University of Mississippi homepage Back to olemiss.edu

Frequently Asked Questions about Academics & Admissions

Have questions or concerns about academics or admissions? Find answers here.

  1. Home
  2. Academics & Admissions
  3. Frequently Asked Questions About Academics & Admissions

Application Process for the Graduate School at the University of Mississippi.

All about the application process.

You can apply online.

If you have already completed the application, take down your application number, full name and date of birth, and simply email us the correction at gschool@olemiss.edu.

A $60 nonrefundable application fee is charged for all applicants, whether you are international, domestic, a state resident or a UM undergraduate alumnus/a. Only Ronald McNair Scholars are eligible for an application fee waiver.

  1. A completed application
  2. Official transcripts from undergraduate institutions conferring the degree and from all postgraduate institutions attended. Please do not send junior college or community college transcripts.
  3. Letters of recommendation *Note: The number required are determined by the program. These should be completed on the online application. Paper forms are not available through the Graduate School.
  4. Official score reports of entrance exams (GRE, GMAT, PRAXIS I and II, TOEFL and/or IELTS). We accept GRE scores that are less than 5 years old. We accept TOEFL/IELTS scores that are less than 2 years old.

Official transcripts should be sent to the Graduate School using the following address:

The University of Mississippi
Graduate School
P.O. Box 1848
54 Galtney-Lott Plaza
University, MS 38677-1848
U.S.A.

Official electronic transcripts from domestic institutions may be sent to gschool@olemiss.edu.

You can check your application status online.

In general, an application for graduate school is reviewed by a committee of faculty within each program. The faculty committee then recommends whether to admit an applicant. You can check the application status online.  Please allow 48 hours after submission online. The Graduate School will contact you, via e-mail if possible, when a decision has been made about your admission.

Admission to a graduate program is based on multiple criteria, including an applicant’s undergraduate GPA and courses, scores on standardized tests, the match of expressed interests with those of the faculty and the availability of resources. Though a student can be recommended for admission to graduate school before completing his or her undergraduate degree, evidence of degree completion must be presented before a person can register for a graduate courses. (An exception is the case where a UM senior may enroll in a graduate course when certain conditions are met.)

The GRE, TOEFL and Praxis can be taken on the UM campus in our Office of Outreach and Continuing Education (contact by phone at 662-915-7283). GMAT is no longer offered on the UM campus. You must register directly with GMAT at 1-800-717-GMAT.

Please check with the test websites for current cost.

Contact ETS and have them send them to us electronically.

The institutional code for the University of Mississippi is 1840.

GRE– Department code: 5199

TOEFL – Department code: 99

Yes.

Each program will set its requirement for acceptable minimum scores for consideration of admission.

Check this website for the currently approved tests and requirements.

Deadlines are listed on our website. If you would like to apply after the deadline, you will need to contact the department for a deadline exception.

Yes, you will need to fill out an application for each one.

Graduate program coordinators are listed here.

Login to the application portal.  Select the application that you want to update the recommenders.  Click the “Recommender” button.  This will take you to a screen that lists all recommenders for all applications you have submitted.  Select “Edit” to correct information on an existing recommender.  Select “Replace” to remove a recommender and put a new one in their place.  On the next screen update the information you want to change or enter the information for the new recommender.  When you are finished click the “Edit” button if you are editing an existing recommender or “replace” if you are replacing a recommender.  Please note, if you are editing an existing recommender the “Title” field must be populated.  If it is blank you will see a box that says “Please select an item in the list.”

The Graduate School hosts an orientation for entering students each fall. All entering students are strongly encouraged to attend.

Academic & Records Issues

When trying to register for classes using myOleMiss, a student may encounter a series of “holds” in the registration process. 
  • Admissions Hold: This means that we are waiting for your official transcript to be submitted to us showing that your undergraduate degree has been conferred.
  • Advisor Hold: This hold can be removed after meeting with your advisor in your program.
  • Health Hold: This hold means that you have not submitted your required health forms to the Student Health Center. To download the forms, go to the Student Health Center website.
  • Graduate Dean’s Hold: If you have this on your account, please contact the Graduate School gschool@olemiss.edu

Graduate students are considered full-time if they are enrolled in at least 9 credit hours for the fall or spring semesters and for at least 4 hours during the summer.

During the fall and spring semesters, a graduate student must be enrolled for at least 3 hours. Minimum enrollment for summer is 1 hour (unless the summer term is being used to satisfy continuous enrollment requirements for doctoral students, in which case 3 hours are required). Maximum enrollment for fall and spring semesters is 15 hours each. In the summer semester, a student may enroll for no more than 6 hours each summer term.

