 15th deadline will be reviewed. Application ProceduresApplicants to all graduate degree programs should apply online through ApplyWeb . We do not accept paper applications. For both the terminal M.A. and Ph.D. programs, the application portal opens on October 2nd and closes on December 15th of each year. There is a short grace period after December 15th in which we will still accept letters of recommendation and official test scores. The Graduate Coordinator will follow up with you after December 15th if you are missing any of these elements and will provide a need-by date. Please note that the grace period is meant to allow recommenders to be a little late without negatively affecting your application, and should not be considered an alternate due date. Applicants should provide the December 15th due date to their recommenders. Applicants are ultimately responsible for ensuring that we receive their letters of recommendation. Applications for submatriculation are accepted until February 10th of each year. Students interested in submatriculating should be in touch with the Undergraduate Chair, the Graduate Chair, and their College contact (assigned and listed in Path@Penn ) before or during the application process. Each of these contacts provide important information about the submatriculation process. We only accept full-time students for the M.A. and Ph.D. program , and do not offer part-time options for either program. All applicants are applying to begin in the fall semester of the following year. We do not accept applications for spring admission. The application fee is $90 , payable via credit or debit card at the time of submission. NOTE: Application fee waivers are managed entirely by the Graduate Division of the School of Arts and Sciences, and individual departments do not have the power to grant them. To apply for a fee waiver, applicants should send a brief letter to Patricia Rea, Associate Director for Admissions, at [email protected] , stating the reason for the request. This letter should be sent no later than December 1st . Please be advised that the applicant must demonstrate a clear and compelling case of financial hardship. Technical isues with ApplyWeb should be addressed to Technical Support ( [email protected] ). Elements of the ApplicationIn addition to your application form, which you will complete via ApplyWeb, we ask that you attach the following supporting documents to your application. A personal statement.* In the personal statement, all M.A. and Ph.D. applications within the Graduate Division of Arts & Sciences should address the following: Please describe how your background and academic experiences have influenced your decision to pursue a graduate degree and led you to apply to Penn. Your essay should detail your specific research interests and intellectual goals within your chosen field. Please provide information about your educational trajectory, intellectual curiosity and academic ambitions. If you have overcome adversity and/or experienced limited access to resources or opportunities in your field of study, please feel free to share how that has affected the course of your education. We are interested in your lived experiences and how your particular perspective might contribute to the inclusive and dynamic learning community that Penn values and strives to create. In the English Graduate Group, we ask that you discuss in this same personal statement your particular interest in our program, including why it is a good fit for your goals in graduate school. Your personal statement should not exceed 1200 words. A critical writing sample.* This should be approximately 20 double-spaced pages long and should reflect your writing abilities and most up-to-date critical thinking. The writing sample must match one of your field interests or concentrations. We strongly prefer a single, 20-page paper over two shorter papers that add up to 20 pages. Three letters of recommendation. These should be written by professors who know your work and can attest to your academic ability. Personal and other non-academic recommendation letters are strongly discouraged. Applicants should use the ApplyWeb system to submit letters. Applicants will submit the names, titles, and contact information of their recommenders, who will receive an emailed invitation to submit a letter on the applicant's behalf. If you or your recommenders have issues with this system, please email Meghan Hall ( [email protected] ) for troubleshooting. Please do not submit more than four recommendation letters. Electronic versions of your academic transcripts. These do not have to be official transcripts, but can either be a pdf downloaded from your student portal or a scanned copy of a paper transcript. If accepted, you will need to provide a final, official paper copy of your transcript before you matriculate.
