In order to be admitted into the M.A. program, students are usually required to have a bachelor's degree in the department. Those who don't should contact the department.

In order to be admitted to the Ph.D. program, a UW-Madison M.A. in African Languages and Literature is required. Admission to the Ph.D. program is determined by the student's MA committee upon successful defense of the MA thesis and with consideration of performance in MA coursework.

Students will need to remove deficiencies by taking requisite courses. If a student has written an M.A. thesis for another university, they may submit it for evaluation and possible exemption from the thesis requirement. A student seeking admission at the graduate level should have a minimum undergraduate grade point average of 3.0 (out of a possible 4.0), though special cases may be considered for probationary admission. In addition to the online application form, the Department requires:

two (2) official transcripts of previous university records

UNIVERSITY TRANSCRIPTS
Official transcripts or academic records from each institution attended. International academic records must be in the original languages accompanied by an official English translation. Documents must be issued by the school with the official seal/stamp and an official signature.

a statement giving reasons for wishing to pursue graduate study in the Department

STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
Give a detailed account of the reasons/circumstances that led to your decision to undertake graduate work in the Department of African Languages and Literature at this university. Include references to your academic work, your personal philosophy, your short-term and long-term goals. Include discussion of your foreign language learning experience. Address any negative episodes in your academic career, e.g. a poor grade. Help the Department's Admissions Committee assess your preparedness to undertake research in the area.
Suggested length: 2-4 typed pages

three (3) letters of recommendation

RECOMMENDATION LETTERS
Recommendation letters should discuss the candidate's overall scholarly ability, and, for international applicants, their English competence. Please give specific examples of applicant's academic achievements, their independent thinking, analytical and critical thinking skills, discuss any paper/presentation they gave in your course, specify their class rank, etc. The narrative recommendation letter is requested by the Department. Since the candidate is applying to our graduate program in African Languages and Literature, we are looking for evidence that would, as much as this is possible, offer some guarantee of success. Evidence from fields close to ours is preferable, but we may accept letters from other disciplines.
Suggested length: 1-1.5 typed pages

Graduate Record Examination (GRE) scores are needed for fellowship applicants, but are not otherwise required for admission. There is no application deadline, but it is recommended that they be submitted as early as possible before the intended date of entry.

Upon receipt of confirmation of admission, applicants should contact the department chair to arrange for consultation on the appointment of an adviser and the applicant's first year program. In some cases, a waiver of one or more requirements may be granted for previous work, on the applicant's petition. Applicants who have not taken an undergraduate major in African language and literature, or who are judged by the department to have deficiencies, may be assigned additional course work.

The graduate school application is available on-line at http://info.gradsch.wisc.edu/admin/admissions/appinstr.html

Please send the above application materials to:

Admissions Committee
Department of African Languages and Literature
University of Wisconsin - Madison
1414 Van Hise Hall
1220 Linden Drive
Madison WI 53706

See Graduate School Links, including the online application, which has instructions for the $45.00 application fee.

Graduate School Links
Graduate School Admission Requirements
Graduate School Checklist
International Student Financial Information
Why UW-Madison
UW Madison Graduate Areas of Study

This page last updated: January 10, 2008

Return to the Department of African Languages & Literature at the University of Wisconsin-Madison