Advanced Placement. Students with AP scores of 4 or 5 in either English Literature or English Composition, or with scores of 5-7 on an English A1 or English A2 International Baccalaureate exam, will receive one course credit. No extra credit is given for taking more than one exam. This credit may not be used to fulfill major requirements.

First-year courses. The department offers several FYI courses especially designed for first-year students. First-year students may also be admitted to several other department courses; please check individual listings for details. ENGL130 is a writing course intended for students whose native language is not English, but it is also open to others. Students interested in working on their writing should also consider the many writing-emphasis FYI courses offered by English and other departments.

Major program. Students considering majoring in English should read the pamphlet on that subject, available in the departmental office, titled "Handbook for Majors," which is also available online at www.wesleyan.edu/english/major.html. Potential majors must take ENGL201 while they are sophomores. Students who have taken the course and received a grade of B- or better will be admitted as regular majors during the spring term of their sophomore year. Students who take the course during that term will be admitted provisionally, pending the receipt of a grade of B- or better.

Each student, in consultation with an advisor, will work out an individual major program consisting of ENGL201 and at least nine additional courses, including two courses in literary history, one in literatures of difference, and one in theory.  All but three of these 10 courses must be taken at Wesleyan or in the department's Sussex program and at least five must be from the department itself. Courses fulfilling requirements must be taken in the Wesleyan English Department or the Sussex program. Details about fulfilling requirements are available in the pamphlet. Ordinarily, the courses counting toward the major must be numbered 200 or above, but students may count two writing courses numbered between 140 and 179. One related upper-level course from outside the department may also be counted toward the minimum of 10; prior approval from the student's advisor is required. Appropriate credits transferred from other institutions may also be counted.

Honors. The bachelor's degree with honors in English is awarded on the basis of an outstanding academic record and an honors thesis written during the senior year. Students are eligible to write a critical thesis if they have an average of 91.7 in the courses counting toward the major (at least six courses by the end of the junior year) and have completed a substantial research paper in a departmental course designated research or research option. Students wishing to write a creative thesis need not fulfill the research requirement, but they must have the same 91.7 average and have received As in at least two writing courses. A detailed description of the process for earning honors can be found in the English major pamphlet and online at www.wesleyan.edu/english/honors.html.