FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS I. About the Application and Admission Process Can I apply for a waiver of the application fee? The $60 application fee is firmly required and can not be waived or deferred for international students. Applications will not be processed or reviewed for admission until after the application fee has been paid. Exception: Only U.S. Citizens or Permanent Residents with demonstrated financial need can request a waiver. To do so, contact the Graduate Admissions Office to request a fee waiver application (contact Cathy Jurado at cjjurado@ucdavis.edu and include your name and mailing address). The fee must be paid by check or money order, made payable to "U.C. Regents” (credit card payments are not acceptable) and it should be sent to: Marilyn Dexter Graduate Secretary Economics Dept. UC Davis One Shields Avenue Davis, CA 95616-8578 Exception: Online applicants can pay the fee by credit card, if they provide their credit card information on the online application before indicating that the application is complete. What are the Admission Requirements? A bachelor’s degree, preferably in economics, is required. Students who did not major in economics should have taken at least intermediate microeconomics, intermediate macroeconomics, and two additional upper- division economics courses. Because of the quantitative nature of the first-year theory sequence, prior completion of at least one year of calculus is essential, and a course in linear algebra is highly desirable. Similarly, at least two courses in statistics, including an upper-division course, are very important as preparation for the econometrics courses. Also see GRE requirements, farther below. Is it possible to take prerequisite courses (listed under admission requirements, above) when beginning the graduate program instead of before applying? No. These courses must be completed and the grades for them should be included on your transcripts, when you apply for admission. There is no “conditional admission”. If I haven’t had the required math or economics courses listed in the Admission Requirements, above, do I have a chance for admission? No What are my chances for admission and/or financial aid? It will depend on how each applicant’s records compare with those of a great many other applicants. It is therefore impossible to estimate an individual’s chances until all applications have been received and examined. Frequently asked questions, continued. 2 Must applicants have an M.A. degree before applying to the Ph.D. program? No, applicants can apply to the PhD program if they have a bachelor’s degree and if they meet the other admission requirements. Are applicants who have already earned an M.A. degree favored for admission over applicants who have only a bachelor’s degree? Not necessarily. What matters is how well the applicant’s application materials meet the admission requirements. Is there a minimum GPA requirement? Yes. The minimum GPA required for admission is 3.25 (on a 4-point scale). Is the GRE Exam required? The GRE exam is firmly required (the general GRE exam is required; the subject GRE exam is not required). It is firmly required of all applicants, even those who have already earned an M.A. Degree. The GRE scores must either be official scores sent by ETS (Educational Testing Service) or a photo copy of the official scores. Can GMAT Scores be submitted instead of GRE scores? No, GMAT scores are not acceptable as a substitute for the GRE exam. Are there minimum GRE scores required for admission consideration? Yes. Applicants with GRE verbal scores below the 60th percentile (30th percentile for non-native speakers of English), GRE quantitative scores below the 70th percentile, or TOEFL scores below 600 will not be considered for admission. Are computer-based GRE scores acceptable? Yes, both computer-based and paper-based GRE scores are acceptable at this department (either kind of score is acceptable). What are the institution and department codes for arranging for ETS to send GRE scores to the Economics Dept. at UC Davis? The institution code for UC Davis is 4834 and the Dept. code for the Economics Dept. is 1801. If GRE scores are several years old, are they still acceptable? If your GRE scores are less than 5 years old, they are still acceptable. If your GRE scores are 5 years old or older, you must retake the GRE. How can I get information about taking the GRE exam? The GRE exam is administered by the Educational Testing Service (ETS), CN 6000, Princeton, NJ 08541- 6000; phone: (609) 771-7670. You can contact the ETS directly by email at gre-info@ets.org or see information on the web, at: www.gre.org Frequently asked questions, continued. 3 Is the TOEFL Exam required? The Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) is required if English is not your native language unless you have studied for at least one year at a school where English is the language of instruction. The minimum TOEFL score for admission consideration for the graduate program in Economics at UC Davis is 600. A photo copy of the TOEFL score can be submitted at first, for admission review purposes, but admitted applicants must also submit an official copy of the TOEFL score from ETS, before enrolling at UC Davis. How can I get information about taking the TOEFL exam? The TOEFL exam is administered by the Educational Testing Service (ETS), P.O. Box 6154, Princeton, NJ 08541-6154; phone: (609) 771-7100. Request information from Toefl@ets.org or see information on the web, at www.toefl.org Is the TSE Exam required? The TSE exam is not required. However, international students admitted to the graduate program at UC Davis are required to take an English Exam after arrival at UC Davis, before the Fall Quarter begins. Students who do not do well on the exam may be required to take one or more English courses at UC Davis. Does work experience count in the admission process? Typically not since it is not relevant to the pursuit of the PhD in Economics. Applicants from India often ask if a 3-year undergraduate degree from India is sufficient to be considered for graduate school. The general BA in India is a 3-year degree and is not considered sufficient for admission to graduate school. In order