» Integrated BA/MA in English

• Must be an undergraduate student with 90+ units of undergraduate coursework completed.
• Have a cumulative GPA of 3.0+.

Students apply to the MA during their junior year or first semester senior year. If accepted into the integrated graduate program, undergraduate students may take, and share, up to 15 credits, between the undergraduate and graduate degree. Students in the integrated bachelor’s plus master’s programs will matriculate into the graduate program after the completion of their bachelor’s degree.

Submit the Online Application. (Despite what the How to Apply page says, you won’t need to pay the application fee or submit your Chapman transcripts since you are already a Chapman student!)

• As a current Chapman student applying to an integrated master’s degree program, the department has agreed to waive the recommendation letter requirement for your application. In the online application, please enter the name, email and phone number for two faculty members at Chapman who support you as a candidate for this program.
• Your resume or curriculum vitae.
• Statement of Intent.
• A finished critical literary essay of 12-15 text pages that demonstrates your talent for scholarly writing and ability to handle texts of literary criticism relative to the subject matter. The essay should reflect a grasp of critical literary skills and ability to deal with theoretical texts in an effective and knowledgeable manner. The MA essay must be a critical literary essay only.

Any 500-level course that is approved for MA credit is eligible to count toward the integrated program.

• At the first opportunity to do so, students should take ENG 556 - Literary Theory and Critical Practice: 1920-Present, usually offered in the fall semester.
• Students who wish to apply for the Graduate Student Instructor program must take ENG 580 during the spring semester of their senior year.
• Students complete the remaining credits of the MA degree, including all required courses, by the end of the graduate program.
• The integrated program is designed to save students money and time. Generally speaking, those savings are lost if you cannot use the 15 credits you’re allowed to share between degrees (or if you cannot fit them into your senior year schedule). For some students it may be more advantageous to apply to the standard MA in English program. Admitted students can take fewer than 15 credits in order to “jumpstart” their time in the MA program; however, any classes not completed as an undergraduate will need to be completed as a graduate student.

You’ll save money. During your senior year, you will continue paying the set amount for undergraduate tuition without any additional charge for taking graduate classes.

You’ll save time. You’ll finish your graduate degree in as little as one year and enter the workforce that much sooner.

You’ll continue your education at a place you know. You won’t have to start over at a new school. You’ll already know what resources are available to you. You might even already know some of your professors in the graduate program.

If accepted into a graduate program, undergraduate students may take up to 15 graduate credits. These 15 credits can be used to satisfy the undergraduate graduation requirements and count toward the MA program. 

Students should check with their advisor, program director, and/or department chair, as well as the office of financial aid regarding sharing credits.