Apply for a PhD in family social science
How to apply
The program requirements below are required by the Department of Family Social Science for graduate school applications to be considered complete.
If you have any additional questions, please e-mail fsosgrad@umn.edu.
International students
The Graduate College Admissions site has information, including English Language Proficiency, Transcripts, and Credentials requirements, to help you complete your application.
Application deadline
PhD and MA/PhD applications are due December 1, 2024 for fall 2025 admission.
NOTE: If you are applying for the MA/PhD program, instructions for your application are on the Master's program How-to-Apply page.
Apply online
(all supplementary information must also be submitted online)
Questions
If you have any additional questions, please e-mail fsosgrad@umn.edu.
Program requirements
The following information is requested specifically by the Department of Family Social Science.
The Graduate Record Examination (GRE) is not required for applicants seeking admission.
- 1. Transcripts / Academic records
- 2. Resume/CV
- 3. English language assessment tests (TOEFL, MELAB, IELTS)
- 4. Letters of recommendations
- 5. Personal statement
- 6. Diversity statement (all applicants)
- 7. Optional: Diversity of Views and Experience (DOVE) Fellowship
- 8. Application fee waiver request
1. Transcripts/Academic records
Upload in Academic History section of online application.
You must upload unofficial transcripts or academic records for each higher learning institution where you have earned credit, including partial or incomplete transcripts.
Transcripts are evaluated for:
- GPA: 3.0 or higher (on a 4.0 scale) preferred The most competitive applications will have higher GPAs.
- Significant social and behavioral coursework strongly preferred: i.e., family and consumer sciences, human development, psychology, economics, sociology.
- Coursework in research methods as well as statistics, including two courses in advanced statistics and/or research methods. This coursework ideally includes descriptive statistics, inferential statistics, probability, correlation, ANOVA, or regression.