Graduate Admissions/Student and Academic Affairs
1255 Murphy Hall
(310) 825-1711
U.S. applicants to graduate standing must hold a bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited institution comparable in standard and content to that awarded at the University of California. Degrees granted on the basis, for example, of nonacademic prior learning, test scores, and other than organized supervised coursework in academic subjects are not considered comparable. A scholastic average of B or better (or its equivalent if the letter grade system is not used) is required in the last two years of undergraduate coursework and in any postbaccalaureate study.
International applicants who have completed their postsecondary education outside the U.S. are expected to hold a degree, with above average scholarship, from a non-U.S. university or university-level institution. If your examinations have been graded Excellent, Very Good, Good, and Pass, you must have at least a Very Good general rating to qualify for admission. Students who hold a three-year ordinary or pass degree, or who hold a professional diploma in accounting, business, librarianship, social work, physical education, health education, etc., or a four-year degree, diploma, or higher certificate from a technical, vocational, or postsecondary specialized school, should not apply for graduate admission. Persons with memberships in professional associations such as Institutes of Chartered Accountants, the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators, etc., also do not qualify for graduate admission.
Meeting the minimum requirements does not ensure graduate admission, which is limited by the number of places available in UCLA's schools, college, and departments. Applications are evaluated in terms of scholastic qualifications and formal preparation for the graduate field of study. Departments may have special requirements for admission, which are included under individual departmental listings in this catalog.
Graduate students at UCLA must submit the 1996-97 Application for Graduate Admission to Graduate Admissions/Student and Academic Affairs, 1255 Murphy Hall, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1428. You may obtain this form, in person or by mail, from your prospective school or department.
Applications are generally accepted for Fall, Winter, and Spring Quarters, although some departments limit admission to Fall Quarter due to course sequencing. Such restrictions are stated in this catalog's departmental listings and in the application packet. Enrollment in Summer Sessions courses does not constitute admission to graduate standing.
Applications and supporting papers should be on file by the following dates (if the dates below fall on a weekend or holiday, the next working day applies):
December 15, 1995, for Fall Quarter 1996
October 1, 1996, for Winter Quarter 1997
December 28, 1996, for Spring Quarter 1997
December 15, 1996, for Fall Quarter 1997
Applications postmarked after these dates will be considered only when enrollment and funding limitations permit.
Supporting papers and materials to be submitted, including official transcripts of record and a $40 nonrefundable application fee, are specified in the application packet. Submitted materials are not returnable.
Graduate Record Examination. If you are applying for admission to a department or school which requires Graduate Record Examination (GRE) scores, you should arrange to take the examination no later than December so your scores arrive on time. GRE scores should be sent directly to your prospective department and not to the Graduate Division.
GRE applications and information are available from offices of the Educational Testing Service, either at P.O. Box 6151, Princeton, NJ 08540-6151, or at 1947 Center Street, Berkeley, CA 94704. For information on GRE Fee Waivers, write to the associate program director at the New Jersey address.
October 14, 1995
December 9, 1995
April 13, 1996
Letters of Recommendation. Most graduate professional schools, departments, and interdepartmental programs at UCLA require applicants to submit three letters of recommendation. Letters typically augment, validate, or explain information provided in the application and should be written by people qualified to analyze your abilities and academic promise. In some cases, these letters may mean the difference between acceptance and rejection. Letters should be sent directly to the prospective department. Forms to be used are included in the application packet.
UCLA requires, as a condition of registration, that all graduate students and all international students on nonimmigrant visas have adequate medical insurance coverage during all periods of enrollment. See Mandatory Medical Insurance Requirement under Graduate Registration and Enrollment later in this section for a description of what constitutes adequate medical insurance. Most travel insurance plans are not acceptable; medical insurance plans from foreign countries (including Canada) also are not acceptable.
UCLA offers a student Medical Insurance Plan (MIP) which fulfills the requirement. For graduate students the MIP fee is included each term in the amount due on the UCLA Billing Statement. This is the only method by which MIP can be purchased.
