Admissions and Financial Aid
AdmissionsFinancial Aid
General Requirements
Admission of students to the program is the dual responsibility of the Graduate School and the Departmental Graduate Studies Committee. The prerequisite for admission to the M.A. program in Spanish as a regular degree student is completion of a B.A. in Spanish, or its equivalent, at an accredited college or university. The prerequisite for admission to the Ph.D. program in Spanish as a regular degree student is completion of an M.A. relevant to the prospective field(s) of specialization, or its equivalent. The Graduate School requires a minimum cumulative point-hour ratio (CPHR) of 3.0 on the 4.0 scale for work done as an undergraduate; for all previous relevant graduate work, if any, a CPHR of 3.0 or above is required. The Department normally expects candidates for its Ph.D. program to have a CPHR of 3.5 or higher.
Graduates of U.S. and Canadian universities are obligated to submit GRE scores. Any student, international or domestic, wishing to be considered for nomination to one of the University's Fellowship awards must also submit GRE scores.
Application is done through the University's Graduate Admissions Office.
International Students
Students whose first language is not English, and who have not earned a degree in an English-speaking country, are required, as a condition of admission, to take and pass the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) with a score of 550 or above (paper/pencil version) or 213 or above (computer-based version). The Michigan English Language Assessment Battery (MELAB) may be taken in lieu of the TOEFL, in which case a score of 82 or above is required.
International students who fall into the category specified above and who wish to be given appointment as a Graduate Teaching Associate (GTA) must, additionally, according to the laws of the State of Ohio, certify their proficiency in spoken English before assuming GTA duties involving direct student contact. They may become certified by scoring acceptably on the Test of Spoken English (TSE) or the SPEAK test, or by passing the mock-teaching test. The SPEAK test and the mock-teaching test are administered on campus by the Spoken English Program of The Ohio State University. The TSE, like the TOEFL, is administered by the Educational Teaching Service, and should be taken in the applicant's home country in conjunction with the application process. Applicants from abroad are encouraged to take the TSE, since it may not be possible to delay the offer of appointment as GTA until the Department has received the results of the SPEAK test or the mock-teaching test.
International students whose first language is not English, and who have not earned a degree in an English-speaking country should also be aware that they are required to take a written English placement examination upon arrival on this campus. Based on the testing result, students needing English instruction will be placed in English 106, 107G, or 108.02. These courses do not count toward graduation. All students enrolled in the English sequence are expected to complete English 108.02 within four quarters after beginning graduate school. For further information of importance to students from abroad, please see the Web site of the Office of International Students.
Phone Interviews
All applicants who are candidates for Graduate Teaching Associateships will be given a telephone interview to determine if their mastery of spoken Spanish and/or English is sufficient to warrant such an appointment. Interviews will be conducted by the Academic Program Director or a member of the Graduate Studies Committee, or by both.
Documents Required
All applications for admission to the graduate programs of the Department of Spanish and Portuguese are processed through the Office of Graduate Admissions. Among the materials that all applicants, both domestic and international, are required to submit are: 1) an official transcript from each college or university attended must be sent to both the Office of Graduate Admissions and the department; if from a foreign university the transcript must be accompanied by an English translation; 2) the completed application; 3) a current curriculum vitae; 4) three letters of recommendation, preferably from faculty members who are familiar with your work; 5) a sample of academic writing, preferably related to your anticipated field of concentration; 6) a statement of purpose detailing your past achievements, present research interests, educational objectives, career plans, and reasons for choosing your field of study, and 7) an application for a Graduate Teaching Associateship (if you wish to teach in the Department).
International applicants who fall into the category described above must also submit the results of either the TOEFL or the MELAB examination. Graduates of U.S. and Canadian universities are obligated to submit scores on the Graduate Record Examination (GRE), as are all those applicants from other countries who wish to be considered for a Graduate School fellowship.
Many international students are awarded financial support in the form of a Graduate Teaching Associateship, which is sufficient to meet the Admissions requirement for financial resources. However, if a student is not awarded one of these associateships, that student must submit a certified statement indicating financial resources are available to defray the cost of graduate education.
Application Procedures
The on-line application is found at the Office of Graduate Admissions Web site.
The curriculum vitae, letters of recommendation, the statement of purpose, writing sample, and an original transcript should be sent to the Department of Spanish and Portuguese. Admissions materials, application, an original transcript, and test scores, should be directed to the Office of Admissions. For complete consideration for admission for the 2010-2011 academic year all materials must be received by December, 15, 2009. Applicants are requested to submit a complete dossier rather than have materials arrive separately.
International applicants who wish to be considered for a University Fellowship must submit their materials by November 30, 2009; January 15, 2010 is the deadline for domestic students.
Financial AidAdmissions
Graduate Teaching AssociateshipsFinancial aid for most graduate students in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese consists of appointment as Graduate Teaching Associate (GTA) for the three regular quarters of the academic year (Autumn, Winter, and Spring). This appointment, which is considered half-time employment, entails teaching one class in the Spanish Language Program during each of those three quarters. As well as a basic stipend that is competitive with that of other major universities, the award provides for a waiver of tuition and academic fees which, depending upon one's residency status. For the 2009-2010 academic year the range is $18,996 to 20,580 for students enrolled in all four quarters, including the summer; the exact amount depends on the student's level in the graduate program.
For those students who care to teach during the summer, an additional one-quarter appointment as Graduate Teaching Associate is often available. Such an appointment also carries a waiver of tuition and fees. Those students wishing to enroll in classes during the summer, but not teach, likewise have their tuition and fees paid by the University.
All entering students with a Graduate Teaching Associate appointment are required to participate in a three-week training workshop conducted before classes begin in September. For this they receive additional compensation. They are also required to enroll in Spanish 801: Teaching Seminar, Autumn Quarter. Reappointment as a GTA after the first year depends upon making satisfactory academic progress toward the degree sought and positive evaluations of classroom performance.
Fellowships
In addition to appointment as Graduate Teaching Associate, highly-qualified applicants to the Department of Spanish and Portuguese are eligible for various fellowships. Most of these fellowships are awarded by The Graduate School on the basis of a campus-wide competition. Students must be nominated by the department for which they are applying for admission. The purpose of these highly prestigious grants is to permit students of unusual promise to be freed from teaching duties in order to devote all their time to their studies. Most awards are for one year only, although some carry stipends that cover two years, and a small number cover three years. In addition to these fellowships for entering students, the Graduate School each year awards several Presidential Fellowships which are designed to allow Ph.D. students to finish the writing of their dissertations. All Graduate School fellowships, like all appointments as Graduate Teaching Associate, provide a waiver of tuition and academic fees, in addition to the basic stipend.
In addition to the fellowships described above, the Department, through the generosity of the Bulatkin-Pardo Fund, is currently able to offer a limited number of one-quarter fellowships for entering students. Other fellowships may be accessible through the Office of Minority Affairs, the State of Ohio, the Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC), and many philanthropic organizations.
