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How to ApplyHow to Apply

 

Graduate programs at the University of Delaware each have their own unique admission requirements, funding options, deadlines, review processes and decision timelines. Understanding how your program of interest structures each of these areas is key to having a productive and positive applicant experience. Please read carefully the information contained on the webpages below and thank you for considering the University of Delaware as your partner in education.

Update as of September 1, 2011.

Campus Life International Students Campus Life Funding Resources Academics

Resources
  • Graduate Application
  •    • Frequently Asked Questions
  •    • Application Deadlines
  •    • Application Fee
  •    • International Applicants
  •    • Transcripts
  •    • Recommendations
  •    • Test Scores
  •    • Resume
  •    • Personal Statement
  •    • Writing Samples
  •    • Supplemental Documents
  • Tuition Charges
  • Categories of Admission
  • Accepting Financial Support
Frequently Asked Questions

Personal Statement

Every applicant is required to submit a personal statement. The personal statement is generally 1-5 pages and is your opportunity to share relevant information about yourself, your goals, and why you would make a good match for the particular graduate program to which you are applying. Some programs ask that you address particular questions as your Personal Statement.  To find out if this is the case for your program of interest, please check the list below.  If you are applying to a graduate program within the College of Business, application essays pass through Turnitin for admissions for authenticity. Please note that Turnitin for admissions will ordinarily store your materials in its reference database to protect your work from re-use by others. 

Program Specific Questions

Agricultural Education
  1. Why do you wish to become a teacher of Agriscience?
Art History
  1. What are your research interests and professional objectives? How will studying at the University of Delaware help you to pursue them?
  2. How have your education and extra-curricular experiences prepared you for graduate studies in Art History? In your response, you may wish to discuss a recent book you read, a museum exhibition you visited, or a work experience you had and explain how it shaped your ideas about Art History and your interest in pursuing a graduate degree.
Arts and Humanities Summer Institute (AHSI)
  1. What are your educational/professional objectives and how will your participation in the Arts and Humanities Summer Institute help you achieve these objectives? Please include any plans for graduate school. The response to this essay is your personal statement.
  2. Please tell us about the art, art history and English courses you have taken to date or are taking now. Please include course titles, but tell us more than we will know from reading your transcript about your interest in these courses, any research projects you might have done, and the relationship between this coursework and your educational/professional goals.
  3. Submit a 10-15 page critical writing sample. If interested in a Masters in Fine Arts also submit 3-10 images of recent art work.
  4. Who recommended that you participate in this summer institute? Will this person be writing a letter of recommendation for you? If no one recommended that you participate in this program, how did you hear about it?
Bioinformatics and Systems Biology
  1. What educational background and scientific research or employment experience prepare you for this degree program?
  2. What are your long-term professional objectives?
  3. What specific attributes of the program made you feel that this degree is appropriate to help you achieve your professional objectives?
Biological Sciences
  1. What scientific research experience have you had?
  2. What are your research interests and long-term professional objectives?
  3. What specific attributes of our Department make you feel that it would be a good place for you?
  4. Please describe any challenging social, economic, educational, cultural or other life circumstance that you have overcame to achieve success in higher education.
Business Administration (MBA)
  1. Getting your message across to prospective customers is a key element of a business plan. Please critique our effort to market the University of Delaware MBA programs by using specific examples of where and how you heard about our program (e.g., specific radio station, internet site, publication, TV station, etc.) and honestly assess how effective that vehicle was in drawing you to apply for admission. What are some strengths of these marketing efforts and what could be done better? What is the best way to reach prospective students like you? We are looking for insightful, specific and brief essays.
  2. What are your vocational objectives and how will your proposed plan of graduate study relate to them?
  3. Are there special circumstances related to your academic record, such as low GPA or low test scores, that you feel we should know about?
Chemistry and Biochemistry
  1. What are your primary area(s) of interest - analytical, biochemistry, inorganic, organic, or physical?
Communication
  1. Upon what past experiences and interests do you base your present decision to apply for admission to the graduate program in Communication?
  2. What is your definition of Communication in the context of your interest area?
  3. How does study for the M.A. in Communication in our department fit into your short- and long-term goals and career aspirations?
  4. Is there any other information, not covered elsewhere in your application, which you would like to share with the department's Graduate Admissions Committee?
Disaster Science and Management
  1. What are your vocational objectives and how will your proposed plan of graduate study relate to them?
  2. Within your major field, are there special areas of interest to you? Please explain.
  3. Are there any special circumstances related to your academic record that you feel we should know about?
Education (PhD)

    Applicants should introduce themselves and discuss educational and career goals related to the Ph.D. in Education program and how this program is a good match for their interests. Applicants should identify their area of specialization and potential research interest. While there are no requirements set by the School of Education, personal statements are generally 2-5 pages in length.

Education - Educational Leadership (EdD) with Administration and Policy (ADPO) Concentration

    Please answer the following four questions (about 200 to 300 words per question is sufficient). Your responses to these questions are important.

