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Application
and Admission Requirements
The following is a summary of
the combined University, College and Departmental requirements
with some interpretation and discussion of Departmental procedures.
The official requirements are those stated in the current
Academic Programs Catalogue.
The Department accepts applications
throughout the year and some students begin their programs
during each semester. The majority of students are accepted
to start their programs at the beginning of the fall semester.
The University recommends that applications be complete a
minimum of two months before the intended start date, and
several months earlier than this if applying for financial
aid. Most graduate student programs in our department require
outside funding to support the research and to provide a
Research Assistantship stipend for the student.
Open positions in our graduate
program depend upon this funding, and the timing and number
of positions is somewhat unpredictable in advance. These
positions are filled on a rolling basis as highly qualified
students apply. Hence, we strongly encourage you to complete
your application as early as possible, to ensure that you
are considered for all appropriate openings. In
addition, to be given full consideration for Departmental
recruiting fellowships, your application needs to be complete
by February, and to compete for a University Distinguished
Fellowship your application must be complete by January 1.
Graduate openings are generally
in specialized areas, and your background and interests play
a large role in how competitive you are for a specific opening.
You are encouraged to contact individual faculty members
who have research interests that match your own, and might
serve as your Major Professor and academic advisor. Such
contacts can provide you with critical information. You are
also encouraged to apply and compete for appropriate non-MSU
fellowships, such as those that are awarded by the National
Science Foundation and to highlight any such awards in your
Statement of Purpose included with your application. Receiving
such awards can increase your chances for admission.
To apply to any degree program
you must be in your senior year or a graduate of a Bachelor's
degree program comparable to that offered by MSU. To begin
a Master's degree you must have completed a Batchelor's degree.
To begin a Ph.D. program you ordinarily will need to have
completed a Master's degree or the equivalent. Typically
the undergraduate major and prior graduate studies will be
in an area of the biological or other relevant sciences,
and must include course work appropriate to support the graduate
program. Students lacking sufficient course work may be admitted
provisionally until such deficiencies are removed by completion
of collateral courses.
Ordinarily, a minimum GPA of 3.0
(on a 4.0 scale) during the last two years of an undergraduate
degree and in prior graduate programs is required for admission
to any status (regular or provisional). The Departmental
faculty have agreed to consider provisional acceptance of
students with GPA's in the range of 2.75-3.0. This exception
is only made under unusual circumstances where there is strong
evidence indicating likely success in graduate studies. Current
Departmental practice is to not consider students for admission
if their GPA is below 2.75. Acceptance into the Fisheries
and Wildlife Department is competitive and the 3.0 GPA requirement
is a minimum standard, not a guarantee of acceptance. In
recent years the average GPA of incoming graduate students
to the Department has exceeded 3.5. Applicants who are not
native speakers of English must demonstrate proficiency in
English. This is usually through meeting a minimum standard
of 600 on the paper exam with no subscore below 55 or 250
on the computer-based version with no subscore below 22.
Applications are reviewed and
evaluated in light of information contained in transcripts,
letters of reference, examination scores, and in supporting
information supplied by the student. There is no specific
required GRE score, but examination results are weighed in
admission decisions along with other information.
The General GRE exam is required
and an advanced exam (usually Biology) is recommended.
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