Transcript Main Title - University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign

Going To Graduate School
Why graduate school?
What are your career objectives?
Do you enjoy the academic environment and want to
continue your education?
Do you want to face more challenges and have more
responsibility in your career?
Do you have a thirst for knowledge and scientific
discovery?
Do you want to teach?
More job opportunities?
Enhanced financial incentives? M.S. degree students
can start at $55-75,000/year, PhD at $65105,000/year.
Preparing for Graduate School
Consider taking 400 or even 500 level courses.
Undergraduate research experience
CRSC 295, 396; PLPA 395; HORT 295, 396.
Apply for on or off-campus internships
CRSC and HORT 293 and 294.
Apply for summer jobs in your field of interest.
Undergraduate research experience or summer jobs
in Crop Science or Horticulture programs either in
academia, industry, or with the government are a
big plus in getting accepted to graduate schools.
The Graduate Record Examination
Graduate programs use GRE scores to evaluate your readiness for
graduate-level work. The GRE General Test measures verbal
reasoning, quantitative reasoning, critical thinking and analytical
writing skills that are not related to any specific field of study.
Analytical Writing — Measures critical thinking and analytical
writing skills, specifically the test taker's ability to
articulate complex ideas clearly and effectively
Verbal Reasoning — Measures reading comprehension skills
and verbal and analogical reasoning skills, focusing on the
test taker's ability to analyze and evaluate written material
Quantitative Reasoning — Measures problem-solving ability,
focusing on basic concepts of arithmetic, algebra, geometry
and data analysis
Where to apply?
1. Review academic rankings and quality of
schools.
2. Talk to faculty, current graduate students,
family or friends about good schools.
3. Visit College Web sites.
4. Identify interesting faculty/programs.
5. Email graduate coordinators or potential faculty
advisors.
6. Identify several schools to apply to.
7. Apply for National or regional competitive
fellowships.
When to apply?
Most schools accept applications between late
November to early April for admission in the
following fall semester.
Complete your application early – by January or
February because most schools award fellowship
to applicants by February or March.
Some schools will allow students to start in the
summer or in the Spring semester.
Application to the Department of Crop
Sciences
Go online to: http://cropsci.illinois.edu/graduate.
Which will describe application requirements and
what must be submitted with your application.
This web site provides a link to the U. of I.
Graduate College admissions, which will walk you
through the process.
This web site will also provide the list of faculty in
the Department, a description of their programs,
and email contact information.
Graduate Programs in Crop Sciences
On-campus M.S. program (thesis required).
On-line M.S. program (thesis not required; terminal
degree).
On-campus Bioinformatics M.S. program (thesis).
On-campus B.S. direct to Ph.D. program (thesis
required). Only exceptionally strong applicants
are admitted to this program.
On-campus Ph.D. program. Applicants have or are
about to complete a M.S. in an appropriate
discipline.
Crop Science Program Areas and
student numbers
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Plant Breeding and Genetics
Plant Path., Weed Science,
Nematology, & Entomology
Crop Production
Horticulture/Urban Ag.
/Sustainable landscapes
Bioinformatics/Biometrics
Crop Ecol./Envir. & Soil Sci.
Molecular Biology
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- 22
- 14
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FY 2012-2013 Graduate Student
Stipends
50% Appointments $/Mo
$/Sem
$/9Mo
$/12Mo
M.S. Students $1,746
$7,856
$15,713
$21,474
Ph.D. Students $1,890 $8,505
$17,010
$23,253
Fellowship Students – M.S.
– Ph.D.
$22,974
$24,753
What are the eligibility requirements?
You must have maintained a GPA of 3.0 or greater
during the last 60 hours of your undergraduate
program.
You will need to show that you will have completed
your B.S. (occasionally a B.A.) at an accredited
college prior to enrollment.
Completion of the GRE with recommended scores
over 1100 on the verbal + quantitative and 3.0
or greater on the analytical.
What to submit with your application
Complete and submit the online application form.
Personal statement describing your experience,
disciplinary interest, and potential faculty advisors.
What can you bring to the table?
Resume
Transcripts from each of the colleges you attended
during your undergraduate program.
Arrange for submission of three letters of reference.
References from academic faculty or previous job
supervisors are best.
Contact Dianne Carson ([email protected]) or Jack
Juvik ([email protected]) for more information.
Funding
In the Department of Crop Sciences no applicant is
accepted unless a faculty member is willing to serve
as their advisor AND will commit to provide support
for a 50% RA for the duration of the student’s
program (assuming satisfactory progress).
This support can be in the form of a research
assistantship, a teaching assistantship or a
combination of both. If a faculty member agrees to
this then the applicant becomes eligible for
consideration for a fellowship.
Along with the 50% appointment is a tuition and fee
waiver (except for about $550/semester)
Fellowship Opportunities
Crop Sciences currently supports over 30 students on
departmental and College or ACES fellowships.
Fellowship eligibility requirements include a GPA of
3.5 or greater, strong basic science background,
averaged GRE scores in the upper 50 percentile,
strong letters of recommendation, appropriate
undergraduate research job, or internship
experience, and well articulated personal
statement.
Completed application packets must be received by
February 1 for fall enrollment.
Most of the fellowships are awarded to fall
applicants.
Crop Sciences Fellowships
Named Fellowships: Ewing, Ainsworth, Lange and
Aldrich, Ambrose, Brockson, Calkin, Hackleman,
Hageman, Ingersoll, J.B. Turner, Schrader, Slife,
Ball, Boerner, etc. annually provide about $240,000 to
16-18 graduate students.
Illinois Plant Breeding Center Fellowships and
Scholarships sponsored by Monsanto, Pioneer,
Illinois Corn Growers Association, and Dow
AgroSciences provide full fellowships to
approximately 18 plant breeding graduate students.
After submitting application
Notify potential faculty advisors that you have
applied.
Arrange to visit the schools of interest. Some
departments at some schools will invite you to
visit and may provide some travel support.
If you receive an admission offer make sure how
much support will be provided for how long.
Offers of fellowships can allow you more choice
about your graduate program. These are good on
your resume and can provide somewhat higher
stipends.
Questions?