• What is the application deadline? The deadline for the following Fall quarter is always January 1st. Online applications will not be accepted beyond that date, no exceptions. Other application materials (letters of recommendation etc.) may be accepted late, however you will not be considered for top campus fellowships. Please contact our Graduate Advisor, Susan Gosling (805) 893-2639 if you are concerned about missing the deadline.

• Where should I mail supplemental application materials? Please be sure to address all correspondence to the English Department, marked Attn: Susan Gosling or Graduate Advisor. In order to insure that your application paperwork is received in a timely manner, the entire zip code and extension, 93106-3170, must be included in address. We do not have a street address; UCSB mail is routed by department.

UC Santa Barbara
English Department
Attn: Graduate Advisor
Santa Barbara, California 93106-3170

• Do I need to send all of my application materials, including transcripts and letters of recommendation together in the same envelope? No, we are happy to accept transcripts and letters of recommendation directly from the schools/recommenders. If you choose to submit all of the necessary paperwork in one bundle, please make sure that transcripts are officially sealed by the respective university and that letters of recommendation are also sealed and signed across the seal by the recommender.

• Do you have a minimum for GPAs or GRE scores? No, we do not have a minimum score. All applications are reviewed. For information about the average GPA and GRE scores for our accepted applicants, please see application numbers.

• Can I apply for just a Master’s degree? No, our program is either the combined MA/PhD, or just the PhD. There is no option to only pursue the Master’s degree.

• I’m submitting my letters of recommendation through a credentials service. Do I need to include the university forms? No, if you are using a letter service you do not need to include the signed Letter of Recommendation form. Most letter services include a cover sheet that serves the same purpose.

• I took the GRE Subject Test in December but the scores won’t be reported until after the deadline. What should I do? Please submit all of your other application materials by the January 1st deadline, and include a note indicating that the scores will arrive shortly. Please provide unofficial scores if possible, and if there are any other issues, please feel free to contact Lindsay Cahn.

• Your website says that you require a 10 page writing sample, however my paper is 12 pages. What should I do? We prefer that you submit a writing sample that is ~10 pages. If it goes over or under by a couple of pages, that is fine. We would prefer that you submit only one paper, but if you send two we will include them in the file. Please do not submit a paper in excess of 20 pages. Writing samples should be a paper (literary or cultural criticism) written for an upper-division or graduate literature class. Please do not submit creative writing samples.