* For both your personal statement and critical writing sample , please include 1 primary field of interest and up to 2 additional fields of interest at the top of the first page, or in the page's header. Your primary field of interest should match your selection of concentration on the ApplyWeb application form. Please choose from the following list:
Example: a student interested in the 18th-century British Novel, colonial discourse, and feminism would include at the top of their personal statement, “Primary: 18th-Century British Literature, Additional: British Empire Studies, Gender & Sexuality Studies” Example: a student interested in studying Latino/a literature, Latin American Literature, and Film would include at the top of their personal statement, "Primary: American/Ethnic Studies; Additional: Postcolonial-Latin America and Film, Television, and New Media." For International Applicants & Admittees NOTE TO APPLICANTS FROM THE UK: we encourage UK applicants to apply for a Thouron Fellowship. The Thouron is a 1-2 year fellowship that pays for a Masters degree. Fellows who are admitted to our Ph.D. program may then continue with fellowship support from Penn. Note that the Thouron deadline is in November. Information and application materials are available on the Thouron.org website . International Students admitted into the program should apply for their Social Security number as soon as possible so that they don't experience a delay in receiving their stipend. Questions about the admission process? See our Frequently Asked Questions or contact Meghan Hall, Graduate Coordinator ( [email protected] ). Please enable Javascript in your web browser in order to use the features on this website. The Ph.D. Program in EnglishEmory’s doctoral program offers intensive training in all areas of literary and cultural studies, diverse research methods, and innovative pedagogy. Faculty work closely with students, mentoring and preparing them for academic and other careers. Our graduate students can draw on extensive archival collections in Woodruff Library and the Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library in the fields of Irish and African American literature, as well as the renowned Danowski Collection of twentieth-century poetry. We have particular strengths in the early modern period, African-American literature, post / decolonial literature and theory , American literature, disability studies , and digital humanities. The English Department is committed to interdisciplinary scholarship and training. Working in consultation with faculty mentors, our students can take advantage of Emory's strengths in related disciplines and programs which offer certificate programs, and design interdisciplinary scholarly projects. Graduate HandbooksFor students entering during and after the 2017-2018 School Year:
For students who entered before the 2017-2018 School Year:
Nathan Suhr-SytsmaAssociate professor and director of graduate studies, paul kelleher, associate professor and director of graduate admissions, shakia guest-holloway, graduate degree program coordinator. PhD ProgramThe English Department will begin reviewing completed MA applications on January 1, 2024 and will continue to accept them until the March 15, 2024 deadline BU PhD Program Profile metrics Requirements for the PhDIn the PhD Program, students move toward specialization in a particular area of study. The requirements include:
Please note that successful completion of requirements in the first year earns each Ph.D. student an M.A. degree as a matter of course. Satisfactory Academic Progress for PhD StudentsThe Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and the Department of English guarantee five full years (12 months each) of financial support for PhD students who maintain Satisfactory Academic Progress . This support will be in the form of Teaching Fellowships or Graduate Fellowships. All requirements for the doctorate, including dissertation, must be completed within seven years (exceptions require a petition to GRS). A leave of absence of up to two semesters is permitted for appropriate cause. Given these time constraints, students should work closely with their advisers and dissertation readers to devise an efficient schedule for meeting all benchmarks. Faculty and students share responsibility for adhering closely to this schedule. The following achievements are required to maintain Satisfactory Academic Progress:Students must maintain a GPA of 3.0 or higher, have no more than 2 failing grades (lower than B- or an incomplete grade older than 12 months), and pass qualifying exams and other milestones on the following recommended schedule: Year 1: Eight graduate courses – for the M.A. degree / first foreign language requirement. Year 2: Continue course work and study toward the completion of the language requirement. Year 3: Complete course work and language requirements. In the fall of the third year, students take the pro-seminar (EN794 A1), in which they develop their Qualifying Oral Examination rationale and reading list, and form an oral exam committee. Year 4: Fall: Students should take the Qualifying Exam early in the Fall semester. Spring: Prospectus submitted and dissertation writing begins. Years 5+ : Dissertation. Additional departmental details regarding all stages of the degree can be found in the graduate handbook For GRS college policies and general information please see the Graduate Bulletin Robert Chodat, Director of Graduate Studies Department of