The prerequisite for admission to the Direct Admit Ph.D. program in Spanish or Portuguese as a regular degree student is completion of a B.A. in Spanish or Portuguese, or the equivalent, at an accredited college or university. 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. Graduate program to have a CPHR of 3.5 or higher.

All degree and non-degree graduate applicants must use the online application.  Among the materials that all applicants, both domestic and foreign, are required to submit online are:

1. the completed application
2. a non-refundable application fee
3. a current curriculum vitae
4. a statement of purpose detailing your past achievements, present research interests, educational objectives, career plans, and reasons for choosing your field of study; the statement should be concisely written and not exceed two pages in length
5. a sample of academic writing, preferably related to your anticipated field of concentration
6. three letters of recommendation, preferably from faculty members who are familiar with your work
7. official transcripts from each college or university attended; if from a foreign university the transcript must be accompanied by an English translation.
8. TOEFL, MELAB, or IELTS examination scores, for certain international applicants (see IV.3).  In addition, all international applicants must submit a certified statement indicating that financial resources are available to defray the cost of graduate education (ordinarily, the awarding of a GTAship is sufficient to meet the requirements of this statement).

*Applicants are strongly encouraged to submit their statement in English and their writing sample in Spanish/Portuguese, or vice versa, in order to show their proficiency in both languages.  

Note that GRE scores are optional.

For full consideration for admission to the 2025-2026 academic year, all materials must be received by December 11, 2025. Late submissions may be considered, but applicants must contact Professor Del Sarto to inform her of the late application.

The Graduate School Handbook: Section 2 (Admission) contains important additional information on admission requirements.

NOTE:  When a student is accepted into a graduate program and defers acceptance and/or a Fellowship or GTAship for the year of offer, they will be in competition with a new pool of applicants or potential GTAs during the year of reinstatement.  Likewise, graduate students who take a leave of absence (LOA) for 2 or more semesters may be asked to reapply to the program.

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 79 or above on the ibtTOEFL (550 or above on the paper/pencil version, or 213 or above on the computer-based version) or 7.0 on the International English Language Testing System (iELTS). 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 (1) scoring 28 or better (out of a possible 30) on the speaking component of the ibtTOEFL; (2) passing the Oral Proficiency Assessment (OPA) administered by the Spoken English Program of the Ohio State University. The ibtTOEFL is administered by the Educational Teaching Service, and should be taken in the applicant’s home country in conjunction with the application process. Admitted students will be able to take the OPA via Skype before official acceptance. Applicants from abroad are encouraged to take the ibtTOEFL, since it may not be possible to delay the offer of acceptance and an appointment as GTA until the Department has received the results of the OPA.  

Upon arrival, international students from a country where the first language is not English may also be required to take an ESL Composition Placement Essay. Based on the essay result, students needing English writing instruction will be placed in EDU T&L 5901/5901.05 or 5902. The student is expected to complete EDU T&L 5902 within one calendar year after beginning graduate school. This course requirement does not count toward the degree.  The Graduate Studies Committee in the student’s graduate program may request an extension of the time limit. Such requests must be sent to the Graduate School for review. The Graduate School will monitor the student’s progress toward completing the ESL course sequence.  For further information of importance to students from abroad, please see the website of the Office of International Affairs.

Applicants might be interviewed by the Admissions Committee during the evaluation period in order to further assess their fit with the program and to determine if their mastery of spoken Spanish and/or Portuguese and/or English is sufficient to pursue graduate studies in our department and at OSU.