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The Department of Communication normally admits graduate students to begin in the fall semester of each year. Applications for those students wanting funding must be submitted by January 5. Applications for those students who do not want funding must be submitted by April 5. Admission to the Ph.D. program is competitive. Admission decisions will be made by the Graduate Committee of the Communication Department.
The number of students accepted each year will depend upon available funding and faculty resources for advising and research. Full-time enrollment in the program is preferred but part-time enrollment will be considered.
Those who meet standard minimum requirements are not guaranteed admission nor are those who fail to meet all of those requirements necessarily precluded from admission if they offer appropriate strengths and skills. Applicants will adhere to the University’s Graduate College procedures using the online admission process at http://grad.udel.edu/apply/.
Standard minimum entrance requirements:
A baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university, in communication or an allied discipline, with an accompanying transcript from that institution.
A master's degree in communication or other related discipline from an accredited college or university, with an accompanying transcript from that institution, is optional.
If you opt to take the GRE, applicants with the best chance of admission have a combined score of 300 for the verbal and quantitative reasoning sections. Also expected is a minimum score of 4.5 for the analytical writing portion. If you do not take the GRE, you must provide other evidence of quantitative ability (such as good grades in statistics or advanced math courses), and evidence of academic writing potential (through your writing sample).
An undergraduate GPA of 3.0 or higher as well as a within-major minimum GPA of 3.0 is required. If the applicant has earned a master's degree, a minimum GPA of 3.5 is required for that degree.
A written statement of goals and objectives (the personal statement) that addresses the following questions:
What specific area of Communication are you interested in exploring and which of our faculty member(s) do you consider most appropriate to mentor you in your academic work and why?
What is one Communication-related question or concept that keeps you up at night with curiosity?
Are you interested in studying Communication from a quantitative, social-scientific perspective (as opposed to a more critical cultural or interpretive perspective)?
Your letters of recommendation should come from a professor, employer, and/or other professional source that can address your potential to succeed in our graduate program. Recommendations from former professors or academic advisers are preferred, but other sources will be accepted.
All application materials are submitted entirely online. Your recommenders will receive an email stating how to upload their letter into the application system. If you or a recommender has any technical issues while uploading the necessary information for your application or have any questions about submitting your application you should contact Graduate Admissions directly, via e-mail, at gradadmissions@udel.edu.
International students should visit the Graduate College Test Scores page for information about how they can demonstrate their English proficiency. Students who qualify (detailed below) can apply for a waiver of this requirement.
“A waiver of proof of English Proficiency is allowed when:
A bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral degree has been or will be earned from a university recognized by the ministry of education in a country where English is the primary language. Our list of approved countries includes Anguilla, Antigua, Australia, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Cameroon, Canada (except the province of Quebec), Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Ghana, Guyana, Ireland, Jamaica, Kenya, Liberia, Montserrat, New Zealand, Nigeria, Puerto Rico, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Singapore, South Africa, Trinidad & Tobago, Turks and Caicos, The United Kingdom, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
A bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral degree has been or will be earned from a college or university located in the United States and accredited by a regional accrediting association.”
A curriculum vitae (CV) or resume.
A critical writing sample is required. The writing sample may be an essay, a research project manuscript, or other piece of writing the applicant believes is a good example of their writing. The sample should be no longer than 25 double spaced pages, and should show evidence of academic writing potential.
A video essay, not to extend beyond one minute, based on the topic, "Where do you see yourself in 10 years and how do you see this program assisting you in achieving that goal?"
Completed applications will be reviewed by the Communication Department’s Graduate Committee members.
All applicants must use the University of Delaware online graduate application web form.
