Graduate Admissions FAQ | Department of French & Italian

Thank you for your interest in pursuing graduate study at the University of Illinois!

Below is a list of frequently asked questions from graduate applicants in French or Italian. Please take a moment to look them over, and if you do not find the answer to your question here, you should contact our Director of Graduate Studies.

1. Do I need to take the GRE?

Applicants are not required to take the GRE.

2. Does your department/program have minimum required scores on the GRE?

The Department does not have minimum required scores on the GRE. We have found that the GRE is not the best predictor of academic success in our programs, so we do not consider it in admissions decisions. If you have already taken the GRE and happen to have very high scores, it could help you to be more competitive for campus-level fellowships. In that case, you may include your GRE scores in your application.

3. Do I need to take the TOEFL or IELTS and what are the minimum required scores on the TOEFL or IELTS?

The Graduate College of the University of Illinois requires international degree-seeking applicants who are not native speakers of English to take either the TOEFL or the IELTS, unless they were

raised in one of the countries on this list of approved countries with English as a primary language, or
have completed at least two years of full-time study at an English language medium of instruction university in an English-speaking country no more than 5 years prior to the semester of first enrollment at the University of Illinois.

In order to be admitted with full status, students must have a minimum of 103 total on the TOEFL iBT or a 7.5 total on the IELTS. A student who does not meet the English proficiency requirement for admission may be admitted on limited status (minimum score of 79 on the TOEFL iBT or 6.5 on the IELTS) and be required to take the English as a Second Language Placement Test (EPT) prior to enrolling at Illinois.

Additionally, in order to hold a Teaching Assistantship, by Illinois law, students must receive at least a 24 on the speaking sub-section of the TOEFL, or an 8 on the speaking sub-section of the IELTS.

4. Do I need to do anything special to be considered for scholarships (fellowships) and teaching assistantships?

No. We automatically consider every applicant for all possible forms of financial aid, including scholarships (fellowships) and teaching assistantships. In the online application system, you will be asked to indicate your preference in rank order, but please be assured that we consider all students for all funding possibilities.

5. Can I start your MA or PhD program in Spring rather than Fall?

No. All incoming students join the MA or PhD program in the Fall.

6. How many students do you accept each year?

Because we accept only as many students as we can support with financial aid (fellowships, teaching assistantships, or research assistantships), the exact number of students we can accept varies from year to year. It is determined primarily by how much funding we have available and how many students graduated during the previous academic year. In recent years, we have typically accepted around 5 graduate students per year in total, across all of our MA and PhD programs.

7. What do the profiles of successful applicants look like?

There is no one profile that describes our students. That said, all of our students have strong language skills (in writing and speaking) and come highly recommended by their letter writers.

At the MA level, we accept students with a range of academic backgrounds. Usually MA students have majored in one of the languages of our program, although this is not always the case. Our MA programs provide broad training in the areas of French Studies, French Applied Linguistics, or Italian Studies, so no special focus is expected for students coming into the MA.

At the PhD level, we look for students to have a clear idea of the specific area in which they intend to focus their research (although this may change during the course of the PhD program) within the fields of French Studies, French Linguistics, French SLATE, or Italian Studies. Applicants to the PhD should make clear the synergy between their research interests of the applicant and those of one or more of our faculty.

8. What application materials do I need to submit?

Unless you are currently a graduate student in a University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign program, you will complete your application and submit all materials online, through Apply Yourself. If you are a current graduate student in a University of Illinois program, contact SLCL Graduate Student Services for application instructions.

In addition to filling out information about yourself, the application will require you to submit the following:

2 statements of purpose: 1 Academic and 1 Personal

Academic Statement of Purpose: In either English or French/Italian (maximum 1000 words), please describe: (1) the substantive scholarly questions you are interested in exploring in graduate study, (2) your academic background, intellectual interests, and any training, research, or other experiences that have prepared you for graduate study, (3) how our program would help you achieve your intellectual goals, (4) any specific faculty members, if applicable, whose research interests align with your own interests, and (5) your professional goals.

Personal Statement: In English (maximum 500 words): The University of Illinois strives to cultivate graduates and future alumni to be responsible citizens and leaders who value knowledge, creativity, global awareness, and social and cultural understanding. Please use the personal statement to describe how your personal background and experiences influenced your decision to pursue a graduate degree. Provide insight on your potential to contribute to a community of inclusion, belonging, and respect in which scholars with diverse backgrounds, perspectives, abilities, and experiences can learn and collaborate productively and positively together.

