APPLICATION PROCESS

Deadlines

• December 10 – for applications to the PhD program

WE ARE NOT ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS TO THE TERMINAL M.A. PROGRAM FOR FALL 2012.

Applications will not be accepted after December 10.

The only document to be sent to the department is your official transcript, and it can be sent after December 10.

Required Test Scores

• Taking the GRE:  We use your most recent test scores, and we will accept scores from either the old or the revised GRE (available August 1, 2011).  The exam must have been taken within the five years prior to September of the year for which you are requesting admission. (In other words, if you are applying for Fall 2012, you must submit scores from a test since September 2007.)  To insure that your scores arrive by December 10, you should take the GRE by mid-November.
  
  
• Reporting Your GRE Scores:  Request that your official GRE scores be sent online (no paper documents) to UCR’s English Department at your earliest opportunity as it takes several weeks for the campus to receive official scores.  The GRE school code for UCR is 4839 and the department code is 2501.
  
  
• GRE Subject Exam: We do not require the subject exam (Literature in English).
  
  
• International Applicants: The TOEFL must have been taken within the past two years, and this test cannot be waived.

Online Application
Complete UCR’s online Official Application for Graduate Admission at http://GradSIS.ucr.edu. You may work on it in stages, saving your work between sessions, but you must click “Submit My Application” in order for your file to be evaluated for admission to our program. The system will not permit an application to be submitted after December 10.

• Degree Objective: MA or PhD?  The application asks that you indicate the “Degree for which you are applying.” Select PhD. Admission to the PhD program is open to qualified candidates with a BA or MA degree by the time of matriculation. (To count towards our PhD, the MA degree must be in English or a related field.  Similarly, an MFA will count towards the PhD if it includes substantial training in literary studies at the graduate level.  The Admissions Committee will review your coursework to make these determinations.   Applicants to the PhD program are eligible for a full range of financial support.


• Areas of Research Interest: We understand that your area of primary focus may change over the course of your graduate education, but please indicate the areas in which you expect to concentrate.


• Writing Sample: We require an 8- to 15-page writing sample (double-spaced). If you’d like to excerpt a section from a longer essay or thesis, you may include a brief summary of the rest of the argument. (You will be asked to upload it under “Additional Information” in the “Statement of Purpose & Personal History” category of the application.) Choose a strong, recent sample of your critical writing, preferably related to your proposed research interests. 

Final Checklist
An application is complete once we have received all of the following:

• Official GRE Scores: Arrange for ETS to send us your official GRE scores (no paper submissions to the department).
  
  
• Supporting Documents: Attach all documents – Personal History, Statement of Purpose, Writing Sample – to the online application (no paper submissions to the department).
  
  
• Online Application: Complete the online forms and click “Submit.”
  
  
• Letters of Recommendation: Your 3 recommenders should submit their letters to the online system (no paper submissions to the department) shortly after the December 10 deadline, if not before.
  
  
• Official Transcripts: Arrange to have one original set of each official transcript sent directly to the department

  Tina Feldmann, Graduate Student Advisor
  Department of English
  University of California, Riverside
  Riverside, CA 92521-0323

  Even if the information is listed on another school’s transcript, you must list on your application and arrange to have sent to us one original transcript from every school you’ve attended after high school.

  Note: Official transcripts are the only documents to be mailed to the English Department.  All other documents should be submitted online with your application.

• Application Fee: You must pay the application fee (or be granted a waiver). To request a fee waiver, email the Admissions Office at grdadmis@ucr.edu to request the form before submitting your application.

Questions
If you have any questions about the application process, contact Tina Feldmann, Graduate Student Advisor, at tina.feldmann@ucr.edu or (951) 827-1454.  

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