O

PPORTUNITIES: BA/MA PROGRAM, ENGLISH MINOR, SUMMER SESSION, CREATIVE WRITING

THE BA/MA PROGRAM

The English Department at the University of Virginia now offers the option of a five-year BA/MA degree to suitably qualified English majors. Third-year students who wish to be considered for admission to this program should submit their application by June 1 (after receiving grades for the Spring semester). Those students accepted into the program will take two graduate-level courses (500 or above) in their final year of undergraduate study. In the following year, they will continue at the University as MA students and take ENCR 801 (Introduction to Research Methods) along with six additional graduate courses, taking care to fulfill the distribution requirements for the degree. They must also complete a final exercise (critical thesis, pedagogical thesis, or oral exam) as well as fulfilling the foreign language requirement.  Finally, to satisfy the 30-credit requirement set by the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, they must register for the 3-credit placeholder course ENXX 991. 

N.B. The credits for the two graduate courses taken in the undergraduate years cannot be counted toward the English major or toward the 120 credits required by the College of Arts and Sciences for the BA degree. Students may matriculate for study toward the MA only at the start of the Fall semester, never the Spring or Summer term.

Eligibility: English majors with a GPA of at least 3.6 in the major are eligible to apply.

Application Procedure: You may download an application form.

Applications should be submitted to the Director of Graduate Admissions, by June 1st. The application process consists of the following parts:

  • A one-page statement of purpose outlining the intellectual interests to be pursued in the MA program.

  • A transcript or transcripts of undergraduate work (including grades for Spring 04).

  • Two writing samples: ordinarily essays of 7-10 pages that demonstrate the applicant's ability to mount and sustain an argument.

  • Reference letters from two professors in the English Department.

If possible, both writing samples should be longer essays (5-10 pages) that display the ability to mount and sustain an argument. All letters of reference should be submitted directly to the Director of Graduate Admissions for the department of English.

Acceptance is conditional upon acceptable scores on the GRE exam, which must be taken prior to formal application through GSAS in the fall of the fourth year.

Please direct all questions to the Administrator of Graduate Admissions at (434)924-6633.

AN ENGLISH MINOR

Students wishing to minor in English must complete 18 credits of upper division English courses (those numbered 300 and above). Included in these 18 credits must be two of the three semesters of the core survey, History of Literatures in English (ENGL 381, 382, and 383). We advise you to take this sequence in your second or third year. The other four English courses (12 hours) may be of your own choosing, but you may not offer more than six hours in any one of the following distribution categories: ENGL, ENMD, ENRN, ENEC, ENNC, ENMC, ENAM, ENCR, ENGN, ENWR, and ENSP. While there is no pre-requisite for the minor in English, we encourage prospective minors to take at least one 200-level ENLT course before enrolling in upper level courses.

Only courses taken in the English Department at the University of Virginia can count toward the English minor.

There are no formal procedures for declaring an English minor, although you should probably discuss your plans with the Director of Undergraduate Studies. He or she will certify the completion of the minor on your final VISTAA form when you are making your degree application during your last semester at the University.

SUMMER SCHOOL

The Department makes an effort to offer a variety of summer school courses, but students should be forewarned that summer offerings are limited, and they should plan accordingly. Students should not expect to be able to fulfill specific major requirements during the summer session. In particular, ENGL 381, 382, and 383 are never offered during the summer session. The Department has generally been able to offer one Shakespeare course and one ENLT course during the summer, but even this depends on the availability of appropriate professors. In general, most of the faculty conduct research during the summer and the Department operates with a much reduced staff. Due to the unavailability of advisors, the Department does not declare majors during the summer session, and in general students should take care of any administrative matters BEFORE the spring semester ends.

CREATIVE WRITING COURSES

English majors should be aware of the major-level courses on the writing of poetry and fiction. These courses give English majors a chance to practice what they study in their other courses. Our faculty includes a number of experienced poets and fiction writers who can advise aspiring writers.

All of these major-level creative writing courses require you to submit a manuscript of your fiction or poetry before you register for the course. At least three days before classes begin, you should either give a sample of your writing to the instructor or put it into his or her mailbox in Bryan Hall 229.

We also offer a variety of courses each semester on writing for newspapers and magazines. If you wish to take one of these courses, you should consult with the instructor before the semester begins to learn about his or her requirements and prerequisites and to find out how heavily the course will be enrolled. The University does not offer a major in journalism, and English majors should remember that they may count only three ENWR courses toward their major. Many editors and publishers do not approve of a journalism major, since they think it provides too narrow an education. They advise that prospective reporters develop a thorough knowledge of the English language by reading widely and writing regularly -- the kind of training which the major in English can offer.