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College of Fine Arts Graduate Programs

 Welcome to the School of Music! 

We offer the Master of Music (MM) degree in Composition for applicants who have a baccalaureate degree in music from an accredited institution and meet the admission requirements of the Graduate School and the College of Fine Arts. In cases where the undergraduate degree is not in the area chosen for graduate study, the student must demonstrate a level of achievement fully acceptable for master's-level work.

Applicants should have earned at least 16 semester credits in music theory, 6 semester credits in music history, and
12 semester credits in music performance. A candidate found deficient in certain undergraduate areas will be required to remove the deficiencies by successful completion of appropriate courses. If remedial work is required, the residency - usually three to four semesters of full-time study - may be longer.

Admission is determined by portfolio review, a personal statement of purpose, three letters of recommendations, and academic credentials, including the GRE exam. 
 
Prospective students are urged to apply for admission as early as possible, but no sooner than a year before the term you plan to enroll, and to utilize the on-line application. We strive to maintain diversity in our students, for additional information about resources to support this goal, please view
Graduate Diversity for more information.

Admission Application Deadlines:

Fall semester:  January 10 

Although applications are accepted for spring and summer semesters, graduate assistantship and fellowship funding is determined annually in February, and often only available with fall admission.

Spring semester:  November 1 (international students must apply by September 1) 

Summer semester:  April 1 (international students must apply by February 1)



Graduate Admission requires applicants to submit information to both the Office of Graduate Admissions, who determines eligibility and status for admission to the university, and the School of Music who determines qualifications for admission to the Composition program.

Step-by-Step Admission Procedures

(Access our PDF admission checklist to print and use to organize your application materials.) 

1)     Complete the online application and pay the $30 application fee with your credit card. The online application includes a section for you to write a statement of purpose to express your interest in pursuing our graduate program. Your statement should explain why the University of Florida is the right place for you to pursue your graduate education, and how your goals, artistic abilities, undergraduate/graduate education, experience, skills and talents make you a strong candidate for consideration. We recommend you prepare this text, carefully review, and then cut and paste into the online application. The text box accommodates one-and-a-half pages of single-spaced text (400-500 words), so please be mindful of the space remaining in the character counter. The essay cannot exceed the space available in the text box.

You may also indicate your interest in being considered for a graduate assistantship by checking the box on the online application. Funding decisions coincide with our admission decisions, when possible; or we provide notification as quickly as feasible following admission.

The online application has been enhanced to allow you to electronically request the three required letters of recommendation. You'll need your recommenders email address at the time you complete the application. Recommendation requests will be emailed after you submit your application. Once submitted, you may monitor the status of your requests through the View function in the Status Box. If recommenders are not receiving the university's emails, please verify that the email address you provided on this page is correct; if it is, ask them to check their spam or junk folders. If it is necessary to resend a recommendation request, go to the Status Box and select Send Reminder.

Lastly, in the College Information and Activities section you may submit a PDF version of your resume to your department, please click on the Upload Resume or Upload Other button below and follow the directions for uploading a file. We strongly recommend Adobe PDF format (*.pdf) without Adobe document security. You may upload up to a three page PDF. Only use numbers and letters when naming your document. Do not include punctuation marks within your file name as that can cause an issue when uploading your .pdf file. 

 

In the rare case when you cannot apply online, you may print the application and mail the $30 application fee to the below address:

Office of Admissions
S201 Criser Hall
P.O. Box 114000
University of Florida
Gainesville, FL 32611-4000

2)     Request TWO (2) OFFICIAL transcripts from all institutions attended.  One copy from each institution is required at the University of Florida Graduate Admissions office (the second copy is retained in the School of Music).

