To apply, read and/or download the PDF tips on applying, and then apply at https://admissions.msu.edu/apply/graduate-students

An application to the SLS Program requires these elements:

1. Academic Statement Of Purpose (ASOP): Your Academic Statement of Purpose (ASOP) should include information about how your background and life experiences, including, if you’d like, your social, economic, cultural, familial, educational, or other opportunities or challenges, motivate you to pursue a doctorate in Second Language Studies. Write in first person. This Statement should also include your plans for graduate study, your career goals, and how MSU’s SLS Ph.D. graduate program will help you meet your career and academic objectives. Discuss specifically with whom you would like to study in the SLS Program and how your research interests align with that person’s (or faculty members’) current work and research agenda(s). These Statements are normally around 600 to 800 words, but statements of any length are accepted. 
2. You may optionally submit a COVID-19 impact statement, which is explained in the application system. 

(2) Test scores: (i) Enter your GRE test score information, but also officially submit your GRE test scores to MSU (MSU institution code=1465, Department/Field code=2902) through ETS, as described here. If you are unable to take the GRE due to COVID-19’s impacts (closed test centers, inability to take the test due to limited seats), please request a waiver using the “MSU SLS Program GRE Waiver Request Form.” (ii) Also submit official English-language-proficiency test scores (TOEFL or IELTS) if you are a non-native speaker of English. While the SLS Program officially requires TOEFL or IELTS scores (and we are accepting home editions of these tests, that is, the TOEFL iBT Home Edition and the IELTS Indicator), you can take the Duolingo English language test with SLS Program Director approval using this “MSU SLS Program Form to Request to take Duolingo to Prove English Proficiency.” If you have a master’s degree from an AAU institution on a U.S. campus, then you can apply for an automatic English-language test-score waiver. To check if you can have this waiver and/or to apply for this waiver, fill out this form “MSU SLS Applicant form to see if an English language test score is needed.” 

Normally, outside of COVID-19, the SLS Program expects a TOEFL score of 600 on the paper TOEFL, 250 on the CBT, or 100 on the iBT or higher, or an IELTS score of 7.5 or higher (MSU institution code=1465). Normally, the TOEFL or IELTS test must have been taken within two years of the application. Please email Dr. Winke if you have any questions.

(3) References: In the application, you will be directed to register names and email addresses for three recommenders who are familiar with your academic and professional accomplishments and potential for success. At least one recommendation letter must be from a former professor, academic advisor, or other individual familiar with your academic background and abilities. The letters of recommendation must be current and specifically for the MSU SLS Ph.D. Program. After you submit your online application, the system will send an email to each reference containing a link so they can upload their letter of recommendation directly into your application file.  Note that all recommendation letters are due by the application deadline.

International individuals who are admitted to the program will have to additionally upload a completed “Affidavit of Support” if they are not offered funding from MSU, or if they are not seeking funding from MSU. Click on “Financial Proof” here for info. (The Affidavit form will appear for international applicants but not for others.) For the SLS Program, because all applicants are considered for various Graduate Assistantships, which offer funding support, applicants to the SLS Program only have to upload the “Affidavit form” and corresponding “Official Bank Statement” if the applicant is not seeking funding from MSU, or if the applicant does not receive funding from MSU and still wants to attend with their own funding. Thus, you can wait to upload your “Affidavit” and  “Official Bank Statement” (if needed) after you have been accepted into the program. Likewise, international students are asked to upload a photo of their passport information. The SLS Admissions Committee does not need to see your passport information, thus for SLS you do not need to upload the photo of the passport information until after you are admitted. In sum, if you are applying for funding from MSU, the “Affidavit” and “Official Bank Statement” are not needed until we tell you they are needed. If you have any questions about this, email Dr. Paula Winke. 

(4) Resume: You will need to upload your resume  (or CV, which is a curriculum vitae). Please upload this as part of your additional (supplemental) materials. 

(5) Academic Writing Sample: You will need to upload a “Writing Sample,” which can be your MA thesis, a class paper, or a publication.

— You may additionally upload other materials, such as a diversity statement; foreign or second-language teaching materials; course evaluations; syllabi; or examples of your prior work with technology (e.g., website link(s); link to an electronic portfolio, etc. You will see in the online form that you can “Add another” after you upload an additional (supplemental) material. You can also preview or delete files you have uploaded as you prepare your application. 

(6)  Transcripts: You can upload unofficial copies of your transcripts for the SLS Admissions Committee to review. Admission is a two-step process: SLS must first admit you, and then MSU and the MSU Graduate School must admit you based on the SLS Program’s recommendation. If you are admitted to the SLS Program, then you must request Official Transcripts from places where you got a higher education degree before MSU/The Graduate School will act on the SLS Program’s recommendation to admit you to the SLS Program & thus to the University and Graduate School. Because MSU has a decentralized graduate admissions process (this two-step process), the SLS Admissions Committee will ask you to have these institutions send the official transcripts directly to Mr. Ben Lampe if you are admitted to the SLS Program (address below; but note U.S.-institution-generated e-transcripts now are to go to admis@msu.edu; don’t worry if you already sent e-transcripts to Ben, he will get it and upload it for you, but if you have not sent yet, send e-transcripts directly to admis@msu.edu). If your transcript is from China, you must submit transcript verification if you are admitted, as described below. 

Additional information on sending transcripts: Michigan State University accepts electronic and hard copy transcripts from US universities and colleges. If your previous US institutions send electronic transcripts (e-transcripts) from their registrar’s or records office, ask them to send your e-transcript to the MSU Office of Admissions at this email address: admis@msu.edu. International transcripts and diplomas are NOT accepted electronically; the MSU Office of Admissions will require the SLS Program to submit hard copy transcripts and diplomas in sealed institutional envelopes to complete the admissions process for an SLS applicant, and certified translations will be required if these documents are NOT issued in English. Please contact Ben Lampe (lampeben@msu.edu) or Dr. Paula Winke (winke@msu.edu) if you anticipate difficulties in obtaining official documents from your institution. If your transcript is from China, after admission, you must submit transcript verification from the CDGDC and CHESICC as described below

Additional Transcript-Submission Step for Applicants from China: MSU requires an additional step to verify transcripts for applications for admission from students from China. If you are from China, enrollment in the SLS Program will depend upon a verification report of your university academic records with the China Academic Degree and Graduate Education Development Center (CDGDC) and a transcript verification report from the China Higher Education Student Information and Career Center (CHESICC) no later than the middle of the first term of enrollment. If you are admitted, then we encourage you to collect these materials and have them sent to Michigan State University Office of Admissions well before you arrive in the East Lansing area.

China Academic Degree and Graduate Education Development Center
Verification Division

B-17, Tongfang Scientific Plaza 
No.1 Wangzhuang Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100083, P.R. China 
Tel: +86-10-82379480 
Fax: +86-10-82378718 (24 hours) 
Email: cqv@cdgdc.edu.cn 
Website: www.chinadegrees.cn