UW-Madison Department of Kinesiology - Graduate Programs Admission

Applying for Graduate Study in the Department of Kinesiology

The following guidelines are for application to the MS and PhD programs in Kinesiology and Therapeutic Science. Applicants for the Master’s of Science in Occupational Therapy program (MS-OT) must follow different procedures and should visit the Occupational Therapy website to learn more.

Materials required for application to the Graduate Program in the Department of Kinesiology at UW-Madison:

1. UW Graduate School Application, including Kinesiology "supplement" section (submit online to the UW Graduate School) 
2. Personal statement of reasons for graduate study (preferably included with online application to the UW Graduate School)
3. GRE scores (give "institution code 1846" to the GRE provider, ETS, which will transmit your scores to UW-Madison by direct, online communication)
4. Minimum of three letters of recommendation (use the Grad School application to request online letters, where feasible)
5. All university-level educational transcripts (submit them yourself, as detailed below, or instruct the provider to send to the Kinesiology Grad Program, as below)
6. English proficiency test results (if applicable, see below)

Of these materials, numbers 1, 3, and 6 must be submitted online (via the internet/ world wide web). You may submit numbers 2 and 4 online, and this is strongly preferred, although you are allowed to submit email attachments or paper copies to the Kinesiology Department. Number 5, post-secondary-level (college/ university) educational transcripts will be required in official, printed paper format if you are admitted. In the meantime, at the application stage, you may scan and upload your unofficial transcript(s). More detailed information is given below about each of these application components. If you have additional questions, you should feel free to contact us.

Departmental Contact

kinesgrad@education.wisc.edu

Mailing Address:
Kinesiology Graduate Program Office, Rm. 1001
University of Wisconsin-Madison
2000 Observatory Dr.
Madison, WI  53706

Online Application

Kinesiology may recommend an applicant's graduate admission. The UW-Madison Graduate School makes the final admission decision. To apply, you must submit your graduate application online to the UW Graduate School. The Grad School requests specific items in its online application. Please send only the online application items to the Grad School.

While you are doing your UW online application, you will be asked to create a Log-in and Password. Keep track of them! You can use them to return to your submitted application via your online "student center" and check the status of online components, e.g. GRE score arrival or letters of reference.

Standardized Test (GRE) Scores

Kinesiology requires scores from the Graduate Record Exam (GRE) for graduate admission. For general information on taking the exam, please visit the exam provider's website. Kinesiology doesn't set minimum GRE scores. The Kinesiology faculty for any track(s) or specialization(s) that you select will evaluate GRE scores as one factor among many factors in an admission decision. We do require scores for the GRE General Test that has three scored components: Quantitative, Verbal, and Written Analytical. A "subject" test isn't required for a Kinesiology grad application.

You will need to instruct the exam provider to submit official scores online to UW Grad School's web-based student-information system. The exam provider sends official scores directly to UW-Madison. You may give the exam provider "institution code 1846" for UW-Madison. A department should ordinarily have access to your scores by two to four weeks after your exam date. Please note that departments access your GRE scores via your online application. You must complete and submit your application to Grad School before a department can obtain your official GRE scores.

Select and Name your Specialization Interest(s)

If you are admitted to the Kinesiology Grad Program, you will be admitted to a specific Graduate Program Area, sometimes called a specialization or track. You may be admitted either for a research specialization (e.g., Biomechanics, Exercise Physiology, etc.) or for the Non-thesis MS track. Thus, you should write your statement of reasons to persuasively explain why you want Kinesiology faculty to consider you for the program area(s), specialization(s), or track(s) that you name. Then your application will be evaluated by the relevant faculty. You may apply to as many research specializations as you feel you are interested in and qualified for. Consider, however, that a wide range of general interests might diminish your chances of acceptance into a research track where you will be seeking narrow studies and concentrated expertise. Instead, try to assess the prerequisites and research focus of the specialization(s), and then be selective, applying only to the one(s) with which your own background, interests, and goals are most compatible.

