MA/MS in Geography

The department requires unofficial transcripts from all institutions in which you took college-level courses. Please scan and submit with your application. The Office of Admissions requires official transcripts from all institutions where you received a bachelor’s degree and all subsequent degrees. Transcripts must show degrees awarded.

Letters of recommendation should be requested from three (3) persons who best know your academic qualifications. Your referees should know you and your research interests and be able to speak to how they have worked with you in the past and your potential for success within, and contributions to, our program.

A 2-3 page statement introducing yourself, discussing your research interests, and explaining how our department will help you best meet your career goals. The statement should combine your intellectual autobiography, relevant experiences, and your vision of what you will do in our program and subsequent to your graduate studies. This statement is the most valuable opportunity to present and distinguish yourself as a qualified individual; thoughtful and carefully written statements provide a better introduction than a laundry list of accomplishments or traits. We are interested in what kind of a geographer you are or want to be, and why it makes sense for you to undertake graduate work with us. You should also indicate faculty whose research interests are aligned with yours and with whom you would like to work. Applications that signal a type or types of specialization within the discipline will be more effective than sweeping statements that affirm that all of geography is of interest or that too broadly stake out potential courses of study. Please note that department policy only allows formal declaration of a primary advisor after the first term of enrollment. While it is important to identify potential collaborations as part of the application process, we believe that a period of mutual familiarization enhances optimal committee selection. Prospective students are encouraged to be in communication with potential advisors prior to submitting your application and to visit the department, if possible, but please be aware that this is supplemental to rather than a substitute for the formal application process and the decision of the Graduate Admissions Committee.

TOEFL/IELTS/Duolingo