1) The English Admissions Committee, comprised of three or more faculty members, oversees the admissions process for students applying to the English Department. Students may apply in one of three tracks: (1) Literary & Cultural Studies, (2) Linguistics, and (3) Rhetoric & Composition. The director of the graduate program selects the committee members, taking into consideration their fields of study.

2) The screening process assesses the applicant's study plan (total score of 50), undergraduate and graduate transcripts (total score of 100), and English proficiency (total score of 50), while the interview assesses the applicant's understanding of the discipline (total score of 50), the applicant's passion for and determination to pursue the field (total score of 25), and aptitude for graduate studies (total score of 25). Students will be ranked according to a 300-point scale. If there are more applicants from non-English speaking countries than from English-speaking countries, the Admissions Committee may decide to increase the required English proficiency score from 50 to 100 points.

Master's Degree

4) If the admissions committee finds it necessary, incoming students may be required to audit undergraduate courses.

Area Distribution Requirements

1) English Literary & Cultural Studies Track

2) English Linguistics Track

3) Rhetoric & Composition Track

4) Credits transferred from another school or department may not be used to fulfill an area distribution requirement. For example, a Romantic Poetry course taken from Yonsei's German Department or a Renaissance Poetry course taken at another university may not be counted towards the poetry requirement. 

Prerequisites for MA Thesis Writing

1) An MA student must pass the Comprehensive Exam before submitting a thesis proposal.

2) An MA student must maintain an overall GPA of at least 3.00/4.30 and have a valid passing grade in TOEFL (iBT 100 or equivalent) or IELTS (level 7). Those who receive a third grade of C+ or lower will be dismissed from the program.

3) All students must have passing grades for all the mandatory courses, including Research Ethics.

MA Comprehensive Exam Rules

1) All students must complete 27 credits before taking the Comprehensive Exams. In order to take the exam, they should confirm that they have submitted the required English language test scores (TOEFL PBT 600 / IBT 100 or higher or IELTS Level 7 or higher). They then must notify the head TA (englishta@yonsei.ac.kr) directly of their intent to take the exam. May 15 is the deadline for the spring semester and November 15 is the deadline for the fall semester.

2) Students who have earned BA or MA degrees in countries where the official language is English do not need to submit English language test scores.

3) The Comprehensive Exam is administered twice a year, once in late June and then in late December. A score above 70 out of 100 in each of the three areas is needed to pass the exam.

4) Comprehensive Exam for Each Track

MA Thesis

1) One semester prior to submitting a thesis proposal, an MA candidate must put together a thesis advisory committee, composed of a supervisor and two other faculty members. The student must submit a thesis proposal (1)(departmental format; 1500 words in English) to the thesis supervisor one semester prior to when he or she plans to sit for thesis defense (February 20 for one who plans to defend his or her thesis in the spring; August 20 for one who plans to defend in the fall). The student must also forward the names of his or her committee members along with the thesis proposal (1) to the Graduate Committee (Director of the Graduate Program) for approval by the same date. Any changes in the membership of the committee must be approved by the Graduate Committee. The student can download the thesis/dissertation proposal (1) form from the department website's "Resources-Download" tab.

2) An MA candidate must submit a printed copy of the thesis proposal (2) (official graduate school common format) signed by the supervisor to the department office for administrative processing no later than the middle of the first month (March 15 or September 15) of the semester he or she plans to defend the thesis. 

3) All MA theses must be written in English and presented in public at the end of June or December, depending on the student's graduation schedule.

4) If any of an MA candidate's thesis advisory committee members resides outside Korea, the cost of international postage for sending the committee member the signature pages of the thesis will be covered by the department.

Credit Hour Requirements

1) All students must complete a minimum of 30 credit hours of graduate courses.

2) Students who did not take Academic Writing in the Digital Age: Methods and Practices (or its equivalent) or Research Ethics (or its equivalent) while in the MA program must take these courses when they are first offered after entering the PhD program. 

3) Students may take up to five graduate courses (15 credit hours) outside the English department with approval from the Graduate Program Director.

