Q: How may I get a brochure about your program? Where can I find information
about your faculty members and the program requirements for your graduate
programs?
A: We post our admissions information online, and no longer print paper
brochures.
Please visit these links to information that will get you started:
Department of Plant and Microbial Biology
Plant
Biology Program Page
Plant and
Microbial Biology Faculty Page
Microbiology
Program Page
Graduate Group in
Microbiology Faculty Page
UC Berkeley Graduate Division - Please
look at the "prospective students" section of this website.
Q: How many students do you currently have enrolled in your program? How many
students do you admit every year?
A: As of Fall 2009, we have 41 students in our Ph.D. in Plant Biology program
and 44 students in the Ph.D. in Microbiology program. The number of students we
can admit varies from year to year depending on funding. For the past several
years, the admissions committee for each program has offered admission to 10-15
applicants, with about half of those students coming to UC Berkeley.
Q: Do you offer financial support for your students?
A: All of our admitted students receive 5 full years' of funding contingent upon satisfactory academic progress. Our current graduate student stipend level is $27,000for 12 months.
Q: Do you admit international students? How can international students
increase their chances of being admitted?
A: We can usually afford to admit one international student per program per
year. This means that the admissions competition is much stiffer for
international students than for domestic students. International students who
have a fellowship from an outside agency that will offset their cost, such as
the Fulbright, are reviewed alongside domestic applicants.
Q: I completed an undergraduate degree in another country. Am I
qualified to apply to your graduate program?
A: UC Berkeley has very specific rules for degrees from every country.
To find out whether we would accept your first degree, please
email us with the
country name, the university name, and the exact title of your degree. We
will look it up for you.
Q: I already have a Master's degree. May I transfer my coursework to UC
Berkeley?
A: Although having your Master's degree may help you in the admissions
process, we rarely excuse a student from any of our Ph.D. coursework for this
reason. We have minimal coursework requirements, designed not only to prepare
you for your qualifying exam, but also to help connect you with the other
students in your cohort group.
Q: I've already selected the faculty member with whom I want to work.
Do I still have to do rotations, or will you admit me directly into a lab?
A: We do not admit students directly into a permanent lab. Each student
must complete three required lab rotations during the first year before joining
a lab.
Q: I am interested in several different programs at UC Berkeley. May I
apply to all of them?
A: Sorry, UC Berkeley only allows students to apply to one graduate
program per year.
Q: Is there a minimum GRE score that I need to receive in order to apply
to your department? What is the average GRE score of your admitted students?
A: We require no minimum GRE score to apply to our department. Your
GRE scores make up only one part of your application. We view them in the
context of the rest of your application materials. You may see the average GRE
score data from a couple of years ago
here.
Q: How do I know what materials you've already received for my file?
A: Once you submit your application and we give you access to our
internal department admissions system, you will be able to view a list of what
we've received for you and what you still need to upload. GRE scores come to
Berkeley electronically. We load them into our departmental system periodically,
much more frequently as the application deadline approaches. If you took your
GRE test over a month ago and it still doesn't look like we have your official
score, email us and we'll do a manual check for you.
Q: May I submit more than three letters of recommendation?
A: Yes, you may submit additional letters of recommendation via the
internal department admissions system once you've been given access.
Q: May I submit application materials later than December 4th?
A: Yes you may. However, our admissions committee may start reviewing
application files anytime after December 4th. We cannot guarantee that a
faculty member who has reviewed your file will go back and take a look
at it again after you've uploaded your additional materials.
Q: I need to make an update to my application materials OR I have
my Fall 2009 grades now and would like to update my transcript. How may I do
that?
A: You may upload your changed documents into our internal
department admissions system, and email us if you would like us to remove
documents. If you make changes after Dec. 4th, we cannot guarantee that a
faculty member who has reviewed your file will look at it again after you make
the changes.
