Prospective Students

Thank you for your interest in the QC English MA program. If you have any questions about the admissions requirements or application process, please contact the Directors of Graduate Studies.

Jason Tougaw with student
Admission
Application Deadlines

For fall, the priority admissions deadline is April 1. For spring, applications are accepted through November 1. The spring application deadline has been extended to December 15. Fall applicants who apply by the priority deadline may be considered for scholarships, if available.

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Requirements for Matriculation in the MA Program

Applications must be submitted online through the Office of Graduate Admissions. Please see below for the list of admissions requirements. Note: The GRE is not required.

  • A minimum average grade of B (3.0 GPA) in all undergraduate work and in all English courses. (At the discretion of the admissions committee, GPAs lower than 3.0 in non-English courses may be acceptable for matriculation.)
  • A minimum of 24 undergraduate credits in English or literary study. (At the discretion of the admissions committee, fewer credits may be acceptable for matriculation.)
  • 3 letters of recommendation, preferably from instructors in English or related fields, addressing your academic proficiency and preparedness for graduate-level literary study.
  • A 500-word statement of interest explaining why you wish to pursue a master’s degree in English at Queens College.
  • A writing sample, about 10-15 pages in length (double-spaced), demonstrating your proficiency in literary study, writing, and research. Ideally, writing samples should consist of 1-2 essays written for an English class. Please email your writing sample as a PDF or DOC/DOCX file to [email protected].
Accelerated English BA/MA Program

The Accelerated English BA/MA program allows our strongest English majors to start taking QC English MA classes (up to 9 credits) while they are still undergraduates, and those classes can count for both the English major and MA degree requirements. The Accelerated application is much simpler than the regular admissions application, and if accepted, students are able to automatically continue on in our English MA program after finishing their BA, without having to reapply. Accelerated students can then earn their MA in less time, in as little as two or three semesters as graduate students, and with greater tuition savings.

The admissions requirements for the Accelerated program are:

  • A minimum average 3.5 GPA in all English courses, including at least some English 240s and 300-level electives.
  • A referral from a full-time English faculty member (no formal recommendation letters required)
  • A writing sample of about 3-5 pages of your strongest work written for an English class.

To apply, fill out this application form.

Non-Matriculated Status

Students who wish to register for graduate English courses without officially enrolling in the MA degree program may apply as non-matriculated students. Non-matriculated applications must be submitted online through the Office of Graduate Admissions. The admissions requirements for non-matriculated students are:

  • A minimum average grade of B (3.0 GPA) in all undergraduate work and in all English courses. (At the discretion of the admissions committee, GPAs lower than 3.0 in non-English courses may be acceptable for matriculation.)
  • A minimum of 24 undergraduate credits in English or literary study. (At the discretion of the admissions committee, fewer credits may be acceptable for matriculation.)
The Director of Graduate Studies may also request that applicants submit a statement of interest or a short writing sample.

Non-matriculated students are eligible to take up to 4 graduate English courses (12 credits). These credits may later be transferred and counted toward the QC English MA, MS Ed, or MAT requirements, at the discretion of the Director of Graduate Studies.

English Education Programs: MS Ed and MAT

The Master of Science in Education (MSEd) provides training in writing pedagogy and curriculum development, offering students the opportunity to discover emerging areas of literary study and develop new approaches to the reading and teaching of texts.Students pursuing the degree complete a total of 33 credits: 18 credits in English Education and 15 credits in English. For further information about applying to the MS.Ed English program, please consult with an English Education advisor. Admissions for this program are evaluated by the Secondary Education/ Youth Services (SEYS)/ English Education Department. 

The Masters of Arts in Teaching (MAT) is a new English Education Program of initial and professional certification combined in a 42-credit master’s program. After completing a 24-credit course sequence for initial certification, students take a further 18 credits: 9 in English and 9 in SEYS. For further information about applying to the MAT in English program, please consult with an English Education advisor. Admissions for this program are evaluated by the Secondary Education/ Youth Services (SEYS)/ English Education Department.

Financial Aid
Tuition

For residents of New York State in the 2022-2023 academic year, tuition is $425 per credit; for nonresidents and international students, tuition is $780 per credit. Graduate students taking 12 or more credits in a semester are considered full-time, and full-time students who are New York State residents pay $5,545 per semester.*

*Tuition is set by the Board of Trustees of the City University of New York and is subject to change. The most current information is available on the Bursar’s tuition and fees page.

Loans

Information about loans and other forms of financial aid is available at the Office of Financial Aid Services.

Scholarships
Depending upon funding availability, the MA program can offer a limited number of Queens College Fund Graduate Scholarships to incoming students. These awards are facilitated through the Graduate Studies Office, and are decided at the time of application evaluation. To be considered for a Graduate Scholarship, students must submit all application materials by the early application deadline of April 1. No additional scholarship application is required.

