PhD Program Admission Requirements

The Admissions Process for the PhD Program in Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSD) 
at the University of Utah

Application Submission: Your application will be submitted to the Graduate School through a university-designated online application system. The following materials are required for your application to be considered for admission:

1. Statement of Purpose
2. Transcripts
3. Writing Sample
4. Three Letters of Recommendation
5. GRE Scores*
6. Identification of a primary mentor who is willing to supervise your studies and secure funding to support your education. Please include the name of your primary mentor in your Statement of Purpose. 

If you have not yet identified a primary mentor, you should personally contact a faculty member who shares your research interests to see if they are able to support your PhD training. You can learn about faculty research interests and obtain contact information by visiting https://health.utah.edu/communication-sciences-disorders/faculty.

Phases of Review for Admissions:

1. Preliminary Review: During the first phase, the PhD Program Director compiles your application to determine if your application is complete and includes a statement of who you identified as your primary mentor. To move forward in the PhD application process, a faculty mentor must support your application. Without a faculty mentor's endorsement, your application cannot proceed to the next step (committee review / recommendation) and thus, you will not be accepted into the PhD program.

2. Committee Recommendation: 

After receiving a faculty mentor’s endorsement, your application will be reviewed by a group of faculty members including:

• The faculty mentor you identified in your application
• The PhD Program Director
• Other faculty members serving on the PhD Admissions Committee

These faculty members will read and score your materials and vote on whether to recommend your application for admissions. Your Statement of Purpose, Writing Sample, and Letters of Recommendation will each be scored (i.e., one score for your Statement of Purpose, one score for your Writing Sample, and one score for your Letters of Recommendation) using the following six-point scale:

• 1 - Unacceptable
• 2 - Poor
• 3 - Fair
• 4 - Good
• 5 - Excellent
• 6 - Outstanding

Your transcripts and GRE scores will also be reviewed by the committee to ensure these materials meet the general qualifications for admission. These qualifications include a grade point average (GPA) greater than 3.0 and GRE scores exceeding the twentieth percentile for both the verbal and quantitative subsections. The GRE requirements will not be considered if you have been granted a GRE waiver.* 

After scoring your application, each committee member will make one of the following recommendations for the application as a whole:

• Do not admit
• Reconsider after reviewing requested information
• Admit with reservations
• Admit without reservations

Scores and votes for your application will be sent to the PhD Program Director prior to the PhD Committee meeting during which committee members discuss applications. During this meeting, committee members may discuss concerns or reservations about any application and make requests for additional information, if needed. The outcome of the meeting is to determine the final recommendation regarding whether to admit or not admit you as a student for the PhD program. If one or more committee members request additional information for your application, the committee will reconvene and make a final recommendation after additional information is obtained and discussed.

3. Administrative Recommendation: The final decision regarding your acceptance as a PhD applicant is made by the PhD Program Director and the Department Chair. If your application is recommended by the PhD Committee and endorsed by the PhD Program Director and the Department Chair, you will be sent a letter of acceptance for admission, created and approved by the PhD Program Director, the Department Chair, and your identified faculty mentor. Your recommendation for acceptance will be forwarded to the Graduate School for final approval. Your acceptance letter will state that acceptance is contingent on the Graduate School's final approval. If you are not recommended by the committee or endorsed by the PhD Program Director and the Department Chair, you will be sent a letter denying acceptance to the program.

________

Footnotes:

*A request to waive the GRE requirement for your application may be submitted to the PhD Program Director by your primary mentor. To support the request, the mentor must provide evidence that you are well-prepared for PhD level studies. For example, acceptable evidence could include: 1) you have completed a Master’s Thesis, 2) you are the first or second author on a paper published in a respected peer-reviewed journal with an accompanying letter from a faculty mentor confirming you did substantial work for the study and the manuscript, or 3) you played a major role in the design and preparation of a grant application funded by a federal agency or non-profit foundation/industry sponsor with an accompanying letter from a faculty mentor confirming your significant contribution.    

PhD Program Requirements

• Ph.D. Handbook
• Additional Requirements for Students without Speech and Hearing Backgrounds (or with other special circumstances)
• Requirements for Joint MS/PhD program in Speech-Language Pathology