M.A. in English
The M.A. requires 24 semester hours of coursework and a written examination. The program is designed so that a full-time student can complete these requirements within one calendar year of study. Part-time students must complete all requirements for the degree within four years.
ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS
In order to be admitted to the M.A. program, you should have a bachelor's degree and a college record that holds promise for graduate study. Although you need not have majored in English, thorough preparation is essential to success in the program. Ideally, applicants should have compelted 30 semester hours of undergraduate English, including courses in both early and modern British literature, American literature and literary theory. If you have deficiencies in certain periods or areas, you may be required to complete certain undergraduate prerequisites as a graduate student and will be so informed when you are accepted into the program.
Applications must be supported with a statement of purpose; transcripts of undergraduate work and previous graduate courses; GRE scores (the general test and the advanced test in English); and three letters of recommendation. Applicants must also supply a writing sample. A grade average of "B" or better in undergraduate coursework is required.
GRE scores are never the sole determining factor in an application file. Your writing sample and statement of purpose are also important sources of information about your qualifications for undertaking graduate study. However, successful applicants to our M.A. program typically have scored above 500 in the Advanced Test in English.
PROGRAM OF COURSES
For the M.A. degree you are required to take:
- English 400 (Introduction to Literary Study)
- At least three courses in English and American literature (at least one course in Medieval through 18th-century literature, and one course in 19th- or 20th-century literature)
- At least one course in literary criticism and theory
- At least one course in rhetoric or composition
- Two elective courses
You may opt for an 18-hour program and a thesis (for six credits). Regulations governing this option are specified in the Graduate School catalog.
FUNDING FOR M.A. STUDY
We offer, on a competitive basis, a variety of packages, ranging from partial tuition support to mini-assistantships that match partial tuition scholarships with a modest stipend. Even without funding, Loyola's graduate tuition remains the best buy in Chicago.
THE M.A. EXAMINATION
Immediately after the regular exam period for the second Summer term ends, all students will take a four-hour written examination; the exam will be prepared and graded by a three-member M.A. examining committee. The exam will include questions in three areas: literature before 1800; literature after 1800; and composition/rhetoric, textual studies, and literary theory. Students will answer one question—from among a range of questions supplied by the examining committee—in two of these three categories. The examining committee will review the syllabi for all graduate courses taught during the Fall, Spring, and two Summer terms as it prepares these questions, and students are expected to draw on their course readings in their responses.
The exam will be graded as High Pass, Pass, Low Pass or Fail. The minimum requirements for the M.A. degree will be a Low Pass on the exam and a B average in all coursework. M.A. students who fail the exam may retake it once, at the conclusion of the Fall semester in the same year. Ph.D. students who fail the exam may also retake it once, but only to complete the M.A. degree: they will not be allowed to continue in the program. Ph.D. students who receive a Low Pass will have their exams forwarded to the Committee on Graduate Programs, which will review their exams and their performance in coursework in order to determine whether or not they should be permitted to continue, and if so under what probationary conditions. In addition, and prior to the M.A. exam, Ph.D. students whose GPA for the Fall and Spring semesters is under 3.5 will be asked to submit a portfolio of three essays to the Committee on Graduate Programs, which will review their work and make a recommendation to the Director of Graduate Programs about whether or not they should be advised to continue for the Ph.D.