Graduate Admissions

Graduate Linguistics Admission Criteria

When you are ready to apply, follow this checklist to make sure you have submitted all the necessary documents:

• Submit the application through ApplyUTA portal.
  (It's the same form for all degree plans--on the form you will check a box to specify whether you are applying to be an MA, PhD, Special Student, or Certificate Student.)

• Pay the application fee.

• Have official transcripts sent in from all your previous schools.
  (Have transcripts sent to the Office of Graduate Studies Admissions.)

• If you are not a native speaker of English and have not earned a BA or MA at an English-medium institution, you'll also need to submit TOEFL or IELTS scores. 
  (Test scores should also be sent to the Office of Graduate Studies Admissions.)

The above four items are all you need when applying for a Graduate Certificate or for Special Student admission. 

But to apply for MA or PhD programs, send the above four items, plus these additional required materials:

• Three letters of recommendation by people who can attest to your ability to do graduate work.
  (Recommenders for MA applicants may include this Request for Recommendation form (pdf) that should be sent directly to our Grad Admission advisor daniel.scarpace@uta.edu) 
  
  But PhD applicants should instead have personalized letters written by instructors or by mentors on research projects who can attest to the applicant's work. Please have PhD recommendation letters sent as PDFs to daniel.scarpace@uta.edu.

• Your statement of academic and/or career plans explaining why you selected this program.
  (If you did not fill out the section at the end of the online application, MA, Graduate Certificate, and Special Student applicants should send in a 250-word statement to the Department of Linguistics and TESOL (daniel.scarpace@uta.edu))

• GRE scores.
  (Send scores from the general test, which will include Verbal, Quantitative, and Analytical Writing sections. Test scores should also be sent directly to the Office of Graduate Studies Admissions.)

Applicants for the PhD should send the above seven items, plus these final required items:

• An academic writing sample (e.g. a research paper), written in English, containing no more than 25 pages. Please send the sample as a PDF to daniel.scarpace@uta.edu.

• Statement of academic and/or career plans explaining why you selected this program.
  (In addition to the prose you may have filled out at the end of the online application, PhD applicants should send in a 500-word statement about their research interests as a PDF directly to the PhD advisor daniel.scarpace@uta.edu.)

• Applicants who are applying for a Graduate Teaching Assistantship (GTA) who are not native speakers of English must submit scores for either the iTOEFL or IELTS (even if they have earned a BA or MA at an English-medium institution) to the Office of Graduate Studies Admissions. Those not applying for funding are still encouraged to send in scores than can provide proof of English proficiency to help bolster their application.