We are excited to announce the availability of our online admission application for international applicants. We strongly encourage you to take advantage of this feature, and avoid postal delays and reduce related costs by submitting your application online. (this is the preferred means of receiving your application.) The online appliction provides for the prompt, secure, and confidential receipt of your admission application. If you elect to apply online and pay the application fee by credit card at the time of application, your electronic application is processed and forwarded to your intended program for evaluation the very next business day. You then simply mail the other required materials (letters of recommendation, financial certificate, transcripts, etc.) per the instructions provided here to complete your application. If you are unable to actually apply online we also have available a printable version (via Adobe Acrobat) of our international applicant paper application. By using this option you save the 3-4 weeks time it takes for a paper application to reach you. You will need to submit TWO completed copies of this application form.
TOEFL scores are reportable for a period of two years from date of the exam. Exam results more than two years old will not be reported by ETS, and thus cannot be considered by us. TOEFL scores that are submitted to this institution are kept on file for only one year. If you are currently enrolled at a U.S. institution, you must submit an official transcript or verification of degree candidate status from that institution to qualify for a TOEFL waiver. If the degree or an official verification is not received, the TOEFL score will again be required.
The University's deadline for receipt of all application materials for fall admission is January 1 of that year. The deadline for spring admission is October 15 of the preceding year. These deadlines must be met in order to be considered for Graduate School fellowships.
The Department may admit students as late as June 15 for the fall semester; however, departmental fellowships and assistantships typically are awarded within two to four weeks of the university's deadlines. The Department of Geological Sciences typically does not admit students for the spring semester.
A non-refundable application fee is required for each program to which you apply.
The Department of Geological Sciences requires the official score report of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE's) from all applicants for admission to the graduate program. These results are mailed by the Educational Testing Service directly to the Graduate School. If the test is taken in December, the official report likely will not arrive in the Graduate School by the January 1 deadline; a photocopy will be acceptable for application processing purposes until the official report arrives.
Applicants to the Geological Sciences Graduate Program must provide the following additional information:
1. a brief personal statement describing present fields of interest in geology and professional plans;
2. a list of all courses in which they are enrolled and/or plan to complete before matriculating at UNC; and
3. a list of other schools to which they applied.
Students are encouraged to contact any of our faculty members for information concerning their particular research and opportunities for graudate study; this is required of all doctoral applicants. The interest and support of individual faculty members are an important part of our decision-making process for admission. Applicants for the M.S. program who may not have formulated a specific interest may indicate that the field of specialization will be determined later. It is our expectation that all applicants for the Ph.D. program will have pre-defined areas of research interest, and will have been in personal contact with potential graduate advisors prior to their application to the Ph.D. program.
Admission into the Department of Geological Sciences requires 3 letters of recommendation. These recommendations should come from individuals who can best describe your academic and /or professional qualifications. The top portion of the letter of recommendation form found in the application packet must be completed carefully; take special note of the right of access statement. All recommendations should be sent directly to:
Department of Geological Sciences
115 Mitchell Hall, CB# 3315
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3315
Two official transcripts should be submitted at time of applying. One official transcripts of all post-secondary work, bearing official signature and seal, must be submitted to the Graduate School along with the application. One official transcripts of all post-secondary work, bearing official signature and seal, must be submitted to the Department along with the supplemental application/information. Unofficial transcripts may be used by the Department only as a preliminary measure in ascertaining admissibility.
Students admitted to pursue a graduate degree in the Department of Geological Sciences normally are expected to have an undergraduate degree in traditional geology, biology, geochemistry, geophysics, or other related interdisciplinary fields. Deficiencies are determined by the student's Graduate Committee.
Course requirements will be determined by individual graduate committees, often in consultation with the Director of Graduate Studies. Minimum requirements for the Master's degree are 30 graduate-level hours including at least three but no more than six hours of thesis research. Doctoral candidates must complete 48 graduate-level hours including 6 hours of dissertation research and no less than 15 hours of course work. This can also include 30 hours of transfer credit from the master's degree.
The Department of Geological Sciences typically offers teaching assistantships to incoming students. Current stipends are $11,500 for Master's candidates and $13,000 for Doctoral candidates for the nine-month academic year. Limited departmental funds are available for summer teaching and research. Special funds from the Graduate School provide competitive fellowships and assistantships for especially well-qualified students nominated by the department.
All graduate students are nominated by the Department for full tuition remission awards. These nominations are subject to approval by the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. Eligibility criteria for these awards are: must be fully-enrolled, degree-seeking; must receive a minimum stipend of $6,000 per academic year; must be classified as teaching assistant or research assistant. Master's degree candidates are eligible for these awards for their first four semesters of support; doctoral candidates are eligible for their first six semesters of support.
Interested students are encouraged to consider course work in other departments and curricula in the University. Earth science related academic coursework is provided in several programs in addition to those in the Department of Geological Sciences. Students are encouraged to investigate offerings in:
In addition, UNC students may register for courses offered at Duke University and at North Carolina State University through interinstitutional registration.
The informatiion provided on this page is specific to this academic program, and is above and beyond the basic admission requirements as established by the Administrative Board of the Graduate School. Applicants are respondsible for complying with the basic admission requirements as specified by the Graduate School.