CV / resume
Transcripts

Provide scanned copies of your transcripts (a complete list of all the courses you have taken and the grades you received) and any certificates of degree completion or diplomas for all post-secondary schools attended (undergraduate and graduate programs). English translations should be provided when applicable, preferably from the school attended. We will accept translations done by the applicant. They should follow the same format as the original document. Official documents (original or “attested” copies) will be required if you are admitted.

2 writing samples

Minimum five pages each, in the form of two papers (such as a term paper or research paper), at least one of which must be written in French or Italian.

Letters of recommendation

We require 3 letters, preferably from professors familiar with your work. When you fill out the online application, you will include email addresses for all of your references. They will automatically receive emails from Apply Yourself with instructions on how to upload their letters of reference to your online application. If they do not receive this email or have trouble uploading their letters, they should contact SLCL Grad Student Services.

English test scores (international students)

Please see question 3 above.

Application fee

You will be able to pay the application fee through the secure website by credit card.

9. Can you waive the application fee?

The University of Illinois is unable to offer waivers of the application fee.

10. What is the application deadline?

There are two application deadlines each year: one in mid-December and one in late February. The exact dates are updated yearly for French and for Italian. In order to be considered for the full range of funding opportunities including competitive University of Illinois fellowships, you are encouraged to apply by mid-December. Applications will still be considered, including guaranteed financial support through departmental fellowships and teaching assistantships, until late February. Please ensure that all your application materials (including your letters of recommendation) are in the system by this time.

11. What happens if I miss the priority deadline?

We do not close the application portal after the priority deadline. Instead, we continue to accept applications until all of our available spots have been filled. So don’t worry if you missed the priority deadline. Some campus fellowships are no longer available after the priority deadline, but the department still accepts (and funds) graduate students who apply after that date.

12. Do I need to submit official transcripts with my application?

No. For application purposes, you can submit unofficial transcripts. If you are accepted, you will then be asked to provide official transcripts when you enroll for your first semester on campus.

13. Do I need to submit a certified English translation of my transcripts with my application?

No. If your transcripts are in a language other than English, we request an unofficial translation, which you are free to do yourself. We ask that you follow the format of the original document so that we can see a line-by-line comparison of the original and translated document.

If you are admitted to our program and your final official transcript is not in English, you will be asked to provide a translation and have it verified here. (You can do the translation yourself, or have it done professionally, but either way it must then be verified by faculty on campus.)

14. I am still working toward my BA or MA. Can I still apply or do I need to wait until my degree has been conferred?

You do not need to wait until your degree is conferred to apply, as long as you complete all your current degree requirements by the Fall when you begin our program.

15. Do my recommendation letters have to be written in English?

Strictly speaking, no. Our admissions committee can read French and Italian, so for consideration by the committee, the letters do not need to be written in English. However, if you are nominated for competitive fellowships from the University of Illinois, other campus-level committees will evaluate your application package, including your letters of recommendation. So if at all possible, have your recommenders write in English.

16. How do my recommenders submit their letters?

In the online application system, you will enter the contact information for your letter writers, including email addresses. Once you submit your application, the system will automatically send an email containing a link to each recommender. They will use the link to upload a letter to your file.

If your recommenders do not receive the link or have trouble uploading the letter, they should contact SLCL Graduate Student Services at slclgradservices@illinois.edu.

17. When will I find out whether I have been accepted to the program?

We notify students (by email) as soon as we can. Because admissions is a “rolling” process, meaning that we continue to accept students until we have filled all of our available spots, it is unfortunately not possible to give you a set date by which you will hear from us. All admissions decisions are communicated by mid-April.

18. How much will it cost me to complete an MA or PhD?

Because we only accept as many students as we can support financially, there is very little cost to you to get an MA or PhD here. All students have a teaching assistantship, a research assistantship, a fellowship, or a combination, and receive a stipend in the form of a monthly paycheck. Students are responsible for paying al small amount of fees per semester, and these fees cover access to student services, such as the gym and the health center.

19. What is the academic year stipend for teaching assistants?

Graduate students on our campus are unionized through the Graduate Employees' Organization. The minimum stipend for teaching assistants for academic year 2025-2026 will be $24,200. This stipend typically increases each year. The academic year is August 16 to May 15 (9 months).

