Admission requirements

Admission to PhD Program

Before being admitted to the PhD program in health sciences, the applicant must meet the requirements for admission to the Toulouse Graduate School specified in the Admission  section of the graduate catalog. Applying to the program is a two-part process. First, prospective applicants for the Health Sciences PhD program must obtain and file an application for admission to the UNT Toulouse Graduate School. Second, applicants must obtain and file a separate application, available from the Rehabilitation and Health Services department web site, for admission to the health sciences program. No specific undergraduate or graduate major is required. However, applicants for the PhD program in health sciences should have completed 30 hours of graduate course work beyond the undergraduate degree or attained a master’s degree or equivalent professional degree.

GRE Score

An official and competitive GRE score, no more than five years old by date of application, is required from all applicants.

English Proficiency (TOEFL) Score

All international applicants are expected to complete the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), or an equivalent official English proficiency exam. The English proficiency exam should be no more than two years old from the date of application.

Applicants are expected to have a minimum of 79 IBT on the TOEFL and be in the 7^th band or above on the IELTS. The UNT institutional TOEFL code is 6481.

An official and competitive GRE score, no more than five years old by date of application, is required from all applicants.

There are only two waivers of this requirement for international applicants.

First, international applicants are waived from submitting the English proficiency score if international applicants have completed an undergraduate or graduate degree from a college or university in the United States.

Second, international applicants are waived if they reside in a country whose official governmental language is English AND whose education has been entirely in English. Prospective applicants should review an updated list of countries whose citizens meet the waiver criteria for English proficiency.

Statement of Vision, Goals, Rationale and Achievements

All applicants to the PhD program in health sciences are expected to prepare a written personal statement describing their reasons for applying to the program. Applicants should address previous academic and professional experience, research interests and experience, future vocational goals, and any information about your background, interests, and training you believe is relevant to your success in this program.

Writing sample

In addition to the written essay, all applicants are required to provide a writing sample of scholarly work—examples include a research paper, article or other examples of academic and scholarship ability.

Transcripts

Local applicants must submit official transcripts from all U.S.-based colleges and universities attended, including any graduate program in which the applicant was enrolled for admission. These transcripts must be certified, signed or stamped as official by the university’s Registrar’s Office.

International applicants and U.S. citizen and permanent resident applicants with an international degree must submit an official attested photocopy of academic documents such as a transcript, diploma, mark sheets, provisional degree certificate and/or your final degree certificate, in a school sealed envelope with the school seal stamped on the back side of the envelope.

The applicant’s GPA from his/her last 60 semester credit hours or last 90 quarter credit hours will be used as a part of the admission committee’s review for competitiveness for admission.

Resumé

All applicants are expected to provide a detailed resumé of all employment and volunteer history. This resumé may be submitted with the online department application, or you can submit a hard copy by mail or e-mail. Work experience is not required for admission to the PhD program; however, prior work and volunteer experience is considered highly beneficial.

Letters of Recommendation

Three professional letters of recommendation (two from former professors and one from current or past employer or community leader) are required for admission to the PhD program in health sciences. Letters of recommendation may be submitted with the online department application, or applicants can submit a hard copy by mail, or e-mail.

Personal Interview

All applications will be reviewed by the program’s Admissions Committee to guarantee the selection of the most qualified applicants based upon a holistic review of the items listed above. Multiple factors are considered by the Admissions Committee when evaluating applicants. The factors that are considered most important include an applicant’s research experience and interests, the applicant’s motivation for research and the applicant’s likelihood of success in the program. After the initial screening, an interview with prospective candidates will be conducted with selected faculty members, either in person or via video conferencing.

General degree requirements

The Health Sciences PhD program is a 51-credit hour program.

Specific requirements include:

• 18 semester hours in foundation core courses covering health disparities across populations and various research designs and statistical analyses relevant in the field of health sciences
• 15 designated semester hours in the student’s chosen concentration
• 9 semester hours of approved electives
• A minimum of 9 semester hours of dissertation