If you decide to waive out of MIP because you have adequate private medical insurance, you must complete the Medical Insurance Waiver Request included each term with the UCLA Billing Statement and submit the form when you pay your registration fees. For further information on MIP or adequate medical insurance requirements, call the Student Health Service Insurance Office at (310) 825-1856.
Applicants who have credentials from universities and colleges in foreign countries should submit applications at least two months before application deadlines. International applicants should have an academic degree or professional title earned at a university and will be evaluated on the basis of grades (marks) and class or rank achieved. You should submit official transcripts of record, in duplicate, for all college and university work. Specific instructions are given in the application packet.
Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). International students who hold a bachelor's or higher degree from a university in a country where the official language is English and in which English is the spoken tongue and the medium of instruction are exempt from both the TOEFL and the UCLA English as a Second Language Placement Examination (ESLPE). All other applicants must take the TOEFL, administered by the Educational Testing Service in some 95 foreign centers. Applications are available from TOEFL/TSE Publications, P.O. Box 6154, Princeton, NJ 08541-6154 (609-771-7760).
UCLA English as a Second Language Placement Examination (ESLPE). If your native language is not English, you are required to take the UCLA ESLPE (in addition to the TOEFL) before the term in which you are to register. Graduate students may take the ESLPE only once in a given term. They may retest in a subsequent term, and in such cases the most recent examination score is held to be valid. Unauthorized retakes of the examination result in an invalid examination score. Depending on your ESLPE results, you may be required to complete one or more courses in the English as a Second Language 33 series, beginning in your first term in residence at UCLA. These courses must be passed with a grade of C or better if taken for a letter grade, or B or better if taken on an S/U basis. You should expect to spend a longer period of time at the University than would normally be necessary to complete a degree program if you are required to take any English as a second language courses. If you do not achieve a minimum score on the ESLPE, your admission is deferred until you have acquired the necessary proficiency in English. Neither the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) nor any other English proficiency test can be submitted or accepted in lieu of the ESLPE.
Test of Spoken English (TSE). If you are an international student and wish an appointment as a teaching assistant, you should take the Test of Spoken English offered at the TOEFL Center in your home country. Individual departments may require international teaching assistant applicants to take the TSE or SPEAK, an institutional version of the TSE offered through UCLA's Office of Instructional Development (OID). Contact the TA Training Program at (310) 825-9269 for more information on SPEAK.
UCLA has no special limited or unclassified categories of graduate admission. Under some circumstances, however, applicants may be admitted for coursework without a degree objective. For example, teachers with a master's degree who wish some refresher study, or international students on a year's stay in the U.S., may wish to apply in this manner. Requirements for admission are the same as those for degree programs. All admission to no degree objective (NDO) programs, except for students in official Education Abroad Programs, must be preapproved by the dean of the Graduate Division, as must any University financial assistance for students on NDO status.
The University of California, in general, discourages the duplication of advanced degrees. At the same time, it recognizes that a professional degree does not duplicate an academic one, and that pressing needs may exist for degrees in different areas (see Concurrent and Articulated Degree Programs later in this section). If you are applying for a second academic degree at the same level or lower than the one you already hold, you are required to show compelling cause to the department. All degree requirements and University regulations apply just as they do for a first degree. Courses already applied to the earlier degree may not be applied to the second.
Enrollment in Summer Sessions courses does not constitute admission to graduate standing, nor does it substitute for the required continuous registration in Fall, Winter, and Spring Quarters. If you wish to apply Summer Sessions courses to your subsequent graduate program, you should consult in advance with your departmental adviser. This is also true if you have been readmitted to graduate standing and you wish to resume graduate study in Summer Sessions. Information and applications are available from the Office of Summer Sessions, 1147 Murphy Hall. Also refer to Academic Residence and Transfer of Credit later in this section.
