Undergraduate Student FAQ

Visit the English Department Office (4138 JFSB) or call us at 801-422-4938. We can also be reached at english@byu.edu. We are happy to answer questions about the major or the program. We can also direct you to other faculty and staff who can help answer any specific questions you might have.

Visit the Liberal Arts Advisement and Careers Center. It’s located in room 1049 of the JFSB. You can schedule an appointment by calling 801-422-3541 or simply drop in.

Visit the Liberal Arts Advisement and Careers Center located in room 1049 of the JFSB. You can schedule an appointment by calling 801-422-3541 or simply drop in.

Email Juli Shelley (juli_shelley@byu.edu) with the institution name, course numbers, syllabi from the courses, and course descriptions. She will let you know which courses can and cannot count towards the requirements and will work with the Liberal Arts Advisement Center to make sure it is correctly entered into the system. She may send you to the Liberal Arts Advisement and Careers Center. It’s located in room 1049 of the JFSB. You can schedule an appointment by calling 801-422-3541 or simply drop in.

The English Academic and Professional Development Manager is Jonathan Cook, and he can be reached at jon_cook@byu.edu. You can also visit the Liberal Arts Advisement and Careers Center in room 1049 of the JFSB. You can schedule an appointment by calling 801-422-3541 or simply drop in. You can also visit Career Services (2590 WSC, 801-422-3000).

Start by completing your portion of the University’s online form found at aip.byu.edu. Then make an appointment with Dr. Trent Hickman (trent_hickman@byu.edu). He can help you complete the process and schedule follow-up visits.

If you’ve looked through the English track details and requirements and still can’t decide, it may be a good time to schedule a meeting with your advisor or visit the LAAC in 1049 JFSB to discuss your interests and career aspirations. It’s also important to consider which skills you’ll gain in each field of study and which industries seek those particular skills. For example:

· Students in Literary Studies might choose careers in teaching at the secondary or university level, library science, law school, and archiving

· Students who study Literary Media & Cultures often gain necessary skills for careers such as public relations, journalism, advertising and marketing, and UX or screenwriting

· Students who choose Professional Writing & Communication are sought after in the industries of copy writing, editing, grant writing, technical writing, and even literary agenting

· Students who study Creative Writing can often be found in the fields of authorship, social media marketing, communications, or in roles such as Creative Director at larger companies

If you’re interested in two different options, consider adding a minor to your chosen track. Many of our English majors choose to minor in Creative Writing or Professional Writing & Communication. Others might choose minors in different departments altogether. Some of the most common options include Editing, Digital Humanities, TESOL, Legal Studies, Global Women’s Studies, and Communications. These can all add specific direction to help focus or round out your English major.

If you’d like to see how previous BYU English graduates have used their degrees, our English Alumni Stories and English Alumni Panels pages can be helpful resources.

For internship and English+ advisement or internship approval, contact the internship coordinator by email (trina_harding@byu.edu) or set up a meeting at https://bit.ly/byu-english-plus.

Completing an internship is one way to fulfill the English+ requirement (Requirement 5). Students can also choose to complete one of our ENGL 394 classes or another approved credit-bearing experience. Visit english.byu.edu/english-options to explore your options.

BYU’s Study Abroad programs offer students incredible opportunities to study beyond the campus context, fostering global awareness, cultural competence, and allowing for further study in specific areas. However, study abroad does not meet the professionalizing aims of the English+ initiative so it does not count for English+ credit.

Unless you were enrolled in a 3-credit (min) internship class while you were on the internship, we cannot grant you English+ credit for the experience. BYU does not allow departments to grant internship credit retroactively. Be sure to check with the internship coordinator before beginning any internship experience if you are wanting to receive credit for it.

Many internship experiences are paid, however, ENGL 394 classes and experiences like On-Campus Internships through the Marriott School are not paid. Students completing unpaid (and off-campus) internships may qualify for College Funding (https://liberalarts.byu.edu/humanities-financial-aid).

The decision about when to complete the E+ requirement depends much on your personal situation, but we recommend you familiarize yourself with the E+ requirement early on in your English studies. Some opportunities you can simply plan into your schedule, and others will require more preparation and time. Most students complete E+ when they a Junior or Senior, but you are welcome to complete it earlier. We strongly discourage waiting until your final semester to decide what you want to do for E+ as your options at that point will be very limited.

We offer many options for completing English+ because we want our majors to find experiences that will help them move forward on their specific goals. In addition to exploring your English+ options (english.byu.edu/english-options), you can talk with an English advisor (english.byu.edu/undergraduate-advisement), reach out to the ENGL 394 instructors, or meet with the Internship Coordinator (calendly.com/trina_harding/internship-advisement) to talk through your specific situation and find options that work for you.

Yes! Each E+ experience will help you gain experience that you can build on to prepare you for your next steps.