EnglishGraduate Program OverviewPh.D. Program in English at PrincetonThe aim of the Princeton graduate program in English is to produce well-trained and field-transforming scholars, insightful and imaginative critics, and effective and creative teachers. The Ph.D. program is both rigorous and supportive. With two years of coursework and three years of research and teaching, all fully funded, it is possible to complete the degree in five years. We offer multiple funding opportunities for research fellowships in year six, should students need additional time for dissertation completion and for the academic job market, or for pursuing other career opportunities. Princeton is a research institution with strengths across the disciplines, but it maintains a feeling of intimacy. In keeping with the goals of the University at large, the Department of English seeks to cultivate and sustain a diverse , cosmopolitan, and lively intellectual community. Because this is a residential university, whose traditions emphasize teaching as well as research, the faculty is easily accessible to students and committed to their progress. The faculty of the Department of English is notable for its world-renowned scholarly reputation, and commitment to teaching and close collaboration with colleagues and students. The faculty showcases wide-ranging interdisciplinary interests as well as a diverse range of critical approaches within the discipline. In addition to offering seminars in every major historical field of concentration, from medieval to contemporary literatures, we offer a wide range of theoretical specializations in fields such as feminist theory, gender and sexuality studies, psychoanalysis, Marxism, postcolonialism, environmental studies, political and social theory, and cultural studies. Students may also take courses in cognate departments such as comparative literature, classics, philosophy, linguistics, history, and art history. Course of StudyThe graduate program in English is a five-year program (with multiple opportunities for funding in year six) leading to the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.). Students may not enroll for a Master of Arts degree. During the first two years, students prepare for the General Examination through work in seminars, and directed or independent reading. The third, fourth, and fifth years are devoted the writing of a dissertation, and to teaching in undergraduate courses. Through numerous funding opportunities, we are able to offer sixth-year students generous research support. Although programs are flexible, during the first two years graduate students normally take an average of three courses per semester, to complete the required 12 courses by the end of the second year. The comprehensive General Examination is then taken at the beginning of the third year of study. Students must also demonstrate a reading knowledge of two foreign languages before the completion of the General Examination. Course RequirementsGraduate students are required to take a minimum of twelve courses over their first two years in the program, usually enrolling in three courses per semester. Our distribution requirements are designed to acquaint each student with a diverse range of historical periods and thematic and methodological concerns. The Department values both historical expertise and theoretical inquiry, and assumes that our discipline includes the study of film, visual culture, and media studies. Graduate Students in English must take courses in each of the following six areas:
All distribution requirements must be taken for a letter grade. The six-course distribution requirement comprises 50% of the courses required for the degree, leaving sufficient room for intensive coursework in areas of specialization. While some graduate seminars may cover more than one field, students may not use one course to fulfill two or more distribution requirements at the same time. For example, a medieval course with a substantial commitment to theory may fulfill either the medieval and Renaissance or the theory requirements. Each entering student is assigned a faculty advisor who works with the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS) in planning course selection in the first and second years. After successfully submitting and presenting the dissertation proposal during the spring of the third year, students choose three faculty members to serve as their dissertation advisers. Graduate Action Committee (GAC)The Graduate Action Committee (GAC) is a representative group of graduate students in the Department that advocates for graduate student with faculty and administration. Among its primary goals are representing the concerns of the entire graduate student body, promoting intellectual and social interaction between faculty and graduate students, organizing an annual speaker series of distinguished academics, and improving the quality of graduate student life at Princeton. Every graduate student in the Department is welcome and encouraged to participate in GAC. Working Group on Graduate Issues (WGGI)The Working Group on Graduate Issues (WGGI) is a four- or five-person elected group of students who meet at several points during the academic year with the chair, director of graduate studies, and one additional faculty member to represent graduate student concerns. In addition to participating in a variety of seminars and colloquia organized by the Department and other units at the University, graduate students are welcome to