Preparation for Graduate School in English
Graduate School in English (M.A./Ph.D.)
Graduate School in Creative Writing (M.F.A.)
Graduate School in English (M.A./Ph.D.)
What kinds of programs exist? What will these degree programs train you to do?
MA/PhD in English:
MA/PhD programs in English prepare students for scholarly pursuits and college-level teaching. Those who have earned an MA/PhD are qualified to teach at the college level. An MA typically takes two to three years to complete. A PhD usually takes an additional three to five years to complete.
What Can You Expect?
Most schools have specific course requirements along with a range of exam, essay, thesis or dissertation requirements. Most graduate programs also have foreign language requirements. Students at the MA level follow a relatively broad course of study in literature and theory. Graduate study at the PhD level is built on mentorship; graduate students locate faculty mentors with compatible scholarly interests (usually in a committee format) and work under their supervision.
Professional Options
If your goal is to teach English at the college level, you should be aware that the job market is competitive, and that many recent PhDs are finding it difficult to secure tenure-track positions at both the junior college and college/university levels. Those with a PhD obviously have an advantage over those with an MA only. There has been an increase in recent years in full-time, non-tenure-track academic positions (coordinating writing programs and tutoring centers, for instance) which are benefits eligible and usually secure. The Association of Departments of English provides useful placement information on its website: http://www.ade.org/. If you decide to apply to graduate school, you might also check the job placement records for programs you are considering.
Many recent graduates with MA and PhD degrees who have found teaching jobs are working in a part-time or temporary capacity teaching composition or beginning literature classes at one or more college. In these kinds of adjunct positions, there is very little long-term job security. As a result, a number of MA/PhD graduates in the humanities are finding themselves seeking employment outside academia.
A graduate program in English requires a great deal of time, commitment, and passion. Make sure that your career goals require this degree. In many fields, such as writing, editing, or advertising, your skills, abilities, talents, and portfolio are more important to employers than an advanced degree. It may be more appropriate for you to focus on acquiring professional experience (through work, volunteer work, or an internship) or specialized training (technical or skills-based courses or programs) than to pursue an advanced degree. If you would like to teach English at the secondary level in public schools, you will need teacher certification or a teaching degree, which are not available through MA/PhD literature programs.
How can you decide if graduate study is the right choice for you?
1. Talk with faculty/academic advisors. They will be your most important resource in making this decision.
2. Talk with graduate students. The English Department graduate secretary can put you in touch with current WVU graduate students. The graduate secretary is located in 101 Colson Hall.
3. Attend faculty lectures and seminars on campus. The English Department regularly hosts lectures and events and posts information concerning these outside the Department office.
Preparing to apply to graduate programs
1. Seek faculty mentors. Your professors are your best resource. They can assist you in discovering and developing your academic interests, and make suggestions about schools and programs. Most graduate programs will require at least three good letters of recommendation. The best letters come from professors who know you, who can speak confidently about your work and are prepared BY YOU to write the best possible letter. This means speaking with them ahead of time about your goals, providing them with copies of your application materials (in draft, if necessary), and perhaps including a list of accomplishments they might draw from in writing the letter. Make it easy for them to write a stunning letter. Be sure to provide your recommenders with a clear list of the schools to which you’re applying, the application due dates for each, and the addresses to which the letters must be sent. You should also, on the application form, waive your right to see the recommendation. If possible, give your recommenders pre-addressed (by you) envelopes to make the task easier for them.
2. Take a course in literary theory and as many upper-division courses beyond the requirements as you can fit into your schedule.
3. Investigate schools and programs: Consider a) what degree program you?re interested in, e.g., MA, MFA, PWE, PhD; b) what area of literary study you want to focus on; c) what geographic area you would prefer; and d) based on your qualification, how selective a program you want to aim for. Ask faculty for recommendations based on these criteria. Examine English Department websites, paying particular attention to faculty members? areas of specialization, course offerings, degree requirements, and financial aid and teaching opportunities. You can usually request or download admissions packets from the websites. Plan to apply to at least six to seven programs, including at least one “don’t think I’ll get in, but boy, I’d love it!” school and at least one “safety” school.
4. Begin to develop your critical writing sample: Most graduate programs have a January deadline for students seeking admission for the following autumn, so you’ll need to have your critical writing sample ready early. The critical writing sample is usually 12-20 pages of your best writing, often a revised paper from an undergraduate course or part of a senior project. The paper should incorporate secondary sources, if possible. It is helpful if the paper concerns works or issues within your stated area of interest for further study. If you’ve written a paper for an English course that you’re thinking of developing into your writing sample, tell your instructor. He or she may have suggestions for you on how to improve it, or may be willing to work with you on further revisions. Consider the need for this sample when you are selecting your Writing Intensive courses each semester, and work with a professor to develop one of your ?W? papers into a writing sample.
