Admissions Requirements

The Department seeks students who are imaginative, intelligent, and highly motivated men and women with a desire for challenge, a commitment to excellence, and a well-developed sense of social responsibility. Most applicants have a Masters Degree in Public Health, Marriage and Family Therapy, or an applied behavioral or social science. Computer literacy is essential. Prior to entry, students must also have completed at least one semester of a university-supervised, graduate level professional experience in a public health or mental health setting. Students without the five MPH core courses must complete missing courses (biostatistics, epidemiology, environmental health sciences, health services administration, and health behavior) within one academic year of their entry into the program.

We are fortunate to attract gifted students who are concerned about public health, social and ethical issues and who view their future profession in a broad context. The Department encourages applications from members of racial/ethnic minority groups.

Students are selected on the basis of:

• Undergraduate and graduate transcripts
• Minimum 3.0 undergraduate GPA and graduate GPA (if applicable)
• GRE scores within the past five years
• 3 letters of recommendation addressing applicant's capabilities and probability of success in graduate school
• Statement of goals and interests and their congruence with those of the program
• Relevant academic and work experience

Application Procedures

The Ph.D. program in Maternal and Child Health admits students for fall semester only. All application materials are due December 15. Students who wish to apply for the Ph.D. program must complete the University of Maryland Graduate School Application, which includes 3 letters of recommendation, the statement of goals and research interests, and official transcripts from all institutions attended.

1) Go to http://www.gradschool.umd.edu/gss/admission.htm
2) Complete the online application
    a. A $60 non-refundable application fee will be processed with your application
3) Mail all transcripts reflecting all undergraduate and graduate work completed or in progress to:

University of Maryland at College Park
Enrollment Services Operations
Application for Graduate Admission
0130 Mitchell Building
College Park, MD 20742

4) Standardized test scores (GREs) are to be sent directly from Educational Testing Service (if no category exists on ETS form, please fill in “other” and write FMSC, code 5814).
5) GREs must be taken in time to reach our department before the December 15th deadline. - Allow 2 weeks to receive your scores.
6) Letters of recommendation are to be submitted online with your graduate application or mailed directly to Graduate Admissions.
7) All information provided in this application will be directly sent by Graduate Admissions to the Department of Family Science for review (you do not need to mail additional hard copies of the graduate school application to the department).

Complete instructions and a checklist to guide you through the application process are available on the Graduate School Admissions website.

Need more information?

If you have additional questions about the application or would like to speak to a graduate student about our program, please contact our Graduate Director at:

Department of Family Science
1204 Marie Mount Hall
University of Maryland
College Park, Maryland 20742-7515
Phone: 301.405.3672
Email: fmsc@umd.edu