Graduate Admissions Information

Students normally enter the doctoral program without a masters degree, but the masters may be earned on the way to the doctorate. The doctoral program is suitable primarily for students who wish to embark on a career in teaching and research at the college or university level. Students should apply for the masters program if they wish just to deepen and expand the knowledge they gained as undergraduates, or if they wish to develop competence in philosophy to apply to some other professional field.

Ph.D. program candidates should normally have a high grade point average and have completed at least 18 credit hours (or the equivalent) of philosophy, including one course in logic, one in ethics, one in epistemology, metaphysics, or philosophy of mind, and two courses in the history of philosophy. (A candidate may be admitted to the specialization in Philosophy and the Sciences (CPaS) with fewer than 18 hours in philosophy if the student has a strong background in science or in a cognate discipline in cognitive studies.)

The applications process for the Ph.D. program is competitive, and only a small number of candidates are admitted. There are no minimum qualification that will guarantee entry.

M.A. admission requirements are less stringent than those for admission to the Ph.D. program, although still competitive (again, only a small number are admitted each year). The same supporting documents must be provided.

The deadline for applications is January 5th for entry in the following Fall. The department does not normally admit graduate students for entry in Spring.

Financial Aid

The department offers financial aid to well-qualified Ph.D. applicants on a competitive basis. The package of support will normally involve a mix of Research Assistant or Fellowship positions with Teaching Assistant positions, providing funding for five years in the program. It will also include tuition remission and affordable health insurance.

Application Details

The following items are normally required of all candidates:

1. A completed application form, containing a short 'statement of purpose' and a short 'description of relevant experiences'. This can be downloaded from the Graduate School website at http://www.vprgs.umd.edu/ or completed online.
2. Official transcripts of all degrees obtained or in the process of being obtained.
3. Three letters of support from previous instructors.
4. GRE examination results.
5. TOEFL examination results (for applicants whose first language isn't English)
6. Writing sample in philosophy (normally one or two essays, totaling no more than twenty to twenty-five pages).

For information and application forms for the Graduate School at the University of Maryland, see:

      http://www.gradschool.umd.edu/gss/admission.htm

If you are submitting any application materials in paper form, please send all items to the following address:

University of Maryland College Park
Enrollment Services Operations
Rm 0130 Mitchell Building
College Park, MD 20742, USA.

In some rare cases the GRE requirement may be waived (e.g. for overseas students in countries where the test isn't offered). And the TOEFL requirement may also be waived for students who have, e.g., been educated in English.

All candidates should ensure that we have a reliable email address at which they can be contacted at short notice. Initial offers of admission are likely to be sent out by early to mid-March. We will aim to keep all candidates informed of the status of their application.

Contact address:
Adam Spier, Graduate Coordinator
Department of Philosophy
University of Maryland
College Park, MD 20742, USA.
aspier@umd.edu