Question: Is there a deadline for graduate assistantship and application for admission into your graduate program?
If you are applying for admission and funding opportunities, we will need your complete application by January 5, for fall consideration.
Question: What are your GRE reporting codes?
School code: 2660
Department code: 4506
Question: Can I apply to your program if my undergraduate degree is not in a communication discipline?
Yes. Several applicants have degrees in disciplines other than communication studies. Related disciplines include Sociology, English, Family Studies, Philosophy, Psychology, among others.
Question: Is there a separate form for the letters of recommendation.
There is no official recommendation form. We ask that recommendation letters be written by individuals familiar with your professional and educational qualifications, and your promise as a scholar. The letters should be written on stationary that has a letterhead from the organization or institution with which the person writing the letter is affiliated. Three letters of recommendation are required; additional letters may be beneficial.
Question: Can recommendation letters be sent directly to me, included with all of my other application material and sent in one packet?
Yes, if the recommenders have sealed the envelope and signed their name across the seal.
Question: What
is the difference between this department in the College of the
Liberal Arts and the
This department has rich traditions in both the scientific and rhetorical pursuit of communication questions, with particular strengths in the following areas (listed alphabetically):
- HEALTH
COMMUNICATION: Social Influence, Health Campaigns, Doctor-Patient
Communication, Organizational Communication in Health Care Settings,
Health Message Design
- INTERCULTURAL
COMMUNICATION: Intergroup Communication, Ethnicity and
Identity, Rhetoric of Culture, Language and Culture, International
Communication, Ethnicity and Health
- INTERPERSONAL/FAMILY
COMMUNICATION:
Parent-Child Communication, Lifespan Communication, Family Dynamics,
Divorce and Family Communication Systems, At-Risk Behavior in
Intimate Relationships, Dialectics of Disclosure and Avoidance,
Uncertainty and Information Management
- RHETORIC: Political Discourse, Social Movements, Rhetoric of the Media, Rhetorical Criticism, Rhetorical Theory (classical and modern), History of Public Address
The
Question: I am very interested in joining your graduate program and am attaching my resume and information regarding my qualifications. Could you please review these and indicate whether I will be admitted into your program?
We are not able to answer your question about admission directly, as admissions and assistantships are awarded on a competitive basis from semester to semester. We have a Graduate Admissions Committee that reviews the applications submitted each semester and decides which applicants meet the necessary qualifications for admission. In order to do that, all application material is required before review.
You can find the admissions qualifications on our website at http://cas.la.psu.edu/grad/admissions.html.
Question: How are assistantships and other funding opportunities awarded and what are the qualifications needed to receive such funding?
Our department has a limited number of departmental assistantships that are awarded on a competitive basis. The application requirements are described on our website: http://cas.la.psu.edu/grad/admissions.html. Although preliminary admission decisions are made separate from funding decisions, final admission for full-time status requires that the applicant also be accepted for funding. In terms of procedure, the Graduate Admissions Committee reviews your application and decides whether you meet the necessary qualifications for preliminary admission. Once the Committee decides that you meet the qualifications for preliminary admission, they then consider students for departmental assistantships and may nominate students for other funding opportunities outlined here http://cas.la.psu.edu/grad/fundingopps.htm. There are always fewer funding opportunities available than there are student applications. Decisions regarding funding are strongly affected by available funds, which vary from year to year. The Committee reviews students on the perceived fit of the student for our program, strength of the application, GRE scores, GPA, and letters of rec., among other evidence of promise. Applicants are encouraged to clearly identify their area(s) of interest in the statement of purpose. While the Graduate Admissions Committee makes final decisions on admission and funding, all faculty members are involved in the process of decision-making. Generally, the committee tries to balance the number of students admitted across the areas of faculty expertise.
Question: What type of assistantship is the most common? Are there research assistantships?
