How to Apply

All students who wish to pursue a graduate degree in musicology at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, must apply through the Graduate School. The guidelines below are intended to help you complete your application. Although the Music Department makes every effort to maintain the accuracy of this information, the publications of the Graduate School (http://gradschool.unc.edu) provide official guidelines and more complete information on the application process. International students should see the Graduate School ’s specific instructions for international applications (http://gradschool.unc.edu/applicant_intl.html). Further general information on the Graduate Program in Musicology is available here.

• Apply to the Graduate School.
• Submit your Application Fee.
• Submit three letters of recommendation.
• Submit two official copies of your transcript(s).
• Submit your GRE scores.
• Submit your Statement of Purpose.
• Submit writing samples.
• Complete the Music Department's diagnostic examination.
• Monitor the completion of your application.
• Respond to admissions and financial aid award information.

1. Apply to the Graduate School .

Detailed information about applying to the Graduate School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is available online at http://gradschool.unc.edu/students_prospective.html. Please read the instructions carefully, then fill out the online application form. The Graduate School recommends you submit your application by December 1. In order to be considered for funding, your application must be complete by January 1.

For questions about Graduate School Applications, please email gradinfo@unc.edu

2. Submit your Application Fee.

The Graduate School requires a non-refundable $70 application fee, which can be paid by credit card (online) or by check or money order. Instructions for submitting your application fee are posted on the Graduate School’s website.

3. Submit three current letters of recommendation.

These should be from faculty members who know you and your work and who are in a position to judge your potential in the field of musicology. As a courtesy to your recommenders, you should ask if they will write on your behalf at least several weeks in advance of the deadline. Printable forms are available online at the Graduate School’s website. Letters of recommendation should be sent by the recommender directly to the Director of Graduate Admissions in the Music Department by January 1. Mailing addresses are provided at the end of this document.

4. Submit two official copies of your transcript(s).

Two official transcripts of all post-secondary education (undergraduate and graduate), bearing the signature of the registrar and the seal of the institution, are required. Send one copy to the Graduate School and one copy directly to the Director of Graduate Admissions in the Music Department.

5. Submit your GRE scores.

Official GRE General Test scores are required for applicants to the Graduate Program in Musicology. Scores for the Subject Test in Music, however, are not required. You should plan to take the GRE no later than October--please see the Graduate School ’s website ( http://www.gre.org/ttindex.html) for detailed instructions. In recent years, average GRE scores for students receving university-based fellowships through the Music Department have consistently averaged above 1350. If you feel your scores do not accurately reflect your abilities, you may wish to take the examination a second time.

6. Submit your Statement of Purpose.

In your Statement of Purpose (approximately 500-750 words), you should identify the particular nature of your interest in graduate study in music, your reasons for applying specifically to the graduate program at UNC-Chapel Hill, and your long-term goals in the field. Send your Statement of Purpose directly to the Director of Graduate Admissions in the Music Department.

7. Submit writing samples.

These should consist of two essays that represent what you consider to be your best work to date in the field of music. In order to give the Music Department as full an idea as possible of your accomplishments and potential, it would be helpful if the two essays could be different in kind. For example, one essay might be historical in nature, the other analytical; or one essay might deal with an issue of music in culture, the other with a specific source. These essays need not be lengthy, though they should be substantial enough to demonstrate your strengths and abilities. Send your writing samples directly to the Director of Graduate Admissions in the Music Department.

8. Complete the Music Department's diagnostic examination.

Once you have submitted your application and application fee to the Graduate School, we will send you, in a sealed envelope, a diagnostic examination in music. We ask that you secure the help of a faculty member to proctor the examination, which lasts three hours and is to be carried out without the aid of any outside resources (recordings, instruments, etc.). Detailed instructions on the proctoring of the examination will be included in the mailing.

The diagnostic examination is divided equally into two parts: (1) The History and Culture of Music; and (2) Music Theory. The first part consists of brief (one-paragraph) identifications and discussions of terms and names and your choice of two essays on broader historical and cultural issues. The aim of these essays is to allow you to demonstrate your musical knowledge and your ability to generate an argument and synthesize some conclusions from it. The theory portion of the examination asks you to harmonize a melody and answer specific analytical questions about a brief work or movement of music provided in score (e.g., identify the form of the work or movement; provide a harmonic analysis of selected passages; comment on specific distinctive features of the music).

9. Monitor the completion of your application

Review this checklist to make sure that your application is complete. Most funding for our graduate students comes through the Graduate School , and for this reason it is important that those items required by the Graduate School be submitted no later than January 1. We will send you an email shortly after January 1st to inform you if any components of your application are still outstanding. The Music Department’s diagnostic examination should be returned no later than January 15.

10. Respond to admissions and financial aid award information

Based on your completed application package, the Music Department’s Graduate Admissions and Financial Aid Committee will decide whether or not to recommend to the Graduate School an offer of admission. The Graduate School , acting on this recommendation, will inform you of its admissions decision no later than March 15. Information on financial aid will be sent to you shortly afterward in a separate mailing. We ask that you respond to these offers of admission and financial aid by the dates specified in the letters informing you of these decisions.

Although we do not require an interview as part of the application process, we encourage you to visit us and talk with our faculty and graduate students. We invite you in particular to contact individual faculty members whose areas of research mesh with your own. Should you have any further questions about the application process, please contact John Nadas, Director of Graduate Admissions, at jancsi@email.unc.edu.

Timeline for the Application Process

Submit to the Graduate School by December 1, but no later than January 1:

• Graduate School application;
• $70 application fee;
• Transcripts (one copy)
• GRE scores

Submit to the Music Department no later than January 1:

• 3 letters of recommendation
• Transcripts (one copy)
• Statement of Purpose
• Writing samples

Return to the Music Department no later than January 15:

• Diagnostic examination

Mailing Addresses

The Graduate School
Campus Box # 4010
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-4010

Prof. John Nadas
Director of Graduate Admissions
Music Department
Campus Box # 3320
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3320

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Updated AEM/JN 8/19/05