organize colloquia of their own. These may involve the discussion of an article or problem, the presentation of a paper, or a forum for debate. Graduate students who have passed the General Examination are required to teach in undergraduate courses. While the minimum Department requirement is four hours, most students teach more than this. Students may conduct sections of large lecture courses, or direct precepts in upper-division courses. This teaching is supervised by experienced members of the faculty. The Department and University also offer, on an annual basis, a teacher training seminar and workshop. Advanced graduate students may co-design and co-teach courses with faculty through the Collaborative Teaching Initiative . Library CollectionsIn addition to the general collections of Princeton’s libraries, Firestone Library has a number of special collections that are particularly rich in materials for study: one of the most important collections of medieval and renaissance manuscripts in the United States; works of the Restoration Period, with emphasis on drama; the theater collection, which contains materials for the study of theatrical history; extensive collections concerning the history and literature of the middle Atlantic and southern states; little poetry magazines; concrete and visual poetry; the Sinclair Hamilton Collection of American Illustrated books, 1670–1870; the Morris L. Parrish Collection of Victorian Novelists; the J. Harlin O’Connell Collection of the 1890's and the Gallatin Collection of Aubrey Beardsley; and the archives of major American publishing houses. The extensive Miriam Y. Holden Collection of Books on the History of Women is located adjacent to the Department’s literature collection in the Scribner Room. Job PlacementWe offer strong support and deep resources for students pursuing careers inside and outside academia. Our Job Placement and Career Resources page provides details, as well as information and statistics about recent academic appointments. Admission and Financial AidCompetition for admission to the program is keen. About ten new students from a wide range of backgrounds are enrolled each year. The Department looks for candidates of outstanding ability and intellectual promise who have the potential to be lively, effective, and sympathetic scholars and teachers. Its judgments are based on letters of recommendation, transcripts, a personal statement, and a sample of the candidate’s academic writing. GRE scores are not required. Facility in foreign languages is also taken into account. To access the online application, please visit the Graduate Admission Office . All admitted students are fully funded. Fellowships are awarded by the Graduate School on the Department’s recommendation. Students are also eligible to apply for competitive external and internal fellowships, such as those offered by the Graduate School, the Center for Human Values, and the Center for the Study of Religion. English DepartmentThe Department offices, lecture halls, and seminar rooms are located in McCosh Hall. There are two libraries in McCosh Hall: the Thorp Library, home to the Bain-Swiggett Library of Contemporary Poetry, and the Hinds Library, the Department’s reading room and lounge. There is also a separate English Graduate Reading Room in Firestone Library, where reserve books for graduate seminars are kept on the shelves. It is adjacent to the Scribner Room, the Department's large non-circulating collection of books and journals. The Graduate School provides University housing for about 65 percent of the graduate student body. New students have first priority. Although housing in the Princeton area is expensive, many graduate students find convenient and attractive private housing, sharing accommodations or investigating neighboring towns. There are also opportunities for graduate students to apply for resident positions in the undergraduate colleges. Visiting PrincetonApplicants for admission are welcome to visit the campus at any time, and tours of the campus are available. Once the formal admissions period is over by the end of February, admitted students will be invited to campus and will have the opportunity to visit seminars, and meet with faculty and current graduate students.
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PhD in English Language and Literature
The online application portal for 2024 applications will be available tentatively on August 21, 2024.This is a strict deadline.. All applications and supplemental materials (including at least two letters of recommendation) are due by 11:59pm, EST, on December 10, 2024 to meet our deadline. The fee for United States citizens and those with permanent resident visa status is $75. The fee for non-U.S. citizens is $90. The application fee for current Rackham students, regardless of citizenship, is $10. This fee is non-refundable and subject to change. Make sure you have every document uploaded before you submit your application (excluding letters of recommendation), once you click on the submit button, you will not be able to go back into your application to make any changes. Admission decisions for Fall 2025 will be made and applicants will be notified in early March 2025. Applicants with Master's degrees are given equal consideration for admission, but are not guaranteed advanced standing in the program. We do not accept Non-Candidate for Degree status applicants to our program. We do not offer online courses, our program is a full-time residency program.
