Applications to the University of Pittsburgh's English graduate programs are closed for the 2025-2026 academic year. Applications for the 2026-2027 academic year will open in September 2025. The application deadline for the PhD and MA programs will be December 10, 2025. The deadline for applications to the MFA program will be January 7, 2026.
If you have any questions about applying, please don't hesitate to reach out to the Graduate Administrator, LJ Woolcock-Srolovic, at engrad@pitt.edu.
General Information About Applying
Review the requirements as outlined below. Failure to follow these steps may delay or disqualify your application.
- Complete and submit your online application. Make sure you follow the instructions provided on the Liaison GradCAS website, and have a copy of your submitted application for your records.
- All materials should be submitted online through Liaison GradCAS, including letters of recommendation. At this time we cannot accept letters of recommendation emailed directly to the department via email or through third-party services such as Interfolio. If applicants have technical issues uploading documents or requesting letters of recommendation, they should consult the GradCAS Help Center and reach out to GradCAS support through the chat function within their GradCAS application or via email (gradcasinfo@liaisoncas.com). Applicants who are still unable to resolve their issues may reach out to engrad@pitt.edu for assistance.
- Only students who apply for the PhD and the Master of Fine Arts (MFA) program are eligible for departmental funding. The English Department is not able to fund students seeking the Master of Arts (MA) at this time. We can only consider applicants to the Master of Arts (MA) program who have an external source of funding, such as the employee tuition benefit given to University of Pittsburgh staff, in addition to meeting the admissions committee’s academic criteria.
Finding & selecting a program
Applicants will be directed to select the term in which they intend to apply. This will start a common application that you can add the English Department's programs to.
To find and select the Department of English's programs, applicants go into the "Add Programs" tab. From there, they will locate and add the program they wish to apply to, either by browsing the list of all programs in GradCAS, or by searching.
Our programs are listed under the following names:
- PhD in English: Doctor of Philosophy in English
- English concentration of Film & Media Studies: Doctor of Film and Media Studies, English
- Creative Writing MFA: Master of Fine Arts in English
- English Master's program: Master of Arts in English
A search for "Pitt English" should bring up all of these programs:
Applicants who wish to be considered for graduate study in creative writing should select the Master of Fine Arts program, not the Master of Arts program. They are separate programs with different focuses. Students who mis-apply to the Master of Arts program intending to apply for the MFA program will be required to submit a new application for the MFA program.
Once applicants have located their desired program, they should click the plus (+) sign next to the program's name to add that program to their application. Clicking the name of the program will not start an application. It will open the program's description.
All applications to the Film & Media Studies Interdisciplinary PhD will be reviewed both by Film & Media Studies faculty and the English department. However, if applicants to Film & Media Studies also wish to be considered separately for the PhD in English, they may do so. Applicants should complete an application for both programs. The same application materials can be submitted to both. Please select Film & Media Studies only as your primary area of research interest on your application to the English PhD program.
Application Materials
These materials must be submitted as part of the application:
- Online Application
- Detailed Statement of Purpose
- Three (3) letters of recommendation
- Unofficial Transcripts
- Writing Sample
- Application fee (for a fee waiver, see the Dietrich School of Arts & Sciences website here: https://www.asgraduate.pitt.edu/admissions/application-fee-waivers)
Detailed descriptions & instructions:
- Online Application Form
- Academic history: applicants will be required to supply unofficial transcripts for all institutions included in their academic history, which includes any institutions where non-degree coursework was completed. If you've completed non-degree work that is otherwise represented on your transcripts from another institution where you did receive a degree (credit transfers, fulfilling general education requirements at another school), you do not need to include the non-degree institutions as a separate entry in your academic history. If you have non-degree work that you feel adds significantly to your application (graduate certificates, training programs, coursework for developing knowledge in a new area), those institutions & transcripts should be included.
- GPA eligibility: Full admission to any of our graduate programs requires an undergraduate GPA of 3.0 or a significant amount of graduate work at 3.0 or higher. Admits and students cannot be awarded a TA/TF/GSA or Dietrich School Arts and Sciences Fellowship with a GPA below 3.0. If an applicant has a GPA between 2.76 and 2.99, the applicant can only be admitted on provisional status. Because all students admitted on provisional status are ineligible for funding from the Dietrich School of Arts & Sciences, these students would not be eligible for the departmental funding typically offered to 1st-year students. Provisional students must complete at least 12 credits (3 courses) of graduate course work with a grade of B or higher before their provisional status will be removed.
