Graduate Study in English at UW: Admissions Standards

The University of Washington provides equal opportunity in education without regard to race, color, national origin, sex, age, or handicap, in accordance with federal and state law.

A Bachelor of Arts degree is required for admission into all English graduate programs. A major in English, equivalent in requirements to the major at the University of Washington, is preferred for MA and MAT applicants. Applicants to the MAT and MAT(ESL) programs are usually expected to have prior teaching experience.

A Master of Arts in English is required for admission into the PhD program. A degree comparable to the University of Washington MA is preferred, with Master's Essay or equivalent. Students with recent Master's degrees in English earned elsewhere apply at the post-Master's level, and after two quarters make formal application to the PhD program, when they may be required to present a Master's Essay or its equivalent. Those with an MFA in Creative Writing also enter at the post-Master's level.

While we do not have fixed guidelines with regard to previous grades and standardized test scores, the successful applicant will ordinarily have a grade point average of 3.5 or better in undergraduate English courses (3.7 or better in graduate work), and scores ranging around 600 or better in both the verbal section of the General GRE and, where required, the GRE Subject Test (Literature in English). While 580 is the minimum score recommended by the Graduate School for admission, the Department of English looks for scores of 600 or above on the TOEFL for applicants who are not native speakers of English. These are general guidelines, kept flexible to accommodate promising candidates whose total application, including letters of recommendation and writing samples, indicates aptitude that may not be measured easily by standardized tests or undergraduate coursework.

Applications for admission to graduate programs in English are reviewed by representative faculty committees within the respective programs. Admission decisions take into account all of the application materials submitted, looking for evidence of a candidate's ability to do graduate work in English and related studies, previous teaching and cross-cultural experience. The department welcomes students who have varied cultural experiences or educationally or economically disadvantaged backgrounds, and will therefore contribute to the intellectual and scoial enrichment of the program. For more information on including such information in your application, please see the Statement of Purpose.

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