Accelerated BA/MA Program in English
Department website: https://www.isu.edu/english/graduate-programs/
The Department of English and Philosophy offers an accelerated BA/MA program for its most talented undergraduates in the English BA program (Literature Option). Graduates will receive separate BA and MA degrees, as noted on their transcripts. The program is designed to be completed in five years of full-time study, with students taking some 5500-level electives in their fourth year along with their undergraduate coursework, and taking 6600-level courses in their fifth and final year.
Admission Requirements
Declared English majors (Literature Option) may apply to the program after having successfully
completed 75 credits at the undergraduate level. Applications for admission must be made to the
English Graduate Program, and students must meet the following minimum requirements in order
to be considered for admission:
- Undergraduate GPA of 3.5 or better, with a GPA of 3.7 or better in ENGL courses;
- Writing sample of 10 pages; and,
- 1-page statement of purpose detailing the applicant’s professional goals and interest in the program.
Suggested Preparatory Courses
Applicants to the combined BA/MA should plan on having completed the following courses before applying: ENGL 2211 and ENGL 3311.
General Requirements
The Master of Arts in English requires a minimum of 30 semester credits in courses approved by the Department of English. Students must take at least 18 of these credits in courses at the 6600 level or higher.
For the BA/MA program, students will fulfill these credit requirements through the following option:
- M.A. Paper Option: The student completes 30 credits, including at least 18 credits at the 6600 level, and completes a 1-3-credit final M.A. Paper, which is an article-length critical essay of sufficiently high quality to be submitted for publication. Up to 3 credits of the M.A. Paper may count toward the 6600-level requirement.
All students must maintain a satisfactory record of scholarship upon reaching classified graduate student status. Three grades below B- during the student’s graduate work (i.e., in courses at the 5500-level and above) will automatically disqualify a student from continuing in the MA portion of the program.
Language Requirement
As the process of learning and working in a language other than one’s own allows students to better understand the relationships among language, cultural expression, and cultural context, and consequently to bring more comparative approaches to their work in English studies, graduate students in English must demonstrate intermediate proficiency in one language other than English, either modern or ancient, before the program of study is complete, and this includes BA/MA students. Here “intermediate proficiency” is defined as completing the second sophomore-level (2200-level) course in a language other than English, with a grade of B or better, or its equivalent.
BA/MA students may demonstrate such proficiency in one of the following ways:
- By passing four semesters of coursework in a language other than English with an average grade of B or better during the coursework for the BA. Students may demonstrate this proficiency in one of two ways:
- By completing four semesters of coursework in a language other than English (at the 2200-level or above) with an average grade of B or better, and with an interval of no longer than four years between the conclusion of the last undergraduate language class and the beginning of graduate study in English at Idaho State University.
- By passing the CLEP exam and earning credit for a 2200 course or by passing a language test from an approved site such as the BYU Foreign Language Achievement Testing Service (FLATS). OR
- By having completed a major or a minor in a language other than English, as verified by the ISU transcript. OR
- By having a first language other than English.
Required Courses
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| ENGL 6612 | Introduction to Graduate Studies in English | 3 |
| A 6600-level seminar focusing on pre-1800 literature (3) | 3 | |
| A 6600-level seminar focusing on post-1800 literature (3) | 3 | |
| A 6600-level course in English language studies, chosen from the following group: | 3 | |
| Introduction to Linguistics | ||
| Theory of Second Language Acquisition | ||
| TESL Methodology | ||
| Seminar in Linguistics | ||
| A 6600-level English elective | 3 | |
| ENGL 6651 | MA Paper | 3 |
These will typically occur in a student’s fifth and final year of full-time study in the program, but all students in the BA/MA should discuss their curriculum with the Director of Graduate Studies upon admission.
Sample Curriculum
This sample BA/MA degree map is adapted from the undergraduate degree map currently provided in the Undergraduate Catalog, and meets the Graduate School’s credit requirements for a graduate degree.
| First Year | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits |
| Gen Ed Objective 1: | 3 | Gen Ed Objective 1: | 3 |
| Gen Ed Objective 3 | 3 | Gen Ed Objective 4 | 3 |
| Gen Ed Objective 6 | 3 | Gen Ed Objective 5 | 3 |
| Electives | 6 | Gen Ed Objective 6 | 3 |
| Electives | 3 | ||
| 15 | 15 | ||
| Second Year | |||
| Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits |
| Gen Ed Objective 2: | 3 | Gen Ed Objective 5 (Lecture and Lab) | 4 |
| Gen Ed Objective 7 OR 8 | 3 | ||
| Gen Ed Objective 4 (1101-Level Foreign Language Course) | 4 | ENGL Survey Course | 3 |
| ENGL 2211 | 3 | 1102-Level Foreign Language Course | 4 |
| ENGL 2280 or 2281 | 3 | Elective | 1 |
| Electives | 2 | ||
| 15 | 15 | ||
| Total Credits: 60 | |||
Apply to BA/MA Program
Students apply to the program during the Spring semester of the 3rd year.
| Third Year | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits |
| ENGL 3311 | 3 | Gen Ed Objective 9 | 3 |
| ENGL Survey Course | 3 | ENGL Period Course | 3 |
| ENGL Identity and Place Course | 3 | ENGL Genre Study Course | 3 |
| 2201-Level Foreign Language Course | 3 | ENGL Elective | 3 |
| Upper-Division Free Electives | 3 | 2202-Level Foreign Language Course | 3 |
| 15 | 15 | ||
| Total Credits: 30 | |||
Graduate Coursework and Bachelor's Degree
Graduate coursework begins in the Fall of the 4th Year. Bachelor’s degree awarded at the end of Spring semester pending successful completion of bachelor's degree requirements.
| Fourth Year | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits |
| 5500-Level Elective Course, ENGL Prefix* | ENGL 556x (period course)* | 3 | |
| ENGL 556x (period course)* | 3 | 5500-Level Elective Course, ENGL Prefix* | 3 |
| ENGL Identity and Place Course | 3 | 4400-Level Language Studies Course** | 3 |
| Upper-Division ENGL Elective | 3 | Upper-Division ENGL Elective | 3 |
| Upper-Division Free Elective | 3 | Undergraduate Elective | 3 |
| 12 | 15 | ||
| Total Credits: 27 | |||
- *
Counts for both undergraduate and graduate credit.
- **
List of eligible courses is available in the Undergraduate Catalog, BA in English, Literary option curriculum.
Applying to the Graduate School and Master's Degree
Students apply to the Graduate School during the Fall of the 5th year. Master’s degree awarded at the end of Spring semester pending successful completion of master’s degree requirements.
| Fifth Year | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits |
| ENGL 6612 | 3 | ENGL 662x (Post-1800 Literature Course) | 3 |
| 6600-Level Language Studies Course*** | 3 | 6600-Level Elective Course, ENGL Prefix | 3 |
| ENGL 662x (Pre-1800 Literature Course) | 3 | ENGL 6651 | 3 |
| 9 | 9 | ||
| Total Credits: 18 | |||
- ***
List of eligible courses is available in the Graduate Catalog, Master of Arts in English curriculum.
Credit Totals
- 108 undergraduate credits
- 12 graduate credits that will also count toward undergraduate requirements in the English major and toward the BA
- 30 total graduate credits (18 at the 6600-level)