Application Information and Admission Procedures
AS OF AUGUST 2008, THERE ARE NEW RECOMMENDATIONS CONCERNING THE SUBMISSION OF APPLICATIONS AND SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIALS
The application procedures listed below this section remain applicable, but by following the new recommendations for the submission of applications and supplemental materials applicants can reduce some potential delays in their documentation reaching the department due to a processing lag that often occurs in The Graduate School’s Admissions office. The following recommendations do not in any way remove the requirement to send certain hard-copy documents to The Graduate School.
Within The Graduate School’s online ApplyYourself application will be found a section entitled, “Graduate Program Supplementary Information.” This section provides applicants the opportunity to upload electronic documents and include them as part of the overall application being prepared for submission to The Graduate School. To expedite the processing of an individual application, applicants are strongly encouraged to upload* specific materials in each of the following sub-sections.Graduate Program Additional Application: since the program does not require a separate application, here, applicants should upload electronic copies of their transcript(s). The copy can be of an official transcript or an unofficial grade report simply downloaded from a college website. It is preferred that just one electronic document be submitted and contain the images of all the applicant’s transcripts. However, if an applicant does not have the capability to do this, he/she can submit additional transcript documents in another sub-section (see below under “Resume” and “Other”). These applicants should prioritize uploading the transcript of the most recently attained degree, or if no degree has been attained, the most recently attended institution.
Writing Sample: because the department requires a writing sample to be submitted with an application, a writing sample should be uploaded here. Please note the page limits mentioned below, in point number eight, under “Graduate School Application Pointers.”
Description of Research or Work Experience: applicants should submit in this sub-section a copy of their GRE scores.
Resume: neither a resume nor a curriculum vita (c.v.) is required as part of the application, but applicant’s may submit one or the other if they like. Applicants who need to upload more than two transcript documents should do so in this sub-section rather than uploading a resume or c.v.
Other:In this sub-section, international applicants should upload a copy of their TOEFL or MELAB scores. Students who are not required to submit TOEFL scores, but who need to upload more than two transcript documents, should do so in this sub-section.
It is the hope of the Department of Sociology that these new recommendations will increase the efficiency of how the department receives supplemental documentation and will result in even greater service being provided to its applicants.
* Uploaded files cannot exceed 500 KB in size and should be in .doc, .wpd, .rtf, .xls, .pdf, .docx, .xlsx or .txt format. For Macintosh users, please note that the filename must include the appropriate 3- or 4-letter extension. Also, please do not attempt to upload a document that is password-protected or that contains macros. This will cause the process to fail.
General Time Line for Making Application
It is generally advised that applicants begin the application process about one year before they plan to start graduate school; however, if one works quickly and has much of the supplemental material on hand, one can complete the application in mere weeks. To be considered for admission, fellowships, and initial assistantship allocation, the departmental deadline for the receipt of completed applications is December 1. Although different start time options show up on the ApplyYourself application form, sociology offers only one program start per year: in the fall. If anything other than a fall start date is selected, there is a chance that an application will not be received and that it will not be reviewed. Please refer to the following timetable to help with the correct and timely submission of applications.
Summer
Write a draft of the Professional Objectives paper (aka, the Personal Statement). This is a very important component of the application and it can be a deciding factor in the admissions decision that the department must make. The statement should be one- to two-pages in length and should explain the core areas of interest in which the applicant would like to eventually teach or do research. The statement should also explain how interests have been developed and why a Ph.D. in Sociology from the U. of M. is an appropriate pursuit to further these interests. The statement will be evaluated for the quality of writing as well as for clarity of professional goals.
Take standardized tests as required (e.g., GRE, TOEFL, MELAB, etc.). The Sociology Department requires official General Test scores of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) be submitted to The Graduate School by all incoming students—there are no exceptions made for non-international students. GRE scores should be sent to the University of Minnesota—Twin Cities using the school code 6874. The Sociology Department also requires from students who are non-native English speakers official scores from the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) examination or official scores from the Michigan English Language Assessment Battery (MELAB) examination. In order for non-native English speaking applicants to be considered for admission, written TOEFL examination scores must be 550 or above, computerized TOEFL examination scores must be 213 or above, and Internet-based TOEFL examination scores must be 79 or above (with a minimum score of 21 in the writing section and a minimum score of 19 in the reading section). MELAB scores must be above 80 in order for non-native English speaking applicants to be considered for admission. The most current information about the GRE and the TOEFL examinations is available at the website address http://www.ets.org.
