Doctoral Admission
Each applicant for the doctoral degree must:
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Possess a baccalaureate degree or master's degree from a regionally accredited college or university,
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Submit three letters of recommendation confirming that the applicant has the ability to do doctoral work in the proposed discipline(s),
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Have a minimum level of achievement combining GPA and GRE performance.
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Submit GRE scores that are less than five years old.
Doctoral applicants meet the Graduate School minimum criteria for admission if they have:
- GPA of at least 3.0 on a 4.0 scale on their master's degree or in the most recently 60 semester of their bachelor degree
- GRE scores of at least 146 on the verbal, and 140 on the quantitative with a combined score of at least 297 and an analytical writing score of at least 3.5.
Doctoral degree applicants must take the following steps to be considered for admissions:
- Complete the online applications and pay the non-refundable application fee.
- Request one official transcript from every accredited college or university attended or from which you earned credit, except UNC. Official transcripts from each college are required, even if courses taken at one institutions are are listed on another schools transcript. This includes concurrent enrollment courses taken while in high school through an accredited college. You do not need to provide study abroad transcripts. Official transcripts may be sent via mail in an unopened sealed envelope or through an electronically secure digital program directly from the issuing institution. Mailed transcript should be send to UNC Graduate School & International admissions, 501 20th Street, Campus Box 135, Greeley, CO 80639. Electronic transcripts should be sent to grad.applicationmaterials@unco.edu. We do not accept email , scanned or PDF transcripts directly from the student.
- Your program may require other items such as letters of recommendations, GRE scores; please check with the program.
If a program recommends an applicant for admission who does not meet the Graduate School standards, they must provide specific provisions and a rationale must be provided stating the factors which were considered in recommending the student: GPA in the discipline, maturity, letters of recommendation, samples of their work, GRE scores or other compelling factors. All recommendations for admission for applicants with a GPA below the 3.00 will be reviewed by the Graduate Dean or his/her designee.
For doctoral applicants who do not meet the Graduate School standard, a rationale must be provided by the school or department stating the factors which were considered in recommending the student: GPA in the discipline, maturity, letters of recommendation, samples of their work, GRE scores or other compelling factors. All recommendations for admission of applicants with a GPA below 3.0 will be reviewed by the Graduate Dean and his/her designee.
The doctoral programs at UNC do not utilize quantitative rating systems and standard criteria weightings as sole determining factors for decisions concerning the acceptance of doctoral applicants. Quantitative information such as GPA or GRE scores is considered in combination with qualitative information derived from letters of recommendation, applicant goal statements, as well as past academic and professional accomplishments. Because of the specialized nature of doctoral work, it is incumbent on the faculty to utilize their professional judgment in determining to what extent a student is qualified for entry into a particular program. The information requested by each school or department upon which their decision is to be based, gives the faculty the opportunity to thoroughly and carefully evaluate the strengths and potential of each applicant.