Welcome to the Admissions page for PhD applicants.

This page includes information on faculty sponsorship requirements, undergraduate/graduate preparation, UCSB requirements, deadlines, and application procedures.

If you have questions or need more information on the PhD application process, please contact the Graduate Program Assistant.

Click here for fall 2008 Information Sessions and Open House.

FACULTY SPONSORSHIP

The PhD program at the Bren School is a mentoring program, such that each PhD student works closely with at least one Bren professor in his or her area of expertise.

Acceptance into the PhD program requires the support of a Bren professor who agrees to be your sponsor.*

We strongly recommend that you contact faculty member(s) who are aligned with your research interests to discuss with them your research ideas prior to applying to the Bren School. Before contacting faculty, please refer to the their web pages for instructions on how they prefer to be contacted. Click here for a list of Bren faculty web pages.

Generally, faculty will not decide if they are interested in taking you on as a student until they have seen your completed application. Therefore, the earlier you submit it, the better. Note: Although a faculty member may state that s/he may be interested in being your sponsor, the Admissions Committee makes the final decision to admit.

* Applicants to the Economics and Environmental Science training program are not required to have a faculty sponsor.

UNDERGRADUATE/GRADUATE PREPARATION

The undergraduate coursework and related preparation required for the PhD program vary depending on the faculty member with whom you wish to study.

Although the Bren School does not require that you have a master’s degree to apply for the PhD program, some faculty prefer it. Please refer to the web page of the faculty member you wish to work with for his/her specific requirements.

UNIVERSITY REQUIREMENTS

UCSB's Graduate Division requires that all applicants for graduate study must have:

1. a bachelor's degree or equivalent from an accredited 4-year institution, and

2. maintained an undergraduate grade point average of 3.0 or higher (on a four-point scale) for the last two years of undergraduate or post-graduate studies, and

3. taken the Graduate Records Examination (GRE) – general exam only.

GRE: Please make sure that the following numbers appear on your GRE score sheets:

• Institution Code: 4835 (UC Santa Barbara)

• Department Code: 0502 (Environmental Sciences)

The Bren School does not require a require a minimum GRE score; the average combined verbal and quantitative score of our current PhD students is 1350 (80-90th percentiles).

An applicant may apply to only one UCSB department per admissions period.

ADMISSIONS DEADLINES

Note: The Economics and Environmental Science PhD Training Program may have different deadlines. Please see the EES web site for more information.

PhD APPLICATION PROCEDURES

Applications for the PhD program are usually accepted for entrance during the Fall Quarter only.

All applicants are required to apply on-line.

A complete application includes:

1. Electronic application

2. Check/Money Order submission form

3. A $60 non-refundable application fee *

4. Three Letters of Recommendation** (at least one letter from a former instructor is suggested)

5. Two copies of your Statement of Purpose* (Question 2 on the UCSB application is not required)

6. Two copies of your resume or curriculum vitae

7. Two copies of official transcripts from all post-secondary institutions and programs attended (including Education Abroad Programs if the grades do not appear on your undergraduate transcripts)

8. Official GRE scores sent by the Educational Testing Service

9. TOEFL or IELTS scores taken within 2 years of the time of application (for applicants whose native language is not English)
   

* Applications from international applicants will not be processed until the $60 application fee has been received by the University.

**  Supplemental form available on the Graduate Division's Form Page

Note: The Bren School has a faculty-sponsored Ph.D. program, therefore applicants should clearly state their research goals and identify a faculty sponsor with compatible research interests in the

Statement of Purpose. Please include the faculty member's name on your statement coversheet. Applications with no faculty member listed will most likely be overlooked.

Send Items 2 and 3 to:
Graduate Division
University of California
Santa Barbara, CA 93106-2070

2. The $60 application fee
3. Check/Money Order submission form

Send items 4 through 7 to:

Donald Bren School of Environmental Science & Management

University of California
Santa Barbara, CA 93106-5131
Attn: Graduate Program Assistant

4. Three Letters of Recommendation
5. Two copies of your Statement of Purpose
6. Two copies of your resume
7. Two copies of official transcripts

Items 8 and 9 are sent directly to the Graduate Division by the testing service.

We invite you to read our online brochure. If you would like to be included on our email list to receive notices of our Open House and Bren Information Sessions, please complete our online request form.

If you have questions or need more information on the application process, please contact the Graduate Program Assistant.