  1. Do you currently hold a K-12 teaching and or administrative certificate? If so, please list them.
  2. Explain why you are applying to this particular program, that is, why do you want to be admitted to the Ed.D. in Educational Leadership?
  3. The Ed.D. in Educational Leadership requires that candidates be involved in planning and implementing a series of initiatives targeted at specific improvement needs that candidates identify and in which they may exercise leadership. Describe the contexts and responsibilities in your current position which would allow you to exercise leadership.
  4. Describe a problem in your area of interest that typifies the kind of issue that you would like to pursue as a leadership professional and why you think it is important to address.
Education - Educational Leadership (EdD) in Curriculum and Technology (CTHE) Concentration

    Please answer the following four questions (about 200 to 300 words per question is sufficient). Your responses to these questions are important.

  1. Do you currently hold a K-12 teaching and or administrative certificate? If so, please list them.
  2. Explain why you are applying to this particular program, that is, why do you want to be admitted to the Ed.D. in Educational Leadership?
  3. The Ed.D. in Educational Leadership requires that candidates be involved in planning and implementing a series of initiatives targeted at specific improvement needs that candidates identify and in which they may exercise leadership. Describe the contexts and responsibilities in your current position which would allow you to exercise leadership.
  4. Describe a problem in your area of interest that typifies the kind of issue that you would like to pursue as a leadership professional and why you think it is important to address.
Education - Exceptional Children and Youth (MEd)

    Applicants should prepare a personal statement that discusses educational and career goals related to the M.Ed. in Exceptional Children and Youth program and how this program is a good match for their interests. Applicants should identify their area of specialization.

    In addition to the general personal statement, applicants should complete one of the following additional essay requirements:

     

  1. Select an important problem facing individuals with disabilities or the schools, teachers, or other people who work with them and propose a solution to this problem; or,
  2. Describe an experience in your own life that influenced your decision to work with individuals with disabilities; or,
  3. Upload a brief paper that you submitted in a recent education course to your application file.
Education - Reading (MEd)

    Applicants should write a personal statement of goals and objectives that should (a) clearly describe why the applicant wishes to pursue a M.Ed. in Reading and Reading Specialist certification and (b) indicate and explain any areas of special interest.

    Applicants should also submit a writing sample on an important topic in the field of reading education. This essay is in addition to the statement of goals and objectives outlined above. The applicant should address one of the following topics in a brief essay of 500 words or less: a) Describe an issue in literacy education which you would like to learn more about in your coursework; OR b) Describe an experience in your own life that influenced your decision to become a Reading Specialist. Alternatively, the applicant may submit a brief paper that was submitted in a recent education course.

     

Education - School Leadership (MEd)

    What personal or professional experiences motivate your ambition to become a school leader? How do/will those experiences motivate you to excel in this academic program?

Education - School Psychology (MA)
  1. What qualities and experiences do you have that should help make you an excellent graduate student and school psychologist?
  2. What are your career objectives and how will obtaining your degree in school psychology from the University of Delaware contribute to them?
  3. Are there any special circumstances related to your academic record that you feel we should know about?
Education - Teaching (MAT)

    Your personal statement is a very important part of the application and is read with great care. It is highly recommended that you invest ample time in composing this statement and include enough detail to communicate your fit with the M.A.T. program. Your statement should address three areas.

  1. It should highlight your views of the teaching profession and describe your philosophy of teaching and learning. For example, what do you believe the role of the classroom teacher is? What type of environment must a teacher provide to optimize student learning? How do you think students best learn the material within your content area? Are there specific skills, strategies or habits of mind that students must learn and understand to be successful in your content area? How can you help students to develop these critical processes?
  2. It should describe why you have selected a teaching career and what talents and abilities you bring to the teaching profession.
  3. It should provide any other information about you, your specific interests, and/or your record that you believe is important for the admission committee to know.
Education - Teaching English as a Second Language (MA)

    You should present a carefully planned and written statement of one to two pages in length describing what led you to pursue a degree in TESL, any past work in TESL or TEFL, your expectations of the University of Delaware M.A. in TESL program, and how you intend to use the degree to fulfill your professional career or further educational aspirations. Please include additional information you feel important for the graduate committee to know about you. If you are currently registered in a graduate program at this or another university, please explain why you wish to leave. The personal statement must be submitted electronically as part of the admissions application.

Energy and Environmental Policy

    MEEP applicants: Please submit a 1,000-word statement indicating your research interest.

    Ph.D. applicants: Please submit a 1,000-1,500 word statement indicating your research interest.

English
  1. What are your intellectual objectives and how will your proposed plan of graduate study relate to them? (The response to this essay is your "Personal Statement.")
  2. Within English studies, are there areas of special interest to you? Please explain.
  3. How will the resources at the University of Delaware (faculty and otherwise) help you to achieve your objectives and pursue you areas of interest?
Entomology
  1. Draft a personal statement that addresses the following questions.  What scientific research experience have you had and what are your research interests?  What are your long-term professional objectives and how would this graduate degree help you to achieve them?
  2. Describe any special circumstances related to your academic record, such as low GPA or low GRE scores, that you think the admissions committee should consider?
Finance
  1. What are your career objectives and how will an MS in Finance help you achieve your goals?
Foreign Languages and Literatures/ Pedagogy

