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Frequently Asked Questions
What are my chances of being admitted to your programs?
And what are my chances of receiving financial
support?
Admission is decided by a departmental committee, not individual faculty members
or research groups, and is based on many factors including GRE scores, GPA,
letters of recommendation, research experience, work experience, publications,
and written English abilities. We receive many applications and competition
is stiff for admission into our graduate programs.
While
many factors are taken into account, the candidate's
academic record, test scores, and letters of recommendation
are especially important. Due to the competitive
nature of the admissions process, the minimum requirements
provided by the state do not reflect the average
qualifications of students admitted to our programs.
The minimum requirements can be found in the graduate
catalog. However, as a rough guideline, most of the
students we admit have a combined verbal and quantitative
section score of 1200 GRE General Test (Analytical
Writing, Quantitative, and Verbal), and have a GPA
of 3.0 or higher (on a 4.0 scale). It is possible
to be admitted even if you are below these guidelines
in some areas, if your application is especially
strong in other areas. Conversely, there is no assurance
that you will be admitted even if you exceed all
of these guidelines because of all the other factors
involved (e.g., other aspects of your academic record
and the strength of the applicant pool in any given
year). We offer financial support to a high percentage
of our admitted students.
Am I required to take the Subject GRE test, also known as the Advanced
GRE?
No. You are required to take only the
general GRE test.
Is the GRE
Computer-Based Test acceptable, or must I take the Paper-Based
Test version?
You may take the Computer-Based Test, though because of a recent security breach
in the computer-based General Test, the paper-based test may be required in your
area.
What is the role of the Personal Statement (Goal Statement) in
evaluating my application? Do you have any suggestions for what I should write
in this section?
The personal statement (goal statement) is your opportunity to tell
us about your reasons for pursuing graduate studies, and any specific areas
of research interest. It helps us to understand the mix of interests in our
pool of applicants and, sometimes, to get additional input from faculty who
may have related interests. As a general rule, overly enthusiastic letters
expressing very long term objectives and opinions tend to be discounted. A
short, specific letter that is backed by other elements of the application
is most effective.
How can I track the progress of my application?
Your pre-application will be evaluated by the Graduate Admissions
Committee in your program of interest. You will receive an email detailing
the decision of that group and directions on how to proceed in the application
process within two weeks of submitting your pre-application. If you do
not hear about your pre-application progress
send an email to gradengr@mail.ucf.edu and include your
full name, birthdate, term of application, and date of submission.
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