Students should be in good standing (i.e., have a GPA of 2.0), and have satisfied the University Writing Skills requirement.

Application includes a conference with the Director of Undergraduate Studies about the program's requirements and how the student may meet them.

1. Two courses (6 credits) of English in the 202-299 range, with a minimum GPA of 2.5 in these courses. At least one must be a literature course, and we recommend that at least one be a survey of literary history such as World Literature (221-222), British Writers (231-232), or American Writers (241-242).
2. One course (3 credits) in Criticism – English 301.
3. One course (3 credits) in Earlier Literature.
4. Two elective courses (6 credits) in the 300-400 level.

1. Literature Surveys. Students entering the University as freshmen are encouraged to take a full year of a 200-level survey course to satisfy the major requirement. The survey courses (221-2, 231-2, 241-2) will provide students with a sense of literary history that will serve as context for what they will study within the major. Transfer students or students who decide on the English major after taking their 200-level courses may wish to take more than the required four earlier literature courses if their 200-level courses were not surveys. Those planning to take the GRE in Literature and pursue English at the graduate level are strongly urged to take as much work as possible in the literature of historical periods before 1900.
2. Foreign Languages. While any language, ancient or modern, satisfies the departmental language requirement, the preferred choices for those planning to do graduate work in the humanities are German, French, Spanish, Latin, and Greek.
3. Program Planning. Individual programs should be chosen in a coherent way and should take advantage of groupings and concentrations within the Major.
4. Department Advisement and Degree Evaluation. Feel free to consult with the Undergraduate Director in Clemens 303 about your progress towards the degree or your course selections. English majors should check with the Director if they have questions about their records, department requirements, or their program in general.
5. Transfer Credit Evaluation. Transfer credit is evaluated on an individual basis by the Undergraduate Director. Students must make an appointment with the Undergraduate Director to have an evaluation of transfer work. Students transferring from MFC or who are re-entering after several years absence should also consult with the Undergraduate Director for an evaluation of their English work. The Department may accept two lower-level and four upper-level transfer courses at the Director’s discretion.