Students interested in pursuing a Ph.D. in the Biology Department must apply to either the "Ph.D. Track"or the "Ph.D." program, depending on their background.
Explanation: The Biology Department is phasing out the requirement for having a master's degree before entering into the Ph.D. program. In the interim, the Ph.D. Track is the point of entry into doctoral studies for students with a bachelor's degree in biology. Those students who have a master's degree, or 30 hours of graduate level coursework in biology, may apply directly to the doctoral program as Ph.D. students. If you are Ph.D. track, apply to the doctoral program. The Biology Department will note that you applied to the Ph.D. program and will consider you to be Ph.D. track. The graduate school, however, will temporarily reassign you as a masters student, until you have accrued the thirty hours of graduate level coursework. The courses taken as a " Master's student " will count toward your Ph.D..
Ph.D. & Ph.D. Track student admission requirements
Decisions are based on consideration of all the information listed below and are not based on any single criterion alone.
(see also The Department of Biology Graduate Catalog page)
1. Previous degree requirement.
Ph.D. Track: A bachelor's degree in biology, or a bachelor's degree in some other discipline with at least 12 hours of advanced level coursework (junior or senior level courses) in Biology.
Ph.D. program: A master's degree in biology, or at least 30 hours of graduate level coursework in biology.
2. A minimum undergraduate GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale, as calculated by the Graduate School, is expected. An applicant's GPA in the Sciences will be taken into consideration. If an applicant has a master's degree, the GPA from their master's degree will also be considered. If they have 30 hours of graduate coursework but no master's degree, the GPA from that 30 hours will be also be taken into consideration.
3. A satisfactory score on the Verbal and Quantitative sections of the Graduate Record Exam.
Ph.D. Track: Successful students tend to have a minimum combined (Verbal plus Quantitative) score of 1000 on the GRE, with strong performance on the Quantitative section of the exam.
Ph.D. program: Successful students tend to have a minimum combined (Verbal plus Quantitative) score of 1100 on the GRE, with strong performance on the Quantitative section of the exam.
4. Favorable letters of recommendation from at least three individuals able to assess the applicant's potential for success in graduate school.
5. Evidence of previous research experience may also be considered.
6. International students whose native language is not English must provide a score on the Test of Spoken English (TSE) of at least 45, a minimum score of 23 on the Speaking portion of the TOEFL iBT exam or a minimum score of 7 on the Speaking portion of the IELTS exam. See the following website for complete details: http://orgs.uta.edu/pdfs/Prospective/Instructions_Intl.pdf