20. Can I live (well) on the teaching assistant stipend?

Yes! Living in Champaign-Urbana is significantly cheaper than living in the areas where many of our peer institutions are located. Keep this in mind when you are comparing offers from other programs. We recommend that you look at a cost of living calculator to make an informed decision. Many are available free on the internet, and you can find some by Googling “cost of living calculator”.

In our experience, students can live comfortably (albeit frugally) on the teaching assistant stipend.

21. Is summer funding available for graduate students in French & Italian?

Yes! All our graduate students in good academic standing receive guaranteed summer funding during the 3 months when the academic year is not in session (May 16 to August 15) for a minimum of $3,500, which can be in the form of teaching assistantships, research assistantships, fellowships, or a combination. These are typically waiver-generating appointments and carry a partial coverage of summer health insurance. In addition to their guaranteed funding, MA and PhD students can apply for additional summer travel funding for research or conferences.

22. What research resources are available in your program?

No matter which program you are considering, Illinois has an excellent array of resources to help you do world-class research. Here are just a few highlights:

Illinois has one of the largest university libraries in the country, with more than 24 million items. Many collections (e.g., our holdings on Marcel Proust) are world-renowned. You will rarely find that you can’t find what you are looking for at our library, and if you should need something not in our collections, you have easy access to request materials from interlibrary loan.
Our students have access to a number of research labs (in our own building) with state-of-the-art equipment for conducting scientific research:

23. What kind of research support/funding is available to students in your program?

There is a wide array of research support/funding available to our students, almost all of it on a competitive basis.

Here are some of the most common sources of funding that our students receive:

Pre-Dissertation Support

Conference Travel Awards (to provide funds for students to travel to conferences to present their research)
Foreign Language Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowships (summer and academic year fellowships to enable students to focus on studying critical, less commonly taught languages). Students in our programs often get these to study Italian, Arabic, and other languages that fit with their research interests.

Dissertation Support

Graduate College Dissertation Travel Grant (to help cover the cost of travel related to dissertation research, at either the dissertation proposal stage or at the final data collection stage)
Graduate College Dissertation Completion Fellowship
SLCL Dissertation Completion Fellowship

Both Dissertation Completion Fellowships are open to students during the last year they will be writing their dissertation. The awards provide a generous stipend ($25,000) to enable students to focus solely on their dissertation, without having any teaching or other work obligation.

24. Why should I choose Illinois over other programs?

Here are just a few reasons:

Excellent research facilities
Dedicated, well-published faculty
Affordable cost of living
All accepted students receive funding so out-of-pocket costs are minimal

25. What kinds of jobs do graduates from your MA and PhD programs get?

Our graduates find jobs in a range of academic institutions, from large research universities to liberal arts colleges, as well as in government and the private sector, attesting to the depth, breadth, and portability of our students’ training. To see where our recent MA and PhD graduates are now, take a look at our latest placements in French and Italian.

26. How long does it take to complete the MA?

Our MA programs are designed to be completed in four semesters (2 years).

27. How long does it take to complete the PhD?

Students typically take 4-5 additional years beyond the MA to complete the PhD. The timeframe depends largely on the extent to which the student knows what they want to focus on when they begin the program and on the nature of the research required.

28. What are the requirements of your MA programs?

All of our MA programs require 32 credit-hours of coursework (where each course is worth 4 credit-hours). Specific requirements vary for French Applied Linguistics, French Studies and Italian Studies.

29. What are the requirements of your PhD programs?

All of our PhDs programs require 64 credit-hours of coursework (where each course is 4 credit-hours), including dissertation research. Specific requirements vary for French Linguistics, French SLATE, French Studies and Italian Studies.

30. I don’t have an MA. Can I apply directly to the PhD?

No. If you do not have an MA in the field in which you intend to pursue a PhD, you should apply to our MA program. This is to ensure that you have sufficient background to be successful at the PhD level. If you are in one of our MA programs and you decide to apply to one of our PhD programs, you can do so through an internal (free) application process during the Fall of your second year in the MA program.

31. I’m not sure whether to apply to the MA or the PhD. What should I do?

Typically, if you have a MA in French or Italian or in a closely related field, you should apply to the PhD. If you do not have an MA in the field, you should apply to the MA program. If you are unsure which to choose, please contact the Director of Graduate Studies for guidance.