- For PhD applicants:
- Concentration: The PhD in English has 3 concentrations: Composition, Film, and Literature. You will be asked to indicate your research interests in the Questions section of the application with these concentrations as options. Please indicate one concentration that would be your primary area of research only, to facilitate our review of a large number of applications. If you have research interests or experience in the other concentrations listed, applicants are encouraged to identify and discuss them in their Statement of Purpose. Students in the Literature program should indicate one of the program's focal areas that best represents your interests. The focal areas include:
- Children's Literature & Childhood Studies
- Genealogies of Modernity
- Media & Material Practices
- Race, Poetics, and Empire
- You can learn more about the focal areas on the Literature program's website.
- The PhD program values interdisciplinary work, and we have a long tradition of supporting excellent graduate students whose work cuts across programs and focal areas. We expect most students will work beyond the areas of specialization they select in their application in coursework and research, but every incoming student does have a single "home" program.
- Concentration: The PhD in English has 3 concentrations: Composition, Film, and Literature. You will be asked to indicate your research interests in the Questions section of the application with these concentrations as options. Please indicate one concentration that would be your primary area of research only, to facilitate our review of a large number of applications. If you have research interests or experience in the other concentrations listed, applicants are encouraged to identify and discuss them in their Statement of Purpose. Students in the Literature program should indicate one of the program's focal areas that best represents your interests. The focal areas include:
- For MFA applicants: Your concentration will be your primary genre (Fiction, Nonfiction, or Poetry). Please select the genre that best fits the work you hope to produce during the program. The MFA program at the University of Pittsburgh is highly supportive cross-genre work. Selecting one genre does not "lock you in" to that genre, and many students take classes across genres throughout their degree. Applicants still may be considered for more than one genre upon request; those interested should email engrad@pitt.edu with the genres they would like to be considered for.
- Detailed Statement of Purpose
- PhD and MA programs: Applicants to the PhD program & MA program should submit a statement of purpose two to four pages in length, double-spaced. Please provide a career/personal statement that describes the basis of your intellectual and professional interest, and the reasons for your application to our graduate program. What are the primary areas of your interest and competence within the field of English that is broadly represented in our department? Why does our program appeal to you, and how would it fit with your research interests and career goals? Who are the faculty members you would like to work with, and why? Please include information about your proficiency in languages relevant to your proposed research, as well as any previous research experience. As the graduate faculty review your statement, they will also seek to gain a holistic sense of how your past experiences shape and motivate your plans for the PhD. Whether those experiences are academic or non-academic, tells us how you see them preparing you for success in our program and in your future career. Tell us about your educational goals and challenges and obstacles that you have faced up to this point that inform your work. These can include, but are of course not limited to, economic, social, and cultural factors. The more specific your statement, and the closer the match between your intellectual interests and our areas of expertise, the higher the chances of being admitted into the program. In addition to these sorts of questions, MA and PhD applicants should also highlight your sense of direction and some of the field conversations that you might be entering. If you have specific faculty members who you wish to work with, you can include them and how you see their work supporting your future research.
- MFA program: For MFA applicants, your statement of purpose should be 2-3 pages, single-spaced. It should tell us about yourself and what brought you to this program. Why did you choose the University of Pittsburgh's MFA program? What do you expect from your time in the program? What are your aspirations as a writer?
- Three Letters of Recommendation
- All applicants must submit three letters of recommendation, provided by faculty members or others who can write about your suitability for graduate study in the degree program to which you are applying. The online application will ask you to submit contact information, including email addresses, for your recommenders, and the recommenders will be contacted electronically and asked to upload letters of recommendation and complete a short survey. Both the survey & the recommendation letter must be submitted. Recommendations can requested by applicants prior the submission of the application itself.
- It is the applicant's responsibility to be sure that letters of recommendation are submitted by December 10, 2024 (MA and PhD applicants) or by January 7, 2025 (MFA applicants). Please contact your recommenders directly to be sure they have received the email prompts from Liaison GradCAS and to be sure they have submitted their letters. If applicants or recommenders have technical issues requesting or submitting recommendations, the GradCAS Help Center has an outline of troubleshooting techniques for letters of recommendation. If issues persist, applicants may contact engrad@pitt.edu.
