MS Admissions

Application Procedures

An applicant must meet Graduate School Requirements plus the following departmental requirements to be considered for admission to the program:

  1. An undergraduate major in anthropology comparable to that at UWM.
  2. Three letters of recommendation.
  3. A writing sample such as a relevant term paper, article submission, etc.

Applicants without an undergraduate major in anthropology can meet the first requirement in either of two ways:

  1. By having completed junior-level courses in the three subfields of anthropology (archaeology, biological anthropology, cultural anthropology) with grades of B or better. These courses may be taken at any accredited college or university if they were not part of the applicant’s undergraduate career. Applicants also may take them as special students at UWM. Applicants planning to take such courses should check with the Director of Graduate Studies to verify that the courses will be acceptable.
  2. Applicants lacking courses in anthropology may be admitted to the program and be allowed to take the core classes and advanced seminars without deficiencies under certain conditions. For example, an applicant with an outstanding GPA or very high GRE scores who has an undergraduate major closely related to his or her proposed field of specialization could be admitted under this option.

Students are expected to satisfy deficiency requirements within three semesters of enrolling in the program. Deficiencies are monitored by the Graduate School and the Director of Graduate Studies. No course credits earned in making up deficiencies may be counted as program credits required for the degree.

Application deadlines for admission to the program are January 15th for the following Fall semester and September 15th for the following Spring semester. Applicants requesting financial assistance may have other deadlines to be considered eligible. Contact the department’s Director of Graduate Studies for specific financial aid deadlines.

*UWM Anthropology is no longer requiring GRE scores for Admission.