How to Apply

The MA Program in Rhetoric and Writing Studies welcomes students from a wide variety of backgrounds, with good communication and writing skills, interesting work experiences, and strong academic records.

Admission Requirements

To be admitted into the program, you must:

hold a baccalaureate degree from an accredited institution,
have a GPA of at least 3.0 in the last 60 semester units (90 quarter units) attempted in their bachelor's degree studies or in your post-baccalaureate studies,
have been in good standing at the last institution attended,
have a combined GRE (Graduate Record Examination) score on the Verbal and Analytical portions of at least 1050, including a score of at least 550 on the Verbal portion of the GRE..

In addition, if you are a foreign student, you must have at least a 550 score on the TOEFL

Application deadlines

For Fall: The application deadline for Fall semester admission is April 1 (we begin to accept applications on November 1 of the year before). The application deadline for foreign students is also April 1.

For Spring: The application deadline for Spring semester admission is November 1 (we begin to accept applications on August 1). The application deadline for foreign students is August 31).

How to Apply

To apply, follow these three steps:

1. Apply to the University, EITHER

(A) by sending an application and a check for $55 (application fee) to Graduate Admissions, San Diego State University, 5500 Campanile Drive, San Diego, CA 92182-8020; or

(B) OR by applying and paying the fee online at www.csumentor.edu. If you need a hardcopy application form, contact Graduate Admissions at the address above or the Graduate Director at the address or email below. Foreign students need to fill out an Application for Graduate International Admission. You may download that form (or apply directly on-line) at http://www.sdsu.edu/isc. If you have questions about foreign student admission, please email isc.resources@sdsu.edu.

2. Send the following materials to Enrollment Services (DO NOT SEND TRANSCRIPTS DIRECTLY TO THE DEPARTMENT)

Enrollment Services
Graduate Admissions Document Processing Unit
San Diego State University
San Diego, CA 92182-7416

one copy of official transcripts of all previous academic work (please supply a transcript for each institution attended)
official GRE (Graduate Record Examination) scores
if you are a foreign student, official TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) scorescuments)

3. Send the following materials to the Rhetoric & Writing Studies department (address given below):

a letter of application (brief statement of intent to apply to the program including your contact information)
a 750-1000 word statement of purpose (explaining reasons for applying to the program, background, interests, experience, as well any other relevant information) This is a very important part of your application. For ideas and help on writing this statement, go to: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/642/01/
a writing sample of minimum ten (10) pages (may be a combination of shorter documents). Academic essays or professional work only, please.
three letters of recommendation from faculty members or recent employers.

ADDRESS:

Graduate Director
Department of Rhetoric and Writing Studies
San Diego State University
San Diego, California 92182-4452

For more information, contact

Professor Jane Robinett,
jrobinet@mail.sdsu.edu tel. 619-594-0966

Jo Serrano
jserrano@mail.sdsu.edu tel. 619-594-0925