University of South Florida

M.S. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & POLICY ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS

Students wishing to gain admittance into the graduate program in Environmental Science and Policy must have a baccalaureate degree or its equivalent from an accredited college or university, typically in a discipline related to environmental science or environmental policy. Guidelines for admission, and item applicants must submit, are as follows:

• A completed application form. This can be obtained from the Graduate Admissions Office website.

• Transcripts from the undergraduate degree. Applicants will be considered if they have attained a grade point average of at least 3.0 (on a 4-point scale) for the last 60 credits taken as an undergraduate.

• Scores from a Graduate Record Exam (GRE) taken five years or less before the date of the application.

• A letter of intent and statement of interests by the applicant. The letter should summarize the applicant's relevant achievements and academic preparation; describe the applicant's academic and career goals, and ways in which studies toward the M.S. in ESP will further those goals; and state the applicant's intended area(s) of academic interest within the field of environmental science and policy.

• At least three letters of recommendation from persons familiar with the applicant's achievements, abilities, and performance. It is important that at least two of these letters be from persons familiar with the applicant's academic performance, stating their judgement of the applicant's likelihood of success in the graduate program.

Admitted students are expected to have adequate academic preparation to complete advanced coursework and research in a range of scientific disciplines and in the application of scientific information to public policy and decision-making in the environmental field. Suitable undergraduate degrees may include: biology; geology; chemistry; civil, chemical, or environmental engineering; urban planning; environmental studies, with quantitative coursework included; and other degrees where the student has mastered some quantitative methods, some analysis of environmental systems, and some assessment of public policy and decision-making for environmental protection. As a rule, applicants should have completed the following pre-requisites before acceptance to the M.S. program:

1. Math: two semesters, calculus and/or statistics

2. Biology: one semester

3. Chemisty: one semester

4. Geosciences (geology, soils, agricultural science, other): one semester

5. Physics, engineering mechanics, or equivalent: one semester

6. Environmental policy: demonstrated interest in and aptitude for public policy, preferably environmental policy and/or management. This may be demonstrated through coursework, professional or volunteer activities, written projects, or other evidence.

Applicants can be considered for the program if they have not completed one or more of these prerequisites, though their preparation will be considered on a competitive basis during the admission decisions. Students who enter the M.S. program lacking any of these prerequisites will be expected to complete them by taking additional coursework during the M.S. candidacy, or demonstrate their proficiency in some other fashion, to the satisfaction of the student's major professor and faculty Supervisory Committee.