If a student is on an assistantship, additional enrollment requirements apply. For .25 time employment, a student must take at least 9 hours during a fall or spring semester but no more than 13 hours. In the case of a .50 time appointment, no less than 9 hours and no more than 13 hours may be taken. Enrollment beyond 13 hours for a student on an assistantship requires an exception. Any scholarships associated with the assistantship only cover full-time enrollment (which is 9-13 credit hours) and students who receive permission to enroll in more than 13 hours will be responsible for the full cost of the tuition for each extra credit hour(s).

Master’s students are not required to be continuously enrolled but have a six-year time limit for completing their degree.

Yes. Once a doctoral student successfully completes his/her comprehensive exams and enters into candidacy, he/she must maintain continuous enrollment (i.e., must register for at least 3 hours for two of the three registration periods – fall, spring and summer – during an academic year). Students who fail to meet this requirement will have to pay a penalty fee. Contact the Graduate School for details on the penalty.

Doctoral students should complete their comprehensive examination and enter the candidacy stage within four years of initial enrollment in the doctoral program and must complete their dissertation within five years of entering candidacy. The Graduate School may grant a one-year extension to this time limit for serious, nonacademic hardships. Additionally, a student may petition his or her academic program for a limited extension for a reason unrelated to personal hardship. If granted, additional requirements may be imposed upon the student; this may include passing another comprehensive examination.

A doctoral student enters into candidacy upon completion of all portions of his/her comprehensive examination. Once a student enters into candidacy he/she must maintain continuous enrollment. To be continuously enrolled, a student must register for at least 3 hours during at least two of the three semesters each academic year (i.e., fall, spring, summer).

If you have skipped only one regular semester (fall or spring), you must submit a Re-Admission Form, which is located on the Forms Library page.


If your enrollment has lapsed more than one regular semester, you must reapply to the graduate program. You may do this online. Indicate that you have previously been admitted to the UM Graduate School, and this enables us to obtain your UM transcript without any other action on your part.

A financial penalty maybe be applied, depending on the circumstances that lead to the breaking of continuous enrollment. Contact the Graduate School for more information.

The Manual for Thesis and Dissertation Preparation is available for download on the Graduate School’s Forms Library page. Along with this manual, a student may also download Thesis/Dissertation templates, which are already formatted. If a student has any questions not covered in the Manual for Thesis and Dissertation Preparation, he or she may contact the Graduate School’s records coordinator for further information.

Form GS8, Application for Graduate Degree, should be completed and submitted to the Graduate School prior to deadline. The deadline for the submission of this application is available on the Academic Calendar and on the Getting Ready to Graduate page on this website. Once the student has submitted Form GS8 – Application for Graduate Degree, the registrar will authorize you to fill out an Online Diploma Application, which may be accessed through “myOleMiss.”

There are two types of Graduate Dean’s holds. The first, which is simply called a Graduate Dean’s Hold, may be placed on a student’s account for various reasons, such as the need to provide an official transcript from your undergraduate institution. The student should contact the Graduate School for specific information relating to them.

The second type, a Graduate Dean’s Hold-Probation, is automatically placed on a student when his/her grade-point average for a semester falls below a 3.0.

The graduate program coordinator of your program should submit the change via GPC Interface on myOleMiss.

You or your adviser should submit a Form GS7 – Authorization for Final Oral/Written Defense to the Graduate School — at least 10-14 days prior to the scheduled defense.

Thesis committees: Any graduate faculty member (associate of full member) may serve on a thesis committee. In other words, acting, adjunct, research, visiting and emeriti professors with appropriate terminal degrees and with appointments in an academic department having a graduate program may also serve on thesis committees.

Dissertation committees: The chair of the committee must be at least an associate or full Professor (i.e., a full member of the graduate faculty) in the academic discipline in which the research is being conducted. Two other faculty members in the student’s discipline and one faculty member from outside the discipline must also be on the committee. These other committee members may be either full or associate members of the graduate faculty (i.e., may be assistant, associate or full professor, including those with additional titles of acting, adjunct, research, visiting or emeriti with appropriate terminal degrees and with appointments in academic departments having a graduate program.

A student may appeal a grade in a course, a graduate assistantship appointment and degree requirements but may not appeal an admission decision. When an appeal route in not clear, a student can appeal to the Graduate School dean, who may submit the appeal to the Graduate Council.

The Graduate School sponsors a number of workshops during the year. These are free and cover such topics as resume preparation, library searching tools, how to prepare a prospectus, ethics in research and job searching strategies. The Graduate School’s Web page will provide information about these workshops.