PhD Program Admissions
Updated August 2025
2025 Virtual Open House
When: Wednesday, Sept. 10th, 2025
Location: Zoom
If we missed you at our open house, you are welcome to review the presentation information. Much of the information exists on our website as well, but you might prefer the slide format.
Géraldine Fiss
Director of Doctoral Studies
Director of Doctoral Studies
The PhD in Literature at UCSD is a unique program that defies traditional disciplinary boundaries. We are committed to multilingual, interdisciplinary scholarship and teaching in literary/cultural studies, and the PhD in Literature brings together a community of scholars and teachers who challenge and cross borders of all kinds: borders between nations, between languages, and between traditional disciplines.
The organization of the Department of Literature is unusual in that it is neither a department of English nor a department of Comparative Literature as either is traditionally construed. Rather, from its beginning, the Literature Department at UCSD has aimed to be a department of world literatures and cultures, committed to multilingual approaches to literary history, cultural studies, and critical theory. This commitment includes the ambitious project of teaching and conducting research in Chinese, English, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Japanese, Italian, Korean, Latin, Russian, and Spanish, as well as the study and practice of writing.
The PhD program in Literature has a long history of training transnational, comparative, unconventional, and theoretically-oriented scholars and teachers with an investment in social justice and educational access. We are proud of our alumni who have gone on to put their training to work in a wide variety of humanities careers, including as faculty members at community colleges, liberal-arts colleges, and research universities; as experts in social/educational policy and administration; and as artists, writers, and editors. As befits a multilingual and global program, our PhD alumni work in many countries around the world, including India, Egypt, Taiwan, South Korea, Austria, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Vietnam.
About the Program
Frequently Asked Questions
How many students are admitted each year?
We typically admit 6-7 students from a pool of approximately 100 applicants. You may view the full stats here: Admissions (Grad Data).
How do I know your program is the right one for me?
Overall, this department is a particularly good fit for students hoping to pursue comparative, multilingual, and interdisciplinary approaches to literary and cultural studies. To find out more about how well the program fits your specific research interests, we strongly encourage you to visit our list of Faculty By Areas of Specialization. On this list, you can click on the names of faculty members to learn more about their research interests, publications, and educational background.
In your Statement of Purpose, explain why you see this program as a good fit for your specific interests, and be sure to name which faculty members you hope to work with and why.
If you would like to explore our department metrics, student population data, info on placement after graduation and more, Grad Data has several relevant public reports. You can also view our current students page (PhD Students) and alumni page (PhD Alumni) to see research interests, dissertation topics, and post-graduation updates.
Is there a part-time or online attendance option?
No. This is a full-time study, full residency program. “Full residency” means that you must be physically present on campus September to June to participate in seminars, fulfill teaching duties (if applicable), and attend orientations and training sessions. It is important for prospective students to note that full-time enrollment is a requirement of many financial support options, most commonly 50% Teaching Assistant positions on campus, but also stipends and tuition/fee payments. Half-time study is a quarter-by-quarter exception, which makes students ineligible for most forms of financial support. So, it is only a viable option in a few very specific situations.
Can I visit the campus and talk to a particular professor?
You are always welcome to visit us, but it is best to make meeting arrangements in advance. If you would like to meet with a particular faculty, please contact them directly to arrange a time. Aside from faculty you may want to work with if admitted, you can also consider reaching out to the faculty leaders of our graduate programs (Graduate Program Leadership). Please keep in mind that there may be times when faculty members are not able to meet with prospective students. This is especially true in the summer and any holidays. Please be respectful of the professors' time.
If you would be interested in sitting in on a class meeting, search UCSD's quarterly Schedule of Classes for our PhD classes (select "Literature" in the "Department" tab and search for classes numbered "200-297"). Then, if the class schedule is convenient for you, email the instructor for permission to attend.
For general information about UCSD and San Diego, we recommend the following resources:
- Visitor information and a virtual tour with Office of Admissions Tours
- UC San Diego from the Skies (YouTube)
- City of San Diego Official Website
- UCSD Grad and Family Housing
Can I contact some of your students? I would like to ask them some questions.
Yes, but please be respectful of the students' time and keep in mind that some may not respond (especially during the summer and any holidays). A list of our graduate students and contact information can be found on the Graduate Student Profiles Page. Aside from students who may be researching topics that interest you, you can also consider reaching out to the students of our Literature Graduate Student Committee (Graduate Program Leadership).
Do you accept late applications?
We only admit students once a year, and we do not accept late applications. Be sure that you have submitted your application and paid the application fee by the application deadline. If you will be applying for an application fee waiver, please carefully review the process and timeline details on the Application Guidelines page.
Check your account in UC San Diego Graduate Application Management regularly for missing documents. Plan to apply at least a month before the application deadline to allow enough time to track down delayed or missing documents.
NOTE: If you have completed all other sections of the application and are only waiting on a letter of recommendation and/or a test score, please move forward with submitting your application (as-is) by the deadline. Letters of recommendation and test scores will be added to your application once received, even after the submission deadline. However, since we begin reviewing applications soon after the submission deadline, we cannot guarantee that any late documents will be included in the review of your application. Therefore, we highly recommend that you request these items as early as possible.
What is your policy on deferring admissions?
If you are offered admission to our program and choose not to accept during the current admission cycle, you will not be guaranteed admission in any future cycle. You would need to submit a new application, which would be reviewed with that respective year's pool of applicants.