Admission Requirements

In addition to the criteria below, applicants must complete general graduate admission requirements .

• Applicants for the 36-credit post-MA PhD program must have an MA degree in sociology or a related field from a nationally accredited college or university or its international equivalent. The review committee will admit applicants with degrees in other disciplines at their discretion. Note: Students who apply for admission to the PhD program without an MA from a nationally accredited college or university or its international equivalent must first complete requirements for UMass Boston’s 30-36 credit MA degree in applied sociology. 
• Preference will be given to all applicants whose transcripts show completion of these courses with a minimum undergraduate GPA of 3.25 and graduate GPA of 3.50, taken within the past seven years.
• Three letters of recommendation from persons with whom the applicant has had extensive academic and/or professional contact
• Academic writing sample
• An essay of no more than 1,500 words addressing the following:
  • Specific interest in a PhD in sociology and rationale for pursuing the PhD
  • Current major research and interests in the field of sociology
  • Description of professional post-PhD goals