All applications for graduate study at UConn must be submitted using our online application system.  To submit your self-managed application, compile all the required documents listed below, read special instructions for domestic and permanent or international applicants, then click on this online application link to complete and submit the online application.  You will be asked to provide a valid credit card for payment of the electronic application fee when you submit your application.

Application Deadline:  December 1

Required Documents

1. A personal statement from the applicant addressing your reasons for applying and your professional plans for the future (to be uploaded).  This document should tell your program’s admissions committee everything you would like to reveal in a personal interview. You should include your career plans, your reasons for undertaking graduate work, your career plans, and how the University of Connecticut’s Special Education PhD program will support you in reaching your career goals. Describe your current research goals and how they align with specific Special Education program faculty members. Indicate one or two faculty members you request as advisors and the reasons for your request. Details about your preparation, your strengths and weaknesses as a student, any academic honors, scholarships, or fellowships you have received, will all be helpful. The committee wants to know information about you that cannot be expressed quantitatively.
2. Three letters of reference from individuals who can address the candidate’s potential for success (to be uploaded)
3. Current resume or vitae (to be uploaded)
4. Unofficial transcript(s) (to be uploaded).  Upload transcripts from the school where you received your bachelor’s degree and any courses taken beyond regardless of whether a degree was received.  Failure to upload transcripts from all educational institutions, regardless of whether or not a degree was received, may be grounds for cancellation of admission.  The most common reason for delayed consideration of applications is failure to upload all required transcripts. Please be sure to include all of your unofficial transcripts with your application.
5. Official college transcript(s) must also be mailed to the Graduate School (see address below). You must submit all applicable, official transcripts (undergraduate and graduate).  Official transcripts become the property of the University. If you attended an international university and have one set of original documents or diploma, you can mail them to the Graduate School and they will make a copy and return the original document(s) to you. Include a request to return the documents and provide a mailing address. If you submitted these documents when applying for admission to a university in the US which you currently attend, the graduate school will accept copies from the registrar or graduate school if they certify that these documents from your prior university were made from the originals.
6. Please note: All official transcripts will be required at the time an offer of admission is given. Scanned, faxed or notarized copies will not be considered as official. Your transcript(s) must meet the following criteria:

• A cumulative grade-point average of 3.0 for your entire undergraduate career or
• A grade-point average of at least 3.0 for your last two undergraduate years or
• Exceptional work in your entire final undergraduate career (3.5 or better) or
• Graduate work with a minimum grade-point average of 3.0 or better

1. After you apply online, please send the Graduate School your Official Transcript(s) in one envelope to: University of Connecticut, Whetten Graduate Center, 438 Whitney Road Ext. Unit 1152, Storrs, CT 06269-1152
2. GRE scores (optional). You should request that your standardized test scores be submitted to UConn. The GRE code for UConn Storrs is 3915. More information on the GRE is available from the Educational Testing Service.
3. When completing the application form, select Education: Educational Psychology (PhD) as the field of study and degree and Special Education as the concentration.

Special Instructions

Domestic and Permanent Resident Applicants

All domestic and permanent resident applicants must complete the Residence Affidavit within the online Graduate School application. Without this, Connecticut residents cannot qualify for in-state tuition rates. If you are not a Connecticut resident, please check the appropriate box within the Residence Affidavit section of the online application.

International Applicants

• English Proficiency:  If you are not a native speaker of English, you must submit evidence of your proficiency in the English language.  You may use the (no more than two years old) results from either one of two standardized tests to satisfy this requirement. If you submit results from the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), you need a minimum overall score of 550 for the paper-based test, or 79 for the Internet-based test. If you submit results from the International English Language Testing System (IELTS), you need an average overall band score of at least 6.5. Only the scores from the Academic Module, not the General Training Module, are applicable. If you submit results from the Person Test of English (PTE) we require and overall score of 53.
• Individual/yearly mark sheets or transcripts (courses and grades, not hours) are required for students who complete their education in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, or Sri Lanka. This should also be uploaded into the online application system.
• If you attended an international university, we require transcripts in both English and the native language of the university. Please note: your application will not be reviewed without both copies of the transcript.
• If you completed a degree and that fact is not contained in your transcript, then we require an official copy of your degree certificate or diploma. This should also be uploaded into the online application system.
• Your admission will not be finalized until all official transcripts, mark sheets, degree certificates and diplomas are received by the Graduate School.

If you have any questions on how to use the ApplyYourself online application system, use the online support link within the application module, or contact the Graduate School at 860-486-3617.