Beyond your statement of reasons for grad study, please use the online application's "supplement" portion to expressly name your specialization interest(s), if any. Also use the supplement to state whether you would consider the Non-thesis MS if not accepted to a research specialization, or whether your initial interest is exclusively the Non-thesis MS option. The application supplement should reflect your full range of grad study interest(s) with us.

Advisor Required for Research Admission

To assure strong mentoring from the outset of studies, all Kinesiology grad students who intend to focus on research must have an individual advisor (major professor). The advisor is a graduate faculty member who supervises and evaluates the student's research. An advisor must agree, during the application process, to serve in this capacity. A professor's agreement to advise an applicant, during the initial application review, is required for admission to a research specialization within the Kinesiology Grad Program. Your application does not need to name any specific professor(s) with whom you wish to work. If you wish, however, you may name the specific professor(s) of interest if you feel research compatibility is especially strong. Otherwise, faculty within the specialization(s) that you name will review your application and draw inferences about research compatibility from the way you describe your grad study goals.

Applicants for the Non-thesis MS degree do not require a faculty advisor for admission.

Communicate with Faculty Before Applying

You aren't required to contact any professor(s) before applying, but we believe it's often highly valuable if you do have some direct interaction with your potential advisor(s). 

The Kinesiology website includes brief research profiles of the Grad Program Areas and brief professional biographies of professors. We urge applicants to examine the Grad Program Area(s) and to look carefully at relevant professor biographies. We urge you to read some publications by any professor(s) whose research appears to be compatible with your grad study goals, and who, therefore, could potentially become your advisor. Representative publications are cited in each professor's bio, often with a link to an online version of the publication. We highly encourage you, after examining the profiles, and before applying, to contact the professor(s) whose interests best match your own. Most professors will make themselves available to exchange emails or talk with you on the phone (or in person, circumstances permitting) if you respect their schedules and if you present the kinds of questions and interests that a future scholar might be likely to have.

Prior communication doesn't (necessarily) apply for Non-thesis MS applicants, because they will not typically conduct research or (co-)author publications during their studies. Non-thesis applicants who do have research-related questions are also welcome to contact faculty.

All applicants should direct administrative and procedural questions to the Kinesiology Grad Program Office (graduate secretary), kinesgrad@education.wisc.edu.

Minimum Undergraduate GPA

The Graduate School requires all graduate students to have a bachelor's degree (or equivalent, or higher) prior to entry into "Grad" status at UW. Applications may be made while the bachelor's is in progress, but the degree must be conferred by the time of graduate matriculation.

All applicants must meet a minimum undergraduate Grade Point Average (GPA). The minimum GPA is 3.0 (if the grading scale was A=4.0 as a maximum). 

Applicants whose undergraduate work was evaluated on a grading scale other than A=4.0 may submit transcripts with the original institution's grades, marks, or scores, and UW will convert them on its own. A private transcript evaluation service isn't required.

Transcripts

All university-level educational transcripts are required for an application to the Kinesiology graduate program. Transcripts on paper should be sent directly to the Kinesiology Graduate Program Office, not to the Graduate School. If you are able to scan a personal copy of your official transcript, or if you can obtain an unofficial electronic transcript, you may upload it to your online admission application. The online application includes a "supplement" portion with fields at the bottom for this purpose. If the upload will not work for your transcript format, try a different format, or contact the Kinesiology Grad Program for assistance.

Please NOTE that unofficial transcripts, while acceptable to Kinesiology faculty reviewers, are currently NOT acceptable to Graduate School admissions officials. If the Kinesiology Department recommends your Grad School admission, then we will need your official transcript(s) to send to the Grad School for their final review.

You may avoid potential delays later in the process if you submit your official transcript(s) when you originally apply. Applicants with transcripts from outside the U.S. are particularly urged to do this.

