1 G5.2 Admission and Advising

All candidates will take an examination for written proficiency in Portuguese. Candidates will also be required to demonstrate proficiency in Spanish by the end of their first year of MA coursework.  An unsatisfactory performance on the Portuguese proficiency exam, as determined by the examiners, on the written examination will require the student to take Portuguese 311 (Fourth-Year Composition and Conversation). Any student who receives a grade of less than A in Portuguese 311 will be required to take Portuguese 312. Candidates who are not native speakers of Portuguese will take an examination for oral proficiency. By the start of the second year of the MA, students should present a knowledge of Spanish that is the equivalent of Spanish 311 or above. This requirement may be met by the presentation of undergraduate coursework completed in Spanish or by the completion of Spanish 311 with a grade of B or higher during the first year in the MA program in Portuguese and Spanish.  Any student achieving a grade-point average of less than 3.00 in the first semester in residence will be placed on probation. If after the second semester of studies the cumulative grade-point average is not 3.00, the student is not eligible to continue in the program.

Each candidate will confer with the general advisor. The student and the advisor will plan a program that takes into account the candidate’s interests, strengths and deficiencies. If, for example, the student has a strong undergraduate background in a particular period of literature, the advisor will not recommend further exposure to the same field. Likewise, a student with extensive experience abroad and/or undergraduate preparation in composition or conversation may not need further study in these areas.