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Advice for Prospective PhD Applicants

Admission to our PhD program is very competitive. This is in a large part a result of our innovative open curriculum, the diverse strengths of our respected and internationally recognized faculty, our exceptional job placement rate for completed PhDs, and our commitment to offering financial stipend packages to all of our graduate students. Those who are most successful in the application process have demonstrated their readiness for the demands of advanced scholarly and academic work. The most successful candidates are those who have:

1. Taken the undergraduate and/or Masters-level course work necessary to prepare themselves for graduate study in literature, theory, media and cultural studies. Although we do not require an undergraduate or Masters degree in the specific field of PhD study, successful candidates need to demonstrate that their previous studies have given them the tools needed to successfully complete graduate level work. In some cases, it may be necessary to take additional course work before you may successfully apply to our program.

2. Written a clear and precise personal statement. A good statement of purpose should:

  • explain how your previous studies have prepared you for graduate work. Describe any special academic preparation you have, such as theses, presentations, publications, teaching experiences. Also describe any relevant work or life experiences that have contributed to your plans for graduate study. Please also feel free to explain any special circumstances or challenges you experienced that may account for any possible shortcomings in other parts of the application.
  • explain the reasons why you have applied to our program in particular, including the areas of study that interest you and any specific research questions you would like to pursue. Review recent course listings, read faculty bios, and possibly note the faculty whose work you respect and with whom you might be interested in working. You are welcome to write to faculty members and let them know of your interests, but you should NOT seek a faculty advisor or faculty research sponsor ahead of applying. We encourage our admitted students to take courses and work with a range of faculty before choosing directors and committees.
  • briefly explain why you are interested in pursuing the PhD, including how the PhD degree is related to your career plans, and how this program can help you achieve your goals. We recognize that students pursue the PhD degree for a variety of reasons, from a desire to intensively explore a scholarly field or topic, or to pursue a specific vocational goal. Our graduates have gone on to careers as teachers in high schools, colleges, and universities; as education administrators, curriculum designers, and labor union organizers, among others. We are interested in understanding how you see your pursuit of this degree fitting into your life goals.

3. Submitted a strong sample of scholarly writing. Along with the statement of purpose, the writing sample you submit is the most important document in your application. Your writing sample should demonstrate skills necessary for engaging and producing independent and original scholarship required in an advanced field of study. We consider all of those in our programs scholars as much as students and teachers. Your writing sample is the best place to demonstrate your preparation to produce this caliber of work. Although you may send shorter samples, many of our most successful candidates send samples that are excerpted from longer project, such as honors theses, masters’ theses, or faculty mentored independent research projects. These kinds of samples best demonstrate at once your facility as a writer, the quality of your critical intellect, and your abilities to conduct research and to work independently. Moreover, while we do not require that you send a writing sample directly connected to your proposed field(s) of study, doing so is definitely beneficial as it enables the admissions committee to most effectively evaluate your scholarly potential in your proposed field(s).

4. Submitted strong supporting letters of recommendation from faculty with whom you have worked in the past. The best letters are those written by faculty members with whom you have worked closely and who most enthusiastically support your scholarship. They can write specifically about your strengths as a student and a scholar. We strongly advise against sending letters from people you have worked with in other, non-academic, contexts, such as employers, friends, or family. Again, the most important thing we take into consideration is your preparation and fit for graduate study in our programs. Your previous professors can address this most effectively.

We no longer require or consider GRE scores.

We hope that these recommendations will assist you in compiling an application that best represents your strengths and interests in our programs. If you have further questions after carefully reviewing the Department of English and University web sites, please feel free to contact us

Good luck in your application and in all of your future studies.