5. Begin to write your statement of purpose: Most schools require a statement of purpose and/or statement of interest in teaching. In a statement of purpose for graduate study, you need to demonstrate that you have focused interests and that you can succeed in graduate school. Try to avoid emotive clichés such as, “Ever since I was a child, I have gotten the deepest enjoyment from reading.” Rather, try to present a professional self with the skills, resources, and focus to succeed in academia. If you have an interest in a particular area of literary study, discuss that. In addition, you might discuss papers you wrote or courses you took that have shaped your academic interests. Consider how you would develop these interests in graduate school and what skills or experiences would help you do this. You need not commit yourself to one particular area of study, but if you know that you hope to study Colonial American Literature, for example, let the committee know this, and explain why their program makes sense for your goals. It is not a good idea to be too narrow about your intended field of study; announcing that you intend to write a dissertation on Virginia Woolf and Environmentalism can indicate that you have no intention of learning from the faculty with whom you would work. On the other hand, asserting an interest in a certain approach to literature is fine, though it often makes more sense to indicate the kinds of questions you wish to pursue rather than the kinds of argument you expect to make. Be careful about stating that you intend to work with Professor X, the renowned scholar in the department; it might sound like you?re discounting the rest of the faculty. Keep your statement to one page, typed, regular font.
6. Compose a teaching statement. The statement of interest in teaching is a difficult genre to master, as it requires you to reflect on why you want to teach and why you believe you’d be good at it before you’ve actually had a chance to try it out. Highlight positive classroom experiences and any tutoring you?ve done. Consider volunteer work in order to gain tutoring experience, which is always a plus on a graduate application. Demonstrate that you?ve thought about your role as a future teacher, and convey your passion for reading, research, writing and teaching in the simplest, most direct way possible. Committees are looking for you to be intelligent, committed to a future career in the field, and to display some sense of how you define “good teaching.”
7. Prepare to take the Graduate Record Exam (GRE): Most schools will require only the General Test and not the Subject Test in Literature. Check with each school for their admission requirements. Check out www.gre.org for more information on exam dates and sample tests. A high score on the Subject Test is always a plus, regardless of whether or not the school has requested that you take the exam. Most programs in English will not consider your math score. To prepare for the exam, some students choose to take GRE preparation courses; others use books or software programs.
8. Mail your application ON TIME: If you are serious about graduate school and hope to receive funding, apply on time. Send the application overnight mail if you must, but get it there on time. Many schools are moving toward electronic applications. Double check to be sure that all parts of your application have arrived by confirming with a follow-up e-mail. If mailing your application, pay the extra money to have the package tracked and/or pay for delivery confirmation. Use the forms provided by the school when possible, or the best quality stationery you can afford. Take the time to workshop your materials with your faculty mentors and/or your peers in order to catch any typos or infelicitous phrasings.
9. Fill out your FAFSA and make financial preparations. Generally, there is very little money for the M.A., since many departments make money on their M.A. programs. Go after every penny, every scholarship, every grant you can find to finance your education, with loans as a last resort. Be prepared to teach upon arrival, but also expect that many financial aid decisions within departments regarding funding and TA positions are made during the late spring and summer.
Graduate School in Creative Writing (M.F.A.)
Applying to Graduate School to Study Creative Writing: Some Notes
What to consider when considering graduate school in creative writing…
MA vs. MFA: The first is more “academic.” The second is more “creative.” Usually. Know that the MFA is considered a “terminal degree” (though some people do go on to get a PhD and this can be a useful thing to do), while an MA is much more a stepping stone kind of degree. Think about what you’ll want down the road (writing for pleasure? writing as a 9-5 job: editing, magazine writing? teaching writing?) and know that the MFA and/or PhD are the path to higher education teaching jobs (though Mas can get community college teaching jobs).
Faculty: Who teaches in the program, how do you feel about their work, and will they really be there? Try to balance several factors: working with writers whose work you admire vs. working with writers who actually like to teach vs. working with writers who will be in residence. These factors are not necessarily mutually exclusive, but they can be. Do some research. Know the writers’ work, but also how they’re regarded as teachers (email current students in the program, ask your instructors what they know about particular writers as teachers). Who have they taught? Have their students gone on to publish well, etc? Know that the more famous the writer, the more likely it is that he or she will have opportunities to go elsewhere, take semesters off, get extended residencies away from campus, etc. This is a both a good thing (certainly for the writer, but also for you: it’s good to study with writers who are in demand) and a bad thing (you don’t want the writer so in demand that your “demands” become a low priority). Of course not all writers choose to take semesters off/go away, etc. In fact, some – like Charles Wright – really don’t enjoy such things, so it’s not likely he’d be away? but it’s good to investigate just how frequently “star” faculty really do teach. Also, consider the faculty’s interests, because if their work is “language-oriented,” and you’re writing traditional narrative poems or sonnet sequences, you’re not going to be very happy. Also, if the they aren’t interested in what interests you, why even bother applying—? Faculty would be my major consideration when looking at programs.
