ADMISSION TO CRES

DEADLINE to APPLY for 2012-2013 Admission: January 1, 2012

All applicants to the Composition, Rhetoric, and English Studies Program must complete TWO applications: 1) for the CRES Program, and 2) for the Graduate School.

1) For the CRES Program, send all materials listed below in a single, large envelope to:

Department of English
Graduate Studies Office
Attn: Admissions
Box 870244
The University of Alabama
Tuscaloosa, AL
35487-0244

• Completed Department of English Information Cover Sheet
• Three (3) letters of recommendations in sealed envelopes, signed across the seal by the referee. There is NO official form to be attached to the recommendation.
• A critical writing sample (normally an essay of some 20 pages written for a course, or a portion of a master's thesis).
• A copy of your statement of purpose (see below: you also need to submit this statement electronically to the Graduate School)
• Copies of your transcripts (this set may be unofficial and/or photocopied; copies for the Graduate School must be official; see below)
• TO VERIFY RECEIPT OF MATERIALS, include a self addressed, stamped postcard with all submissions.

2) For the Graduate School:

Prospective students should go to the website for UA's Graduate School to begin the application process. Applicants will need to provide the following materials:

• An electronic applicant data sheet, submitted through the Graduate School website.
• An electronically submitted statement of purpose, also submitted through the Graduate School website.
• Two (2) official transcripts, to be sent directly to the Graduate School.
• Official test scores (GRE, GRE subject test) sent directly from the testing agency.
• Application fees.

Successful applicants normally have a grade point average of 3.5 or better for master's or equivalent graduate work or 3.0 for undergraduate work.

Application materials should be received by the priority deadline to ensure full consideration for admission and funding for the following fall term. Applicants should specify both in the application form and the statement of purpose that they are applying to the CRES program.

FUNDING

The department offers teaching assistantships that include a stipend and tuition grant. MA students receive up to two years of funding, and PhD students receive five years of funding. Teaching assistants in all programs must complete EN 532: Approaching to Teaching Composition, in their first year of study and will enroll in EN 533 and 534 Teaching College English during their first year of teaching. First year GTAs (graduate teaching assistants) with less than 18 hours of graduate coursework in English have no direct responsibility for teaching; they study composition pedagogy and work with undergraduate students as tutors in the Writing Center or Computer Lab, and through observations of practiced teachers. GTAS who have more than 18 hours of graduate coursework and those in their second year and beyond generally teach two courses per semester. Candidates for the PhD degree are required to have college or university teaching experience in English composition or literature.