How to Apply
Please follow all instructions below for the specific program to which you are applying. To access the general online application, go to: https://apply.embark.com/grad/syracusr/37/. We will accept ONLY online applications. It is the applicant's responsibility to ensure that all application materials arrive at Syracuse by any applicable deadlines. Application & Deposit Fee Payment Options
There is a non-refundable application fee of $75 for all applicants. No application fee waivers are available, with the exception of applicants who have participated in the Summer Institute for Literary and Cultural Studies (SILCS). If you submit your application by mail, then you may pay the non-refundable $75 application fee and other fees either by Mastercard or Visa, or by including a check or money order payable to Syracuse University with your application. Applicants wishing to apply to more than one program must file a separate application and application fee for each program.
INSTRUCTIONS FOR SPECIFIC PROGRAMS
M.F.A./CREATIVE WRITING
*Poetry: submit 10-12 poems. Fiction: submit 25 pages (maximum) of fiction. All writing samples are to be typed, double-spaced for fiction. Please be sure your writing submission is stapled—no paper clips, folders, clips, butterfly clips, binders, etc. *Applicants must MAIL their writing sample (along with the Basic Information Sheet) to: Sarah Harwell Associate Director of Creative Writing English Graduate Office 401 Hall of Languages Syracuse University Syracuse, NY 13244-1170 DO NOT UPLOAD YOUR WRITING SAMPLE ONTO YOUR ONLINE APPLICATION. ONCE WRITING SAMPLES HAVE BEEN SUBMITTED TO SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY, THEY CANNOT BE RETURNED TO THE APPLICANT.
*The Basic Information Sheet, which accompanies your writing sample, must contain all of the information below. You can devise your own Basic Information Sheet, or you can print a copy of it from your on-line application. Name: Academic background: List all postsecondary education, beginning with the most recent degree you earned or expect to earn before coming to S.U. For each institution listed please include the following information: Writers with whom you have studied or worked with? Briefly describe why you wish to study for the degree you've chosen and why you wish to study at Syracuse University. (If you wish you can provide a copy of your Statement of Purpose.)
E-mail address:
Permanent Home Address:
Present Mailing Address:
Until what date can we reach you at your present mailing address?:
Home telephone number:
Mobile telephone number:
Credits earned
Dates Attended
Degree Received or Expected and Date
Major Subject
Overall Average of Grades (GPA)
*Submit online Graduate Application *Statement of Purpose (upload to online application) *Teaching Statement (upload to online application) *Official Transcript from Undergraduate/Graduate Institution(s) One (1) official copy of records of all previous postsecondary education is required. *Uploaded thru Embark or *You may have your institution(s) send the records to Graduate Admissions Processing in sealed envelope(s), signed or stamped across the seal. If records are received in an envelope with a broken seal, it may disqualify the application. Official transcripts will be required upon admittance into the program. All offers of admission from Syracuse University are conditional pending our receipt of official academic credentials showing that a U.S. bachelor’s degree (or equivalent) has been conferred upon the applicant. Failure to submit such degree-bearing credentials may result in revocation of the offer of admission or dismissal from a graduate program, should admission be granted. Such records must be sent directly to: Graduate Admissions Processing, P.O. Box 35060, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY 13235-5060. *Three (3) letters of recommendation (Recommenders upload their letters to your online application) Do NOT send letters of recommendation to the Department of English. *If you are an international student you are REQUIRED to take the Test of English as a Foreign Languages (TOEFL)and have the results sent in. Applicants who are citizens from the following English speaking countries are not required to submit TOEFL testing scores: Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Canada, Ireland, Jamaica, New Zealand, Trinidad & Tobago and the United Kingdom. *GRE Test scores are NOT required. Please disregard the submission of GRE test scores portion on the online application. This is a universal graduate application and you need NOT to submit GRE test score results.
Describe in about 500 words your main academic interests, why you wish to study for the degree you've chosen, why you wish to study at Syracuse University, how you expect to finance your studies, and your plans for the future after you receive your degree.
In a separate statement of no more than 600 words, explain your interest in teaching at Syracuse University as part of your graduate program, and describe the skills and experiences that could make you an effective and committed teacher. How is teaching related to your intellectual interests and career goals? Have you ever been a tutor, classroom teacher, or coach? If not, what experiences have prepared you for teaching, including work, community service, or developing your own strategies of learning? Draw on these experiences to explain the skills and philosophy of learning that you would bring to teaching. Although you are not expected to have formal teaching experience before coming to Syracuse University, all graduate students in English with teaching assistantships or fellowships will teach at some time while at Syracuse University. Teaching may include: being a teaching assistant for an English Department lecture course, teaching composition courses in the university's independent Writing Program, and designing and teaching one's own courses as a Teaching Associate in the English Department. The teaching statement will be assessed not only for its content but also for its writing.
