Program Admission Information
Admissions
Thank you for your interest in the Sociology program at UNC Charlotte. We offer a Master’s degree that prepares students for future doctoral work and applied positions. Our areas of expertise include Social Psychology, Education, Social Stratification, Organizations, Health Research, Social Movements, Social Networks, Mathematical Sociology, Evolutionary Sociology, Social Theory, and Public Policy.
Our recent graduates have gone on to study in doctoral programs at Cornell, University of Florida, Florida State, Notre Dame, UC Santa Barbara, and UMass-Boston, among others. Our students have also enrolled in doctoral programs in Organizational Science and in Public Policy at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Additionally, we have been very successful at placing our students in corporate and governmental research positions.
We recently created a new concentration in Applied Social Research to better serve our students’ needs. This concentration is designed for those who are interested in developing practical skills in data analytics and for those who aspire to use their sociological training to help solve real-world problems in our communities.
The relatively small size of our Department allows us to devote substantial energy to our Master’s students. We are accepting applications from highly motivated students who are searching for a stepping stone into a doctoral program or who are interested in a research career outside of academia.
Admission Requirements
Applicants for admission must have:
- an undergraduate GPA of 3.0 or better
- completed a minimum of 18 hours of undergraduate course work in the social sciences, including social theory; and demonstrated undergraduate competence in research methods and statistics.
**Please note that GRE scores are now optional, rather than required, for consideration for admission.
Information About Graduate Assistantships
The Department offers a limited number of teaching and research assistantships on a competitive basis.
We also offer tuition remission to a limited number of students. Some of our assistantships include teaching quantitative analysis and social research methods labs. Lab instructors enhance their teaching skills by developing lab assignments and using their own grading criteria. Instructors also work collaboratively with professors to ensure the lab assignments complement class lectures.
Students can also get involved in research assistantship opportunities, such as working in the Sociology Group Processes Lab, or with the School Reform Research Team. Research assistants in the Group Processes Lab supervise lab operations, which include interviewing and debriefing subjects. In addition, some students have the opportunity to work as a graduate assistant. A graduate assistant helps professors grade exams, maintain records, and even lecture!
Application Deadline Timeline
Fall Semester 2024
- Priority Application Deadline (to be considered for funding): March 1st, 2024
- Final Application Deadline: May 1st, 2024
- The Department generally does not admit students during the spring semester
- Applications for the spring will not be rolled over to the fall