Admissions

An applicant's degree(s) need not be in Linguistics, but coursework or experience relevant to Linguistics is strongly preferred.

Applicants with a bachelor's or master's degree unrelated to linguistics may apply for either an MA or Ph.D., but admission to the Ph.D. program for such applicants demands exemplary qualifications.

Applicants who possess an M.A. in Linguistics or a closely-related field may apply for the Ph.D. program and complete a reduced course load.

You will have the opportunity to upload unofficial, scanned transcripts as you apply on the Graduate School's website. If you should need to submit further unofficial transcripts, please email them to gradadm@uga.edu.

In the event that you are recommended for admission, you will be asked to provide official transcripts to the Graduate School. If possible, electronic versions of official transcripts are strongly preferred, emailed to gradadm@uga.edu.

Official hard copies will be accepted if they are in a sealed envelope and mailed directly to
Office of Graduate Admissions
The University of Georgia Graduate School
Brooks Hall
310 Herty Drive
Athens, GA 30602

Successful applicants for the M.A. and Ph.D. programs typically have undergraduate GPAs well above 3.0. Applicants with graduate records are expected to have earned at least a 3.5 GPA in previous graduate coursework.

This requirement can be waived for applicants who hold a degree from a university whose language of instruction is predominantly English.

There are other limitations on this waiver, so applicants should be in touch with the Graduate School at gradadm@uga.edu if there are any questions.

While there is no official minimum score required for admission, international applicants who wish to be funded by the department must possess a speaking score of 26 (TOEFL) or 7.5 (IELTS).

Have official scores sent to the Graduate School using institution code 5813.

Letters from professors and other academic sources are highly preferred, though other letters will be accepted.

Letters will be elicited from your recommenders via email through the Graduate School's online application process.

Compose a brief essay of about 500 words which indicates why you want to study Linguistics at the University of Georgia. You will be prompted to submit this during the Graduate School's online application process.

Writing samples should be academic in nature and are normally a paper submitted for a course. Submissions must be in English. You will be prompted to submit this during the Graduate School's online application process.

Since we wish to consider all applicants for all University-wide fellowships, scholarships, and assistantships, applicants should provide a résumé listing their previous educational and research experience. You will be prompted to submit this during the Graduate School's online application process.

International students must provide proof that they can fund their education before they can be offered admission. You will be prompted to submit this documentation during the Graduate School's online application process.

For information regarding how much money an international student must prove they have, please contact Graduate Admissions at gradadm@uga.edu with any questions. 

Awards may be used as support in this form, so students may choose to wait until decisions have been made regarding competitions for funding before submitting this form. International applications will be marked complete and prepared for review with the understanding that the financial statement will be submitted later in the process.

Domestic students may also wish to provide a financial statement, but domestic applications will be considered fully complete without this document.