Note: Do not send transcripts for secondary schools.
You can submit your official degree bearing transcripts via the following methods:
Do NOT send transcripts to the Department of English.
We require three letters of recommendation. We prefer that your recommenders up-load their letters onto your on-line application account. If you have a credential file, and/or if your recommenders will be mailing in their letters, please have them send their confidential letters of recommendation in sealed envelopes which the recommender has signed across the seal. You should then forward them or have your recommenders send them directly to Graduate Admissions Processing, P.O. Box 35060, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY 13235-5060. We accept Interfolio’s letter of recommendation service.
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M.A. AND Ph.D. IN ENGLISH
You do NOT have to submit a Statement of Purpose in addition with the Intellectual Statement. The Intellectual Statement is to be submitted in lieu of a Statement of Purpose. So in other words, M.A. & Ph.D. applicants submit the Intellectual Statement instead of a Statement of Purpose.Application Required Materials due by January 9th
The General GRE Test Exam is REQUIRED of MA & PhD applicants. Subject scores are NOT required.
The TOEFL is REQUIRED of all students whose native language is not English.
Applicants who are citizens from the following English speaking countries are not required to submit TOEFL testing scores: Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Canada, Ireland, Jamaica, New Zealand, Trinidad & Tobago and the United Kingdom.
All scores for TOEFL and GRE are reported to a central location at Syracuse University. Applicants can submit a photocopied score report directly to Graduate Admissions Processing, P.O. Box 35060, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY 13235-5060 OR you can self report them on your online application. Our institution code is 2823, the code of English is 2501.
Do NOT send test scores to the Department of English.
One (1) official copy of records of all previous postsecondary education is required.
Note: Do not send transcripts for secondary schools.
You can submit your official degree bearing transcripts via the following methods:
*Uploaded thru Embark
or
*You may have your institution(s) send the records to Graduate Admissions Processing in sealed envelope(s), signed or stamped across the seal. If records are received in an envelope with a broken seal, it may disqualify the application.
Official transcripts will be required upon admittance into the program.
All offers of admission from Syracuse University are conditional pending our receipt of official academic credentials showing that a U.S. bachelor’s degree (or equivalent) has been conferred upon the applicant. Failure to submit such degree-bearing credentials may result in revocation of the offer of admission or dismissal from a graduate program, should admission be granted. Such records must be sent directly to: Graduate Admissions Processing, P.O. Box 35060, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY 13235-5060.
Do NOT send transcripts to the Department of English.
We require three letters of recommendation. We prefer that your recommenders up-load their letters onto your on-line application account. If you have a credential file, and/or if your recommenders will be mailing in their letters, please have them send their confidential letters of recommendation in sealed envelopes on which the recommender has signed across the seal. You should then forward them or have your recommenders send them directly to Graduate Admissions Processing, P.O. Box 35060, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY 13235-5060. We accept Interfolio’s letter of recommendation service.
Do NOT send letters of recommendation to the Department of English.
In a separate statement of no more than 800 words, outline the intellectual history that informs your decision to pursue graduate study in English. In what historical period(s), body of texts, and/or mode(s) of inquiry are you particularly interested and why? Do you bring any relevant experience, beyond that of a student, to this course of study? What do you plan to do with your degree? Be specific in your responses.
In a separate statement of no more than 600 words, explain your interest in teaching at Syracuse University as part of your graduate program, and describe the skills and experiences that could make you an effective and committed teacher. How is teaching related to your intellectual interests and career goals? Have you ever been a tutor, classroom teacher, or coach? If not, what experiences have prepared you for teaching, including work, community service, or developing your own strategies of learning? Draw on these experiences to explain the skills and philosophy of learning that you would bring to teaching. Although you are not expected to have formal teaching experience before coming to Syracuse University, all graduate students in English with teaching assistantships or fellowships will teach at some time while at Syracuse University. Teaching may include: being a teaching assistant for an English Department lecture course, teaching composition courses in the university's independent Writing Program, and designing and teaching one's own courses as a Teaching Associate in the English Department. The teaching statement will be assessed not only for its content but also for its writing.
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M.A. applicants in English must submit a 10 page (typed and double spaced) writing sample on or before January 9th.
Ph.D. applicants in English must submit a 10-25 page (typed and double spaced) writing sample on work they hope to do in a doctoral program or before January 9th Do NOT send writing samples to the Department of English.
M.F.A., M.A. and Ph.D. applicants will be notified of admission decisions no later than the end of April. Decisions will be sent via e-mail.