COMBINED BA/MA IN COMMUNICATION
Exceptional Communication majors interested in obtaining a Master of Arts in Communication in conjunction with their Bachelor of Arts can earn both degrees in an accelerated timeframe through the combined BA/MA program. This program allows qualified undergraduate majors to take graduate level courses during their senior year and complete remaining requirements for the master’s degree during a fifth year of study. Graduate courses taken during the senior year count toward both undergraduate degree requirements as well the course requirements for the graduate program. With completion of all undergraduate requirements, students are awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree at the end of their fourth year of study and then continue in the graduate program.
EXPLORE THE PROGRAM
Prerequisites
- Communication major with junior academic status
- Overall GPA of 3.0 or higher
- Communication major GPA of 3.2 or higher
- Completion of 18 or more credits in Communication courses by the end of junior year, including:
- COM 1000
- COM 1100
- Two COM 2000-level courses
- One COM 3000-level course
- COM 4001 or 4002
Application Requirements
- Unofficial undergraduate transcripts (uploaded on the Academic History page of the application)
- Resume
- Statement of Goals. Your Statement of Goals should be no more than three pages (double-spaced with 12-point font) and should include:
- Academic and professional goals
- Why Villanova?
- How do you see the graduate program’s curriculum and faculty helping you achieve your personal and professional goals?
- How has your previous experience prepared you to adapt to the rigors of graduate-level education?
- How do you see yourself contributing to the intellectual community?
- What additional strengths and weaknesses should the reviewing committee consider about you?
- Challenges you have encountered or weak spots in your application materials. What did you learn from these situations?
- Additional information the reviewing committee should consider about you.
- Short reflection essay
- Please reflect on the following prompt and answer in 250 or fewer words:
- Handling Systemic Injustice: Give an example of a time when you faced or witnessed systemic injustice. How did you respond? What did you learn from the experience?
- Academic writing sample and accompanying description
- Please respond to the following prompt in your writing sample description in 150 or fewer words:
- Please provide a description of your writing sample. You may address the context or purpose the piece was written for or how your sample shows evidence of academic and/or professional writing ability.
- Three letters of recommendation
Application Deadlines
- To begin graduate courses next fall: March 15
- To begin graduate courses next spring: October 15