Application

The application process involves several stages.

Materials Submission Stage

Note: We cannot evaluate your application until our Student Coordinator and the Graduate School office have received all of your application materials.

Winter Semester Admission: Materials must all be received by Sept 15.
Fall Semester Admission: Materials must all be received by Feb 15.

Submit the following materials to the Graduate School, 210 Jesse Hall, University of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia, MO 65211, fax 573-884-5454:

1. Complete the online Application to the Graduate School
2. Proved all official transcripts from all institutions where you have earned credits
3. Submit Graduate Record Examination (GRE) scores by using institution code 6875.
4. If your native language is other than English, the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) is required. Please also send this to the Graduate School office.

You must also submit the following supplementary materials either via the online Application to the Graduate School or send them directly to SISLT Student Coordinator's Office, 303 Townsend Hall, University of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia, MO 65211:

1. Attach a letter of application (also referred to as a Statement of Purpose) to the program faculty. This is a very important part of the application process. Your letter will be a major source of information when the faculty considers your application. Your letter should explain your professional intentions, career goals, intellectual beliefs, and research interests. You need to convince the faculty that you are a mature, self-directed, and purposeful individual. Please do not copy ideas from our website. Rather, convince the faculty why pursuing a doctoral degree is an important life goal for you.
2. Attach a current copy of your curriculum vitae (resume).
3. Arrange to have three letters of reference sent on letterhead or sent by the recommenders to sislt@missouri.edu.
4. Send any other materials (papers you have published, technical reports you have written, or any other supportive materials) to the Student Coordinator's Office also.

Review Stage

Please Note: Complete applications for admission to the fall semester are due by February 15 prior to the semester in which you seek admission. Complete applications for the winter/spring semester are due by September 15 prior to the semester in which you seek admission.

Within one week following the application deadline, the Student Coordinator will make complete files available to the application screening committee for its review.

Within three weeks after the deadline, the faculty will schedule and complete an interview with each qualified candidate.

Within six weeks following the application deadline, a special meeting of the SISLT faculty will be scheduled. At this meeting, the faculty will present their recommendations for admission. The faculty will review these recommendations, followed by a vote of the faculty on each candidate. At this meeting, an initial advisor will be assigned to accepted applicants based on compatible interests and current advising loads. Decisions regarding financial assistance will not be made at this meeting.

Admissions Decision Stage

Decisions on admission will be based on due consideration of all of the information you have presented, including the statement of purpose, test scores, your professional experiences, previous faculty experiences with you, the interview, and any of the artifacts you have provided.

Minimum recommended standards for admission include:

• If you have taken the GRE comprised of Verbal, Quantitative and Analytical sections, a total score of 1500 is required, or a minimum of 500 on each section. If you took the new GRE version comprised of Verbal, Quantitative and Analytical Writing sections, a minimum of 500 is required on Verbal, 500 on Quantitative, and 3.5 on Analytical Writing
• TOEFL (if applicable) score of 540 for paper-based test, 207 for computer-based test or 76 for internet-based test
• Undergraduate GPA of at least 3.0 in the last 60 credit hours of the degree
• Graduate GPA of 3.5

If you do not meet these standards, you should provide evidence of exceptionality in one or more other categories.

Review of applications will result in one of the following actions:

• Acceptance
• Rejection based upon your lack of qualifications or lack of match with program foci

Prior to program action on your application, you are free to enroll as a non-degree graduate student, hoping that your application will be approved later. Any courses completed prior to admission up to 12 credit hours will be approved for your degree if they are selected from approved doctoral program courses.