Resources for Prospective Students

General Information¶

The CSUN English Department's MA program has three options: Creative Writing, Literature, and Rhetoric & Composition. Regardless of which option you choose, the official degree you receive will be an MA in English. For further details about the program, see the About page.

Admission Requirements¶

In addition to the University requirements, the English department requires that students meet one of two conditions before being admitted into the department program:

• Students with a B.A. in English must have a minimum GPA of 3.0 in upper division English courses. This GPA is determined by the cumulative GPA of all approved upper division English courses.
• Students with a B.A. in a subject other than English must have a minimum of 24 semester units of approved upper division English courses or their equivalent (as determined by their disciplinary relevance) with a minimum 3.0 GPA in these courses. This GPA is determined by the cumulative GPA of all approved upper division English courses.

One of these two conditions must be met before a student may be admitted into the English department M.A. program. Applicants who, upon departmental evaluation, do not possess enough qualifying units or the required GPA need to take additional undergraduate upper division English courses to make up any deficits before admission into the program.

Classified Status¶

A classified student has fulfilled the following criteria:

• A B.A. in English or has already completed 24 upper division-approved English or their equivalent (as determined by their disciplinary relevance) semester units (upper division English GPA minimum required: 3.0).
• A GPA of 3.0 or greater in upper division English and a 3.0 in the last 60 units.

Note that the English department’s requirements for classification are more stringent than the University’s requirements.

Students who do not meet all requirements may be accepted as conditionally classified students, subject to meeting various University and program requirements for classified status. It is important to achieve full classified standing prior to completing 12 units of graduate coursework on the program of study. No more than 12 units of work taken prior to attaining fully classified status will be applied to the master’s degree program.

Students who do not have the required number of upper-division courses can also take qualifying courses through the Tseng College Open University prior to applying to the English program in order to meet the minimum requirements.

Denied students fall into one or more of these categories:

• Do not have a B.A. in English.
• Do not have 24 upper division approved English semester units and/or the equivalent, as determined by their potential to be offered in English department curriculum.
• Do not have the required minimum GPA of 3.0 in upper division English units.
• Do not meet the minimum language fluency requirements for international students.

Denied students may not take any graduate level courses (500- to 600-level).

International Applications¶

International applicants to CSUN’s English MA Program who received their bachelor’s degree at universities where the primary language of instruction is not English must meet the minimum score on one of the following English language fluency tests:

• Test of English as a Foreign Language Internet-Based Test (TOEFL iBT): 85
• International English Language Test System (IELTS) Academic: 7 overall score
• Cambridge C1 Advanced English (formerly CAE): 185
• Pearson Test of English (PTE) Academic: 64
• Global Test of English Communication Computer-Based Test (GTEC CBT): 1275

CSUN does not offer financial aid to international students. For available funding opportunities, see https://www.csun.edu/financialaid/special-groups/international-students.

How to Apply¶

Deadlines¶

Application Procedure¶

The information below is a mirror of the official application instructions at https://www.csun.edu/humanities/english/programs/graduate-programs.

1. APPLICATION: File an online application to the university through Cal State Apply (this application is for all CSU's, select the Northridge campus). Your upper division English GPA must be 3.0 or higher; your last 60 units (overall GPA) must be 2.5 or higher.
2. SEPARATE DEPARTMENT APPLICATION: Please fill out the Pre-Application form
3. LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION: Not required; please do not send.
4. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE: Not required
5. WRITING SAMPLE: Not required to come into the master's program.
6. TRANSCRIPTS**

Admissions and Records (A&R) requires one set of official sealed transcripts. All transcripts, preliminary and final, must be official (received in sealed, unopened envelopes). Ask your previous schools to send your official transcripts directly to A&R. NOTE: If you graduated from CSUN with your BA, do not send CSUN transcripts.

Mail to:

CSUN, Admissions and Records 18111 Nordhoff Street Northridge, CA 91330-8207 (again, use the entire zip code to ensure prompt delivery)

1. SECOND SET OF TRANSCRIPTS**

Please send official sealed (preliminary and final) transcripts of all four-year institutions to:

CSUN, Department of English 18111 Nordhoff Street Northridge, CA 91330-8248 Attention: Graduate Program.

Please make sure to use the entire zip code to ensure prompt delivery.

EXCEPTIONS:

• Junior College transcripts are not required by English department. However, A & R - needs them, see below.

• Graduates from CSUN with a BA do not send CSUN transcripts.

• Notification: Plan ahead, once Admissions and Records receives all transcripts it takes approximately 8-12 weeks before English Department receives application. Students are notified of status via email and U.S. Mail.