Perhaps the most important thing that you should do is review the specific professors in the department to see if any of their work matches your interests and might be a good fit for your own study and work.

Get to know our faculty, and contact faculty members whose research interests align with your interests. The Graduate College and Admissions offer extensive information. If you still have questions, our Program Coordinator (Melanie Kane) can provide information on the application progress and on the general administration of the department. The Director of Graduate Students (Dr. Brian Bauer) can help answer academic questions concerning graduate training. Individual professors can answer questions concerning their research and other training opportunities.

Absolutely. We encourage students to contact the professors with whom they want to work.

The application can be found on the UIC Graduate College website, or through the  Office of Admissions . We provide advice and information on applications for the Anthropology program within this website.

The Office of Admissions website has an extensive FAQ section that should address your questions. You can find additional information on the Grad College website.

The application system is paperless. You should upload copies of your transcripts. These will be used by our admissions committee as they review your application. If you are offered admission to our department and choose to accept it, at that time you will be required to submit official transcripts to the Office of Admissions.

Absolutely. We encourage students to contact the professors with whom they want to work.

Students should apply online and submit all supporting documents by December 15 for the following Fall term (we do not admit students for Spring or Summer entry).

The UIC campus observes reduced service hours towards the end of December. We want to get all the applications in before that happens so that we can begin processing applications and have them ready for review in early January.

Students should apply online and submit all supporting documents by December 15 for the following Fall term (we do not admit students for Spring or Summer entry).

The UIC campus observes reduced service hours towards the end of December. We want to get all the applications in before that happens so that we can begin processing applications and have them ready for review in early January.

The admissions committee, made up of approximately five faculty members, reads all admission material. The composition of the committee changes each year, but there are always representatives from both UIC and the Field Museum. The committee members will review your college transcripts, GRE scores, letters, personal statement, and any other materials that you have submitted (i.e. CV or writing samples). Some faculty place more emphasis on previous fieldwork than others, while some look for language skills or unique experiences, and others stress test scores and grades. Regardless, all members of the committee look for evidence of academic excellence and a clear match between your interests and those of our faculty. We have no maximum or minimum number of students that we accept each year.

The review process generally concludes in early March, and letters are sent in mid-March. Following guidelines accepted by most large Universities, the deadline for acceptance is generally April 15.

There are many steps to the admissions process. Your application will first be reviewed by the Director of Graduate Students to check for completeness and to identify your central academic interests. The Admissions Committee reviews all applications and frequently forwards them to two to four other members of the department for comments. The Admissions Committee then meets to discuss your application, as well as the comments provided by other professors within the department. The Admissions Committee then selects what they feel are the best matches between the applicants and the research and teaching interests of our Department. In short, your materials may well be read by eight different faculty and staff members during the course of the review, and discussed in two to four different meetings.

Yes, as many as 25% of our students are foreign born. They are generally supported through grants they have earned (such as Fulbright fellowships) and teaching assistantships.

No, we have no unique funding sources to support the foreign students who wish to study in our program.

We have no required minimum score and will give all aspects of your application careful review. Nevertheless, a high score is considered a strength, and we encourage students to study for the GREs and retake the test if they are not satisfied with their scores.

The Graduate College does set minimum requirements for these exams. For the TOEFL iBT, these minima are Reading 19, Speaking 20, Listening 17, Writing 21, Total 80. For IELTS, the requirements are for a minimum total score of 6.5, and a subscore of 6.0 for each of the four sections.

Yes, we encourage students with BAs from any field to apply to the graduate program.

Our program is designed for students who intend to obtain a PhD, so you should make clear in your statement of purpose that this is your goal. If your intended goal is a PhD, but do you do not yet have an MA, you should still apply under the PhD code. We will still be able to process the application if you apply under the MA code, but it makes things smoother for us, and your intention clearer, if you use PhD.

Although doctoral students must complete an MA during their course of study (or receive credit for an MA degree earned at another institution), we generally do not admit to students who solely seek an MA as the terminal degree.

The tuition and fees costs for graduate students are published online by the Admissions Office.

No, we have no unique funding sources to support the foreign students who wish to study in our program.

Most early students support themselves through teaching assistantships (commonly called TAs). Our advanced students also may teach courses in their specialties. Several of our students are supported by UIC or national fellowships. The number of TA and lecturer positions varies from year to year. The teaching assistantships are awarded on the basis of several factors including seniority, teaching experience, evaluations and progress towards degree. They are awarded on a semester-by-semester basis.

UIC offers several different fellowships, awards, and scholarships for graduate students. Learn more information about the awards and their requirements. Individual faculty may have Research Assistantships available on occasion.

We generally receive over 50 applications each year and accept around 8.

Perhaps the most important thing that you should do is review the specific professors in the department to see if any of their work matches your interests and might be a good fit for your own study and work.

Yes, there are lots insightful articles online. Here are just a couple to get you started:

SAA: Advice for Prospective Graduate Students

Welcome to Graduate School: Six key lessons to help master’s and doctoral students thrive in their first year

Get to know our faculty, and contact faculty members whose research interests align with your interests. The Graduate College and Admissions offer extensive information. If you still have questions, our Program Coordinator (Melanie Kane) can provide information on the application progress and on the general administration of the department. The Director of Graduate Students (Dr. Mitch Hendrickson) can help answer academic questions concerning graduate training. Individual professors can answer questions concerning their research and other training opportunities.

UIC does offer opportunities for non-degree students. The program is established for individuals who do not wish to pursue a degree, but want to take courses for professional or scholarly reasons or for personal enrichment. Such individuals may have been out of school for several years, or hold a BA in a different field of study and wish to take a few courses before deciding whether to apply for a degree program. The Anthropology Department does not recommended that students who are interested in an advance degree to enter into the non-degree program as a way to sidestep the graduate degree application procedure.