The following supporting documents should be sent directly to the Department of Anthropology at the address listed above.

1. Official transcripts of all college/university or other post-secondary studies must be submitted. Unless receipt of a baccalaureate degree is already indicated on the official transcripts submitted at the time of application, you must furnish a final transcript or other document verifying the completion of a baccalaureate degree.

2. Three letters of reference are required. These should come from individuals, such as faculty with whom you have studied, who are qualified to evaluate your background and capability for graduate study.

3. A personal statement (1-2 pages) of your interests and intentions in the field of Anthropology is required. It should describe your academic background, the development of your interest in anthropology, and the subfield(s) and topic(s) of greatest interest to you. As we do not offer courses or have faculty resources in every geographic or topical area, your personal statement should indicate some match between your educational/professional goals and our program. The statement should also mention any awards, honors, or experiences that will help us judge your application.

4. Graduate Record Examination scores for the verbal, quantitative, and analytical aptitude sections of the GRE are required. Applicants should bear in mind that at least five weeks are required for the transmission of GRE scores following the examination.

The following two requirements are for international students only:

5. TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) is required for all international applicants whose primary language is not English. (The Test of Spoken English (TSE) is strongly recommended.) The TOEFL test should be taken in the student's own country before admission is granted. This requirement may be waived for a student who has completed an academic program of two or more years at an accredited American college or university. The minimum TOEFL score acceptable for graduate work in Anthropology is 600.

6. Additional information is required by the Advanced Studies/International Student Services Office after your admission to our program. An International Student Information Brochure and Financial Certification Form will be sent to you following your admission. The Financial Certification Form must be completed and returned to the Advanced Studies/International Student Services Office before a certificate of eligibility for a student visa will be issued.

Awards and Eligibility: Applicants for full-time graduate study (minimum of 12 credit hours/quarter) will be considered for financial aid.

Financial awards consist of (a) University Graduate Scholarships (UGS), which currently cover 80% of the cost of tuition; and (b) Graduate Assistantships (GA), which provide full tuition payment and a stipend. Typically, students with GRE total scores below 1500 and GPAs under 3.5 are not competitive for Graduate Assistantships.

Questions about applications for loans and work-study jobs should be directed to the Student Financial Aid Office at (513) 556-6982.

The deadlines below pertain to application for admission or aid for the following academic year, which begins in September. Students are only admitted to begin studies in the Fall quarter; in some special instances they may defer enrollment until Winter quarter.

February 15 : To be considered for financial aid, applications must be completed and received by the Department of Anthropology by this date.

May 1 : Applicants who have missed the above deadline, but whose applications are completed and received by the Department of Anthropology by May 1 will be considered for admission. Applications received after June 1 will not be considered for admission until the Fall quarter of the following year.

Applicant's Responsibility : It is your responsibility to ensure that all supporting documents have arrived to the Department of Anthropology by the dates specified above. To confirm that your application is complete, please e-mail the Director of Graduate Studies.

Admission Criteria: Admission to the program rests upon faculty judgments about: (1) your capability, preparation, and readiness for graduate study in Anthropology, and (2) the appropriateness of the program for your needs and goals. The department admissions criteria do not include either a minimum score or percentile on the GRE or a minimum grade (quality) point average below which no applicant will be considered. However, the admissible applicant will normally have earned a grade average of B or better in the relevant undergraduate course work and/or present other evidence of the appropriate intellectual maturity, preparation, and capability for graduate study in Anthropology.

Race, sex, ethnic identification or origin, religion, and sexual orientation are irrelevant in the decision process.

Because Anthropology is not commonly available in secondary schools, many students discover their interest in it only after being well along in their undergraduate studies. An undergraduate major in Anthropology is not required for admission to this program. However, entering graduate students are expected to have a basic background in the discipline. Students who are under-prepared will be expected to remedy such deficiencies through the appropriate undergraduate course(s), for which graduate credit normally will not be awarded.

Decisions on admission to the program are made by the Graduate Admissions Committee of the Department of Anthropology chaired by the Director of Graduate Studies.

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Phone: 513.556.2772 Fax: 513.556.2778
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