Graduate Curriculum & Admissions
Description of the EBIO Graduate Program
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology is a department in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Graduate studies within the department lead to an MA I (with thesis), MA II (without thesis), or PhD degree in biology, with specialization in areas of environmental, population, and evolutionary biology. In addition, the department offers a combined B.A. and M.A. degree for a few highly motivated undergraduates who wish to obtain both degrees.
The established disciplinary strengths of the department include ecology, genetics, morphology, and systematics. Approximately half of the faculty focus on the adaptation and functioning of organisms in the context of environment, while the other half study higher levels of organization, including populations, communities, and ecosystems. Research programs have relevance for global change, conservation biology, and revealing fundamental mechanisms underlying the structural and functional adaptations of organisms.
Information for New Applicants
Financial Aid
The department attempts to support all of its graduate students (except for those in the MA II program). The support comes from University of Colorado merit fellowships, research assistantships, and teaching assistantships, all of which include paid tuition.
How to Apply
» U.S. Domestic Application
Checklist
» Letter to Domestic
Applicants
» International Application
Checklist
» Letter to Foreign
Applicants
» EBIO
Supplemental Application (found here in MS Word format)
» Additional
Required Application forms
Students with a bachelor's degree in biology (or other areas of science) are encouraged to apply. Deficiencies in math, chemistry, or physics can usually be corrected after enrollment, but cannot be counted toward hours for a graduate degree.
Our admission policy depends heavily upon faculty advocacy -- admission depends upon at least one faculty member requesting that an applicant be admitted to our graduate program. For this reason, applicants must contact faculty members with whom they would like to work and, if possible, visit here and interview with those faculty members. It is not necessary to visit with members of the graduate committee, since admissions decisions are based upon faculty advocacy.
The deadline for foreign applications is December 1st. See the International Application Checklist for full application information. Completed U.S. domestic applications, including three letters of reference, two official transcripts from each college or university you attended, and scores on the GRE General Test and Subject Test in biology, must be submitted to the department by December 30th (postmark date), if you wish to apply for the fall semester. Please review the U.S. Domestic Application Checklist to insure your application is complete. The November GRE (written) test is the last date on which you could take the tests and have your scores sent here in time for the application deadline.
Be sure to communicate (by phone, letter, e-mail or visit) with any faculty members whom you would like to review your application. Students with GRE scores in the 70th percentile and above and an undergraduate GPA of 3.0 (B average) and above are encouraged to apply. We admit students only for the fall semester. For additional information concerning the graduate program, please contact Jill Skarstad, skarstad@spot.colorado.edu.
Student Profile
Currently there are approximately 75 graduate students in the department with various areas of specialization. The majority have come directly from their undergraduate training. Our students come from a wide variety of ethnic, racial and other backgrounds. For example, approximately 50% of our students are women and range from 22 to 55 years of age. Although many of our students have GRE scores above the 90th percentile, we also accept non-traditional students with varied life experiences and backgrounds.
Academic Career Resources
The following links provide online career resources of interest to EBIO graduate students. The focus here is on academic careers, although you will find links to non-academic career resources as well.
- The Chronicle of Higher Education
- Provides free, searchable job listings (although those from the most recent issue require a fee).
- Academic 360.com: Faculty Positions in Biology/Life Sciences
- A "meta-collection" of job databanks, professional societies, and other academic career resources on the Web.
- CU Boulder Career Services for Graduate Students
- Provides lots of useful links for job-hunting graduate students.
- Graduate Student Online Résumés
- CU Boulder provides this page for grad students to make their résumés available to potential employers.