Office of Admissions
S201 Criser Hall
P.O. Box 114000
University of Florida
Gainesville, FL 32611-4000

School of Music
Graduate Admissions & Academic Programs
College of Fine Arts
P.O. Box 115800
University of Florida
Gainesville, FL 32611-5800 USA
(352) 846-3425
Fax: (352) 846-3446

3)    An academic portfolio for the program in Composition should be submitted via UF’s SlideRoom portal in order to complete the graduate application. The deadline date for this portfolio is January 10, 2014. No new portfolios can be started after this date. There is a grace period which ends January 15, 2014. This allows any applicant who has started a portfolio by January 10 to complete it.

This academic portfolio must include a minimum of three compositions, with recordings; and at least one academic paper (midterm, final, honor's paper). Optional information may include:

o music theory analysis paper

o Conference articles/paper

o professional experience (festivals, performances, workshops)

o written exams

There is a $10 submission fee that you pay online after you set up and review your portfolio.

Maximum file sizes:

images: .jpg, .png or .gif – 2 MB each. For good image quality and fast upload, your image files should be sized no larger than 1280 x 1280 px @ 72 dpi.
video - .mov, .wmv, .flv – up to 20 MB;
PDF - 10 MB per document

Applicants can also embed media from YouTube, Vimeo, and SoundCloud. 

The UF’s SlideRoom portalportal offers additional instruction for submitting work. For technical assistance, contact support@slideroom.com

4)     Submit official Graduate Record Exam (GRE) scores to the University of Florida. The institution code is 5812; the department code for Music is 2404.

5)     Email graduate@arts.ufl.edu and let us know you have applied on-line. We will access your on-line application so you do NOT need to send another copy. 

Use this address to send School of Music transcript to:
Graduate Admissions & Academic Programs
College of Fine Arts
P.O. Box 115800
University of Florida
Gainesville, FL 32611-5800 USA
(352) 846-3425
Fax: (352) 846-3446

 

Additional Admissions Information for our Applicants with International Bachelor's Degrees (only)

1. Submit certified academic transcripts, including degree statements for all university-level work. These documents must be accompanied by certified English translations. Consideration of an application cannot be given until the Office of Admissions receives ALL required credentials. There is no need to have your document evaluated by a credentialing agency, as that task is completed at the University of Florida

2. The GRE is an admissions requirement for students who have earned a non-US bachelor's degree. The university does not compute grade point averages for non-US earned bachelor’s degrees, and requires the GRE as a component of admissions. Test scores are considered as one part of the entire application. The minimum score for the verbal section is 320 on the older version of the GRE and 140 for the Fall 2011 newer version of the exam. 
 

3. The University of Florida requires proficiency in spoken and written English. This helps ensure that students who speak English as a second language are able to participate fully in university life, both in and out of class. Students from non-English speaking nations, who have not studied at least one year at a U.S. college or university, are also required to submit satisfactory scores on one of the following assessment exams:
 

  • IELTS (International English Language Testing System): 6
  • MELAB (Michigan English Language Assessment Battery): 77
  • TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language – Internet-Based): 80
  • TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language – Paper-Based): 550

 

If you have completed one academic year of college course work at a university or college in a country where English is the official language, excluding intensive English language programs, you are exempt from this requirement.

The UF Academic Spoken English Programprovides courses designed to improve your English-language speaking and comprehension skills. You may choose to take one of its courses if you do not feel confident about your skills in these areas. You also may be required to take one of its courses if the UF Graduate School or the department you are majoring in does not feel your skills are strong enough for competitive performance in the classroom or research arena. This program also monitors non-US students' SPEAK or TSE scores, which are required and must meet a certain minimum if they are going to be awarded a graduate teaching assistantship.

The UF English Language Institute (ELI)offers non-degree-credit intensive programs for non-US students and professionals who want to improve their ability to speak, read and write English and become more familiar with American life and culture, so they can become more comfortable and successful in real-life settings in education and business. It also provides housing assistance, academic advisement and other services. 

Graduate School Admission Policies

UF Office of the Registrar International Admissions Webpage 
(includes information you will need before applying, after you've applied, and after you've been accepted)

UF International Student Services  and Overview of the I-20 process

UF

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