Grad application FAQ

You are required to list ALL post-secondary institutions attended regardless of whether the degree was completed.  This includes any short-term enrolment, courses taken for upgrading, transfer credit, and any previous attendance at the University of Calgary. Failure to disclose full post-secondary records is a serious matter.

Provide official transcripts from ALL the institutions where you have studied regardless of whether you completed a degree, by January 10.  Both domestic and international applicants will be considered for funding so long as their complete application has been received by the deadline.

After you submit your online application, you will receive an email with your UCID number and instructions on how to access your Student Centre to upload your supporting documents.

The Department of English does not require applicants to sit the GRE exam.

Ensure your university sends your official transcripts in a sealed envelope to directly to our department:

Graduate Program Administrator
Department of English
2500 University Drive NW
Calgary, Alberta  Canada
T2N 1N4

Yes a 500-600 word (plus Works Cited) research proposal is required of all applicants to the thesis and course-based MA programs, and to the PhD program. The proposal is required to answer the Program Question 1 in your application. 

All students in our graduate programs complete Literature in English requirements for their specific degree. If approved for the Creative Writing option in the Master’s program, thesis students may be permitted to submit a substantial work of poetry or fiction as a creative project for their thesis ; course-based students may be permitted to submit a creative project for ENGL 710 (Capstone Course) which will normally be based on work done in a CW course. PhD students may be permitted to submit a substantial book-length manuscript of poetry or fiction for their dissertation.

Applicants are not required to have a confirmed supervisor before admission.  You may want to communicate with faculty members whose research aligns with the area you want to study; however, there is no expectation that supervisory arrangements will come from that communication.

Students in our program normally have a degree in English or in a closely related discipline.  Admissibility will depend on the strength of all parts of your application and evidence that you have enough background in literature and critical theory courses. In some cases, applicants may need to ask their referee(s) to address gaps in those areas.

Refer to the Faculty of Graduate Studies International Admission requirements.