raduate Admissions

Contact about the graduate program can be made via phone, fax, mail, or email.

Latin American and Iberian Studies program office
Phelps Hall 4206
University of California
Santa Barbara , CA 93106-4150 USA

Graduate Advisor, (805)893-3162
Program Director, (805)893-7320
Fax: (805)893-8341
LAISgradadv@lais.ucsb.edu
LAISDirector@lais.ucsb.edu

Item	Submit to Graduate Division	Submit to LAIS
1. Application	x
2. Application fee	x
3. Statement of Purpose (2 copies)		x
4. Three letters of recommendation		x
5. Writing sample		x
6. TOEFL scores (foreign students)	x
7. GRE scores	x
8. Two official transcripts from each school listed on your application		x
9. Submit free application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), available at http://www.fafsa.ed.gov

1. Complete the on-line application and send the application fee to:

Graduate Division
University of California
Santa Barbara CA 93106-2070

Download the application from the Graduate Division website: www.graddiv.ucsb.edu

2. Send all other materials DIRECTLY to:

Graduate Admissions
Program in Latin American and Iberian Studies
University of California
Santa Barbara , CA 93106-4150 USA

3. It usually takes six weeks to process your application after the program has received all the materials listed above. Students applying for financial aid are strongly encouraged to complete their applications early. All materials must arrive in the program office by January 15.

4. Completion of the undergraduate major in Latin American and Iberian Studies is desirable but not necessary. Undergraduate deficiencies as stipulated by the LAIS committee must be remedied within the first year and do not count toward the minimum course requirements for completion of the M.A.

5. The GRE general test (verbal, quantitative, and writing) is required for graduate admission to UCSB. Plan to take the GRE early (at least by October if you plan to apply for merit-based financial awards) since it takes six to eight weeks for the testing service to process your scores and send them to us. GRE scores are just one component of your overall application. Students with the highest scores are the most competitive for merit-based fellowships. Admission is not guaranteed on the basis of high scores alone, nor do lower scores necessarily disqualify a candidate.

6. The Graduate Division of the University requires applicants to have a minimum GPA of 3.0 for the junior and senior years. Students with a lower GPA are still considered for admission, but a waiver must be obtained from the Graduate Division on a case by case basis, based on the overall record.

7. The statement of purpose is a key element in your application. Be specific in your statement of purpose. Your statement of purpose should include why you are interested in pursuing the M.A. in Latin American and Iberian Studies at UCSB, how your educational and other life experiences have shaped your aspiration to attend graduate school, and how the LAIS program fits your career goals. If you have contacted a UCSB faculty member who teaches in the program, please include that information.

Your statement of purpose should specify as precisely as possible your research interests, including general field(s) (e.g. history, literature, social sciences, the arts), time period, and geographical interest. Examples are nineteenth-century Spanish American literature; history of Chicano/a art; comparative 20 th-century revolutions in Latin America; race and ethnicity in modern Brazil ; and early modern Portuguese history. Faculty members on the Admissions Committee give these statements close scrutiny, especially to see whether student and faculty interests coincide.

Other types of information can be included. If there are gaps or anomalies in your record that might potentially cause the Admissions Committee concern, the statement of purpose can address these. Mention specific courses or professors who have shaped you intellectually, whether or not you have asked the faculty member for a recommendation. If you have work, travel, or other life experiences that have especially shaped your trajectory, you are encouraged to mention these as well.

Be sure to proofread your application and correct any spelling or grammatical errors. You want your statement of purpose to convey your professionalism in presentation as well as your clarity in educational goals. Lapses in presentation detract from your overall application.

8. Letters of recommendation also play a crucial role in candidates' evaluation. You are encouraged to ask professors in courses in which you have done well to write a letter of reference. It is advisable to ask a professor soon after completing a course whether or not they would be willing to write such a letter, but be sure to ask faculty in a timely manner so that their letter can arrive by the January 15 deadline. You might consider giving the professor copies of your work in the course so that the faculty member can be as specific as possible in the letter. If you have visited the professor at office hours and discussed your career plans, you might also give them a copy of your statement of purpose and your resume. Some students also ask individuals who have supervised them outside the classroom to write a recommendation, but letters from faculty members who have evaluated you in one or more courses are preferable. Strong letters from faculty members who clearly know you and your work are important. It is often prudent to check with the faculty recommender to see when the letter was sent.

Be sure to give your recommenders the UCSB recommendation form which includes your signature regarding privacy. Failure to include this signed form with the letters of recommendation will cause delays in the processing of your file. Letters of recommendation are not considered complete without the form.

9. Please indicate whether or not you waive your right to privacy for the letter of recommendation. The privacy statement is removed by LAIS staff prior to the Admissions Committee's evaluation of file, so committee member do not know whether or not you have waived your right.

10. Start early and plan well. It takes time to draft your statement of purpose, sign up for and take the GREs, arrange for transcripts, and request letters of recommendation.

To qualify for merit-based support, your application must be completed by December 15 . A complete application includes all the materials specified on the checklist.

The Latin American and Iberian Studies admissions committee meets in early February to assess candidates for financial aid. We hope to notify students about centrally funded fellowship and program fellowship by mid-March.

Fellowships at UCSB include:

• Regents Fellowships: Competition is very high for these multi-year fellowships that combine stipend, tuition and fee support, and teaching assistantships. Criteria for these fellowships are: GRE scores and a GPA of at least 3.7 or higher for junior and senior years, letters of recommendation, and quality of writing sample.
• LAIS program recruiting fellowships: A portion of the program's graduate block grant goes toward recruiting packages for incoming students. This money may be awarded as non-resident tuition fellowships (out-of-state students are expected to establish residency by the end of their first academic year), or as program fellowship, which goes towards payment of fees and include a stipend.
• Teaching Assistantships: A limited number of positions as a teaching assistant are available in the LAIS program. These are often awarded to students who already have teaching experience or are advanced students in the M.A. program. Such support is not guaranteed for a fixed period. Teaching duties in the LAIS program are a single discussion section for one of the program's courses (LAIS 100, 101,102) under the direction of the supervising faculty member.
  
  LAIS graduate students have found opportunities to teach in other departments such as Spanish and Portuguese, Chicano/a Studies, Film Studies, Women's Studies, Black Studies, and the Writing Program. Interested students should contact those programs directly.