Submitting your applicationPLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING FOR MORE DETAILS. In some sections what we require differs from what is stated on the generic application form. TranscriptsTranscripts:.
Applicants that are attending/graduated from a NON-U.S. Institution• Review Required Academic Credentials from Non-U.S. Institutions for transcript/academic record requirements by country or region. Submitting transcript/academic records is a two-step process: 1: Uploading transcripts through the ApplyWeb application account: Upload an electronic version of your official transcript/academic record for each Bachelor's, Master's, Professional, or Doctoral degree earned, or in progress, through your application account. 2: Sending official transcripts to the Rackham Graduate School: Submit an official transcript/academic record for each institution attended at the time of application. See our detailed instructions on how to submit transcripts/academic records to the Rackham Graduate School: https://rackham.umich.edu/admissions/applying/transcripts/ Test ScoresSubmit the following electronically through the online application. GRE Test Scores - NOT required• The General GRE Test is NOT required. The application will still ask for this information, but it does not need to be sent in. • The GRE Subject test is NOT required. English Proficiency Tests Accepted:Ecpe , ielts , met , toefl, for a complete description of english proficiency tests accepted please visit rackham english proficiency requirements website page., test of english as a foreign language (toefl). • Applicants whose native language is not English are required to take the TOEFL. • The minimum TOEFL score accepted is 620 on paper, 260 on the computer, or 106 internet. • The test date must be within 2 years of the application deadline. • Photocopies and/or faxed scores will not be accepted. • For a complete description of English proficiency tests accepted please visit Rackham English Proficiency Requirements website page. • Be sure to include our Institution code of 1839 when sending your TOEFL scores. • The department code is not required. • Exceptions are made if your degree was earned from: an institution where the language of instruction is English, exclusively. This exception does not apply if some classes completed were taught in a language other than English. Vertification from the school may be required. a country where the official language is English (Australia, England, New Zealand). Three Letters of RecommendationPlease register your recommenders on the "Letters of Recommendation" application page and submit recommendation request before you submit your final application. This will ensure that all materials are submitted by the Decemer 10 deadline. You do not need to wait to submit this request until you submit your final application. All application materials, including the recommendation letters are due by the December 10 deadline. We do not accept hard copies, faxed, e-mailed, or recommendation letters submitted through Interfolio. You can submit your application prior to the submission of all three letters of recommendation. Additional Required Application MaterialsSubmit the following as PDFs through the online application. Academic Statement of PurposeA clearly labeled academic and intellectual Statement of Purpose: up to three pages, double spaced, statement about your academic and research background, your career goals, and how Michigan's graduate program will help you meet your career and educational objectives. Disregard the 500 word limit as stated on the application. Personal StatementA clearly labeled biographical Personal Statement: up to two pages, double spaced, statement about how your personal background and life experiences, including social, cultural, familial, educational, or other opportunities or challenges, motivated your decision to pursue a graduate degree at the University of Michigan. This is not an Academic Statement of Purpose, but a discussion of the personal journey that has led to your decision to seek a graduate degree. Disregard the 500 word limit as stated on the application. Curriculum Vitae / ResumeNo page limit. Writing SampleA writing sample of around 25 pages, double spaced, of critical or scholarly writing, excluding notes and bibliography. Notes and bibliography have no page limit. Please select a sub-plan. You may refer to the list below for examples of sub-plans, though a sub-plan need not be listed here to be valid on the application.
Admissions Conduct CodeThe Admissions Conduct Code questions are part of the online application process. You will be prompted to provide the necessary information and your response will be submitted electronically. There is no need to follow-up with paper copies. International Students: Medical ScreeningImmunizations for International StudentsThe University of Michigan does not require immunizations. However, it is recommended that students come to school fully immunized to protect their health. Immunizations are one of the most effective public health measures in preventing communicable diseases. Immunization recommendations can be found on the University Health Services website . • All credentials submitted for admission consideration become the property of the University of Michigan and will not be returned in original or copy form. • Make sure you receive an electronic confirmation of your submitted application. If you have additional questions please email [email protected] Hours: M-F 8 am - 4:30 pm
Ph.D. in EnglishGeneral info.
