English

The UC Merced English Program teaches students the story of how stories are made, how they make a difference in the world, and how they form the foundation of knowledge itself. Stories allow the marginalized to be heard by the powerful: they help humans understand each other's past and present, and they help us imagine different futures.

Studies show that English majors and other humanities majors achieve substantially greater gains than business, technology, and engineering majors in writing ability, complex reasoning, and critical thinking–skills that today's employers are actively seeking.  

UC Merced English Program

Our English majors take 24-person seminars throughout their time on campus. Small class sizes, supportive professors, and brilliant, kind students make our program one of the most nurturing both at UC Merced, and in the whole UC system. Our passionate and caring instructors teach courses that cover literature of all kinds, from Renaissance England to 18th century India to modern day California. In the Senior Thesis class, Honors Program, and UROC-H program, English majors work closely with faculty to conduct research, adding impressive experience to their job or graduate school applications. 

Graduates of the English program have gone on to become tech entrepreneurs, lawyers, medical professionals, teachers, non-profit leaders, librarians, park rangers, and more, while others have gone on to be admitted to top literature, creative writing, theatre, and law graduate programs across the country.  The skills of critical thinking, interpretation, and writing that are developed in English classes are valued by multiple professions, including law, education, medicine, business, technology,  journalism, politics, and social work.

When filling out your coursework and marks/grades, refer to the Intermediate School Certificate (Shahadat Al Kafa’at Al Mutawassita) and the General Secondary Education Certificate (GSEC) (Shahadat Al-Marhalat Al-Thanawiyyat) for accuracy.

Submitting official documents (after you are admitted to UC)

After you are accepted to UC, you must submit both of the following documents by July 1 to the UC campus where you plan to enroll:

• An official Intermediate School Certificate (Shahadat Al Kafa’at Al Mutawassita) with courses listed and grades received for each course; and
• An official General Secondary Education Certificate (GSEC) (Shahadat Al-Marhalat Al-Thanawiyyat) with courses listed and grades received for each course, indicating completion of required high school courses with above average grades.

Both certificates must:

• Indicate completion of the following subjects in an academic, non-vocational secondary program: history/economics, Arabic, foreign language (English), laboratory science, mathematics (including geometry and second year algebra at a minimum);
• Include course title and grades received; a minimum average of 75 percent is needed for consideration with no grade lower than 60 percent.

• Teacher

• Librarian

• Journalist

• Writer

• Editor

• Lawyer

• Health professional 

• Entrepreneur