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Application
Procedure to the Graduate Program at Kansas State University in the area of Ecological
Genomics
Before submitting an application, please take a few
minutes to learn about the research programs in Ecological Genomics (www.ksu.edu/ecogen).
Your career goals will be better met if you choose a research topic that is
of interest to you, but it is also important that this research topic is
among the areas of expertise of our current research faculty. We encourage
applicants to contact individual Ecological Genomics affiliated faculty
members before applying. All applications should be sent to the Division of
Biology (see mailing address below). If you have general questions about the
Ecological Genomics Program at Kansas State University please contact Jeremy
Marshall (cricket@ksu.edu).
Deadlines for Receipt of Completed
Applications:
Applications should be received by Jan 15,
2008 (admission/rejection notification should be received by all
applicants by late February). These application deadlines may not
correspond to those found on the graduate school web pages, but these
are the official deadlines for the KSU Division of Biology. If you are
applying to the Division of Biology graduate program, you must follow
the deadlines listed below.
Applications for admission can be considered at
other times of the year if funds are available; this depends on
acceptance of offers, funding of new grants, and other parameters which
cannot be predicted on an annual basis. In order for late (or early)
applications to be considered, however, they MUST BE COMPLETE. See below
for information on what constitutes a complete application.
We do not have separate admission "quotas" for
foreign and domestic students. We will choose the best qualified
applicants, whether foreign or domestic, from the applicant pool for
each admission round.
NOTE: All applications are initially routed
through the KSU Division of Biology. However, if you are interested in
an Ecological Genomics affiliated faculty member in another Department
(Entomology, Plant Pathology, or Agronomy) please indicate this in your
cover letter and your application will be forwarded to the appropriate
Department.
Application
for Assistantship
Separate
application for assistantship is NOT required; we offer full financial
support to all students whom we admit. Currently we offer a support
package (stipend plus tuition) of $23,964 per calendar year. We provide
this full financial support, via either a teaching or research
assistantship, for all students whom we accept. This support is the same for
both foreign and domestic students, and is offered for the duration of the
graduate education period, contingent upon reasonable progress toward the
degree.
In other
words, if you are accepted for admission into the program, you will be
supported as long as you make reasonable progress toward a degree. ALL
graduate students are eligible for in-state tuition and fees.
The
above level of support will be provided regardless of the student’s home
Department (Biology, Entomology, Plant Pathology, or Agronomy).
Application
Materials
The
following materials are required for a completed application:
- A cover letter indicating that you are interested in Ecological
Genomics, identifying one or more Ecological Genomics research
faculty at Kansas State University (http://www.k-state.edu/ecogen/resgroup.html#KSU)
whose research interests you.
- Starting
on July 1, 2004, a $30 application fee ($55 for international
students); credit card, personal check drawn on a US bank, cashier's
check or postal money order made out to: Kansas State University
Graduate School.
- Graduate
school application form, completed. This form is available on the web
(http://www.k-state.edu/grad/gsprospective/apply/index.htm) in various formats.
If you cannot use the online application forms, you can request
that the paper versions be mailed to you. Send an email with your
postal address to our Admissions secretary,
Diane
Ukena (dukena@ksu.edu). In the
graduate school application form please list
'BIOLOGY'
as the program of study.
This
will ensure that your application material is initially forwarded to the
Division of Biology.
- Statement
of aims and objectives (see
below for guidelines).
- Letters
of recommendation, three.
There is no required form or format; please instruct your referees to
simply submit a letter on official
letterhead stationery to Graduate Affairs Committee, Biology
Division, Ackert Hall, Kansas State University, Manhattan KS
66506-4901. We prefer that recommenders send letters directly to us;
if letters are to be included in a total application packet, they
should be in signed and sealed envelopes.
- Official
transcripts, one copy of each.
- Graduate
Record Examination (GRE) scores (scores from both computer-based and
paper versions are accepted). The
institution code for KSU is R6334; the department code for the
Biology Division is 0203. Only the general GRE is REQUIRED.