Kathy Psomiades Director of Graduate Studies Department of English Duke University Box 90017 Durham, NC 27708-0017 Phone: (919) 684-5538 Email: [email protected] Website: http://english.duke.edu/graduate Program DescriptionThe department offers a wide range of program options, from the study of historical periods and genres (medieval to postcolonial) to literary criticism and theory. The department's recent emphasis on contemporary anglophone and trans-national studies, the relationship of science and literature, and questions of "modernity" complement the more traditional canonical concerns of the department. There is close cooperation with the Literature Program, with which the department shares faculty, and our own English and American literature offerings are supplemented by the program's interdisciplinary and internationalist interests. For more information, visit http://english.duke.edu/graduate .
Application InformationApplication Terms Available: Fall Application Deadline: December 5 Graduate School Application Requirements See the Application Instructions page for important details about each Graduate School requirement.
Department-Specific Application Requirements (submitted through online application) Writing Sample A writing sample (nonreturnable, limited to 25 pages) is required and must be submitted in the Departmental Requirements section of the Graduate School’s online application. The writing sample should be a copy of an essay (nonfiction), preferably a critical or scholarly essay submitted as an academic requirement in a literature course. The applicant's name should appear on each page in top right corner. We strongly encourage you to review additional department-specific application guidance from the program to which you are applying: Departmental Application Guidance List of Graduate School Programs and Degrees
Statistics Ph.D. Admissions
Statistics Ph.D. AdmissionsApplication Deadline for Fall 2025: January 10, 2025 Prospective Statistics Ph.D. students apply online through the Texas A&M GraduateCAS .
Applicants who wish to be nominated for the Dr. Doniel Aviles ’53 and Dr. James Johnson ’67 Fellowship Program must include a justification statement. Please upload the statement as an optional document (select “Other”) under the Program Materials quadrant.
GRE scores: GRE scores are not required for applications submitted for Fall semester admissions. TOEFL scores: Applicants whose native language is not English are required to submit TOEFL scores. TOEFL scores should be sent directly from Educational Testing Service (ETS).
Fee waiver for domestic applicants – The Department of Statistics offers a fee waiver to applicants who are citizens or permanent residents of the US. The application fee will automatically be waived based on the response to the fee waiver qualification question in the Program Materials quadrant. International applicants – Fee waivers are not available for international students. However, the Department will reimburse the application fee to those who receive our admission and accept our offer. Contact UsPlease contact our Graduate Advisor, Ms. Andrea Dawson at [email protected] for application questions. |
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English: PhD Admissions and Enrollment Statistics - The Graduate School
The PhD program in English at Harvard is extremely competitive. We receive an average of 300-350 applications per year, and we admit approximately 10-15 students (acceptance rate of about 4-5%).
Doctoral Program Statistics. Use this page to explore summary statistics for research doctoral programs administered by the Graduate School. Methodology and definitions are provided at the bottom of the page. For additional graduate statistics, survey results, and career outcomes data, see program metrics.
Worried about graduate school acceptance rates? We explain how to find grad school admissions statistics and what they mean for you.
Notre Dame's English Department offers graduate and undergraduate degrees with a focus on literature's cultural and interpretive contexts, creative writing, creative reading, film study, and literary history.
Looking to attend Graduate School but worried about acceptance rates? Discover Grad Schools With High Acceptance Rates and possibly increase your chances!
Data on the number of applicants, admitted students and yielded students (that is, admitted students who accepted the offer of admission) at Princeton University's Graduate School. The data are finalized annually on June 15 and include only degree-seeking candidates.
Are you considering a PhD in English? Come meet faculty and graduate students from the NYU Department of English, who will share their experiences about the structure and culture of the program. You will get a quick overview of what a degree here entails, including the university's new Advanced Certificate in Public Humanities. We hope to highlight what we (and New York City's landscape of ...
