PhD Program Admissions Information

Admissions deadlines can be found on the website of the Office of Graduate Studies.

All students must apply to the PhD program online through the Office of Graduate Studies.

Applications to the English graduate program require the following:

1. a completed online application plus fee;
2. a sample of literary-critical writing (10-25 pages);
3. a brief statement of purpose describing your projected area(s) of interest or field(s) of study in the English department;
4. OPTIONAL FOR ADMITTANCE: results of the GRE general test (WU code: 6929).  We do not require any minimum GRE score and do not publish average scores of our applicants.  The optional GRE is one factor in a holistic evaluation of every application submitted. Not taking this test will not adversely affect the evaluation of your application;
5. OPTIONAL FOR ADMITTANCE: results of the GRE subject test Literature in English (WU code: 2501).  A high score may provide further evidence of literary background.  Not taking this test will not adversely affect the evaluation of your application;
6. unofficial transcript(s) from all prior degree-awarding programs (BA and up); transcripts are not required from study abroad programs, an associate's degree, or community college credits; 
7. three letters of recommendation.

Dissertation Travel Funds are awarded by the Office of Graduate Studies to students in good standing in the final year of their dissertation work. The funds will ideally be used by the student to visit an archive or museum to complete dissertation research, present a conference paper, or attend national meetings in their disciplines at which job interviews are held. Prior to the year-long fellowship, students can apply to participate in the summer Mellon Summer Dissertation Seminar that comes with a stipend of $2,000.

General summer funding is now a guaranteed part of our support package.

The Office of Graduate Studies and our department fund the presentation of research at academic conferences and recognize excellence in both scholarship and teaching. Graduate students can be reimbursed for transportation and housing costs, registration fees, and meals associated with several conferences over the course of the degree.

The Cornelison English Graduate Prize is annually awarded to the authors of the two essays judged to represent the finest written work produced in that year's coursework. First place comes with $2,500; the runner up receives $1,500. At about the same time every year, the Office of Graduate Studies presents the Dean's Award for Teaching Excellence, with a prize of $1,500, to graduate instructors nominated by all departments and programs in Arts and Sciences. Our department's nominee has never failed to win this accolade.

There are also three highly competitive university-wide fellowships which PhD students can apply for separately:

The Dean’s Distinguished Graduate Fellowships in Arts & Sciences have been created to enhance the recruitment of and to recognize some of our most outstanding incoming graduate students. This program will support incoming PhD and MFA students with the promise of exceptional academic distinction; with a demonstrated interest to advance the public good; and who will contribute to the diversity and intellectual vitality of our university community. The primary intent of the program is to support the recruitment of outstanding candidates and help departments make a compelling offer to their best applicants.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE DEAN'S DISTINGUISHED GRADUATE FELLOWSHIPS IN ARTS & SCIENCES

The Dean's Awards for Teaching Excellence recognizes graduate students who have made significant teaching contributions in the instruction of Washington University students. Annually, several awards will be made across the disciplines and at a range of course levels; each recipient will receive a $1,500 prize, a certificate, and recognition in their graduation program. Each department or program may nominate up to two assistants in instruction or those engaged in a Mentored Teaching Experience. 

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE DEAN'S AWARDS FOR TEACHING EXCELLENCE

The Dean's Award for Graduate Research Excellence, which is given annually, will help distinguish exemplary accomplishments of graduate students and research profiles of the Arts & Sciences' graduate programs. Examples may include first-authoring a publication in a top-ranked journal, leading a research or creative practice initiative that yields new possibilities for the student’s field, or leading innovative convergent research with colleagues across fields. Each department or program can underscore what constitutes excellence in research, scholarship, or creative practice. Semifinalists receive a $500 award, and finalists receive a $1,500 award in addition to a certificate of recognition.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE DEAN'S AWARDS FOR GRADUATE RESEARCH EXCELLENCE

There are no special awards for foreign applicants. Except for the fellowships listed above, there are no special application forms for applying for financial aid. The financial statement referred to in the application form is not required for first-year support, but you may request it from the Office of Graduate Studies (after January 1st) if you wish to apply for a loan to supplement any award you might receive.

The department promotes students' professional development as teachers through four interlinked teaching experiences.

• The sequence begins with mentored teaching in a university courses during the fall and spring of the third year, with some home-based in English and others based in departments and programs that have included African and African American Studies, American Cultural Studies, Anthropology, Film and Media Studies, and Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies. These mentored teaching experiences (made with the concurrent approval of the DGS and the relevant course instructor) do not always need to mirror perfectly a student's area of specialization, as indicated by the Major Field. They are made on the basis that the experience will be professionally useful.
• Starting in the fourth year of graduate study, students begin teaching Writing 1. This course, required of all first-year undergraduates, fosters creativity and experimentation in all phases of the writing process. Graduate instructors are prepared to teach this course through the Practicum in Teaching Writing, a three-credit course taken in the fall of their fourth year.,
• The third level of teaching expertise is represented by co-teaching opportunities in the area of a student's specialization and in collaboration with a member of the student's Research Advisory Committee. In most cases, co-teaching proposals will be approved after the student has successfully passed the Major Field exam in the fall of the fourth year. Co-teaching proposals must be submitted to the Curriculum Committee when that body makes its general call for course proposals. Each student is advised to plan well in advance with his or her primary advisor about the possibilities for and timing of a co-teaching experience.

We do offer and facilitate opportunities for teaching a self-designed course. Such opportunities exist at Washington University (at University College and in some of the programs with which we collaborate) and at many of the other colleges in the city of St. Louis.

The Office of Graduate Studies also offers a teaching citation, which enhances students' teaching knowledge and skills. Gaining the citation requires participation in non-credit workshops in the Teaching Center, completion of varied teaching experiences, submission of faculty and student evaluations of the student's teaching, and the development of a teaching philosophy statement.

