English
Site Contents
Admissions
If you wish to apply to the graduate studies program in the Department of English, you should:
- Apply to the Graduate School. Application information is available at the following web site: http://www.gradschool.purdue.edu/admissions/
- Supply a personal statement of purpose; this statement should describe your intellectual interests and professional goals and explain why you think Purdue is a good place to pursue them.
- Submit your scores on the Graduate Record Examination. All scores must be sent directly from the testing center.
- Submit three letters of recommendation from former teachers; ask them to describe and assess your training, skills, and ability to do graduate-level work. We prefer that letter-writers submit their recommendations using the online submission process outlined on the Purdue Graduate School webpage. If they prefer to submit hard copies, the webpage also includes a link to a recommendation form (PDF format) that you can print out. Fill in the appropriate information, give the form to your recommenders, and ask them to mail it to us along with their letters.
- Supply a sample of your writing--a critical writing sample written for an English course (10-15 pages). You may upload your writing sample when you complete the on-line applications OR send it directly to the department.
- Submit two official transcripts from each college or university you have attended. Foreign transcripts must include the English translation of both transcripts and diplomas and must be ORIGINAL douments. Mail to: Graduate Studies, Department of English, 500 Oval Drive, West Lafayette, IN 47907-2038.
International students must submit an official TOEFL iBT score (sent directly from the testing center). The minimum internet based scores required for admission are the following:
Writing: 18
Speaking: 27
Listening: 14
Reading: 19
Total score: 77
Only those with a speaking score of 27 or more can be considered for a teaching assistantship.
The English Department also accepts the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) scores. An overall band score of 6.5 is required for admission. A score of 8 in the speaking section is required if you wish to be considered for a teaching assistantship in the English Department.
Applicants applying to the Creative Writing program are requested to also submit a sample of your recent writing - a group of 8-10 poems if applying in poetry, or 2-3 stories (or a novel excerpt) if applying in fiction. Please include a brief written statement responding to these questions; Whose work do you admire? What collection of poetry and/or works of fiction read in the last year have been important to you, and why? A critical essay (10-15 pages) is also required.
Completed applications to the various graduate programs in English (M.A. in Second Language Studies/ESL, English Language and Linguistics, Literature, and Rhetoric and Composition; M.F.A. in Creative Writing; Ph.D. in Second Language Studies/ESL, English Language and Linguistics, Literature, Rhetoric and Composition, and Theory and Cultural Studies) are reviewed and evaluated by the departmental Admissions Committee and by faculty members working in the individual programs. Some programs and areas in English have their own, subsidiary Admissions Committee, which advises the departmental Admissions Committee. Applications to the interdisciplinary programs in English and Philosophy, American Studies, and Comparative Literature are handled according to the various admissions procedures that have been established by the faculty in those programs.