Frequently Asked Questions
How does the admissions process work?

Applicants submit their materials directly to the university’s Office of Graduate Admissions. Application forms, directions, and requirements can be found at the Graduate Admissions website. Graduate Admissions collects application materials until the application is complete. After the application is complete, it is forwarded to the English MA Program for consideration. In addition to completing the Graduate Admissions application, applicants should submit a writing sample to the English MA Program directly, sending it to [email protected]. The priority deadline for Fall admissions is November 1, and the priority deadline for Spring is April 1.

I missed the priority deadlines but I still want to apply. Can I?
Yes. We post our extended deadlines to the Graduate Admissions site. However, if you miss the Spring priority deadline, you will not be considered for scholarship opportunities.

Can I be eligible for admission even if I didn’t major in English?
Sometimes. Applicants who have taken substantial coursework in English should follow the same application procedure as English majors. Applicants who have little or no advanced undergraduate coursework in the field should contact the program director via email at [email protected]. Sometimes students are permitted to take graduate courses as a non-matriculated student, in consultation with the program director, to help them prepare an application file. In other cases, the applicant may be recommended to complete some undergraduate courses in English. 

Is the GRE required?
No.

Can I enroll on a part-time basis?
Yes. Our program is flexible to accommodate a range of life situations. Our courses are only offered in the late afternoon and evening, and they normally meet only once per week. Students may complete the program at a pace suitable to their particular situation. Some students enroll full time (three courses per semester) while others enroll part-time and take two or even just one course per semester. We also offer graduate courses in two summer sessions, one that runs for four weeks in June, and the other that runs for six weeks in July into August.

How long does it take to complete the program?
This time to complete the program varies, as the pace of each person’s progress depends on how many courses that person takes in a given semester, and some students will have some graduate credits from another institution or our Accelerated program. Most students who take two courses per term and a class in the summer could anticipate completing their degree in two to two and half years. But students move through the program on timelines that depend upon their other commitments and choices regarding each semester’s course load. 

Once admitted, can I transfer into the program graduate credits taken elsewhere or taken at Queens College as a non-matriculated student?
Yes. You may transfer into the program up to twelve credits (four classes) taken outside our Department, subject to approval by the Graduate Studies Office. Up to four courses taken within our program as a non-matriculated student can be applied to the English MA degree. As with transfer credits, these are subject to the approval of the Graduate Studies Office. Only twelve credits total taken at another university or as a non-matriculated student can be applied to the English MA. (Students in the Queens College Accelerated program can only take nine credits toward their MA degree as undergraduates.)

Are scholarships available?
Depending upon funding availability, the MA program can offer a limited number of Queens College Fund Graduate Scholarships to incoming students. These awards are facilitated through the Graduate Studies Office, and are decided at the time of application evaluation. To be considered for a Graduate Scholarship, students must submit all application materials by the early application deadline of April 1. No additional scholarship application is required.
What courses are offered in the program and who are the faculty teaching them?
In addition to our required courses, English 701: Seminar in Graduate Methodology and English 636: History of Literary Criticism, students select electives from the roster of courses offered at the 600- or 700-level each semester. Recent graduate electives offered by the English Department include: Multiethnic Graphic Narratives; Public Writing; Science Fiction; Experiments in Autobiography; Disability Studies; The Transatlantic Gothic; Contemporary American Poetry and the Political Landscape; Caribbean Modernisms; 21st-Century Asian American Literatures; Queer Drama; Adaptation Studies; Mediating Shakespeare; Early Modern Utopian Fiction; Feminist Criticism and Victorian Fictions; Race and the Environment in the Long Eighteenth Century; Reading Jane Austen; American HIV/AIDS Narratives; Love and Literature of the Global South. While our program offers classes across the range of Anglophone literature, we have particular strengths in medieval studies, children’s literature, comics and graphic narratives, gender and sexuality studies, and race and ethnic studies. You can learn more about our faculty here.
What kind of advising and guidance do you offer students?
The English MA Program takes the advising of graduate students seriously and welcomes students’ questions and visits. Each newly matriculated student attends an orientation before beginning their first semester, and can meet with the program directors at any time to discuss program requirements and plans beyond the MA degree. Typically, in their final semesters, students work closely with an advisor with whom they develop their final thesis project.
Who are the students typically enrolled in the program?
Like the borough of Queens, our student body is extraordinarily diverse, representing a range of backgrounds, ages, and life experiences. Many of our students are teachers or preparing to teach, while others work in a variety of professions. Some students use the MA to prepare for further study in a PhD program, while others enroll in the program to enrich their intellectual life. In your classes, you are likely to encounter students from our graduate programs in English Education and the Master of Fine Arts Program in Creative Writing and Translation.
Can I take courses as a non-degree student without being matriculated into the program?
Yes, if you have questions about registering for the English MA Program as a non-degree student, please see the Non-Matriculated Admissions page.