English majors follow many different career paths, from teaching and editing to public relations and professional writing. Academic advisors can help guide you to the best career choices.

Marshall University’s Career Services also offers a number of resources to help graduates with their career searches, including job fairs, credential services, and career counseling. For information about these resources:
http://www.marshall.edu/career-services/

Graduate School

If you are thinking about graduate work in English, at Marshall or elsewhere, you should plan to take both the GRE General Test and the GRE Subject Test Literature in English. You can arrange to take the GRE at the MU Testing Center:

MU Testing Center
Room G045, Morrow Library
304.696.2604

Plan to take the GRE in the fall of your senior year since graduate schools will likely consider GRE scores as part of their admissions processes, which typically take place in December and January. You will likely need at least three letters of recommendation from faculty who know your work, a personal statement outlining your goals, qualifications, and scholarly interests, and a strong GPA.

If you are thinking about graduate school, you should work closely with your faculty advisor to develop a plan of study that will provide a strong foundation for graduate work.

Law School

Often students major in English because it prepares them extremely well for law school. As Richard Badger, the assistant dean at the University of Chicago Law School, put it, “language is the lawyer’s working tool, and the best law students are those who have the ability to write and speak with precision, fluency, and economy. Not only must the student be able to communicate his or her own thoughts, but he or she must read and listen carefully with an eye and ear for fine points and subtle distinctions.”

For important information about preparation for law school, please see:

http://www.marshall.edu/polsci/prelaw.asp

What Some of Our English Graduates Are Doing Now

Thomas Jefferson West, graduate student in Popular Culture at Bowling Green State University.

Diane Wellman, free-lance writer and playwright.

Leslie Birdwell Shortlidge,  managing editor of the journal Race/Ethnicity: Multidisciplinary Global Contexts,  published by Indiana University Press in partnership with The Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity and the Office of Minority Affairs at The Ohio State University.

Christopher Mitchell, graduate student in Information Sciences, University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

Todd Snyder, Ph.D. student, Ohio University, Athens.

Rhea Ramey, Ph.D. student, Rutgers University.

Suzanne Samples, Ph.D. student, Auburn University.

Scott Niles, Contracts Officer at major hospital.

Elizabeth Staley, high school teacher, Virginia.

Josh Iddings, Ph.D. student in Language and Literacy/Educational Linguistics, Purdue University.

Ryan Angus, Ph.D. student in Language and Literacy/Educational Linguistics, Purdue University.

Josh Baldwin, founder and publisher, Greenbrier Valley Quarterly.

Pamela Hughes, graduate student in applied linguistics/TESL student at San Francisco State University;   received Fulbright Scholarship to Korea.

Sarah Beth Childers, MFA student at West Virginal University.

 Matthew Abballe, teaches English as a Foreign Language in Korea since 2003;  has recently established his own English institute in Korea.

Tylor Roney, teaches English as a Foreign Language in China.

Bart Demeter, accepted to a law school in Michigan.

Amber Sayer, ESL (English as a Second Language) instructor at West Virginia University.