The most common type of funding is a half-time teaching assistantship. A half-time teaching assistantship is responsible for 3 sections over two semesters. Students typically start teaching in our public speaking courses. We also have a small number of research assistantships support by grant funding; the specific number of these assistantships varies according to the funding status of the faculty’s grant projects. Students funded through research assistantship either get a reduction in teaching or get released from all teaching responsibilities during the time of their funding as a research assistant. Of course, many students work informally with faculty, either as part of research teams or independently. We have a strong culture of collaboration, both among our graduate students and between our students and faculty. .
Question: What's the combined MA+ PhD program?
It's actually two separate degrees; students complete an MA thesis, receive their MA degree and submit an abbreviated application requesting to continue onto the PhD. This offers both the student and the faculty a natural point to decide whether to continuing onto the PhD is in the best interest of the student. Students who are interested in continuing onto the PhD and have impressed the faculty during their MA are nearly guaranteed admission and continued support for the PhD. We link the two degrees because our program is not particularly well suited for students who know they want to stop after the MA. Of course, we always also welcome students who have already completed their MA and wish to pursue their PhD in our program.
Question: Would it be possible for you to send a catalog or brochure to me?
Yes, although the brochure has much less information than what you can access online. Nevertheless, if you do want a hardcopy brochure, you may contact the program staff assistant, Wendy Harter, at casprogram@psu.edu and request one.
In addition, the Graduate Degree Programs Bulletin for the University is available at: http://www.psu.edu/bulletins/whitebook/
Question: How many students apply to the department/program every year?
There has been an average of 100 completed applications in the last couple of years.
Question: What aspects of prospective students will you pay most attention to?
We are looking for the best qualified students whose research interest matches with our ongoing projects and faculty interests. Each aspect of the application materials is important and we consider all aspects of an applicant’s promise to excel in a premier doctoral program. Thus, it is important that a student has a very strong academic record, that the student has shown that he/she is productive, that the GRE/TOEFL scores are strong, that the student has a good GPA, that the student presents a strong, specific, and focused statement of purpose, and that the recommendation letters are strong.
Question: What are the average GPA, and average scores
of TOEFL and GRE of admitted applicants in the past?
Averages for applications in Fall 2007 were:
- GPA of the applicants that were accepted was 3.64
- GRE Verbal score of the applicants that were accepted was 601
- GRE Quantitative score of the applicants that were accepted was 686
- GRE Analytical score of the applicants that were accepted was 630
- GRE Analytical Writing score of the applicants that were accepted was 5.5
- TOEFL score of the applicants that were accepted was 253 (computer-based); 610 (paper-based); 102 (internet-based)
Question: What is the minimum TOEFL score requirement
for the Department? Are applicants ever exempt from submitting
a TOEFL score?
The minimum scores are 600 for the paper-based test, 250
for the computer-based test, and 100 for the internet-based test
(iBT).
International applicants are exempt from the TOEFL requirement
who have received a baccalaureate or a masters degree from a
college/university/institution in any of the following: Australia,
Belize, British Caribbean and British West Indies, Canada (except
Quebec), England, Guyana, Republic of Ireland, Liberia, New Zealand,
Northern Ireland, Scotland, the United States and Wales.
Question: How long does it take to complete the MA? The PhD? How long is financial assistance provided?
Students coming to our program with a BA or BS typically complete their PhD in five years. Students coming to our program with an MA or MS typically complete their PhD in four years. We are not well suited for students who want to stop their education at he MA level, but students who do so are able to complete the MA in two years.
The number of years of financial support available to graduate assistants in good standing typically is five years for the MA+PhD and four years for those entering with a completed MA.
Question: Does the department provide support for student research?
We realize that the continued strength of our department is tied in part to the ability of our students to excel as scholars. As such, we offer research support at several levels. These offerings include funding awards for specific projects, dissertation releases from teaching, travel grants, generous access to office supplies and photocopiers, access to computer and research equipment, among others. You can find information on the Communication Research Lab (available for use by both faculty and students) at: http://cas.la.psu.edu/CRL/crlmainpage.html
Question: Does the department provide support for students traveling to professional meetings?
We provide our students with travel funding for presentations at international, national, and regional conferences.
In addition, the College of the Liberal Arts makes travel awards available on a competitive basis.