The city's extensive park system provides natural beauty in almost all neighborhoods. Forest Park, the crown jewel of this system, not only borders Washington University to the east but also boasts the St. Louis Art Museum, the St. Louis History Museum, the St. Louis Municipal Opera, and miles of biking, jogging, and strolling paths. Tower Grove Park is also a popular place to relax, while the Missouri Botanical Gardens, with its free summer jazz concerts and annual Japanese Festival, is one of the city's most scenic spots.

The St. Louis Cardinals and St. Louis Blues guarantee that professional sports action is always nearby. In addition to the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and Opera Theatre St. Louis, the city is the home of a number of repertory theatres. The St. Louis Art Museum, one of the finest in the Midwest, has recently been joined by two contemporary art museums: the Pulitzer and the Contemporary Museum of Art.

Affordable housing can be found in several neighborhoods. With monthly rents averaging between $400 and $700, one can often find distinctive apartments and homes that feature hardwood floors, steam radiators, and excellent interior woodwork. In addition, neighborhoods are quiet and often include community gardens that add to the natural beauty of St. Louis's urban environment. The University runs an apartment referral service to assist incoming students in their search for housing.

The number of excellent restaurants and bars that cater to a variety of tastes contributes to the genuine sense of community experienced in the city's different neighborhoods. For example, the Delmar Loop, an area just north of the Wash U campus, includes Italian, Lebanese, Thai, Vietnamese, Persian, and Ethiopian restaurants in addition to the (reputedly) best hamburgers in town at Blueberry Hill. The city's Italian district, known simply as the Hill, includes some of the city's best dining, while the Soulard area features New Orleans-style restaurants in all price ranges and perhaps a dozen or so family-owned pubs.

We do not have information to be mailed out; however, most questions can be answered by reading through our online Graduate Student Handbook.

The non-refundable application fee is a $45.00. 

We do not require a GRE score for admission to the program. We consider applications in a holistic fashion, looking for various signs of aptitude and preparation. If you'd like to submit your GRE score, you may do so on the CollegeNET application. 

We do not require a GRE score for admission to the program. We consider applications in a holistic fashion, looking for various signs of aptitude and preparation. If you'd like to submit your GRE score, you may do so on the CollegeNET application.

Writing samples are typically 10-25 pages. 

Statements of purpose should primarily speak to your research interests and why they matter; they should also convey a sense of why our particular program is a suitable place for you to pursue these interests.

Our online application system is not currently compatible with services like Interfolio. Within our CollegeNet application system, once you input the name and contact information for each recommender, the system will generate a unique link for each recommender that they will follow back to the system to upload their letter. 

No. However, we do request that you upload clear and legible unofficial copies of your transcript(s). If you are admitted into the program and accept our offer of admission, we will then require an official copy of your collegiate and the Office of Graduate Studies coursework, if applicable, to confirm that your previous degree(s) has been officially conferred.

Yes. All students that enter our graduate program earn their Master’s degree in English and American Literature and continue seamlessly into the remainder of the Ph.D. program.

No. Students who enter our program will earn an M.A. in English and American Literature after two years, but continue on toward their Ph.D. in either English and American Literature or English and Comparative Literature. 

We do not offer graduate-level courses during the weekend or online. The Ph.D. program is considered full-time, and we pay our graduate students a stipend that is meant to cover living expenses. With the cost of living in St. Louis being so reasonable, most of our students find that it is not necessary to search for additional sources of income.

We do not offer scholarships. All incoming graduate students are fully funded and provided with tuition remission. In 2020-21, the value of full tuition remission is $56,300, and the University fellowship stipend is $26,831.

Other Forms of Support

There are three highly competitive university-wide fellowships which PhD students can apply for separately:

The Dean’s Distinguished Graduate Fellowships in Arts & Sciences have been created to enhance the recruitment of and to recognize some of our most outstanding incoming graduate students. This program will support incoming PhD and MFA students with the promise of exceptional academic distinction; with a demonstrated interest to advance the public good; and who will contribute to the diversity and intellectual vitality of our university community. The primary intent of the program is to support the recruitment of outstanding candidates and help departments make a compelling offer to their best applicants.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE DEAN'S DISTINGUISHED GRADUATE FELLOWSHIPS IN ARTS & SCIENCES

The Dean's Awards for Teaching Excellence recognizes graduate students who have made significant teaching contributions in the instruction of Washington University students. Annually, several awards will be made across the disciplines and at a range of course levels; each recipient will receive a $1,500 prize, a certificate, and recognition in their graduation program. Each department or program may nominate up to two assistants in instruction or those engaged in a Mentored Teaching Experience. 

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE DEAN'S AWARDS FOR TEACHING EXCELLENCE

The Dean's Award for Graduate Research Excellence, which is given annually, will help distinguish exemplary accomplishments of graduate students and research profiles of the Arts & Sciences' graduate programs. Examples may include first-authoring a publication in a top-ranked journal, leading a research or creative practice initiative that yields new possibilities for the student’s field, or leading innovative convergent research with colleagues across fields. Each department or program can underscore what constitutes excellence in research, scholarship, or creative practice. Semifinalists receive a $500 award, and finalists receive a $1,500 award in addition to a certificate of recognition.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE DEAN'S AWARDS FOR GRADUATE RESEARCH EXCELLENCE

There are no special awards for foreign applicants. Except for the fellowships listed above, there are no special application forms for applying for financial aid. The financial statement referred to in the application form is not required for first-year support, but you may request it from the Office of Graduate Studies (after January 1st) if you wish to apply for a loan to supplement any award you might receive.

The Graduate Committee will aim to send decision letters to each applicant by the beginning of March of each year.