Your personal statement is a very important part of the application and is read with great care. It is highly recommended that you invest ample time in composing this statement and include enough detail to communicate your fit with our program (suggested length: 500 - 800 words). Your statement should address the following matters:

  1. It should describe why you have selected our program (MAFLL or MAFLP) and how you intend to use the degree to fulfill your career goals or further educational aspirations.
  2. It should provide any other information about you (your experience, specific interests, talents or abilities, and/or your academic record) that you believe is important for the admission committee to know. If you are currently registered in a graduate program at this or another university, please explain why you wish to leave.
  3. If you are an MAFLP applicant intending to pursue the certification track, please mention this in your essay.
Historic Preservation
  1. What are your vocational objectives and how will your proposed plan of graduate study relate to them?
  2. Within your major field, are there special areas of interest to you? Please explain.
  3. Are there any special circumstances related to your academic record that you feel we should know about?
Hospitality Business Management
  1. What are your future professional goals and how would this graduate degree help you to achieve them? (The response to this essay is your " Personal Statement.")
  2. Within the hospitality field, are there areas of special interest to you?
  3. Are there special circumstances related to your academic record, such as low GPA or low GRE/GMAT scores that you feel we should know about?
Liberal Studies

Submit a 3-5 page essay about your intellectual interests and life experiences and how you think these can be developed in the MALS program.

Material Science and Engineering
  1. What is your main area of research interest - soft materials, hard materials, or composite materials? If relevant, please also indicate specific faculty with research that is of interest to you.
  2. What are your vocational objectives and how will your proposed plan of graduate study relate to them? (The response to this essay is your "Personal Statement.")
Medical Sciences (PhD)

Please submit a statement in five pages or less addressing the following:

  1. What is your research area/topic of interest? Since the Medical Sciences field is so vast, you must be very specific in what you hope to achieve in order to matched with an appropriate mentor.
  2. What are your professional objectives? How will resources (i.e., faculty, other) at the University of Delaware help you to achieve your objectives and pursue your area of interest? Which faculty member(s) in the College of Health Sciences would best fit as your mentor? Why?
  3. How have your education, prior research experience and professional and/or personal activities and achievements prepared you for doctoral studies in Medical  Sciences? Cite specific examples.
Nursing (MSN)
  1. Upon what past experiences and interests do you base your present decision to apply for admission to the graduate program in Nursing?
  2. How does study for a MSN in your program of interest in the School of Nursing fit into your short- and long-term goals and career aspirations?
  3. How will the resources at the University of Delaware (faculty and otherwise) help you to achieve your objectives to become successful in your program of interest?
Nursing (PhD)

Please submit a statement in five pages or less addressing the following:

  1. What is your research area/topic of interest? Use the literature to provide an explanation about what is known about this topic and why additional research needs to be done in this area. Based on your review of the literature, propose three research questions that you would like to explore in doctoral studies.
  2. What are your professional objectives? How will resources (i.e., faculty, other) at the University of Delaware help you to achieve your objectives and pursue your area of interest? Which School of Nursing faculty member would best fit as your mentor? Why?
  3. How have your education, prior research experience and professional and/or personal activities and achievements prepared you for doctoral studies in Nursing Science? Cite specific examples.
Organizational Effectiveness, Development and Change
  1. What are you vocational objectives and how will your proposed plan of graduate study relate to them?
  2. Describe a particularly challenging experience, and how you handled that experience.
  3. Are there special circumstances related to your academic record that you think we should consider?
Physiology, Applied
  1. What scientific research experience have you had?
  2. What are your research interests and long-term professional objectives?
  3. Are there special circumstances related to your academic record that you feel we should know about?
Preservation Studies
  1. A summary of intended dissertation research and the relation of this topic to existing UD expertise and resources should be incorporated into your personal essay in addition to a suggested list of courses taken from the online UD course listings.
  2. Your personal essay should also discuss areas of interest, intellectual goals, and how this program would be seen to meet these goals. Applicants must demonstrate prior background work, especially in their Master's level study, that will enable them to successfully complete graduate-level courses and conduct graduate-level research on the proposed dissertation topic.
Public Administration
  1. What are your vocational objectives and how will your proposed plan of graduate study relate to them?
  2. Within your major field, are there special areas of interest to you? Please explain.
  3. Are there any special circumstances related to your academic record that you feel we should know about?
Urban Affairs and Public Policy
  1. What are your vocational objectives and how will your proposed plan of graduate study relate to them?
  2. Within your major field, are there special areas of interest to you? Please explain.
  3. Are there any special circumstances related to your academic record that you feel we should know about?
Water Science & Policy
  1. What are your specific research and educational goals?
  2. What are your long-term professional career objectives?
  3. How do you see this program assisting you with achieving your objectives?
  4. What is the name of the faculty member (affiliated with the program) who has agreed to be advisor?
Wildlife Ecology
  1. Draft a personal statement that addresses the following questions.  What scientific research experience have you had and what are your research interests?  What are your long-term professional objectives and how would this graduate degree help you to achieve them?
  2. Describe any special circumstances related to your academic record, such as low GPA or low GRE scores, that you think the admissions committee should consider?

 

 


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