If you take Summer Sessions courses following the award of your bachelor's degree, the grades do not appear on your undergraduate transcript (they are included on a separate transcript). After you are accepted by the Graduate Division, your Summer Sessions grades are included on your graduate transcript and computed in your grade-point average.
Students who are granted a formal leave of absence do not have to apply for readmission if they resume their graduate work in accordance with the terms of their leaves. All other continuing graduate students who fail to register for any regular session, or who fail to complete a term through cancellation or withdrawal, must compete for readmission with new applicants.
If you have registered at any time as a graduate student at UCLA and are returning after an absence (except a formal leave of absence), you must file an Application for Graduate Admission. Forms are available from the departments and should be submitted to Graduate Admissions/Student and Academic Affairs, 1255 Murphy Hall, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1428. The following materials must accompany the application:
(1) A check or money order for $40 (nonrefundable) made payable to The Regents of the University of California.
(2) The Graduate Petition for Change of Major, if appropriate. (If you are reapplying in a new major, request this form along with the Application for Graduate Admission.) Your UCLA graduate transcript must also be submitted.
(3) Transcripts of all academic work completed since your registration at UCLA as a graduate student.
Applicants for M.S. and Ph.D. programs in departments of the School of Medicine or Dentistry should apply for admission to the Graduate Division as described above. For admission to D.D.S., J.D., and M.D. degree programs in the Schools of Dentistry, Law, and Medicine, write to the respective schools for their announcement booklets and for information and application procedures.
The life and basic biomedical science departments at UCLA offer a mechanism for a combined recruitment, admission, and first-year program that provides Ph.D. students in the molecular and cellular life sciences with maximal choice and flexibility in selecting a research specialization. Through UCLA ACCESS, you are able to select research proj-ects from 165 faculty mentors according to changing perceptions, interests, and goals without regard to traditional departmental boundaries. The first year of each degree program has a common curriculum and advising structure.
UCLA ACCESS is used to recruit and admit students to the following 11 Ph.D. programs: Biochemistry, Biology, Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Molecular Biology, and Physiological Science in the College of Letters and Science; Anatomy and Cell Biology, Biological Chemistry, Experimental Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, Pharmacology, and Physiology in the School of Medicine. For specific information, refer to the individual department listings in the Curricula and Courses section of this catalog.
Applicants apply to UCLA ACCESS to Programs in Molecular and Cellular Life Sciences rather than to an individual department and must have completed an undergraduate major in a life or physical sciences discipline with superior scholastic achievement. You should have preparation in physics, biology, and chemistry, as well as specialized courses within the major which may include cell biology, neurobiology, immunology, structural or computational biology, microbiology, virology, plant molecular biology, developmental biology, gene expression, biochemistry, molecular biology, or the molecular basis of disease. In certain cases, background deficiencies may be remedied concurrently with graduate studies if recommended by the ACCESS advising committee. In addition to the UCLA Application for Graduate Admission, you should submit your scores on the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) General Test (Subject Test is optional) and three letters of recommendation from individuals who can provide direct knowledge of your academic record and potential for superior achievement in independent research. Admission is limited to Fall Quarter.
Applications and further information are available from the Program Coordinator, UCLA ACCESS to Programs in Molecular and Cellular Life Sciences, 172 MBI, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1570 (310-206-6051).
Individual requirements vary based on your background and scientific interest and are determined by your advising committee. In general a formal course of study consists of three lecture courses, three laboratory rotations, and two seminar courses. In addition, you participate in related activities on an informal basis.
Lecture Courses.Three survey courses to be selected from a list of approved courses maintained in the program office are required (one in molecular biology, one in cellular biology, and an elective in one of several areas).
Seminar Courses. You must enroll in two seminars during your first three terms to read and report on current scientific research literature.
Laboratory Rotations. During your first nine months in residence, you rotate for one term each through three laboratories selected from the UCLA ACCESS faculty list. You normally enroll in a 200- or 500-level course for a minimum of six units of credit for each rotation.
Additional Coursework. A course in computer application in molecular biology is required.
