Frequently Asked Questions

Admission Requirements

To be considered for admission to the MALS, applicants must have earned a baccalaureate degree from an accredited institution and a grade point average of 3.2 or higher on all undergraduate coursework, have an acceptable score on the Analytical Writing section of the GRE Revised General Test, and submit a graded writing assignment from an upper-level undergraduate class. Your applications should be sent to the Graduate Studies office; it will be forwarded to the MALS coordinating committee. To expedite the process, it is highly recommended that you submit all the materials listed above in your initial application, both to facilitate your potential acceptance and to garner consideration for possible monetary awards such as fellowships.

Applicants may be granted provisional admission status for the first nine (9) hours of graduate coursework; this decision is fully at the discretion of the MALS committee. All admission requirements must be met within these nine hours. Applicants must have an undergraduate GPA of 3.0 or above to be admitted provisionally.

Applicants in their final semester of undergraduate study who have applied to graduate are also encouraged to apply to the MALS, but final acceptance cannot be granted until the undergraduate degree is awarded.

Graduate Studies Office

My undergraduate GPA is not quite 3.0. Can I still get in?

No. The cut-off for porvisional admittance is 3.0, and fit is 3.2 for full admittance. It is sometimes possible to take or retake undergraduate classes to improve GPA, however.

If my undergraduate GPA is 3.0, am I guaranteed admittance to the MALS program?

No. The GPA is an important part, but not the only part, of the application package. The committee considers the entire application when making decisions.

Can I transfer graduate credit?

Absolutely! however, there is a limit on the number of hours you can transfer, and it has to be relevant to the MALS degree.

If I don’t want to write the comprehensive exam, can I just do a thesis instead?

The thesis is not to be taken lightly, and should not be seen as the easier of two options. Each candidate needs to gain approval from their advisor before embarking on a thesis proposal, and the advisor will generally let the student know whether they recommend the thesis route or the written comprehensive exam.

Will there be an opportunity to attend conferences?

Certainly! DSU graduate students frequently attend regional and national conferences in the disciplines of their advisors, and can sometimes find funding to do so. They also deliver research papers at these conferences—a very good idea for students who want their ideas to reach a wider audience, and particularly for those who are considering the Ph.D.

Do MALS students have the chance to be included in peer-reviewed publications?