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Students seeking a Ph.D. at UT System institutions will be required to sign, with their departments, agreements providing the expected timelines for the attainment of their academic milestones and graduation. (Note: Instructions on how to complete your milestone agreement can be found online at the Graduate School's website: https://gradschool.utexas.edu/academics/milestones.)
What is
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Some international students may have a departmental condition placed on their admission to the graduate program, which requires that they complete an English Skills Screening within their first semester of coursework at The University of Texas. A J-bar is placed on certain international students' records to require them to go through English screening. This is done by ESL Services in the International Office. This screening is done anytime that the International Office is open for new international student check in.
The screening consists of a 30-minute essay and a 15-minute oral interview. After the screening is done, the results are discussed with the students and they are informed of a requirement for further coursework in English. If English classes are required, then information on those classes is provided to the students and a copy of the requirement is sent to the students' individual departments. Information on the classes and other services offered by ESL Services can be found at https://world.utexas.edu/esl.
Based on the results of the screening and the recommendations of the International Office, the student’s Academic Adviser may require completion of the appropriate ESL course(s) or courses related to academic communication and writing offered by the Graduate School. Such courses are considered prerequisites and do not count toward the doctoral degree.
Important: If requirements for additional English coursework are not fulfilled, the J-bar will appear again for the following semester.
What is Admission with Conditions?
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