Admissions

Application to the PhD program involves submitting official transcripts of all undergraduate and graduate coursework, letters of recommendation, and a written response to the department's questionnaire (this replaces the Candidate's Statement of Goals in the application form, and is an important component of the application process--see below). Submission of recent scores on the Graduate Record Examination (GREs) is recommended, but is not required. Applicants may be asked to come for an interview with the Reading Department faculty as an integral part of the admissions process. In addition to the general university requirements for admission to doctoral study, the Reading Department values; teaching experience, knowledge of classrooms and schools, and some form of teaching certification; evidence of academic preparation for doctoral study in literacy; evidence of commitment to learning, research and making a difference.

Applications to the PhD program are accepted at any time of the year; during the academic year, expect a decision within a month of the Department receiving a completed application. Decisions take longer when applications are submitted during the summer or when the University is not in session (e.g., during the winter or spring breaks). The Department's review committee only meets during regular semesters, so an application that comes in during the summer session is reviewed in late August or early September; applications submitted over the winter break are reviewed in late January.

Applications for the PhD program can be downloaded from Graduate Admissions link on the main Albany website: www.albany.edu

PhD Questionnaire

download editable version here (MS Word format)--revised 5/16/07

The Reading Department requires that you substitute written answers to the following questionnaire in lieu of GRE scores and the Candidates Statement of Goals on the application form for our doctoral program:

1. What are your goals for advanced study, and what led to their development?

2. How will attending the University at Albany, rather than some other University help you to attain your goals?

3. Tell us about your teaching experiences.

4. Who or what have been major influences on your thinking about literacy and its development. In what ways have they influenced your thinking and teaching?

5. Tell us about yourself as a reader and as a writer.

6. Is there anything in your academic, work, or life experiences that you would like the department to take into consideration as they review your application?

Note: be sure that you type your full name and birthdate on a cover page, and your full name on each page of your responses (this is to ensure that your responses to these questions are correctly matched to your application if submitted separately from other documents. The cover page will be removed prior to the Department’s review.)