Admission Criteria
Application Deadline
| Entrance Term | Application Deadline |
| Fall | February 1 |
Current MU undergraduate students are eligible to apply to this program. To be considered for admission to the accelerated MA program in English, a student must:
- Have completed at least 90 credit hours toward a bachelor’s degree.
- Have a 3.3 GPA overall and a 3.5 in the major.
Required Application Materials
For the Graduate School
- Completed Graduate School online application
- Applicants to the accelerated program should select the year that corresponds to their senior year of undergraduate study, during which time they would be writing their Honors thesis.
- Unofficial Transcripts- As part of the application submission process, all applicants are required to upload unofficial copies of all post-secondary transcripts to the online application.
For the English Program
- Master’s Supplement: Once the English (MA) option is selected from the Application Information section, the Master’s Supplement section will appear. Complete all required fields in the section.
- One letter of recommendation is required from a MU faculty member, preferably someone in the English department who can comment on your past performance and your potential to succeed in graduate classes.
- CV containing academic honors, vocational or employment experience, or other significant accomplishments in your educational career.
- Statement of purpose (approximately 500 words): The admissions committee is interested in your past academic interests, including specific papers and projects you have worked on, and what you wish to accomplish as a graduate student. Explain why you wish to pursue a particular emphasis (i.e., Creative Writing and Linguistics) or field (e.g. Poetry, Fiction, Creative Non-Fiction, Contemporary American Literature, Early Modern Literature, etc.)
- Writing Sample
- For Literature applications: Submit your strongest analytical paper of 5-10 pages from a previous class. The sample need not be related to your application area of interest, but should show your skills in argumentation, use of sources, or theoretical methods.
- For Creative Writing applications: Submit two writing samples. One should be a writing sample in your chosen genre (poetry, fiction, or creative nonfiction) of 7-12 pages that best illustrates your creative work. The other should be an analytical paper of 5-10 pages from a previous class that shows your skills in argumentation, use of sources, or theoretical methods.
- English Departmental Application (built into the Graduate School application)