MA EXAM GENERAL INFORMATION

The Who, What, and Why of the English Master's Exam: A Primer for Graduate Students in English. 

Why have a master's exam?

Most simply, the university requires that every M.A. program have a "culminating experience" which in our program has always been a timed, written examination, a common practice in nearly all English M.A. programs.  Our exam reflects a long history of similar graduate program assessments.  In concert with the seminars and project, our MA exam allows students to demonstrate their knowledge of literature and rhetoric and skill with written language, a skill that is an essential one in our discipline. 

When to take the Exam?

You must have an approved study plan, be a classified graduate student, and be enrolled in classes or in GS-700 in order to sit for the exam.  You should take the exam in your last semester or in your penultimate semester.

Who writes the MA exam?

Each semester, the Graduate Studies Committee, an elected group of four department members, prepares both parts of the M. A. Exam (Part One, Analysis and Part Two, Synthesis) 

Who reads and evaluates the exam? 

A Scoring Panel of full-time faculty read and score exams. All exams are read anonymously by three faculty readers.  The final score on each exam is the one assigned by at least two of the three readers.  In addition to assigning a score, faculty must write a note to the Graduate Adviser to explain why they assigned the score that they did.  These notes are summarized and shared with students who do not pass that portion of the exam.  Students who pass the exam may also request a meeting with the graduate Adviser to review the results of their exams.  Exams and exam results are confidential.  Students receive their results in a letter from the Graduate Adviser.  The Graduate Studies Committee provides full-time department faculty with a list of those students who receive Pass and High Pass scores.  The Graduate Adviser then forwards a list of those who have passed to the Graduate Office.

Why use this scoring system? 

Based on the most current research on evaluation, the department concluded that holistic scoring is the most  valid and reliable way to score the MA exams.  Faculty rate the exams as High Pass, Pass, or No Pass.  Requiring that at least two readers agree, we assure that exam scores represent a departmental standard. 

Do students ever fail the exam?
 

Students almost never fail both parts of the exam.  But some do have to retake one section.  Students have failed the retake and, consequently, not been awarded the master's degree.  The proportion of students who fail the retake is very low. 

How should I prepare for the exam?
 

Don't take it until you have completed nearly all of your seminars. 

Attend the information meeting held by the Graduate Adviser. 

Attend the preparatory meetings held by Acacia and/or form your own study groups. 

Make a study schedule for the semester during which you are preparing--plot out time for note review, rereading, study group discussions, and writing sample essays for all three parts of the exam. 

Ask the Graduate secretary a copy of a past exam and then do both parts.  Write out answers to some questions within the same time limit as you will have at the exam.  Outline other answers to practice getting your ideas together. 

Make a plan for how to use the time that will be allotted during the exam--reading the questions, making outlines, writing, rereading, editing. 

Brush up on your writing skills. 

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