Admission to the Ph.D. Program
Students are admitted to the Ph.D. program following successful completion of a Masters thesis and degree in Human Ecology: Consumer Behavior and Family Economics or in an equivalent field. You may apply to the Ph.D. if you are currently enrolled in an M.S. program and anticipate completion prior to entering the Ph.D. program. Students who will have not completed a Masters degree with a thesis prior to admissions should apply to the M.S. program. The statement of purpose should indicate their interest in the Ph.D. program and proposed dissertation topic.
Materials Required for Consideration for Admission by students who will have completed a thesis and obtained a Masters degree from another institution.
On-line application to Graduate School http://info.gradsch.wisc.edu/admin/admissions/
1. Application (on-line only)
2. Application fee (application cannot be processed without this)
3. Graduate Record examination scores (GREs).
4. TOEFL scores for international students
To be sent to Consumer Science Graduate Program
5. An official copy of transcripts from all colleges and graduate schools attended
6. Three letters of recommendation. Each reference in the online application for admission will be sent an email that includes your name with a link to each department?s electronic recommendation form.
7. Applicant's statement of purpose
8. Copy of Masters thesis if completed. If not in English submit a 20-30 page summary of the thesis in English.
Consumer Science Graduate Program
University of Wisconsin
1300 Linden Drive
Madison, WI 53706 USA
The Consumer Science graduate committee reviews all material and provides a recommendation to the Dean of the Graduate School who makes the final admission decision. The e-mail address for the Department of Consumer Science is: csdept@mail.sohe.wisc.edu
Admission Requirements for the Ph.D. in Consumer Science
I. A Masters degree in Consumer Behavior, Family Economics, or a related field.
II. Prior academic work. To prepare the student for graduate work applicants should have successfully completed at least one college-level course in each of the following: introductory microeconomics, intermediate microeconomics, consumer behavior, research methods, statistics, regression analysis, and calculus. Students who fail to meet the minimum course requirements for admission may be admitted with deficiencies.
III. Completion of a research-oriented master's thesis. If the thesis is not written in English, the applicant must provide a 20-30 page substantive summary of the thesis in standard thesis format.
IV. GPA: A minimum Grade Point Average of 3.4 on a 4.0 scale in Masters level work. In exceptional circumstances students with a lower GPA may be admitted if there are other indications of ability to do PhD work.
V. Letters of Recommendation: The letters of recommendation must strongly support the applicant's interest in and promise for successful work for a Ph.D. These letters should all be from individuals familiar with the applicant's academic work and address how the applicant's academic work indicates ability to successfully complete Ph.D. course and dissertation work.
VI. Applicant's Statement: The statement must address why the applicant is interested in pursuing a Ph.D. in this area and at the University of Wisconsin. The statement must explicitly address career goals and area of research interest for their dissertation.
VII. Other experience: nonacademic work should be described if it is directly related to educational and career goals.
VIII. Official GRE scores: We require verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning and analytical writing. GMATs are not accepted in place of GRE scores.
Materials Required for Consideration for Admission by students who will have completed a thesis and obtained a Masters degree from the Consumer Science department at this institution.
1. A letter of application to the Ph.D. program.
2. An official copy of their UW transcripts.
3. Two letters of recommendation that address the applicant's academic abilities and research skills. One of the letters must be from their current advisor.
4. Applicant's statement of purpose. The statement must address why the applicant is interested in pursuing a Ph.D. in this area and at the University of Wisconsin. The statement must explicitly address career goals and area of research interest for their dissertation.
5. Thesis abstract.