Letters of Recommendation

At least three letters of recommendation are required for an application to the Kinesiology graduate program.The UW-Madison Graduate School accepts online letters of recommendation, and the online application includes instructions on how to use online recommendations. The Grad School considers online letters to be standard, and the Department of Kinesiology strongly prefers them. Kinesiology will, however, accept letters on paper if your circumstances require them. If your recommendation letters will be sent on paper, please be sure to have them sent directly to the Kinesiology Graduate Program Office (mailing address noted above). Do not submit paper letters (or other paper application materials) to the Graduate School (or to any other office or address).

Deadlines

The Department of Kinesiology sets no formal deadline for applications. We admit for the Fall semester (primary) or for the Spring semester. (Exception: The professional MS-OT Program admits only for the Summer Semester; if you are interested in the MS-OT, please immediately re-read the first paragraph on this page.)

You may apply at any time, subject to availability of the online application. Some applicants apply up to a year before their desired admission date. Most applications arrive five to ten months prior to the desired admission date. Faculty for the track(s) or area(s) that you specify in your application may review individual applications as they become complete, or they may consolidate several applications for batched review. Sometimes faculty can reach a decision within a few weeks of an individual application being completed, but most often a review will take several months.

You should plan so you can apply well in advance of the date you wish to begin your graduate studies. While the Kinesiology Graduate Program does not have an application deadline, please be aware that the UW Graduate School does have some deadlines. The Grad School will not consider a department's admission recommendation if it arrives at Grad School too late before the start of classes for the applicant's desired term-of-admission. Too late is roughly defined as: a) for domestic applicants, less than two weeks; and b) for international applicants outside the U.S., less than six weeks. Exact date varies year to year. Do not bring this timing into play by waiting to complete your application. In the Kinesiology Dept. most admissions decisions are reached four to eight months before the start of classes.

If you feel you need a "target" for a Fall admissions application, then aim to have all materials completely submitted (delivered) by March 1. If you will not be able to complete by then, we might still be able to consider you, but the later your application, the greater your benefit in checking with a graduate faculty member of interest about specific circumstances. For general information on timing, see the Graduate School website.

In addition, while there are no departmental deadlines for admission, there are deadlines for applications for competitively awarded scholarships/fellowships. These applications are generally due in January or February. Graduate students who have been accepted into a program are eligible to compete for scholarship/ fellowship awards for their first year of graduate study (as well as for subsequent years). Applicants to the graduate program who wish to be accepted by January should plan to complete their graduate application a minimum of several weeks prior to January of the calendar year they wish to begin graduate study.

English Competency, and Showing of Funds by International Students

Every applicant whose native language is not English, or whose undergraduate instruction was not exclusively in English, must provide evidence of English competence on the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) or accepted alternate. Please see: http://info.gradsch.wisc.edu/admin/admissions/requirements.html.  

International students are subject to United States law that requires a showing of adequate funds to cover all expenses, including tuition, for the expected duration of studies here. The Graduate School enforces this requirement. See, for example: http://info.gradsch.wisc.edu/admin/admissions/financialinfo.html.  If you are an international student required to make a showing of funds, please do NOT submit documentation until the Graduate School specifically instructs you on when, where, and how to do so. That will occur: a) after you complete your application; and b) only if you are recommended by a department for admission. A showing of funds is unnecessary at the first phase of the application process. It can be counter-productive to submit funding information too soon. The amount of funding that an international student must prove is offset by any offer of support that the department might make (for example, a teaching assistantship). In the past, applicants who sent financial documentation before the Graduate School requested it were often required to re-submit fresh documentation when the Graduate School needed it. That can be time-consuming and expensive for the student.

Optional Materials

The online application includes a "supplement" portion with fields at the bottom for the upload of a resume or curriculum vitae (CV) and for the upload of miscellaneous additional items, e.g. writing sample, publications, certificates for awards, honors, or participation in contests or professional education, passport data page, or almost anything else an applicant might have in digital format. While we do not prevent applicants from including optional materials with their applications, generally these materials are unnecessary in an admission application. Required items, as listed and described above, and particularly a carefully written personal statement can normally provide faculty reviewers with a reasonable basis for making an informed admission decision.

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