Geosciences, Non-Thesis Option, M.S.

Admission

Applicants must satisfy the general admission requirements of the Graduate School. They must also be approved by the Graduate Advisor and satisfy the following requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree in natural science, physical science, mathematics, or engineering.
• An undergraduate grade point average of at least 3.0. Students who do not satisfy this requirement but have at least a 3.0 GPA in their major field may be admitted on probation at the discretion of the Graduate Advisor.
• Probationary status is removed by completing nine credit hours of approved graduate study with a GPA of 3.0 or higher in one semester for a full-time student and within three terms for a part-time student.
• Letters of recommendation from at least three professors or former supervisors who are familiar with the applicant’s work performance and academic potential.
• If the student’s undergraduate major is not in one of the geological sciences, admission to the Graduate School may be deferred and the student is required to take appropriate undergraduate geosciences courses, as determined by the Graduate Advisor, before reevaluation for admission. These deficiencies may, under certain circumstances and with the approval of the Graduate Advisor, be made up after admission to the Graduate School.
• All applicants are required to take the General Graduate Record Examination.
• Applicants to the non-thesis option whose native language is not English must also take the TOEFL examination and score at least 85 on the internet-based exam or 563 on the paper exam for admission to the non-thesis option. Non-native English speakers may also submit a minimum score of 6.5 from the IELTS examination. Applicants to the thesis option are expected to submit a TOEFL score of at least 90 on the internet-based exam or 577 on the paper exam, with at least a score of 22 on the Writing subsection. Exceptional applicants with TOEFL scores below these published minimums may be admitted conditionally and required to take deficiency courses in English or retake the TOEFL examination.

General Requirements

A 3.0 grade point average is the minimum needed for all master’s degree programs.

No graduate credit is allowed for a course in which a grade lower than C has been received. Thesis and report grades are recorded on a pass-fail basis and are not computed in grade point averages, although a passing grade in all thesis or report credit hours is required.

Initial advisement of all master’s program students is by a departmental Graduate Program Advisor. Students are expected to select a general research area and to make arrangements with a research advisor during their first year. The research advisor approves the remainder of the course of study and supervises the student’s research.

All courses taken for graduate credit in these programs shall be selected from those listed in this Bulletin, except for students concentrating in environmental geoscience, and the choices are subject to the approval of the student’s advisor, the thesis committee, and the Graduate Advisor. Students concentrating in environmental geoscience may take up to 6 hours in the College of Law, which will be taken pass/fail and counted as courses outside the major discipline.