Subject exams are NOT required, but if you have already taken these
please feel free to send in your scores. This can provide the
admissions committee with additional information about a candidate.
Information about the GRE can be obtained from the Educational Testing
Service (ETS) at:
Graduate
Record Examination, ETS
Box 955
Princeton, NJ 08541
(609) 771-7670
or contact the
ETS on the WWW at http://www.ets.org/ for
more information. (NOTE: The KSU Biology program does not have a
numerical cut-off for GRE performance. We have found that GRE scores are not
a good sole predictor for success in graduate school, i.e. some students
with excellent GRE scores do not perform well in graduate research, and
others with marginal GRE scores turn out to be excellent researchers. For
that reason we do not have a minimum required score for the GRE, but merely
use the GRE score as one parameter in our admission decisions.)
- Additional
requirements for students who are not US citizens or residents.
1.
Additional application/processing fee (see above); cashier's check,
postal money order, credit card, or personal check from a US bank, made out
to: Kansas State University Graduate School.
2.
Statement
of financial support: This document is required by our graduate school,
but is actually not relevant for applications to our program, since we offer
full financial support to all who are admitted, and we don't admit anyone
whom we cannot support. So please just read and sign the first part of this
document, and ignore the rest.
3.
Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) minimum score of 550
(213 on the new scoring system), required by KSU graduate school
(institution code for KSU is 6334, department code is 35). Additional
information about this test, and the Test of Spoken English (TSE) can be
found at http://www.ksu.edu/biology/bio/toefl.html.
For more
information about graduate studies at KSU, see the Graduate
School Home Page (http://www.ksu.edu/grad).
Send
Application Materials to
Division of Biology
Graduate Applications
(Ecological Genomics)
116 Ackert Hall
Kansas State University
Manhattan KS 66506-4901
Review
Procedures
- Due
to the large number of applications which we receive, we do not
routinely inform applicants when their application packets are
received, or when they are completed. If you wish to inquire about the
status of your application, please email our admissions secretary,
Diane Ukena (mailto:dukena@ksu.edu),
and she will make sure that your request is answered.
- Completed
applications are reviewed by a committee
of five (5) to seven (7) faculty, representing diverse areas of
Biology. Reviews consist of evaluations of all items listed as
required. Prior research experience, as indicated by publications in
print or in press, or in letters of recommendation, is an important
consideration in our evaluation as well. Decisions are made in favor
of those applicants whose credentials are believed to indicate the
most promise for becoming successful graduate students.
Statement of Aims and
Objectives
In
the completion of the statement of aims and objectives the following
questions may be of help to you. Use them as you wish.
- How
well do you believe your preparation has been in the mastery of basic
subject material and laboratory or field procedures and techniques in
Biology? Give examples to illustrate your evaluation.
- Have
you done any original research? Are the results published? If so,
provide citation(s).
- How
well do you believe your preparation has been in obtaining a broad
background in supporting areas such as chemistry, biochemistry,
mathematics, statistics, ecology and/or other areas valuable to your
particular field of interest?
- Have
you consulted with EcoGen faculty advisors (http://www.k-state.edu/ecogen/Participants.html)
concerning the personal demands of graduate school imposed upon
you?
- How
important is the advanced degree that you seek to the completion of a
successful career in the field of your interest? What ultimate
objectives do you have as career goals?
- Do
you have any "on-the-job" experience in the field of your
interest or related areas? Give examples of things that you have done
that you judge to be original and creative and that demonstrate
leadership.
If
you cannot use the online application forms, you can request that the paper
versions be mailed to you. Send an email with your postal address to our
Admissions secretary, Diane Ukena (dukena@ksu.edu).
You may also contact her if you want to know if your application has been
received and if it is complete.
If you have
general questions about graduate study at KSU, please contact the KSU
graduate school (http://www.ksu.edu/grad).
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