Admissions

 

  • Admission Standards
  • Deadlines
  • What You Need to Do

We consider undergraduate or graduate grade point average, GRE scores, letters of recommendation, personal statement, and professional experience related to graduate study when making admissions decisions.

Admission into our graduate program offering training for the degree of Master of Science usually requires an undergraduate GPA of at least 3.0, rank in the upper half of graduating class, and good quantitative, verbal, and writing skills (e.g., as evidenced by GRE scores). A Bachelor of Science or Arts in Sociology or a related discipline is required.  Some course work in statistics is preferred. 

Admission into our graduate program offering training for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy requires a Master of Science or Arts degree in Sociology or in a closely related social science, with a GPA of at least 3.5, and good quantitative, verbal, and writing skills (e.g., as evidenced by GRE scores).  A completed Master thesis or a thesis equivalent is required. 

Applicants who fail to meet some of these standards may be admitted on a provisional or restricted basis.  Iowa State University will not admit international students whose native language is not English into the graduate program without a score of at least 550 on the TOEFEL exam.

 

We welcome applications for admission to our graduate program at any time.   The deadline to be considered for spring semester admission is October 1st, and deadline to be considered for fall semester admission is January 10th.  Funding decisions (i.e., decisions about whether a student admitted to the program will be offered a teaching or research assistantship) will be made as soon as funds are available.  In the case of teaching assistantships, these decisions are generally made in concert with the college budget.  Research assistantships are generally funded from sponsored funds, and are made by the department and principal investigator on an as needed basis.  In the past several years, the department has been able to support nearly every student admitted to the program, however there is no guarantee that every student will be funded even if they are admitted.

The Department of Sociology welcomes applications for admission into our graduate program offering training for the degrees Master of Science in Sociology, Master of Science in Rural Sociology, Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology, and Doctor of Philosophy in Rural Sociology.

What you need to do:

  • Take the Graduate Record Exam (GRE) general test, and designate Iowa State University to receive your scores.  To register go to www.ets.org/gre and have your credit card ready.  The cost is $140.  This exam is administered at  many locations in the USA and around the world.
  • Write a personal statement detailing your background, experiences, skills, and goals relevant to graduate study.  You will need to “copy and paste” this prepared statement into your online application.
  • Ask three professors who know your abilities whether they would be willing to write online letters of recommendation for you.  Keep a copy of these professors’ names and email addresses handy because you will need to enter them into your online application. 
  • Complete the Iowa State University graduate online admissions form.  Go to www.admissions.iastate.edu/apply.  Under either the U.S. Citizen or International column, click on graduate.  Click online application.  Create your personal account and then complete the online application form.  Have your credit card ready because you will need to pay an admissions and processing fee.