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How To Apply

Applying to our program is a two-part process:

Part One

Part One consists of completing an application to the U of I's Graduate College through the on-line application form.

If you don't want to apply online, please mail this part of the application to the Office of Admissions and Records. Their street address is included in the application instructions.

On page 5 of the Graduate College application, please indicate the kind of financial support for which you would like to be considered. You may rank the options in order of importance, or you may indicate that you have no preference. In the Department of French, we generally do not admit more students than we can support with assistantships and/or fellowships.

Part Two

Part Two of the application process consists of sending the following items to the Graduate Student Services Office of the Foreign Languages Building, 3070 FLB, 707 S. Mathews Ave., Urbana, IL 61801:

  1. official transcripts from all institutions of higher education that you have attended (junior college, senior college, university, or graduate school)
  2. a personal statement (2-3 pages, in either English or French) detailing your field of interest
  3. three (3) letters of recommendation, preferably from professors familiar with your work
  4. two (2) writing samples in French (term or research papers, minimum five pages each)
  5. Graduate Record Examination (GRE) scores

Your personal statement should explain the relation between your studies and/or work experience to date and your current interests in French, and your reasons for wanting to obtain a graduate degree in French from our department.

Please read carefully in order to be fully considered as applicants:

For admission consideration, the University of Illinois requires that all applicants whose native language is not English submit a current TOEFL or IELTS score report. This requirement may be waived if, within five years of the term of enrollment, you have completed at least two academic years of full-time study or completed a graduate degree in a country where English is the primary language of instruction. Minimum score requirements for admission are 79 on the TOEFL iBT, 213 on the TOEFL CBT, 550 on the TOEFL PBT, or 6.5 and 6 in all subsections of the IELTS. For more information on English proficiency requirements for admission, please click here.

In order to be considered for a teaching assistantship, the University additionally requires that all international applicants who are not native speakers of English provide evidence of a score of 50 or higher on the Test of Spoken English (TSE). Other exams equivalent to the TSE are the oral section of the new TOEFL iBT (minimum score 24) and the oral section of the IELTS (minimum score of 8). For more information on English proficiency requirements for teaching assistantships, please click here.

You should be aware that some of the tests mentioned above may be given infrequently and/or only in certain locales. You should therefore register for them as early as possible.