to be considered, the student must have the 4-year B-Tech degree, or the 3-year degree plus the 1- year honors certificate, or the 3-year degree plus the 2-year Masters degree. Is a specific form required for submitting recommendation letters? No, but if you would like to use a form, you can. A form is available at this website: http://gradstudies.ucdavis.edu/prospective/report.pdf How many letters of recommendation are required? Three. Do the letters have to be from professors? It would probably be best if the letters are from professors who have taught you economics. However, if you have been out of school for a long time or do not think professors would remember you well enough to provide good letters, you can provide letters from employers instead. How many applicants are admitted to the graduate program each year? As an example, for Fall 2004, there were 221 applicants, 86 were admitted and of those admitted, 20 plan to enroll at UC Davis, of which 11 are international students. The previous year, for Fall 2003, there were 216 applicants, 75 were admitted and of those admitted, 27 enrolled at UC Davis, of which 12 were international students. Frequently asked questions, continued. 4 If admitted to the Graduate Program at UC Davis for Fall 2004 but unable to come to UC Davis, can the admission be deferred to the next year? Admission is not deferred to the next year, but you can apply for admission again for the next year by reactivating your application. See below for instructions on reactivating your application. If an applicant was denied admission to the graduate program for Fall 2004, can he / she apply again for the following Fall 2005? Yes. If you applied for admission for Fall 2004 and were denied admission, you should find out what the reasons for denial were and improve those areas of your academic record, sending evidence of improvement when you apply again. For instance, if you plan to apply again for Fall 2005, and you were denied admission Fall 2004 due to low GRE scores, you should retake the GRE exam and submit better GRE scores when you apply for Fall 2005. If your grades were not competitive for Fall 2004, you should take further courses to attempt better grades, so you can submit a newer transcript with evidence of better grades when you apply for Fall 2005. TO REACTIVATE YOUR FALL 2004 ADMISSION APPLICATION FOR FALL 2005: You can simply fill out a "reactivation form"; you can get one from the web: http://gradstudies.ucdavis.edu/forms/react.pdf and send it to the Graduate Admissions Office by December 15, 2004. The university will keep all of your original application materials until December 15, 2004, so you will not need to resubmit any of your admission application materials. Except, if you take any new course work since the time you originally applied, you should send official transcripts showing the additional course work and grades. If you retake the GRE exam or TOEFL exam and plan to submit new scores, be sure to inform the Graduate Secretary, so that she will know to expect newer scores to arrive. To apply for Teaching Assistantship: If reactivating your admission application, there is no need to submit a TA application since all applicants are considered for these positions. Where can I find more information about application and admission to the PhD program? See our website at: http://www.econ.ucdavis.edu/graduate/admission.cfm II. About the Graduate Program How long does it take to complete the PhD program? The normal time to completion is a bit over 5 years. Is it possible to pursue a PhD in Economics at UC Davis on a part-time basis? No. Frequently asked questions, continued. 5 If I transfer to UC Davis after completing some graduate course work at a different university, would I be able to skip some requirements at UC Davis? If you get admitted to the PhD program here, you can then request to have some requirements here waived if you feel that you have already fulfilled some of them in your current program. The procedure would be, after admission, to look over the Graduate Handbook carefully (the web address for it is included in the information farther below) to see which courses or requirements you would be asking about, and then you could email the Graduate Program Chair, Professor Kevin Salyer, at kdsalyer@ucdavis.edu to ask if specific courses could be waived. You might be asked to send the syllabus of the requested course(s) so that he can compare your earlier course(s) with the similar course(s) here. Then he would respond to you. If I have already earned an MA degree in Economics, will it take me less time to earn a PhD degree at UC Davis than a student who has not yet completed an MA degree? That depends on whether or not you would be allowed to skip requirements at UC Davis (see the information in the above paragraph about that). My degree objective is an MA in Economics. Is the Economics Department at UC Davis a good program for me? No. The graduate program at UCD is focused almost exclusively on the PhD degree; hence only PhD applications will be accepted. While it is possible to obtain an MA while pursuing a doctoral degree (see the Graduate Handbook for more details on this), all students must take the first year PhD sequence of courses in macroeconomic and microeconomic theory. If your interest is in the MA degree, it is best to apply to a more applied program. For instance, the Agricultural and Resource Economics Department at UC Davis does have a MA program. If you already earned an MA Degree in Economics at another university, you are not eligible to also earn an MA Degree in Economics at UC Davis (UC Davis does not grant “duplicate” degrees). Does the Economics Department offer an MBA? No. If interested in earning an MBA Degree, you should instead contact Holly Bishop-Green, of the Graduate School of Management, at hbbishopgreen@ucdavis.edu, or (530) 752-7363. Information about the Graduate School of Management is on the web at http://www.gsm.ucdavis.edu/ How does the department assist graduates who are searching for jobs? The Economics Department has a professor who serves as a placement director, who provides information to students about applying for jobs. Graduate student resumes are posted on the web and students are notified about job opportunities. The department has "practice job interviews" and “job seminars” for graduate students, to help them practice and prepare for the job market. Placement information about jobs of recent graduates is available on the web. Where can I find details about the graduate program in Economics at UC Davis? Please see the Graduate Handbook for further details: http://www.econ.ucdavis.edu/graduate/gradhdbk.cfm III. About Financial Aid What are my chances for receiving financial aid? It will depend on how each applicant’s records compare with those of a great many other applicants. It is therefore impossible to estimate an individual’s chances until all applications have been received and examined. Frequently asked questions, continued. 