Once you have met all the basic admission standards, the statement of professional goals is one of the most critical parts of your application on which you will be evaluated for admission and funding. Your statement should clearly indicate:

• your academic or research interests and expertise (for M.A./Ph.D. applicants)
• your creative or professional interests and expertise (for M.S. applicants)
• your professional objectives – what you plan to do after your degree
• how our program will support you in reaching your future goals – what you aim to contribute and achieve during your studies
• why our program is a good fit to your future goals and vice versa — why you are a good fit for the program

You are strongly encouraged to address how your work connects with multiple faculty members, areas, centers or institutes. Many successful applicants reach out to the graduate coordinator or director of graduate studies before submitting their applications (the earlier the better!) to get a sense of the school’s different areas of research and creative or professional activity. Sometimes it can also be good to reach out to specific faculty with whom you would like to work.

Your statement should be about 500 words.

The personal narrative offers you room to address anything you think is important that doesn’t fit into your statement of professional goals. These might include:

• any gaps or anomalies in your transcripts or CV
• any further explanation of how or why you came to your academic, creative or professional interests
• any other experience, knowledge or skills that might support your application

Your narrative should be about 250 words.

At least one letter should come from a professor in your area of study. Requests for references should be sent through the online application. If difficulties occur submitting recommendation letters please reach out to mschgrad@iu.edu.

Ph.D./M.A.

• Three letters of recommendation are required.
• When possible, request letters from faculty members or other professionals who are familiar with your academic abilities and your ability to do scholarly work.

M.S.

• Three letters of recommendation are required.
• When possible, request letters from faculty members or other professionals who are familiar with your professional or creative abilities and your ability to do academic work.

Certificates

• One letter of recommendation is required.
• When possible, request letters from individuals such as faculty members or professional mentors who are familiar with your work and abilities.

Recommendation letters are almost always glowingly positive, so what we value most are details that help shed further light on an applicant’s statement of professional goals. Be sure to share your statement and research/creative/professional plans with your recommendation writers so they can see how you are framing yourself and so they can add to the narrative you are crafting in a complementary way. Be sure to contact your recommenders in advance so they have time to write and submit their letters by the application deadline.

In your writing sample, we are looking to get a sense of your work and how you work through problems. Your sample should show your ability to write and reason in a scholarly fashion, preferably on a topic that’s related to your academic interests.

Submit a relevant publication if you have one. Otherwise, you should submit a paper from previous relevant coursework. Writing samples can include a term paper, thesis chapter, published article or other piece of written work that demonstrates your abilities to write, analyze and reason. We would rather see imperfect student work than a polished paper with a lot of faculty influence.

Management 
Your portfolio should be a 5-10 page academic paper demonstrating your analytical and writing abilities. It is expected that the work be free from spelling and grammatical errors and consistently follow a singular style (e.g., AP, APA, MLA or Chicago). The paper may cover topics from any discipline while demonstrating ideas referencing management, creative processes, research methods, policy studies or other areas of interest.

Documentary/Nonfiction Production 
Your portfolio should include samples of your best creative work. These could be segments from video/film projects; writing samples of creative, expository, feature or documentary projects; photographic, video-graphic or digital art projects; or animations. Links to online creative work are acceptable. Each sample should be accompanied by a summary description of the context of the work (e.g. date, nature/purpose of the work, your role). The total length of video or film projects for review should be under 30 minutes.

Strategic Communication
Your portfolio should include 1-3 pieces. Each piece is expected to be free of spelling and grammatical errors and consistently follow a singular style (e.g., AP, APA, MLA or Chicago). Most importantly, your work should highlight thrift, density, clarity and the accomplishment of some stated or implied goal. Persuasive communication pieces that employ strong rational and/or emotional appeals targeted toward a focused and appropriate audience are especially valued.

Data Journalism 
Your portfolio should include 2-3 pieces of short nonfiction writing, preferably journalistic in style and published if available. In addition to technical proficiency (i.e., spelling, grammar, word choice, source attribution and consistency of style), ideal work samples will include clear, compelling writing that shows evidence of enterprise in research and reporting. An academic writing sample may suffice if journalistic writing is not available.

Journalism
Your portfolio should include 2-3 pieces of short nonfiction writing, preferably journalistic in style and published if available. In addition to technical proficiency (i.e., spelling, grammar, word choice, source attribution and consistency of style), ideal work samples will include clear, compelling writing that shows evidence of enterprise in research and reporting. An academic writing sample may suffice if journalistic writing is not available.

• M.S. and certificate applicants should submit a resume.
• Ph.D. applicants should submit a CV.
• M.A. applicants can submit either.

See more information about transcripts here.