Admissions

On your Statement of Purpose (Letter of Intent) you should include your name, address, email address, your home phone number and the telephone number where you can be reached during the day.

All MH/MSS candidates must include a Statement of Purpose along with their application. The Statement should include a few points that make clear to the Committee why you are applying to MH or MSS Program:

• First, describe very briefly your educational background.
• Second, explain why you want to apply to this program rather than to a traditional department.
• Third, tell us something about your academic, intellectual and professional interests. Explain how these interests relate to disciplines within the Humanities (e.g., Philosophy, Literature, English, History, Fine Arts, etc.) or Social Sciences (e.g., History of Social Thought, Sociology, Anthropology, Psychology, Political Science, etc.).
• Fourth (to the extent that you already know), write what topic or area you would like to pursue for your thesis or project.

Be specific and clear in your writing. The Statement should be approximately 1-2 pages.

Because our program is partly designed to accommodate non-traditional students -- i.e., students who have been out of school for several years -- we do not require GRE scores. Therefore, the admission committee places great emphasis on the applicant's writing sample. A writing sample should be your best paper written in college or a piece of writing that clearly demonstrates your analytical and interpretative skills.

Your writing sample should demonstrate your ability to use effective English. Preferably it is a continuous piece of conventional writing (essay/academic paper) grammatically correct, and structured traditionally. It should reflect the candidate's ability for critical analysis (for example, a work of literature, a historical or philosophical text, a sociological problem). The admissions committee uses this writing sample to determine your ability to sustain scholarly research and its expression. Thus, the paper should include an introduction, analysis of the text or problem, a well-honed argument, supporting details, a conclusion, and references. It should be no fewer than 15 pages and no more than 20. It should avoid an excessively personal style.

What sorts of things do not constitute a writing sample? A business plan/proposal/project, technical report, exhibit description, an educational curriculum, poetry.

All applicants who for some reason have problems getting letters of recommendation from former professors or do not have an adequate writing sample should consider the option of registering for one or two courses as a non-degree student at UC Denver; these courses will later count towards your degree if you are accepted into the program. By consent of the director, you may use up to 12 credits taken as a non-degree student towards your degree. All courses must be graduate level. We recommend that you sign up either for Foundations and Theories in Interdisciplinary Social Science or Methods and Practices in Interdisciplinary Social Science (two of the three mandatory courses for students in the MSS Program), or Methods and Practices in Graduate Interdisciplinary Humanities (one of three required course in the MH Program). These courses are recommended regardless of the Program to which you are applying.