Admission Procedure

All applications are ranked by the ecology doctoral faculty of SDSU and UCD and reviewed by the SDSU JDPE Executive Committee, and the Graduate Deans of both SDSU and UCD. Many factors go into selecting the successful applicants. To be given full consideration, students should have a GPA of more than 3.2. Foreign students who have not studied at an English speaking university must take the TOEFL.

All students are required to have a faculty sponsor in the EPA at SDSU. Your SDSU faculty advisor must be designated on both your UCD and SDSU application. Students must have an EPA faculty member willing to accept them into his or her laboratory as a condition of acceptance to the PhD program and ultimately, to act as their Major Professor for the Ph.D. research and dissertation. Prospective students are strongly encouraged to contact faculty whose research interests are compatible with their own to determine if these faculty are accepting students, and if so, the students should discuss the research interests of the faculty and their own interests. Most faculty members would like to see a curriculum vitae and a statement of research interests from prospective students. Applicants are encouraged to meet in person with potential major professors for the Ph.D. prior to application in to the program.

This is a two-step application procedure. First, a full application (including transcripts) is submitted to UC Davis for the Joint Doctoral Program in Ecology on or before December 1 (November 31 in years when the 1st falls on a weekend or holiday) at: https://grad.ucdavis.edu/apply. Review of applications for each Fall semester will commence in early January with decisions made as quickly as possible thereafter. Second, those selected will be asked to submit an abbreviated application at: http://www.csumentor.edu.

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Required documents To be sent to

Official copy of transcripts to UCD and, upon invitation, to SDSU

All degree and recent transcripts that reflect the last 60 semester (90 quarter units). Students with international coursework must submit all official transcripts and proofs of degree. If certificates and transcripts are not in English, they should be accompanied by certified English transcriptions. Materials are sent to SDSU only after initial screening and upon request.

*If you have international coursework, you must have your school send us one official original-language record of all academic coursework and proof of degree. For each document you must also send a certified literal English translation, which can come directly from the school itself or from a professional, certified translator. The translation must contain all information shown on the original-language documents. For details on which documents are required, visit the Requirements by Country page.

SDSU Graduate Admissions

Graduate Group in Ecology Office

SDSU Graduate Studies application - CSU Mentor

The first step is to apply to the JDPE program at UCD. Students approved by the SDSU UCD joint admissions committee will be invited to apply to SDSU. Students that pass the first tier selection will be notified and must complete an abbreviated electronic application through CSU mentor. There is a $70 application fee. After submitting your online application, you will receive an e-mail containing instructions for obtaining your Red ID Number. This Red ID number can be used to track the status of your application and submitted materials online.

SDSU Electronic application

UCD Graduate Studies application - online

This is a multi-stepped process that requires you to create a logon ID, etc. Letters of recommendation are submitted electronically through this system, please do not send hard copies to UCD. You will need a Statement of Purpose to complete the application you must name your proposed SDSU major professor(s). To be considered to the SDSU Ph.D. program, you must apply to the UCD Ecology Joint Doctoral Program in Ecology (JDPE) and not the Graduate Group in Ecology (GGE). You will be required to pay an admissions fee.
Graduate Group in Ecology Application Instructions

UCD Graduate application

TOEFL scores sent to both SDSU and UCD

SDSU Institution Code is 4682. UCD Institution Code is 4834.

TOEFL test score is required (if postsecondary instruction is in a language other than English)

Sent directly by Educational Testing Service

For graduate division application information contact:

Graduate Admissions Enrollment Services San Diego State University 5500 Campanile Drive San Diego, CA 92182-7416

For information on application procedures, contact: Graduate Programs Administrator San Diego State University, Department of Biology 5500 Campanile Drive San Diego CA 92182-4614 Tel: 619-594-2980

For information on the application procedure and the GGE Ecology Ph.D. program at UC Davis, contact:

Angie Nguyen Graduate Advisor/Coordinator 1005 Wickson Hall University of California, One Shields Ave Davis CA 95616 Tel: (530) 752-6752

For more information about the JDPE academic program, and for academic questions, contact the Program Coordinator:

Walter Oechel Coordinator of the Ecology Doctoral Program Department of Biology San Diego State University San Diego, California 92182-4614 Global Change Research Group