Admissions
General information and procedures
NOTE: Please read carefully. The application materials and deadline have changed for admissions in fall 2010.
Thank you for the interest you have expressed in graduate studies in the Department of Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. To learn more about the graduate programs in our department, please consult the Guidelines for Graduate Students..
The University of Illinois has implemented a web-based application procedure for graduate studies. Go to http://www.grad.uiuc.edu/admissions/apply/ , and you will see links for applying on-line (the preferred method) or alternatively for downloading a paper application in PDF format. If possible, please complete the on-line form. The information you submit, as well as the application fee, will go directly to the campus Office of Admissions and Records.
The Graduate Student Services office of the School of Literatures, Cultures and Linguistics will handle the rest of your application, which includes the following:
- - a statement of purpose (click here for guidelines on writing a personal statement),
- - 3 letters of recommendation,
- - a writing sample (i.e. research paper),
- - official transcripts for all post-secondary schools attended (undergraduate and graduate),
- - current TOEFL scores for international applicants who are not native speakers of English, and
- - current GRE scores (i.e. taken within the last 5 years) for all domestic applicants.
GRE scores are strongly recommended for non-native speakers of English only if they have earned a degree in an institution of higher education i nwhich English is the primary language of instruction.
For admission consideration, all applicants whose native language is not English are required to submit a current TOEFL score (i.e. taken within 2 years of the term of entry). This requirement is waived if, within five years of the term of enrollment, you have completed at least two academic years of full-time study or completed a graduate degree in a country where English is the primary language of instruction.
All applicants who wish to be considered for a teaching assistantship and whose native language is not English must take the required Test of Spoken English (TSE) and pass with a minimum score of 50 to be eligible for this source of financial aid. Other equivalent exams are the oral section of the new TOEFL iBT (minimum score of 24) and the oral section of the IELTS (minimum score of 8). We would appreciate receiving your official score report by the application deadline or shortly thereafter, so please arrange to take one of these tests as early as possible in the application process and have the score report released to institution code #1836, dept. #00. You must pass one of these exams to be awarded a teaching assistantship, our most commonly awarded form of financial aid. No teaching assistantships will be awarded prior to passing this exam.
Please arrange for these supplementary materials to be sent to the following address:
SLCL Graduate Student Services Office
University of Illinois at U-C
707 South Mathews Avenue, 3070 FLB
Urbana IL 61801
In order to receive full consideration for all financial aid opportunities, your application for Fall 2010 must be complete (with all of the required elements in place) no later than December 1, 2009, for Spanish and no later than December 15, 2009 for Italian and Portuguese.
The SIP Graduate Admissions Committee may contact an applicant via phone or Skype to assess non-primary language skills and/or to discuss any aspect of the application in general.
The UIUC Graduate College Fellowship Office has produced a guide entitled "Financial Aid for Graduate Students," which describes the various funding opportunities potentially available to you: http://www.grad.uiuc.edu/prospective/financial.htm.
If you have any questions about the graduate programs in Spanish, Italian, or Portuguese, you should direct them to:
Director of Graduate Studies (sip-dgs@uiuc.edu)
Department of Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese
University of Illinois
at Urbana-Champaign
707 South Mathews Avenue, 4080 FLB
Urbana IL 61801
fax: (217) 244-8430
phone: (217) 333-3390
Should you need assistance with the application itself, please contact SLCL Graduate Student Services (slclgradservices@uiuc.edu).