Admissions

three students walking together on campus

Applying to UTA’s MA Program in History

Send copies of your Transcripts; GRE scores (if submitting them); and application form to the UTA Admissions Office Deliver a writing sample and arrange for three confidential letters of recommendation to be sent to the MA Advisor, Dr. Patryk Babiracki

Admissions Advising

GRADUATE ADVISING

Patryk Babiracki

Ph.D., Johns Hopkins University (2008)

Associate Professor (2009) & M.A Graduate Advisor

Department of History

Patryk Babiracki

Email: patryk@uta.edu

Office: 310 University Hall

Areas: Modern Russia, Eastern Europe, International History, Culture and Society

Admission Standards

The Department of History considers the following four (4) criteria in assessing applicants to the MA Program.

  1. Undergraduate GPA of 3.0 (as calculated by the Graduate School) in the last 60 credit hours in the course of completing a B.A. degree in History (or an appropriate other field) from an accredited institution. Grades must be verified by official transcripts from each college or university previously attended sent directly from the registrar of that institution to UTA's Graduate Admissions Office.
  2. A writing sample sent to the Graduate Advisor. The Department prefers that applicants send a research paper written in an upper-division history course, but other examples are acceptable. The essay should demonstrate the applicant's writing, research, and analytical skills where possible. Samples should not exceed twenty five pages.
  3. Three letters of recommendation (from faculty if possible) mailed directly from the recommenders to the History Graduate Advisor.
  4. All candidates applying for admission before Spring 2023 may choose to waive the GRE. Until then, we will accept GRE scores on an optional basis, for those wishing to submit them. The program considers a minimum GRE score of 153 on the verbal section and a minimum score of 4 on the analytical writing section to be adequate. Those who have taken the GRE and scored higher than these minimums may wish to augment their application file by including these test scores. Official test scores must be sent by Educational Testing Service to the Office of Graduate Admissions.  Though they are not currently required,  standardized test performance is nether the sole criterion for admission nor the primary criterion to end consideration for admission.

Note: UTA graduates who completed their B.A. with a grade point average of 3.3 or higher may be eligible to waive some admissions requirements including the GRE exam. For more information, please contact the M.A. Advisor.

Admission Procedures

Application

Apply using the directions located on the "Information for Graduate Students" section of the UTA Admissions Office website. The application includes requests for two different essays or statements, which you should skip, unless it is your only writing sample (see writing sample section). The Admissions Office web site also has links to information on tuition and other expenses, financial aid, resources for international students and other helpful information.

Deadlines

We accept applications on an on-going basis. While the deadlines listed at the Admissions Office website are ideal because they give the best chance to complete your application, applying later than that does not preclude admission. However, you must be accepted and registered prior to the start of classes.

Questions?

If you have a question not answered above, please contact the current Graduate Advisor, Dr. Stephanie Cole (scole@uta.edu). She is also the recipient of the recommendations and the writing sample (all other material should be sent to the Graduate School). As a reminder, all materials must be submitted electronically.

Recommendations

Contact three (3) people willing to write recommendations for you. The History Department strongly prefers recommendations from faculty, as they best understand the skills necessary for graduate school success. If the time that has passed since you completed your degree is such that faculty recommendations are not feasible, please request letters from individuals who will be able best to speak to your academic capabilities.;

  1. Referees may, but are not required to, use the form linked here.
  2. Referees should send recommendations directly to the Graduate Advisor, Dr. Stephanie Cole (scole@uta.edu).

Note: All materials must be received electronically.

Test Scores

If you are applying to enter the program before Spring 2023 and would like to include GRE scores in your application file, arrange to take the GRE test. Information about how, when, and where, you may take the GRE is available via the Educational Testing Service (ETS) website. During the sign-up process, please mark the University of Texas at Arlington as a school that will receive official scores.

Transcripts

Contact all undergraduate institutions where you took courses that counted toward your degree and have transcripts sent to UTA’s Admissions Office. For directions on how to do that, please see the admissions page above; other questions can go here. Keep in mind that the Admissions office pays close attention to this requirement, and is very unlikely to admit you until all transcripts have been received.

Do not send transcripts to the MA Advisor or to the History Department.

Writing Sample

Email a writing sample to the Graduate Advisor Stephanie Cole at scole@uta.edu. Our preferred writing sample is a research paper written for an upper-division undergraduate history course, specifically a research paper written for a capstone or historical methods course. However, other research papers, essays, and reviews are acceptable; the point is that you offer a sample of your current writing and analytical skills. You are free to revise an earlier essay if you choose, it does not have to be the same version you turned in for a class. If you do not have an official sample, you may either write something new, or you may use the Grad School Application essay as your writing sample.

Quick Links