Admission Requirements

Requirements for Admission in Classified Standing

In addition to meeting the general requirements for admission to California State University, San Bernardino, a student must satisfy the following requirements in order to be admitted with classified graduate standing:

1. Admission to the M.F.A. Program is based largely on the quality of the writing sample(s) submitted with the application. Students who are admitted must begin the program in the following Fall quarter.
2. The applicant must submit the following:
   1. A sample of creative work consisting of ten poems or two short stories or a short story and a novel chapter. The poetry submissions should not exceed twenty pages; the prose submissions should not exceed thirty pages;
   2. An autobiographical statement in which the applicant states his or her literary and academic goals;
   3. Three letters of recommendation which describe the applicant's maturity as a student writer who can receive and give constructive criticism, and his or her ability to be academically successful in the M.F.A program.

The sample of creative writing, the autobiographical statement, and the letters of recommendation should be sent directly to the coordinator of the M.F.A Program, English Department, CSUSB.
3. The following undergraduate courses or their equivalents with a minimum grade of "B" in each, taken in conjunction with a major in English or some other major:
   1. Eng 311. The English Language
   2. Eng 385. Literary Theory and Criticism
   3. One of the following:
   Eng 301A. Analysis of Poetry
   Eng 301B. Analysis and Writing of Poetry
   Eng 302A. Analysis of Drama
   Eng 302B. Analysis and Writing of Drama
   Eng 303A. Analysis of Prose Fiction
   Eng 303B. Analysis and Writing of Prose Fiction
   Eng 304A. Analysis of Nonfiction Prose
   Eng 304B. Analysis and Writing of Nonfiction Prose
   
   4. Two upper-division courses in literature
   5. One of the following:
   Eng 317 Introduction to Creative Writing: Poetry
   Eng 318 Introduction to Creative Writing: Fiction
   
A student who has not met one or more of the course prerequisites above or the minimum grade requirements may be admitted to the program as a conditionally classified graduate student. Conditionally classified students must fulfill certain conditions before beginning the M.F.A. program with their cohort in the Fall quarter. If conditionally classified students do not meet the conditions, they cannot begin taking the M.F.A. sequence of courses, which start each Fall quarter, and they must reapply to the program.
4. The Graduate Record Examination is not required.
5. The Graduate Entrance Writing Requirement (GEWR) is fulfilled by passing, with a "B" (3.0) or better, ENG 306 (or an equivalent course) or the Writing Requirement Equivalency Exam (WREE), within seven years prior to acceptance into the program. Students who do not satisfy this requirement may be conditionally classified and required to take or repeat the course or exam.
6. Applicants who do not possess a bachelor's degree from a post-secondary institution in a country where English is the principal language of instruction must receive a minimum score of 575 (computer-based score of 233) on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL).