Admission Requirements
Admission Requirements
Because the History Department has several different fields, each with slightly different requirements, the criteria for admissions are not rigidly standardized. The admissions committee considers the following factors:
- letters of recommendation from the student's former or current professors
- the student's statement of purpose and a writing sample of no longer than 10 pages
- undergraduate or M.A. grade point average
- Graduate Record Examination scores (with an emphasis on the verbal score)
- A writing sample of no longer than 10 pages.
- The Statement of Purpose (should not exceed two pages, double spaced).
- Two official sealed transcripts from all undergraduate and graduate institutions attended.
The faculty relies heavily on the comments and assessment of colleagues at UCLA and other academic institutions. A thoughtful and thorough assessment provides insight into the student's abilities, preparation and motivation. Several such evaluations combine to form a detailed picture of the student's background and potential.
A candidate's statement of purpose distinguishes him or her from all other applicants. It indicates to faculty the student's interests, ability to state research goals concisely, and to some degree, the candidate's maturity and sophistication, both of which are significant in an extremely competitive program. The admissions committee looks for students who show that they have already focused on a given field (i.e. completing language requirements) and have a reasonable awareness of what the department has to offer. It is helpful for candidates to list the names of faculty members with whom they would like to work. Your writing sample should be no longer than 10 pages. Book reviews, senior thesis, and research papers are acceptable.
The importance of language training varies from field to field. A student of U.S. history, which requires only one foreign language, could conceivably begin the program with minimal foreign language preparation. On the other hand, students in fields such as Medieval, Russian, Chinese and Ancient Greek history should come to UCLA already having done significant work in their major language. Those without such training would have difficulty with their required course work and research, both because of the difficulty of these languages and because these fields require proficiency in two or more foreign languages.
The admission committee looks for a GPA of 3.5 or better for the junior and senior years.
Graduate Record Examination Scores
The verbal and analytical sections of the Graduate Record Examination are most important for admission to the history program. The admissions committee generally expects a GRE verbal score of at least 600 for native speakers of English. For non-native English speakers, the TOEFL exam is required for a better assessment of the student's language capability. The last date to take the paper-based GRE is the October before the application deadline. Please consult the GRE booklet for computer-based test dates. Scores from tests taken in December will not meet the December 15 deadline for submitting a completed file. The GRE codes to select are 4837 (UCLA) and 2799 (History).