Length of the program: MA programs can be as short as one year. MFAs are usually 2-3 years. Know what you’re getting into in terms of number/kind of classes. Also, low-residency programs (Bennington, Warren Wilson, Vermont College, Goddard, Queen’s College, Spaulding, etc) can be a good option—-if you’re very self-directed, have some other kind of employment, and are prepared to work both via correspondence and at twice yearly intense residencies.Style of program: scholarly, research, studio: The Associated Writing Programs (AWP), the professional organization for creative writers, publishes a book of all the graduate programs and categorizes them as scholarly, research, and/or studio. These distinctions are important because they indicate the kind of work that will be expected of you and the kinds of skills/experiences you’ll gain. Check out this book to determine which type of program would be best for you.
“Culture” of the program: Some grad cw programs are notoriously competitive (Iowa, for instance). This can be good—if you thrive in that sort of environment. There’s no surefire way to know how any given program will be when you’re there (since a lot of that depends on the other students), but, again, your current instructors can be a good source of info. regarding a program’s reputation as “friendly,” “competitive,” etc.
Financial support: Getting into debt for an MA/MFA is generally not a good thing. These are not money-making degrees; it’s best not to let them turn into money-losing degrees in the process. Most programs do offer financial support, usually in exchange for teaching freshman composition. This is a good thing. Teaching comp. is a life skill if you want to make a living as a writer in academia.
Teaching opportunities: Some programs only allow teaching in the comp. program. Some include opportunities for teaching creative writing, but be sure to determine who gets to teach what, how these assignments are given, and how much teaching will be required (one class/semester? two classes/semester? is the school on the quarter system? etc.)
Location: Where do you want to be? If you choose a program in a big city, will you be able to afford to live there? Will a big city keep too busy/preoccupied to do what you’re supposed to do, namely, write? If you’re in a small town, will you lose your mind?
Post-degree help with teaching/job placement, etc.: Some programs are quite good at helping their students get jobs/books/fellowships. Some even offer more teaching after the degree is over. Cornell is like this. More and more, grad. cw programs are realizing that two or three years is not enough and that developing writers really aren’t viable job candidates until they get a book. So some programs are offering more time to write via preferential adjunct hiring.
Putting together a creative writing application. . .
First things first, apply to a good number of programs: This seems obvious, but it isn’t. The competition for creative writing programs is pretty daunting. A school like Virginia, which has big name faculty, good resources, a well-established program, and small classes, gets 200 applications each year for five poetry spots and 300 applications for seven fiction spots. NYU, Columbia, Brown, etc. are the same. Iowa will get even more applications, but they also take more people. This is not to freak you out – only to suggest that you apply to a range of schools, and especially that you consider some “smaller” schools – like Bowling Green, which has a very distinguished history, or like Georgia College and State University, which has a relatively new MFA. These aren’t just “back-up” schools; they’re good programs where you might have a better shot at getting in and a greater likelihood of getting attention once you’re there. So consider a variety of programs and don’t always go for the flashiest locations. Bowling Green, Ohio, isn’t amazing – it’s not the East Village – but it’s a very well respected program that has produced a lot of accomplished writers (including our own Mark Brazaitis!).
Whether the application asks for it or not, I’d suggest writing a statement of purpose: This brief prose document (a few pages at most) is your chance to distinguish yourself from the pack. You can talk about your writing, your goals, how you came to be interested in pursuing graduate study, etc. I can tell you from reading applications to WVU’s MFA program, that very often an engaging statement caught my attention and made me stop and consider the creative work from another angle. Also, there’s sometimes this misconception that creative writers don’t know how to write elegant prose. Disprove this.
Letters of recommendation: It’s just courteous to ask for these sooner rather than later. And while you’re at it, why not seek the advice of your instructors, particularly those in creative writing, as you determine which programs to apply to and why. The best way to insure a “good” letter-?that is a letter that not only says good things about you but is also interesting and specific?is to give the person writing on your behalf a small sample of your work. This reminds them of who you are and what your writing is like?especially crucial if you’re not currently in a lot of contact with this person. Also, a resumé and/or list of your other activities/honors/jobs can also be really helpful to the person writing the letter.
Just take the GRE, including the subject test: It seems so silly to limit your choice of grad. schools based on whether or not they require the GRE, especially the subject test. Just take the test! Most cw programs are following the “spirit of the law” on this; that is, their universities require the test, so they, in turn, require it, but it’s not a huge deciding factor. Not having taken the test will keep you out of a program, but having done not so well won’t necessarily ruin your chances of admission. With cw, it usually comes down to your work: either it’s good/has potential and the faculty at a given program think they can help you go further, or it’s not so good and/or they just don’t think they’re the right people to help you move ahead.
Writing sample: Of course, send your best work. And ask your instructors to help you determine what that is. Make sure your writing sample is polished and of the appropriate length. Don’t send 50 pages if they ask for 10.
Don’t try to figure it out all by yourself! Again, this seems to make sense, but in case you need reminding: applying to grad. school can be confusing, why not ask for help? Faculty not only are supposed to help you, most of them want to, and that’s nice, isn’t it?
Mary Ann Samyn
West Virginia University