The Ph.D. in English literature is a specialist degree designed to prepare students for research and teaching at the postsecondary level. Students in our Ph.D. program embark on a rigorous program of independent scholarship under the supervision of faculty who are themselves active researchers in their fields. The English department works hard to prepare our graduates for the challenges of the ...
The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences offers MA, MS, and PhD degrees, as well as non-degree programs, in more than 70 fields of study.
2025-26 Admissions Theme: Environmental Humanities The Department of English currently has a themed admissions process. This means that the cohort of students admitted each year shares a particular area of research or methodology. Previous themes have included Black studies, Pre-1900 literature, and Poetry and poetics. This year's theme is described below. Such a themed approach to PhD ...
2025-26 Admissions Theme: Environmental Humanities For the 2025-2026 graduate admissions cycle, the University of Chicago English Department is prioritizing applications focusing on literature and culture in relation to environment, ecology, and space.
Course Requirements. At Duke, the doctoral candidate must be enrolled for six semesters of full tuition. Students must successfully complete eleven graduate courses for credit in their first two years, but they may, of course, take more than the minimum number of courses, either as audits or for credit: typically students take between twelve ...
The Department of English offers a program leading to the PhD degree in literatures in English. The department is small in numbers and its graduate students are carefully selected on the basis of their professional distinction as teachers, critics, and scholars. Because of its small size, the department affords students exceptionally focused attention. The department...
Admissions. Thank you for your interest in our Ph.D. program. The Berkeley English Department offers a wide-ranging Ph.D. program, engaging with all historical periods of British and American literature, Anglophone literature, and critical and cultural theory. The program aims to assure that students gain a broad knowledge of literature in ...
All students admitted to the English Ph.D. program receive five years of 12-month funding. Financial support is provided through a combination of fellowship stipend and tuition, and assistantship salaray and tuition allowance. Students in good academic standing also receive funding in the sixth year of the program.
The Department of English offers a PhD in English. Applicants choose one program pathway of study (Composition and Rhetoric, English Language and Linguistics, or Literary Studies). Applicants applying to the Composition and Rhetoric program must already hold an MA degree. The department also welcomes applications from well prepared applicants ...
We only accept full-time students for the M.A. and Ph.D. program, and do not offer part-time options for either program. All applicants are applying to begin in the fall semester of the following year. We do not accept applications for spring admission. The application fee is $90, payable via credit or debit card at the time of submission.
The Ph.D. Program in English Emory's doctoral program offers intensive training in all areas of literary and cultural studies, diverse research methods, and innovative pedagogy. Faculty work closely with students, mentoring and preparing them for academic and other careers. Our graduate students can draw on extensive archival collections in Woodruff Library and the Stuart A. Rose Manuscript ...
PhD Program. We have resumed accepting PhD applications for admission in the Fall of 2024, with a deadline of December 15, 2023. The English Department will begin reviewing completed MA applications on January 1, 2024 and will continue to accept them until the March 15, 2024 deadline. BU PhD Program Profile metrics.
The graduate program in English is a five-year program (with multiple opportunities for funding in year six) leading to the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.). Students may not enroll for a Master of Arts degree. During the first two years, students prepare for the General Examination through work in seminars, and directed or independent reading.
PhD in English Language and Literature Graduate Programs Programs How to Apply Admissions FAQ Prospective Students Current Students Internship Program Certificate Programs Faculty Fields Ph.D. Dissertations Applying to the University of Michigan
Program Description The department offers a wide range of program options, from the study of historical periods and genres (medieval to postcolonial) to literary criticism and theory. The department's recent emphasis on contemporary anglophone and trans-national studies, the relationship of science and literature, and questions of "modernity" complement the more traditional canonical concerns ...
Statistics Ph.D. Admissions Application Deadline for Fall 2025: January 10, 2025 Prospective Statistics Ph.D. students apply online through the Texas A&M GraduateCAS.. Create an Account to get started at the GraduateCAS.