1. Meet with the graduate advisor no later than the eighth week of the quarter to evaluate which classes you should be taking. Be registered for classes by the end of the 9th week to avoid having classes canceled.
2. Get your course texts as soon as possible, and start reading them. Often faculty can provide book lists for upcoming classes even prior to registration. Some classes have reading due the first night of class.
3. Become a frequent user of the La Sierra library’s link+ system. Do browse the shelves and holdings of our library as well.
4. Become a regularly user of JSTOR for all your research papers and class preparations.
5. Be sure to own or have access to the latest edition of the Blackwell or Norton anthologies of English and American literature. They are the “standards of the industry.”
6. Don’t lose track of your progress in the program (including side issues, such as your language requirement). You should learn what is required of you to complete your degree.  Then consult the graduate advisor on an ongoing basis with any questions you have.
7. Don’t earn less than a B for a class. If you do, that class will not count toward your degree and therefore an additional class will need to be taken to make up for the lost units.
8. Ask faculty to share with you copies of their syllabi and reading lists for classes you aren’t able to take from them. The information provided may be valuable to you when you are preparing for the comprehensive exams at the end of your program.
9. Regularly visit the University of Pennsylvania Call for Papers (CFP) site: https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/
10. See yourself as an independent learner and scholar. This is not your undergraduate school experience!

Foreign Language Requirement

Each student must demonstrate reading competency in Spanish, French, German, Latin, or another language approved by the department before his graduate degree will be conferred. Competency may be demonstrated by either:

• an academic transcript indicating that courses have been taken through the intermediate level in college
• an examination administered or approved by the Department of Modern Languages

Assessment Examination

During the first term of enrollment, each student will take an assessment examination. The results of this examination, together with the student's undergraduate records and test scores, will be used by the graduate advisor in planning the student's overall program. The date for this examination will be chosen at the beginning of the fall term in consultation with all the incoming graduate students.  

Normal and Extended Time for Degree Completion

Students who enroll in the graduate program with an undergraduate degree in English can complete the MA degree requirements in six quarters of full-time study if they can met all the degree requirements at the minimum 48 unit level. Students who have earned an undergraduate degree in a discipline other than English will usually need eight to nine quarters of full-time study to complete the degree requirements and will need the full 60 units to complete the degree requirements. Two years of full time study is the normative time to degree completion, but this time frame can be extended to five years of part time study.

Additional Notes