Decision on Whether to Apply for Admission to M.A. or Ph.D. Program
Applicants who already hold an M.A. in History earned no more than six years before their entry into the graduate program in History would begin are eligible to apply to directly to the Ph.D. program. All other applicants apply to the M.A. Program. Applicants with a Master’s degree awarded in the last six years in a closely related discipline (including, but not limited to, American Studies, Latin American Studies, Medieval Studies, etc.) and whose training was primarily historical may petition the departmental Graduate Committee to apply directly to the Ph.D. program. Permission will be granted on a case-by-case basis.
General Admission Requirements for the Graduate Program in History
Admission decisions to the graduate program in History at The University of Alabama are made by the Graduate School based on a composite of information, including the applicant’s statement of purpose, letters of recommendation, writing sample, academic transcripts, experience in college or graduate level history classes and history internships, test scores, and the recommendation of the Graduate Committee of the Department of History. A successful applicant to the Ph.D. program must also be endorsed by a faculty member prepared to serve as chairperson of the student’s dissertation committee.
Minimum Quantitative Requirements for Standard Admission to Graduate Program
The applicant must have a grade point average, based on a 4.0 system, of 3.0 overall or 3.0 for the last 60 semester hours in a degree program and a score of at least 300 on the combined verbal and quantitative portions and at least 4 on the analytical writing section of the Graduate Record Exam in order to be eligible for standard admission. Please note that a student who meets these minimum qualifications does not automatically gain admission to the graduate program, as admissions decisions are made on the basis of evaluation of the student’s application file as a whole. Rather, the student, if admitted, would not be subject to the same rules governing academic progress for students awarded a “Permission to Continue Admission” and also admitted to the program. See immediately below, II-D, for a discussion of “Permission to Continue Admission.”
Requirements for “Permission to Continue Admission” to Graduate Program
An applicant whose quantitative credentials do not meet the requirements for standard admission laid out in II-C above may be considered for “permission to continue admission” if the remaining portions of the application provide substantial evidence of the applicant’s suitability for graduate study. Permission to continue admission is rarely offered, and only to students whose other credentials are judged by the departmental Graduate Committee to be exemplary. Students admitted under permission to continue admission must maintain a 3.0 grade point average for the first twelve semester hours attempted. Failure to do so will result in dismissal from the program. In addition, students receiving permission to continue admission to the graduate program are usually not considered for fellowships or assistantships during their probationary period.
Accelerated Master’s Program
The Department of History participates in the Graduate School’s Accelerated Master’s Program initiative designed to allow undergraduate students of exceptional ability and accomplishment to begin working towards a Master’s degree while completing their undergraduate degree. History majors who have an overall GPA of at least 3.75 and have completed at least 90 credit hours overall, 27 credit hours in History (including HY-430 and the geographic distribution requirement,) and the University’s core requirements (with foreign language option) are eligible to apply. Applicants to the Accelerated Master’s Program do not need to submit GRE scores. Students who may be interested should contact the Director of Graduate Studies in History to arrange an appointment. For general information on the Accelerated Master’s Program, see the following link: https://graduate.ua.edu/accelerated-masters-program/