Teaching Experience. All departments participating in UCLA ACCESS consider teaching experience to be an integral part of the graduate program. You are required to complete two terms of teaching beginning in your second year. You are also required to complete a course, administered through the program, on approaches and methods for successful teaching.
You are admitted to UCLA graduate standing through UCLA ACCESS on a provisional basis for up to four terms. At the end of Spring Quarter, your academic progress is evaluated by your advising committee. If you receive a satisfactory evaluation, you select a faculty mentor as your doctoral committee chair. With concurrence of your mentor and the degree-granting program, you then transfer from UCLA ACCESS to that program for the remainder of your Ph.D. studies.
In the event you are unable to identify a suitable mentor and program by the end of your first year, one additional laboratory rotation approved by your advising committee will be available during the summer quarter. If you are unable to arrange for a laboratory after four rotations, you will be recommended for termination of graduate study or given the opportunity to arrange for a terminal master's degree through one of the participating or affiliated programs.
As an integral part of an Academic Resource Sharing program linking UCLA with the University of Southern California, the Graduate Cross-Enrollment Program makes possible graduate student exchanges in many departments. The program is limited to specialized courses which would not otherwise be available to UCLA students and is in effect only during the regular academic year (not in summer).
If you have completed at least one term of graduate study at UCLA, are in good academic standing, and have obtained the necessary approvals, you may enroll in a 501 course through your department. When you have completed the course at USC, your grade will be forwarded to UCLA to be recorded on your transcript (S/U grading only). Only eight units of cross-enrollment courses may be applied toward requirements for the master's degree, and these courses may not be used to satisfy the five-graduate-course requirement. Applications, available from Graduate Admissions/Student and Academic Affairs, 1255 Murphy Hall, should be completed before the start of the term in which the course is offered.
If you have completed one term of graduate study at any campus of the University and are in good academic standing, you may attend another campus as an Intercampus Exchange Graduate Student with the approval of your department chair, the chair of the department or group in which you wish to study at the host campus, and the dean of the Graduate Division at both the home and host campuses. The privilege should be used only by students whose graduate study may be enhanced by work with certain faculty or use of facilities and resources accessible only at another campus.
Although you are considered to be in residence at your home campus, as an Intercampus Exchange Student you have library, health service, and recreation center privileges at the host campus. Grades are transferred to your home campus and entered on your official record.
Applications are available from Graduate Admissions/Student and Academic Affairs and should be filed at least four weeks before the beginning of the term in which you expect to enter the program. The program is available only during the regular academic year (not in summer).
Graduate students may also take advantage of the Education Abroad Program described in the About UCLA section of this catalog.
The University makes opportunities and facilities available to qualified scholars -- those holding doctoral degrees or foreign equivalents -- to continue advanced study and research under faculty guidance.
A postdoctoral fellow is one who (1) has been awarded a doctoral degree or the foreign equivalent where at least three years of undergraduate study are prerequisite to admission to the graduate program, (2) has been awarded a fellowship, traineeship, or equivalent support (including academic appointments such as postgraduate researcher) for studies at the postdoctoral level, and (3) is pursuing a program of research and training under the direction of a faculty member with the approval of the department or research unit, and by the dean of the Graduate Division. Enrollment as a postdoctoral fellow is normally for a period of one to three years and is limited to a period not to exceed five years. Interested candidates should make advance arrangements with the relevant department or research unit.
The same opportunities are made available to visiting scholars -- senior scholars and distinguished visitors holding doctoral degrees or foreign equivalents -- who wish to pursue independent research or advanced study at UCLA, working with a colleague for a limited time, normally no more than one year. Visiting scholars are distinguished from postdoctoral fellows in that they are not in training under faculty supervision but rather are themselves peers of our faculty, visiting from other universities and institutions. Visiting scholars ordinarily have adequate support funds from sources outside the University.
Further information on both postdoctoral fellows and visiting scholars is available from Graduate Admissions/Student and Academic Affairs, 1255 Murphy Hall.