September
Meet with potential recommenders to discuss the Professional Objectives paper and to ask for letters of recommendation to be written. Applicants are encouraged to provide recommendations from people who can confirm the applicant’s academic abilities. It is often helpful to give the recommender a copy of the Professional Objectives paper. The U. of M. Sociology Department neither stipulates certain requirements that must be included in the recommendation letter nor does it require standardized assessment forms to be completed by your recommenders. Recommendation letters may be submitted electronically via the Grad School’s online application system, ApplyYourself. Applicants will be informed by the ApplyYourself system of what to do to ensure that recommenders know how to submit their letters. If a recommender chooses not to use the online application system to electrically submit his/her letter, the applicant might think to ask the recommender if he/she would appreciate the applicant providing him/her with a pre-stamped envelope addressed to the Graduate Program Associate, University of Minnesota, Department of Sociology, 909 Social Sciences Building, 267 – 19th Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN 55455. Recommenders should be asked to mail recommendation letters by November 15 to ensure the letters get to the department on time. Recommenders can address their letters to “The Graduate Committee.”
October
Order official transcripts from all post-secondary institutions that have been attended. Have the transcripts sent to the University of Minnesota Graduate School, Office of Admissions, 101 Pleasant Street SE, 309 Johnston Hall, Minneapolis, MN 55455-0421. “Official” transcripts are transcripts that are sent from one educational institution to another or transcripts that pass through the student’s hands in a sealed, tamper-proof envelope. Due to recent fraud by a significant number of Chinese applicants, in order to maintain the integrity of The Graduate School's admissions procedures, the University now requires students from China to have their schools send their transcripts directly to The University of Minnesota. Chinese transcripts that have first been sent to the student and then forwarded to the U. of M. will not be considered official. Without The Graduate School receiving official transcripts, students will not be able to matriculate.
November
Complete and submit an online ApplyYourself application. In so doing, applicants will have the opportunity to upload to the system the Professional Objectives statement (again, sometimes referred to as the Personal Statement), the Diversity Statement (note, this statement is optional, but be sure to submit the statement if interested in being considered for the DOVE fellowship), and the Writing Sample. The sample of written work should be an academic paper (submitted in English) and preferably a research-oriented paper pertaining to the Social Sciences. Faculty evaluators will consider the level of abstraction, creativity, organization, sociological sophistication, and writing style. Ensure that all application materials have been submitted prior to the December 1 admissions deadline. It is best to submit applications early so that prior to the application deadline there is time to correct any major errors that the Graduate Program Associate might spot in an application or its submission.
Late November
Applicants are encouraged to contact the Graduate School and/or the Department of Sociology and inquire about the status of their application. If some required application items are still missing (faculty are notoriously late in submitting letters of recommendation), it is the applicants’ responsibility to make the determination and to correct the problem(s) prior to the application deadline. Applications that are incomplete after the application deadline has passed are in jeopardy of not being considered for review. The Department of Sociology does not send out warnings if applications are incomplete or verification when applications are complete.
February
Expect to receive from the Graduate School an email with an electronic letter of admission or rejection. Rejections are firm and applications will not be reconsidered for any reason apart from action required by law and as a result of a formal complaint being registered with The Graduate School. Applicants being offered admission will be invited to visit the department during a one- to two-day campus visit event. Typically, the department helps to offset travel and accommodation expenses related to this event. The Graduate Program Associate, who will coordinate the formal campus visit, will contact admitted students directly and provide them with more information.
Graduate School Application Pointers
The department has recently (i.e., in the summer of 2007) changed its admissions procedures. Where it used to require an application be submitted to The Graduate School and to the Department of Sociology, it now only requires applicants to submit an application to The Graduate School. Be sure to carefully follow all the instructions pertaining to the ApplyYourself application, but here are a few points to remember when working on the application.
- Occasionally The Graduate School will allow international students who do not have access to the Internet to submit a paper application form. To request a paper application form, please contact the Sociology Graduate Program Office at 612.624.2093 or robfox@umn.edu.
