International Students
Regarding Submission of “Confidential Financial Statement for International Applicants”
This form, part of the application packet, must be submitted completely filled out. All applicants who are not U.S. citizens or permanent residents must meet certain financial eligibility criteria in order to qualify for a student visa. The Department of SLS and University of Hawai‘i are usually unable to provide sufficient additional financial support if a student does not demonstrate adequate independent personal funds. The “Confidential Financial Statement” available in the Graduate Admissions Application must be completed as fully as possible. Failure to demonstrate a sufficient amount of personal funds available, whether or not the applicant is applying for or expects to receive a Graduate Assistantship or tuition waiver, is almost always grounds for eventual denial of admission or eligibility for a visa certification, even when an applicant meets other criteria for admission.
- Submit the Program Supplemental Information Form to the Department of SLS at the same time. (Available at: http://www.hawaii.edu/sls/sls/?page_id=154)
- Alll other materials (statement of purpose, letters of recommendation, documents concerning research, etc.) should be submitted directly to the SLS Grad Chair (grdchr@hawaii.edu) as attachments, rather than to Graduate Division. These materials do NOT have to be sent or arrive by the official deadline for application forms, but they should arrive as soon as possible (see next point).
- Decisions on the tuition waiver awards or graduate assistantships usually follow soon after admissions decisions, although they are occasionally made several months later. The exact date is a function of the date that the Department is notified by the Graduate Division of the amount of tuition support available. The Department of SLS attempts to support as many graduate students as possible for as much of their studies as possible. However, this is always a function of University funding decisions. Offers of admission and tuition waiver awards to new student applicants must be acknowledged as soon as possible. Candidates are expected to notify the Department regarding acceptance of admission and/or tuition support within a month of initial notification by the Department. A formal acceptance places an ethical burden on the student to follow through, or to notify the Department of SLS if any emergency changes are required, as other applicants’ places and support are at stake.
We look forward to hearing from you if you have any questions concerning these procedures, and we hope that you can successfully apply for admission to our programs. For questions, please write to Graduate Chair, at grdchr@hawaii.edu.
| Checklist for submission of application documents | ||
| Graduate Admissions Application Packet | To UH Graduate Division | To Department of SLS |
| Graduate Admissions Application Form | V | |
| Residency Declaration Form | V | |
| Confidential Financial Statement (International) | V | |
| Statement of Purpose from Grad. Admissions Packet | [not required] | [not required] |
| Statement of Purpose for SLS Department | V | |
| Transcripts of studies with translations | V | |
| Test Scores (GRE, TOEFL, using test center codes) | V | |
| Program Supplemental Information Form | V | |
| Letters of recommendation (3) | V | |
| Request for Financial Support (Department form) | V | |
| Research papers, theses, publications | V | |
