Admissions
PLEASE NOTE: the final deadline for M.S. applications is May 31. We are no longer considering new Ph.D. applications for Fall 2013.
The Biostatistics graduate program at UC Davis is targeted toward students who are attracted to statistics, but who also wish to understand the interface between problems of the life sciences, data, and the more theoretical aspects of models and methods. Applications for the Biostatistics Graduate Group are made online at the Office of Graduate Studies.
Admissions Requirements
An undergraduate major in Mathematics, Statistics, Biostatistics or Biological Sciences with a quantitative orientation is typical for Biostatistics graduate students but is not required. However, because of the mathematical nature of some of the graduate coursework, students should be able to demonstrate good mathematical ability and should have taken coursework in mathematics. Students preferably would have had some exposure to courses in the life sciences (biological, environmental, medical, and agricultural sciences). Students without sufficient coursework in mathematics or life sciences may be admitted on the condition that deficiencies will be corrected during the first year of study. Applicants for the Ph.D. must have completed the course requirements (or their equivalents) for the M.S. degree in Statistics and at least one semester or two quarters of advanced calculus at a level equivalent to Mathematics 127AB and a quarter of linear algebra at a level equivalent to Mathematics 167.
The minimum requirements for the Biostatistics graduate program are as follows:
- Bachelor’s Degree with overall GPA of 3.0 or above
- Undergraduate major in Mathematics, Statistics, Biostatistics, or Biological Sciences with quantitative orientation is typical for Biostatistics graduate students, but is not required
- Demonstrate good mathematical ability
- Exposure to courses in the life sciences (biological, environmental, medical, and agricultural sciences)
- One year of calculus
- One course of Linear Algebra or one year of biological coursework
- Facility with a programming language
- Upper division coursework in Mathematics, Statistics, Biology or Biostatistics
- GRE; scores must not be more than five years old prior to quarter of admission.
- For international students, a TOEFL score of 80 on the Internet-based test (iBT). Scores must be no more than two years old.
Please keep in mind that the application process is very competitive, and that only a handful of students are admitted each year, from a strong pool of applicants. Each part of the application is important, and we look for solid overall applications which are the best fit to our program.
Funding is available in the form of employment within the department as a Teaching Assistant or as a Graduate Student Researcher; details of how to apply are found on the website. Teaching Assistants are eligible for fee remissions; details can be found at the fees and remissions page. There are also a limited number of fellowships available to help pay for non-resident tuition. Some Biostatistics faculty also emply students as Graduate Student Researchers; prospective students are encouraged to contact faculty members with whom they are interested in researching under prior to application, though it is not required for admission. Please note: funding is currently only available for Ph.D. applicants.
How to Apply
You should submit your application as early as possible. The priority deadline for all application materials is January 15th, or May 31st for those not wishing to be considered for financial support, and M.S. applicants. Applications are made online at the Office of Graduate Studies; details of how to apply can be found on their website: (http://gradstudies.ucdavis.edu/prospective/apply_online.html).
The application fee is $80 for domestic applicants and $100 for international applicants. This fee is paid online at the time of application, and you can pay by credit card or by e-check. Please do not send checks or cash to the department. The application fee is non-refundable.
Three Letters of Recommendation must be submitted electronically along with your online application. Please do not have hard copies sent to the department. Transcripts must be submitted to the graduate program coordinator once you have completed your online application; please submit only one transcript for each university or college you have attended. Please submit all Graduate Record Examination (GRE) scores to the graduate program coordinator. We require the General GRE test only, and you must have taken the test within the last five years. If your GRE scores are more than five years old, you will be required to take the test again before you can be admitted. When requesting your official GRE score be sent to us, please use institutional code 4834, department code 0799 (If this code is not available, please use the Statistics code 0704 or 0705), and list the department as Biostatistics. Applicants whose native language or language of instruction is not English must take the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) exam; if your previous degree was taken in the United States you can waive this requirement. We require a minimum TOEFL score of 80 for the internet-based TOEFL (iBT), and scores must be no more than two years old. Our TOEFL department code is 59.
Students who apply for the Ph.D. program before January 15 will be considered for financial support. It is no longer necessary to submit a TA Application. Be sure to submit an application for internal fellowships; please go to Graduate Studies (http://gradstudies.ucdavis.edu/ssupport/internal_fellowships.html) for more details.
The priority deadline for Fall 2013 admission is January 15th, 2013. We can accept admissions applications and materials through May 31st (please check with the graduate coordinator to see if we are still admitting), however only those submitted by January 15th can be considered for financial support. Please note that we only accept entry in the Fall, and we do not admit part-time students. We look forward to hearing from you, and thank you for considering applying to our graduate program. If you have any further queries, please contact:
Graduate Programs Coordinator: Pete Scully, Tel: 530-692-5194