Graduate Admissions

The Center and Department of Middle Eastern Studies admit graduate students for the fall semester only. Applicants are notified of decisions in February and March of the following year.  All degrees must be completed in residence; there are no courses offered online.

Applicants are encouraged to identify faculty with whom they would be interested in working, read some of their publications, and contact them shortly before applying. A directory of our faculty along with areas of interest is available in the Faculty List.

Application Instructions

The deadline for Fall 2013 - to RECEIVE all materials - is December 01, 2012.

IMPORTANT!  Please SUBMIT & PAY for the online application early (recommended at least 2 weeks before the deadline).  Only when you pay the application fee will everything be set into motion.  Before payment, departments cannot view your application, requests for recommendation letters are not sent to your instructors, you cannot upload any supporting documents, and your test scores will have nowhere to go.

*Dual-degree seekers:  The Center for MES (not the Department of MES, aka MELC) offers 7 dual-degree program with other UT Austin graduate programs. Applicants must complete all requirements for each program by each program's deadline.  Not all UT programs share the same application deadline.

Please carefully review the Graduate School's admissions instructions.

Please do not send any of the following materials directly to C/DMES.  GIAC collects the following items electronically:

UT Austin general application materials:

1. Application for graduate admission through Apply Texas.  Be certain that you apply to the program that is your first choice: MELC (DMES), MES (CMES), or one of CMES' dual-degree programs.  The major code for MELC is 667800; MES is 668000.  Dual-degree applicants submit only 1 application through Apply Texas, and these major codes can be seen on this page.  Applicants who wish to be considered by both MELC and MES must submit two applications through Apply Texas.
2. Application fee: $65 for US citizens and permanent residents; $90 for international applicants.
3. Statement of purpose: Submitted through the online application form or uploaded later (but by the application deadline).
4. Official GRE:  The general GRE must have been taken within 5 years of the date that you request that the scores be sent to UT Austin.  The Educational Testing Service (ETS) code for UT Austin is 6882.  There is no department code.  For the 2012-13 application cycle (for fall 2013 matriculation), both versions of the GRE will be accepted.  Please see the GRE® site for more information.
5. Official TOEFL/IELTS:  Required of international applicants from countries not on this list.  University minimum scores are also listed on this page and are discussed below as well.  If you earned a bachelor's degree in an English-speaking country, this exam is waived.  However, if you have a bachelor's from your home country and a master's from an English-speaking country, it is NOT waived.  This is university policy. 
6. Unofficial Transcripts:  Upload scanned PDF copies of all official transcripts from each college and/or university attended.  24-48 hours after you submission & payment of the application, you will receive an email request asking you to upload your transcripts from the institutions that you entered in the Apply Texas application.  Do not list a study abroad program on your application unless you can produce a transcript.  The grading system of the school must be included (usually on the reverse side for American schools).  All pages must be uploaded in a single PDF for each school.  Translations for documents in languages other than English must be provided.  If you are admitted to UT Austin - and you accept the admission offer - GIAC will then require the original/official documents.  Visit this page for complete instructions.
7. Three letters of recommendation:  You will enter the names and email addresses of your recommenders in the Apply Texas application.  Upon application submission/payment, these three persons will receive an email outlining the upload instructions.  The letters will then be attached to your application and you may monitor the letters as they arrive.  After the application submission/payment, you may issue additional requests for references beyond the original 3.  Applicants are strongly encouraged to submit letters from academic references who can speak to the prospective student’s scholarly abilities.  Letters not submitted through the online system are NOT ACCEPTED.

1. Writing sample (MELC only, not MES):  The sample should be 10-20 pages in length, written in English, and in the form of an essay, academic thesis/professional report, or a published article.  Writing samples must be submitted as a PDF through the online application system.  Please see the FAQ for more information.
2. Curriculum vitae or résumé.
3. Funding application:  This is only required if you wish to be considered for a FLAS Fellowship or Ann Friday Fellowship, if eligible (citizen or permanent resident for FLAS; CMES applicant/student for Ann Friday).  Prospective students do not need to submit this for TA/AI consideration, which is automatic. (Current UT students use this for TA/AI consideration.)  Please see the bottom of this page for the link.

Admissions Criteria & Minimum Recommended Scores (GPA, GRE, TOEFL/IELTS)

The graduate admissions committee takes all elements of each application into consideration. No single item will guarantee admission or disqualify an applicant. Admission is competitive, and decisions are based on past academic records and potential for success as demonstrated through a statement of purpose conveying a clear intellectual and/or professional agenda, strong letters of recommendation, and a writing sample (MELC only) showing scholarly talent.

The Graduate School requires a minimum GPA of 3.0 on a four-point scale for admitted graduate students.  The graduate admission GPA is calculated based on upper-division and graduate coursework only. Given that current students in MELC and MES must maintain a 3.50 minimum GPA, the committee will be looking for at least a 3.50 GPA (or approximate international equivalent) from your undergraduate and/or master's degrees.  Applicants with a GPA below the minimum may still be considered for conditional admission if all other application materials are compelling.

Students who have gained admission in recent years, with funding offers, have averaged the following scores/percentiles on the GRE:

Verbal:                  96th percentile (680 old system, 165 new system)

Quantitative:         61st percentile (660 old system, 152 new system)

Analytical Writing: 85th percentile (5.0 on 6.0 scale)

Recommended minimums for admission without funding:

Verbal:                   72nd percentile (550 old; 156 new)

Analytical Writing:  48th percentile (4.0 on 6.0 scale)

For more information about the revision and how it could affect you, please visit the GRE Revised General Test Web page.  Concordance information (how percentiles relate to old and new scores).

Prior to the 2011 revision of the General GRE test, for basic consideration, the recommended minimum GRE scores were 500 on the verbal section and 1000 overall. Applicants with GRE scores below these standards may have still been considered for admission, but were unlikely to receive funding offers.

International applicants:  While departmental standards are higher, UT Austin requires a minimum TOEFL/IELTS score of:

• 79 (internet-based test)
• 213 (computer-based test)
• 550 (paper-based test)
• IELTS:  Overall band of 6.5

The internet-based TOEFL is most common, and C/DMES generally seeks a score of >100 (120 is maximum score).  More information.

Language Proficiency in MELC

Admission to the programs in Middle Eastern Languages & Cultures (Arabic, Hebrew, Persian, Turkish) requires proficiency in the primary language based on ACTFL standards.  Please review their proficiency guildelines.

Arabic and Persian applicants must demonstrate proficiency at least at the Advanced-Low level.  Modern Hebrew applicants must be at the Intermediate-High level for the master's program and Advanced-low for the doctoral program.

Biblical Hebrew/Ancient Near East applicants must have completed at least three years of college-level Biblical Hebrew.  Intermediate proficiency in German and a second ancient Semitic language is also required.

Language Proficiency in MES

Applicants may enter the program at any level in Arabic, Hebrew, Persian or Turkish.  Most applicants will have at minimum one year of college level instruction, if not much more.  However, it is possible to gain admission to the Center for Middle Eastern Studies as a novice language learner.  In such cases, the first year of language instruction at UT cannot be applied to completion of the MA; only 2nd year and above may satisfy the language requirement (see bottom of this page).

Funding

All applicants are considered for funding based on the materials submitted for admission. Prospective students interested in the Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship must submit a separate application by December 1. Please see the Support Page for details on the FLAS and other financial resources.