- An application fee of $55 for U.S. citizens and permanent residents or $75 for international applicants is required. This fee may not be waived or deferred, even temporarily, for any applicant. The Graduate School will not process an application unless accompanied by the application fee. For online applicants, the application fee will be required via a credit card payment prior to the applicants being able to submit their applications. Students who have been allowed by The Graduate School to submit paper application forms are required to pay the application fee with a bank draft drawn on a U.S. financial institution and made payable (in U.S. dollars) to the University of Minnesota, or they have the option of providing credit card information on a form that will be attached to the Graduate School Application.
- Although applicants can submit unofficial copies of transcripts for application review purposes, The Graduate School requires official transcripts be submitted prior to students becoming eligible to matriculate. Chinese students should note that in order for their transcripts to be considered official, their institutions must send transcripts directly to The Graduate School; the transcripts cannot be forwarded to The Graduate School by the student. The mailing address to which transcripts should be sent is, Graduate School Admissions, University of Minnesota, 101 Pleasant Street S.E, 309 Johnston Hall, Minneapolis, MN 55455-0421.
- International applicants must submit an official report of the TOEFL or MELAB scores. The scores should be sent directly to The Graduate School by the organization that administers the test.
- GRE scores are an important element of the application. The Graduate School does not require GRE transcripts to be submitted prior to it considering your application complete; however, the department does. Therefore, applicants who do not have GRE scores submitted to The Graduate School by the application deadline risk having their applications overlooked. The school code that can be used to have the testing service send your scores directly to the U. of M. Graduate School is 6874. In the event that taking the GRE imposes unusual difficulty (e.g., in countries where the test is not regularly administered), an applicant may petition the department for a waiver of this requirement (there is no specific form; just a letter is required). The petition must arrive at the department on or before December 1 and may be uploaded in the “Extenuating Circumstances” sub-section of the ApplyYourself online application form (found in the “Statements” section). It is strongly recommended that students submit their petition by November 15. Successful petitions often include evidence of the applicant’s verbal and quantitative abilities, (i.e., successful petitions often include additional writing samples which prove competency across the three areas tested by the GRE).
- Applicants are encouraged to have their recommenders submit their recommendation letters electronically through the ApplyYourself system. If online letter submission can/will not be submitted by a recommender, he or she must mail (by December 1) his or her letter directly to the department in care of the Graduate Program Associate, Department of Sociology, University of Minnesota, 909 Social Sciences Building, 267 - 19th Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN 55455-0412.
- Although applicants need not upload diversity statements in order to complete the application, if they wish to be eligible for the DOVE fellowship, they are required to submit the statement. The diversity statement can be uploaded in the “Statements” section of the ApplyYourself online application.
- The writing sample that is required to be submitted should be, at a minimum, 15-pages in length, and at maximum, 30-pages in length. Papers should be double-spaced and in 12-point font. Any writing samples shorter or longer than the recommended page lengths are in danger of being unfavorably received and may not be read. Papers must be written in English and should be empirically based and related to the Social Sciences. The writing sample can be uploaded in the “Graduate Program Supplementary Information” section of the ApplyYourself online application.
- Although made possible by the ApplyYourself application, it is not recommended that applicant’s submit an “Honors and Awards” document or an “Extenuating Circumstances” document.
The Review Process
The Graduate Admissions Committee generally consists of five faculty members—who evaluate applicants—and two graduate student representatives who participate in policy decisions when necessary. After December 1, and if an application file is complete (i.e., all application materials have been received by the department), it is reviewed by at least two faculty members. After all completed applications have been reviewed, the committee then ranks all of the applicants based upon the assessments of each applicant’s application. If there appears to be a large discrepancy between two faculty members’ evaluations of a particular applicant, a third faculty reviewer assesses the file and a final placement in the ranking is determined. In February, the department generally begins to extend offers of admission to the top-ranked applicants and requires from the students being offered admission a notification of acceptance or decline by April 15. If space and funding become available, additional offers are sometimes extended through May 1 to a small number of applicants that comprise a wait list. Applicants who have been placed on the wait list will be informed of their status at the same time that the acceptance and rejection letters are sent out by The Graduate School.