A Note to Potential Applicants
The application portal for admissions to the MA and PhD in Rhetoric and Writing will open on August 15, 2026, when students are invited to apply for the 2027-2028 cohort.
PhD applications are due December 1, 2026.
MA applications are due December 15, 2026.
Application Information
We offer the information below to help you prepare some of the application materials that you will be required to submit through MSU’s graduate application system (https://grad.msu.edu/admissions/apply).
Statement of Purpose
Please prepare a 2–3 page, double-spaced Statement of Purpose that tells us about your professional goals, interests, and qualifications.
Because this is one of the most important parts of your application materials, we’d like to offer some drafting suggestions. A typical applicant will tell us what they’d like to learn about and what they’d like to write about and represent themselves as good students well-equipped for graduate study, often by highlighting some of the accomplishments on their CV/resumé. They should also discuss how they nurture a sense of community and collaborate with colleagues. Here are some ways to do this:
- Statements that show us what kinds of intellectual questions interest you, what kinds of scholarship and research you’re curious about, what kinds of challenges inspire you.
- Statements that demonstrate your sense of identity as a scholar, an intellectual, a teacher, and show how your life experiences, learning, and accomplishments contribute to that identity and to your future goals.
- Statements that tell us why you want to join the intellectual community in our programs: What do we do that excites and interests you? How are we a good fit for you (and vice versa)? How do you/will you work to be a productive member of a graduate community? How do you support and collaborate with your colleagues?
NOTE: Because we’ll be selecting some admitted applicants to nominate for University fellowships, you might also want to consider the fellowship criteria as you craft your statement, which are: demonstrated academic excellence, an articulated commitment to research goals well-matched to the program or emphasis area, evidence of leadership potential or the capacity to make a distinctive professional or scholarly contribution, contributions to a diverse educational community (as evidenced in personal history and experience, research goals, or experience in promoting understanding among persons of different backgrounds), diverse background (racial, ethnic, gender, socioeconomic, geographic, disciplinary, etc.) More information can be found at https://grad.msu.edu/funding/funding-list
Additional application materials you will submit through the portal:
- A copy of your CV or resumé
- Contact information for three professional references that will be uploaded into the system. Your letter writers will be sent an invitation to upload their letters and/or send them directly to the RW graduate office at CAL.RhetWtg@msu.edu
- A writing sample of no more than 15-20 pages total; you may submit two smaller pieces to show a range of composing styles, but again no more than 20 pages total. You are also invited to give us context for these writing samples with a brief introduction about assignment, goal, purpose, how it may be an excerpt from a larger work, etc.
NOTE: The Rhetoric and Writing program does not require any kind of test scores (e.g., the Graduate Record
Exam/GRE), but is subject to the graduate college’s guidelines for English language competency. See https://grad.msu.edu/admissions/apply/international-applicants/english-language-competency for more information.