- Interfolio: at this time we cannot accept any letters of recommendation submitted through Interfolio. It is incompatible with our online application, GradCAS. We apologize for any inconvenience to recommenders and applicants.
- Unofficial transcripts: Applicants will be required to submit unofficial transcripts for their previous undergraduate & graduate study. Applicants do not need to provide official transcripts during the admissions process; only applicants who are admitted and accept their offer of admission will be required to submit official transcripts.
- Writing Sample
- PhD and MA applicants: The writing sample should be a critical or interpretive essay of approximately 20-25 pages, double spaced.
- MFA applicants: The writing sample should consist of published or unpublished work in the genre for which you are applying (fiction, nonfiction, or poetry). For fiction and nonfiction applicants, the sample should be approximately 25 pages, double-spaced, and for poetry applicants, approximately 20 pages, single-spaced, with one poem per page (as applicable).
- Application Fee or Fee Waiver: the application fee is $75.00, and can be paid by credit card through Liaison GradCAS. The fee is the same for US citizens and international students.
- For those seeking an application fee waiver: In an effort to reduce financial barriers to attending graduate school, the Kenneth P. Dietrich Graduate School of Arts and Sciences offers application fee waivers. Fee waivers are issued to applicants by the Dietrich School of Arts & Sciences Office of Graduate Studies, rather than the English Department. To be considered for a fee waiver, please complete the following fee waiver application: https://pitt.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_cD38CmmjcOT3Tvw. More information can be found on the Dietrich Graduate Office's website: https://www.asgraduate.pitt.edu/admissions/application-fee-waivers
- Requests received will be reviewed and responded to within 48 hours during normal business hours (Monday - Friday 8:30a.m. to 5:00p.m. EST) whenever possible. Please note that fee waivers are approved on a case-by-case basis and not all fee waiver requests will be granted. Applicants are responsible for ensuring they apply for a fee waiver in advance to ensure they are able to submit their application on time by the stated deadlines for each program.
- For MFA Applicants only: Shortlisted candidates will be interviewed by Skype or phone, and all applicants will be notified when final decisions are made.
As of 2020-21, GRE scores are not required and will not be considered by the admissions committees in the Dietrich School of Arts & Sciences. If you submit any GRE scores, they will be disregarded.
International Students
In addition to the requirements listed on the Apply and Additional Materials pages, international students must also include English language proficiency scores from TOEFL, IELTS, or Duolingo.
The required minimum TOEFL score of 90 (with at least a score of 22 in all of the four sections of speaking, listening, reading and writing) will be required for 2024-2025 applicants - the program code for sending TOEFL exam scores is 2927. The required minimum IELTS score of 7.0 (with at least 6.5 in each of its four sections) will be required for 2024-2025 applicants. Applicants self-report the IELTS result and must upload a PDF of the official test result under the "Additional Information" section as part of the online application process.
The minimum Duolingo score acceptable for admission to DSAS graduate programs is 120. Similar as to those submitting IELTS scores, applicants must share their Duolingo test results by uploading them as a PDF under ‘Additional Information’ in their online application.
International students may be eligible for a waiver from providing English proficiency scores, if they meet one of following three conditions:
- The applicant is a citizen of a country whose official language is English.
- The applicant graduated from a regionally accredited institution in the United States.
- The applicant graduated from an institution where the language of instruction is English and where the official national language of the country in which the institution is located is English.
All waivers of the requirement to submit language proficiency scores can only be issued in alignment with the Dietrich School's policy on Assessment of English Language Proficiency for Admission. The document Exhibit A of this policy provides a list of countries which are exempt from submitting language proficiency scores. For the Dietrich School's website on the language proficiency scores, please refer to the Office of Graduate Studies website: https://www.asgraduate.pitt.edu/admissions/international-students
If you are uncertain if you are eligible for a waiver of this requirement, please reach out to the graduate administrator (engrad@pitt.edu).
Applicants who have questions that are not addressed here should feel free to reach out to the Graduate Administrator at engrad@pitt.edu.