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Dear Prospective Graduate Students,

       Welcome to the EBIO Aridlands Ecology Laboratory! Thank you for your interest in the lab. One of the most important decisions you will make in choosing a graduate program is selecting a graduate advisor. You will be working closely with this person over several years and it is critically important to make a choice that fits well with your interests and personality.  Acceptance into the graduate program is generally dependent on acceptance into a research lab; thus the initial communication with potential advisors is important. 

         Many of you may be sending letters before applying to a program to see if your interests match well with a potential advisor.  I receive many letters from prospective graduate students during the fall before applications are due and I have written this letter as a general guide for making contact not only with me but also with other prospective advisors. First, I would suggest looking thoroughly through the lab web site to get an idea of the type of questions we address and where we do this.  If you find that you are interested in working in the lab after looking through the web page it would be incredibly helpful for me to receive an initial letter of introduction from you. Ideally this should include most of the information listed below:

  1. Your area of research interest
  2. Whether or not you are applying for a M. S. or Ph.D. program
  3. Research experience
  4. Educational  background
  5. Why you want to obtain an advanced degree and some thoughts on what you would like to do after graduate school
  6. Why you are specifically interested in work being done in the lab

Once you have put together this information, you may have some questions for me, such as:

  1. What is my advising philosophy? Does this philosophy work well with how you would like to be advised?
  2. What are the requirements for the program? Is there required coursework? What is the general timeline for completing degree requirements such as comprehensive exams and a proposal defense?
  3. How are graduate students funded? How much are stipends for a teaching assistantship and a research assistantship? What are tuition costs and fees?  What is the cost of living in the surrounding area?

I hope this helps in the navigating the graduate school application process. If you have any additional questions please feel free to ask.


Good luck!
--Nichole Barger