Admissions

Admission is competitive. Application materials must be submitted to the Graduate School by December 1 for admission the following September. OEB does not consider applications for spring admission. Most admission decisions are completed by March. Applicants must submit:

• All undergraduate (and graduate) transcripts
• GRE general test scores
• Personal statement of research interests
• 3 letters of recommendation
  (NOTE: the Graduate School requires only two letters)

Students whose native language is not English must submit TOEFL scores; foreign applicants are strongly encouraged to submit other evidence of facility in English.

Prospective students should have substantial undergraduate training in the life sciences or paleontology, with an undergraduate cumulative average of at least 3.00.

Applicants must contact faculty with whom they propose to study prior to filing an application. To ensure that our students have a productive research experience during their graduate training, admission to OEB requires sponsorship by an OEB faculty member who agrees to serve as the prospective major advisor. To help applicants locate a faculty sponsor, our list of faculty can be filtered by four broad areas: Animal Behavior, Ecology, Evolutionary Biology and Organismal Biology. Once you have found an OEB faculty member who is willing to sponsor your application, please include this information in your Personal Statement (part of the Graduate School’s Application).

Doctoral students normally receive support for four years; Masters students are generally supported for two years. Many students are supported though Teaching Assistantships (TA's). Some students are supported with Research Assistantships (RA's) or Fellowships at a similar rate. Most students received summer support from their advisor. Both TA's and RA's carry a full tuition waiver and a waiver for most fees. The current rate of funding is $14,698 for the academic year or $20,114 with a summer stipend.