How to Apply
- Submit application form and fee to the Graduate School
- Submit materials to the English Department
- Apply for departmental support, including fellowships*
- Send GRE scores*
- Log in to Grad Apply
*the do NOT apply to MFA applicants
1. Submit application form and fee to the Graduate School
Please read the Graduate School's admission requirements and the detailed instructions for the online application before you begin.
You will need to know:
- The numeric department code for the English Department is 405 and Creative Writing is 243.
- The email address of your three recommenders.
- Your Intended Major Field of Study. **see table below
| Academic Program | Intended Major Field of Study |
| Doctoral Program in Literary Studies **beginning at the MA level | English MA |
| Doctoral Program in Literary Studies **beginning at the PhD level | English PhD |
| Afro-American Studies Bridge Program | Afro-Am MA & English PhD |
| Doctoral Program in Composition and Rhetoric | English PhD |
| Composition and Rhetoric Bridge Program | English MA |
| Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing | Creative Writing MFA |
| Doctoral Program in English Language and Linguistics | English PhD |
| Master's Program in Applied English Linguistics | English MA |
You can pay your fee by credit card when you apply online. Otherwise, send your check or money order to:
Office of Graduate Admissions
228 Bascom Hall, 500 Lincoln Drive
Madison, WI 53706
Do not send your fee payment to the English Department.
Paper application forms are no longer available. However, an exception to this rule may be granted if you are unable to submit an online application. Please make your request in writing to the Admissions Coordinator, 7195H Helen C. White Hall, 600 N. Park St., Madison, WI 53706.
2. Submit materials to the English Department
Three letters of recommendation are required. Letters of recommendation will be submitted electronically through the Graduate School beginning September 15th. If your recommender is unable to submit their letter electronically a copy of the form may be downloaded, printed, filled in by hand, and mailed to the Admissions Office.
Recommendation form for MA applications, including MFA
Recommendation form for PhD applications
Admissions Office
English Department - Graduate Division
600 N. Park St.
Madison, WI 53706-1403
Other application material that must be mailed to the admissions office (unless otherwise noted), include:
- Reasons for Graduate Study (may be submitted with your online Graduate School application)
- An 8-10 page academic writing sample (or an appropriate writing sample for the MFA program)
- Two copies of official transcripts from every post-secondary institution attended. International academic records must be in the original language accompanied by an official English translation. Documents must be issued by the school in a sealed envelope with the official seal/stamp and official signatures. Please note: Some transcripts list vague or generic course titles. For example, it might be useful to know that "English II" was a course on 17th and 18th century British writers, or that "American Literature I" was a course on Hawthorne, Melville, and Twain. Please supply such descriptions if possible.
To ensure that all of your materials are received, we suggest that you collect all your application materials and send them in one complete package. We receive hundreds of applications each year and may not be able to check on the completeness of your application or notify you if your application is incomplete.
The professors on our Admissions Committee carefully read hundreds of files from many talented applicants. Please be practical – if you send excess materials they are unlikely to be read. However, be sure that the Admissions Committee knows everything that you want them to know about your accomplishments and potential. In addition, if you are a currently enrolled student, some idea of the courses you are currently taking (or plan to take in the upcoming semester) would be useful.
Please see the Application FAQ for more information.
3. Apply for departmental support, including fellowships
To be considered for departmental support (including University Fellowships) you must select the appropriate box on the application form and return all materials to the English Department postmarked no later than your program's application deadline. Incomplete applications or those received after the deadline may not be considered. Successful fellowship applicants normally have demonstrated excellence both on the Graduate Record Exam and in their coursework. Notice of admission from the Graduate School does not mean you have received financial aid; these notices are sent separately.
MFA applicants do not NEED to apply for departmental support.
See our page on financial aid for more details.
4. Have GRE scores sent to the University of Wisconsin-Madison
Please arrange to have your Graduate Record Examination (GRE) scores sent to the University of Wisconsin-Madison. We will need your Verbal, Quantitative, and Analytical scores — and, if applying to the Literary Studies program or either of the bridge programs, the GRE Literature in English Subject Test score. These scores must arrive by the December 15 deadline if you wish to be considered for departmental support.
GRE scores are NOT required for application to the MFA program.
The GRE codes to use for UW-Madison are:
Institution Code: 1846
Department Code: 2501
ONLY applicants to our Literary Studies program or either of the bridge programs must take the GRE Literature in English Subject Test. Applicants to the Doctoral Program in Composition and Rhetoric (not its bridge program), the MFA program, the English Language and Linguistics program, or the Applied English Linguistics program do NOT need to take the GRE Literature in English Subject Test.
All candidates required to take the exams will need to take exams early enough for the scores to arrive before our deadlines. If your scores will not arrive from ETS in time for our application deadlines, you may be able to call the Educational Testing Service and receive your scores over the phone. You may send these unofficial scores via email to the Admissions Coordinator, who will include them with your file. However, any invitation to matriculate at the University of Wisconsin will be subject to confirmation of these scores. If you have taken the GRE too late for even unofficial scores to be available by our application deadlines of December 15 (for fellowships) or January 6th (for admittance only), then your application file will be considered incomplete. Incomplete applications or those received after the deadline may not be considered.
For more information, please consult our GRE FAQ.
5. Log in to Grad Apply to review the progress of your application
Once you have submitted your online application to the Graduate School and your application fee has been processed you will receive a welcome email inviting you to log in to the Grad Apply system.
You must log in to the Grad Apply system in order to finish the process of application.
The student questionaire within Grad Apply will ask you for detailed information specific to the English Department graduate admissions process, such as your intended area of study.
Grad Apply also allows you to track which of your application materials (letters of recommendation, transcripts, etc.) has been received by the department.
6. Application deadlines refer to postmarks.
(rev. 12/2007)
