English M.A.
Admission Requirements
Application deadline January 15th.
- Applications received after this date may not be reviewed.
- Applicants will be asked to submit the following through the online application found at http://www.pdx.edu/english/graduate-admissions:
-A minimum of two letters of academic recommendation
-Statement of purpose of study
-Two recent samples of written work to include an analytical essay
-A complete set of transcripts
-GRE (Graduate Record Exam) scores. Verbal and quantitative scores are required; the subject area exam is optional.
Applicants are expected to have extensive experience in literary studies, especially English language and literature. Applicants who do not already have a bachelor’s degree in English are expected to have taken 20-30 credit hours in literatures in English and writing, so that they come into the program with a knowledge of literary history, excellent writing skills, and experience doing advanced critical analysis in upper-division coursework. Applicants are also expected to have a minimum GPA of 3.25 in all English courses.
Those who do not meet these requirements may be considered for conditional admission. They will need to provide satisfactory evidence of preparedness to undertake advanced work. Their application will need to include:
- 3.25 GPA in four or five graduate English courses
- Explanation of undergraduate record and purpose of study
- Two samples of written work from recent English courses
Students whose native language is not English must score at least 600 on the TOEFL paper examination, at least 100 total on the internet-based exam, and at least 250 on the computer-based exam.
Requirements
See University master’s degree requirements. Department requirements are described in detail in the Department of English brochure, M.A. in English, and the English MA Handbook, which are available upon request.
For the M.A., the department requires a minimum of 32 graduate credits in English (courses prefixed with "Eng"), including Eng 500 Problems and Methods of Literary Study, Eng 507 Seminar, 4 credits of pre-1800 British or American literature, 4 credits in literature or rhetoric, whether Anglophone or in translation, before 1900, and 4 credits of critical theory. The remainder of the student’s program may, with the approval of the adviser, include coursework in fields related to English. A minimum of 45 graduate credits is required for the M.A. in English.
In every case, the student’s program must be approved by the student's adviser and the Director of the English M.A. Program. The student will have a choice of two tracks:
I. The focus area, non-thesis option, emphasizing general coverage of literary material.
II. The Qualifying Essay option, permitting more specialized research.
An exam, which all students must take, will test their general knowledge of the field of English. Students pursuing option I must choose one specialized area of study that will constitute a portion of the rest of their written exam.