Application

IPAH admits students for the doctoral (Ph.D.) degree only. For students enrolled in other graduate programs at U-M, we offer a popular Graduate Certificate in Greek and Roman history

The application process for all graduate programs at the University of Michigan is administered by the Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studies. You should consult Rackham's website for Rackham-specific admissions requirements. Once your application is submitted, IPAH's Admissions Committee will review your materials.

The Program does not require a separate application for fellowships that we administer. However, other forms of aid, other fellowships, work/study, and student loans will require separate applications and other financial statements. Consult the web pages of the Office of Financial Aid.

You must submit the application and all other required materials (including transcripts) by December 15 to be considered for admission to IPAH for the following academic year. Incomplete and late applications will be considered whenever possible. The Program admits new graduate students for entrance only in September. All decisions are made by March 15, and you will be able to see online that decisions have been made. Admitted and wait-listed students will be contacted directly via phone or email. All others will receive notification via email.

To apply as a doctoral candidate to the Program, please fill out an application online. Information you submit online will then be available to both the Program and the Rackham Admissions Office.

Rackham program codes for IPAH:

Code: 02410;

Academic Program: Ancient History; Ph.D.

Mail-in paper applications are only available in extreme situations where you are unable to submit online, and after contacting the Program. Please contact the Graduate Coordinator, Sarah Kandell for further information regarding mail-in applications.

In addition to the online application, the following documents are necessary for a complete admissions file:

• Three letters of recommendation (register recommenders during the online application process)
• Statement of Purpose (upload to the online application)
• Personal Statement (upload to the online application)
• Writing Sample (upload to the online application)
• Curriculum Vitae (CV) or Résumé (upload to the online application)
• Official degree transcripts  scan and upload to the online application 
• Education and English Test Scores (TOEFL, IELTS & MELAB)
• Completed Rackham application. 

Three letters of recommendation. Register your three recommenders (even if you are not entirely sure who the third one will be) when you fill out the online application. If you only enter one or two recommenders and click submit, you will not be able to add more names later. We recommend that you enter a placeholder name which you will be able to change in ApplyWeb under the link Review Your Activity. If any of your recommenders will be submitting letters of recommendation by paper, click on this Letters of Recommendation form, which should accompany all letters. Please send letters directly to the Program via US Mail.

Statement of Purpose. Briefly explain the nature of your studies thus far in ancient history and related fields, your primary areas of interest, what you would like to pursue in graduate school, and whether there are any Michigan faculty with whom you would especially like to work. Give the Admissions Committee as clear an idea of your interests as you can. The Statement of Purpose should demonstrate the match between your research and teaching interests and ours. Be as precise as possible in describing your research interests, including area, period, topic or approach, as well as the intellectual issues and historical subjects you wish to explore. Brief background information may also be included. There is no specific page limit, but most applicants provide about 2-3 pages. Upload at the Statement of Purpose page of the online application.

Personal Statement. This essay tells us about you as a person and should not duplicate the Statement of Purpose, which tells us about you as a scholar. What got you interested in ancient history? Who influenced you? How have your background and life experiences motivated your decision to pursue a graduate degree in ancient history at the University of Michigan? For example, if you grew up in a community where educational, cultural, or other opportunities were either especially plentiful or especially lacking, you might discuss the impact this had on your development and interests. Upload at the Personal Statement page of the online application.

Scholarly writing sample. Your writing sample should be a research paper that demonstrates your research interests and academic capabilities: a term paper (ideally, but not necessarily, from a class relevant to ancient history) or an excerpt from a thesis. Writing samples should be no more than 20 double-spaced pages. Please upload your writing sample to the online application.

Curriculum Vitae (CV) or Résumé. This should list the colleges and universities you have attended, as well as teaching and other work experience, research, publications and talks given (if any), special programs, honors and awards, languages, relevant coursework, and any other pertinent information. Upload at the Résumé or CV page of the online application.

Transcripts. Please scan your official or unofficial transcripts and upload them with your online application. This will be sufficient for the Department's admissions file and is our preferred method of receiving your transcripts.** Please include transcripts from institutions from which you received a degree or from which you took courses relevant to your application. (If you decide to have your transcripts mailed to the Department rather than upload them, we must receive them by the due date of December 15th. Please order them well ahead of time to make sure they reach us by the deadline.)

**Should you receive and accept an offer of admission, you will be required to then submit a set of official transcripts to the Program before you begin classes in September.

Test Scores. Applicants are no longer required to submit scores for the general test of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE). 

The institution code for the University of Michigan is 1839. You do not need to specify a department code.

International students must submit scores from the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL, up to two years old) for the International English Language Testing System (IELTS). The Michigan English Language Battery (MELAB) is also accepted, however it is only offered in the U.S. and Canada. It is strongly recommended that applicants use the iBT version of the TOEFL; we no longer accept the computer-based TOEFL.

The minimum requirements for each test are as follows:

• TOEFL: 560 (paper-based)
• IELTS: 6.5
• MELAB: 80

More information on these tests can be found at their respective websites.

We recommend that you take the relevant tests no later than November so the score report can be available by our December 15th application deadline. To avoid possible delays, be sure to record your test scores in the appropriate section of the online application.

The application deadline is December 15.

Please note that you are responsible for the submission of a complete application. You will be able to keep track of which materials for your application have arrived and which ones are still outstanding by consulting your Web Application Status page, to which you will have access once Rackham has received your application and application fee.

Note: All credentials submitted for admission consideration become the property of the University of Michigan and will not be returned in original or copy form.

For any questions regarding application procedures or the status of your application, contact:

Sarah Kandell, IPAH Graduate Program Coordinator

734-615-3181

skandell@umich.edu