Admission Requirements

Applicants who do not fully meet the following requirements may be admitted in Provisional Standing on the basis of a favorable recommendation to the Associate Dean of Graduate Studies by the appropriate departmental chairperson and the Director of the Environmental Sciences doctoral program. If admitted in Provisional Standing, the student must remove all deficiencies and apply for reclassification to Full Standing prior to the completion of 15 hours of graduate work.

Application materials may be obtained from the Graduate School Office.

Applicants for admission to the doctoral program in Environmental Sciences must have:

  • a bachelors or masters degree in science, mathematics, engineering, or environmental science;

  • a grade point average of 3.0 or above on a 4.0 scale;

  • international students must have a score of 525 or above on the TOEFL;

  • and GRE score of at least 300 (Quantitative + Verbal) and 3.5 (Analytical Writing) for students entering any concentration within the Environmental Sciences Ph.D. degree program.

Applicants seeking admission with Full Standing in the program must satisfy the departmental requirements.

Guidelines for Committee and Comprehensive Exam

Guidelines for Graduate Committee Composition

The organization and appointment of advisory committees to supervise graduate study for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Environmental Sciences shall be the same, generally, as in the masters program, except that the advisory committee shall consist of at least five (5) members of the Graduate Faculty, plus the Director of Environmental Sciences Ph.D. program who serves as an ex officio, nonvoting member. Three (3) members shall be from the students area of concentration, either Biology or Chemistry. Two (2) members shall be from separate departments of the environmental science core outside the students area of concentration. Changes in a Ph.D. advisory committee must adhere to all policies and procedures governing graduate study at the University, as contained in the Graduate Catalog and administered by the Director of Graduate Studies.

Guidelines for the Comprehensive Examination

Prerequisites. Before requesting that his or her major professor schedule a Comprehensive Examination, a student must:

  • have achieved Full Standing in the program

  • completed approximately 80% of the course work in his/her Program of Study

Descriptions

The test will consist of written and/or oral portions. The students advisory portion will consist of four (4) sections. Total time for each section should not exceed eight (8) hours. Three (3) sections will contain material from the students area of concentration and one (1) section will integrate material from the Environmental Sciences Core Curriculum. It is the graduate advisory committee chair's responsibility to ensure that all committee members will be involved in the administration and evaluation of the written and oral exams, per University Policy 282.

If an oral exam is to be included as part of the comprehensive exam it will be administered by the students advisory committee within three (3) weeks of the successful completion of the written portion of the exam. A question will be included in the oral exam that tests the students understanding of the interdisciplinary nature of Environmental Sciences.

If an oral exam is included as part of the comprehensive exam, both portions of the Comprehensive Examination will be completed during one (1) academic semester.

Results

Four-fifths of the voting members of the committee must agree that the student has successfully completed the comprehensive exam.

The student will be given one (1) additional opportunity to pass each portion of the Comprehensive Examination. Failure to pass either portion on the second try will result in the students dismissal from the Ph.D. program.

A written evaluation of the students performance on the Comprehensive Examination will be prepared by the students advisory committee and kept on file in the office of the Director of the Environmental Sciences Ph.D. program.

Time Constraints

Successful completion of the Comprehensive Examination must be achieved in a timely fashion. The complete Comprehensive Examination must be scheduled and taken within a year following the completion of 80% of the course work in the students Program of Study, including successful completion of all core courses. It shall be the students responsibility, in consultation with his/her advisor, to schedule this examination at a date agreeable to the whole examining committee. The committee shall be given at least two (2) months advance notice of the Examination date in order to make preparations. Any second attempts to pass portions of the Comprehensive Examination must be scheduled in the subsequent (Fall/Spring) semester. Failure to follow these procedures shall result in the students dismissal from the program. Any appeal by the student for exceptions to this policy shall be made in writing and submitted to the Executive Committee of the Ph.D. program.

EVS Biology Concentration Additional Admissions Requirement

  • applicants must have a bachelor’s or master’s degree in a biological science

  • a grade point average of 3.5 or above for the highest degree earned

  • In addition, a graduate faculty member must have agreed to direct the student’s doctoral program and financial support must have been identified for a stipend and for research needs.