4) Students may take up to 6 credits of Independent Study.Those interested in carrying out an independent study should contact their respective supervisors and request the English department office to open the course for their enrollment at the beginning of the preceding semester.

5) New students may be required to take certain courses if their coursework in their previous programs is not deemed sufficient to fulfill the MA requirements of the English Graduate Program at Yonsei University.

Prerequisites for Dissertation Writing

1) A PhD student must organize a Comprehensive Exam Committee, composed of three faculty members who may also serve on their Dissertation Advisory Committee. The student must pass the Comprehensive Exam before submitting a dissertation proposal.

2) A PhD candidate must maintain an overall GPA of at least 3.00 out of 4.30. A student will be disqualified from the program if he or she receives a third grade of C+ or lower. The PhD student must have a valid passing score in either TOEFL (iBT 100/PBT 600 or higher) or IELTS (Level 7 or higher).

3) All students must have passing grades for all the mandatory courses, including Research Ethics.

Comprehensive Exam Rules

1) PhD students may take the Comprehensive Exam (CE) after completing 30 credits of coursework. With the approval of their supervisor, the PhD student must submit a CE committee list and an exam reading list to the Graduate Committee. This must be done no later than three semesters before the semester in which the student plans to sit for the preliminary dissertation defense. The deadline for submitting the list of committee members and the list of readings is the 20th of the last month (February or August) of the third preceding semester. During the semester of the Comprehensive Exam, students must confirm that they have submitted the required English language test scores and declare their intention to take the exam in an email to the head TA (englishta@yonsei.ac.kr) by November 15 for the fall semester and May 15 for the spring semester. After passing the Comprehensive Exam, the student must enroll in Directed Research (DR) for at least one semester before sitting for the preliminary dissertation defense.

2) The Comprehensive Exam is administered twice a year, on June 10 and December 10. The student must receive a score above 70 out of 100 in each area to pass the exam. Retakes will be held on approximately July 10 and January 10 (exact dates will be announced by the department).

3) Each Ph.D. student must demonstrate English language proficiency by submitting one of the following test scores: TOEFL PBT 600/ iBT 100 or higher or IELTS level 7 or higher. Students who have earned BA or MA degrees in countries where the official language is English do not need to submit these test scores. Students who hold MA degrees in English from Yonsei University are also exempt from this requirement.

4) Students in the English Literary & Cultural Studies and Rhetoric & Composition tracks must organize a Comprehensive Exam Committee consisting of three faculty members, including a dissertation supervisor. They must also draw up a reading list of 30 books and journal articles in consultation with each member of the Exam Committee. Students in the English Literary & Cultural Studies track will be tested in three areas: genre, period, and methodology. Each section of the exam will be evaluated on a 100-point scale (total score: 100 × 3 = 300); a minimum score of 70 (out of 100) in each section is necessary to pass the exam.

5) Students in the English Linguistics track must organize the Comprehensive Exam Committee consisting of three faculty members, including a dissertation supervisor. They must choose two exam areas directly related to their dissertation topic and two unrelated exam areas and draw up a reading list of a total of 30 books and journal articles for the Comprehensive Exam. Students are tested in 4 exam areas (total score: 100 × 4 = 400); a minimum score 70 (out of 100) in each section is considered a pass.

6) Retakes

Dissertation

1) Each PhD candidates must organize a dissertation committee consisting of five members, headed by a supervisor. The PhD candidate must meet the supervisor to discuss their dissertation projects before submitting the dissertation proposal. The PhD candidate must organize a dissertation committee two semesters before the defense, at the latest.

2) After passing the Comprehensive Exam, the PhD candidate must enroll in Directed Research for at least one full semester before sitting for the dissertation defense. While enrolled in DR, the candidate must submit a printed copy of the dissertation proposal (2) (official graduate school common format) signed by the supervisor to the department office for administrative processing. The deadline for submitting the proposal is March 15 or September 15 of the semester before he or she plans to defend his or her dissertation.

3) The doctoral dissertations must be written in English and presented in public at the end of the semester in which it has been defended.

4) If any of the candidate’s dissertation advisory committee members resides outside Korea, the cost of international postage for sending the committee member the signature pages of the dissertation will be covered by the department.