Graduate Student Handbook

II. ADMISSION TO THE DEPARTMENT

Applicants are admitted to the Ph.D. program for entry only in the fall semester. The admission process is highly competitive. Consult the Sociology Department webpage for application deadlines. Members of the Graduate Admissions Committee evaluate all applications for entry into the graduate program. Funding and admission decisions are based on undergraduate grades, letters of recommendation, a writing sample, research experience, a personal statement (most important), and a demonstration of basic college-level competence in math or statistics. GRE scores are no longer required but may be submitted. International students without a four-year Bachelor’s degree from a U.S. institution or other higher education institutions where English is the language of instruction, MUST submit scores from the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) exam or, otherwise demonstrate English language proficiency.

Students who have a Master’s degree should also submit evidence of their performance in their Master’s program. If admitted, they may apply to have some of their M.A. work transferred toward the Ph.D. requirements. All requests to transfer courses are evaluated by the Graduate Program Director in consultation with relevant department faculty members. There are limits on how many credits may be transferred, as described later. The Master’s thesis from a previous institution cannot be accepted as Qualifying Paper #1 (QP1) in our program, but, contingent on faculty approval and guidance, with substantial revision the original project can potentially be developed into a QP1 acceptable for our program. More details are included below.

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