T

he 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.

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.