6 How many newly admitted grad students are offered financial aid, each year? Details about past financial aid offers are not provided because offers can vary each year as to how many are given, and how much aid per student, so that kind of information does not help predict future aid. Full financial aid is not available for international students. When offered, financial aid usually consists of a Teaching Assistantship or a Teaching Assistantship plus some partial funding towards Nonresident Tuition (such as perhaps $8,000 or $12,000, or sometimes more, as possible examples of Nonresident Tuition Fellowships). As an international student, do I need to apply for a Nonresident Tuition Fellowship? International students are automatically considered for Nonresident Tuition Fellowships, meaning that they are considered “as if they had all applied for a Nonresident Tuition Fellowship”, because we know that most international students need financial aid. So, it is not necessary for international students to submit a fellowship application. However, actual offers of Nonresident Tuition Fellowships are rare and if offered, they do not provide full financial support. Do I need to apply for a Teaching Assistant position? No – all applicants are considered for these positions. Typically half of the incoming class (i.e. around 12 students) are offered TA positions each year. Of these, a few are multi-year TA offers. Are Research Assistantships available for newly admitted grad students? No, Research Assistantships are not offered to newly admitted graduate students but they are available for students who are farther along in the graduate program. Does contacting individual faculty increase chances for receiving financial aid? No, contacting individual faculty does not result in financial aid offers or better chances for aid. When will I find out if I will receive a financial aid offer from the Economics Department? Newly admitted students will be informed by email, by approximately mid-March or later, about whether or not they will be offered financial aid. If a newly admitted grad student does not receive a TA Offer at first, is there any chance one might be available later? All new graduate students who didn’t receive a TA offer will be put on the department’s TA waiting list after arrival at UC Davis. If a TAship becomes available later during the year (usually in the Winter or Spring quarters), some new students can receive TA offers at that time. Also, new graduate students can apply for TAships in other departments on campus, such as at the Math, Statistics, or Agricultural & Resource Economics Dept. (students need to inquire at the other departments about TA application procedures, deadlines, etc.). If another department requires letters of recommendation along with a TA application, students can ask Marilyn Dexter of the Economics Department to send the other department copies of the recommendation letters that were submitted earlier with the admission application. Frequently asked questions, continued. 7 If a newly admitted grad student does not receive a Nonresident Tuition Fellowship at first, is there any chance one might be available later, before Fall Quarter begins? After financial aid decisions have been made, the department informs new grad students by email about whether or not they will receive an aid offer. If a student receives an email saying that the department is unable to offer financial aid, that is really the case and the situation is not likely to change later. New students who are not offered a Nonresident Tuition Fellowship before arrival at UC Davis are not likely to receive one later during the first year, either. (Usually, if further funding for Nonresident Tuition Fellowships becomes available later in the year it would be offered instead to grad students who entered the program previous years). What about financial aid for future years, after the first year in the graduate program? Basically, the better you do in the program, the better your chances for financial aid. It is competitive and not all students receive financial aid. Students can receive TAships, Fellowships, Nonresident Tuition Fellowships (usually partial funding towards Nonresident Tuition), and / or RAships. Students can also apply for TAships or RAships in other departments on campus, such as for the Math, Statistics and / or the Ag. & Resource Economics Department. How many continuing graduate students receive financial aid, each year? We can't predict in advance whether or not anyone is likely to receive future aid or not. However, most grad students in the program have plenty of TA and / or RA experience by the time they finish the program. We do not provide information about past aid offers to continuing students because it would not provide an accurate indicator for future financial aid. IV. Miscellaneous Questions How can I get a UC Davis General Catalog? You can view an online version of the UC Davis General Catalog at: http://registrar.ucdavis.edu/UCDWebCatalog/index.html The General Catalog is also for sale at the UC Davis Bookstore for $5.00. UC Davis Bookstore, University of California, Davis, 2828 Cowell Blvd., Davis, CA 95616-4902, Telephone: (530) 752-2944 . FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS I. About the Application and Admission Process Can I apply. individual’s chances until all applications have been received and examined. Frequently asked questions, continued. 2 Must applicants have an M.A. degree before