| Essay |
The online application provides space for
two essays: one for fellowships
and one called "Statement of Purpose".
Do not fill out the
Fellowship essay -- we
use your other materials to make decisions about support and
fellowships.
Fill out the Statement of Purpose, but we
prefer to call this your Research
Statement. The Research Statement is extremely important and should
emphasize
the "future" and not past experiences (the latter can be included in
your CV).
We'd like to know: what motivates you
professionally; what scientific questions
drive your desire for graduate studies; why is our program well suited
to help
you accomplish your goals? A portion of this statement could read like
a short
grant proposal (e.g., for Sigma Xi) in which you lay out the important
questions in your discipline along with a statement about how you plan
to
contribute to this field.
Also
include a clear statement about the program you
wish to enter in our Department (e.g., M.S. or Ph.D.; Zoology or
Botany) and
your prospective advisors (with whom you should already be in contact).
This
statement should be nomore than 2 single-spaced pages in length (or
~1000
words).
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| Letters
of Recommendation |
We require 3 letters of recommendation. These letters
are given great weight by the admissions committee -- please choose writers who
can best comment on your potential as a graduate student and scientist. The
letters should indicate how the writer knows you (e.g., as an instructor or
research supervisor), as well as the writer's assessment of your academic and
intellectual abilities, competence in your discipline, creativity, emotional
maturity, ability to conduct original research, potential as a teacher,
communication skills, work ethic, likelihood of success in graduate school.
Letters should be uploaded by your letter writers as instructed in the
online application. If your letter writers have problems with this system,
please ask them to email their letter as an attachment to the Graduate Program
Assistant with the following naming convention:
studentlastname_writerlastname-LETTER.filetype (e.g.,
smith_jones-LETTER.pdf) |
| Curriculum
Vitae |
You must submit a CV to the Department. This should include a list of your
educational, training and research experiences; talks presented at scientific
meetings; papers that are in preparation/review/press or published; fellowships
received (or pending) and other awards or grants; and other relevant
experiences and recognitions that summarize your professional accomplishments.
Also include:
- GRE scores
- GPA
- If you are an international
student, please also include your TOEFL
scores.
- The list of up to 3 faculty with common interests
including at least 1 potential advisor.
Email your CV as an attachment to
the Graduate Program
Assistant with the following naming convention:
lastname_firstname-CV.filetype (e.g.,
smith_pat-CV.pdf) |
| Supplemental
information |
You may also include additional information
(such as publications). If you do this, please use the following naming
convention: lastname_firstname-XXX.pdf, where 'XXX' is a brief and unique
description of the item (e.g,. 'Pub1' or 'Pub2' or 'SrThesis'). Our mail server
limits attachments to ~3.5MB, so if you have many large attachments (e.g., if
you embed figures and don't convert to pdf), then you may have to send several
emails (rather than attaching all of your documents to one email message).
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