Doctoral Degree Program (PhD)

Admission

All applicants must submit an application online - information may be found at www.gdnet.ucla.edu. Please send all other supplemental application materials (e.g. statement of purpose, three letters of recommendation, transcripts, GRE scores, etc.) to the Geography Department in one envelope. We recommend that you request the GRE scores, transcripts, and letters of recommendation be sent to you directly and mail them (sealed) in one envelope to:

Graduate Admissions
UCLA Department of Geography
1255 Bunche Hall
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1524

Application may be made for admission to any quarter although we strongly recommend that applicants submit applications for Fall quarter admission to be considered for any available departmental funding. Applicants must submit an application online, a complete set of transcripts of prior university coursework (two copies of each transcript), results of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) General Test, a statement of purpose, three letters of recommendation (academic references are strongly recommended), as well as evidence of substantive research in the form of a published paper, thesis chapter, or equivalent documentation.

Normally applicants should have (1) completed the undergraduate major in geography or in a related field, (2) received a B.A. or B.S. degree, (3) attained a least a 3.3 grade-point average in courses taken in the junior and senior years and in the major, or a 3.5 GPA in graduate courses for students entering with an M.A., (4) attained a high GRE score (normally well over 1,200) in the combined verbal and quantitative sections, and (5) strong letters evaluating past academic and/or professional performance and indicating potential for high achievement in graduate studies. Exceptions to the guidelines may be made for students whose records indicate unusual promise.

Admission to the Ph.D. program normally requires an M.A. or M.S. degree. Applicants must provide clear evidence of ability to conduct substantive research and to articulate ideas clearly in writing. In addition, a faculty member must be willing to serve as interim adviser. Under rare circumstances, students may proceed directly toward the Ph.D. degree without having completed one year in the M.A. program, have three department faculty members review their dossiers and unanimously recommend such a course of action, and pass a four-hour qualifying examination set and evaluated by three faculty members competent in their area of specialization. The pass must be unanimous and receive the approval of at least two thirds of the voting faculty in a formal faculty meeting.

The Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) is normally required of all international applicants whose native language is not English.

Major Fields Or Subdisciplines

Students commonly specialize in one or more of the following areas of geographical knowledge: environmental studies, geomorphology, climatology, biogeography, cartography, economic, social, cultural/historical, population, or urban geography. The written qualifying examinations for the Ph.D. include one examination each in three of these fields selected by the student in consultation with their adviser. However, because geographical knowledge and its associated research questions frequently transcend disciplinary and subdisciplinary boundaries, students are expected to refine and deepen their research interests further, in consultation with knowledgeable faculty members, within, across, and beyond these organized research and teaching areas.

Course Requirements

The Ph.D. student must successfully complete the required core courses (Geog 298A, an additional core elective and a methodology core course) as soon as possible and with a grade of B or better in each. Students continuing from the M.A. program are not required to retake the three required core courses. The courses that a continuing M.A. student takes beyond the M.A. course requirement during the quarter that he/she is filing the thesis may be used to satisfy the course requirement for the Ph.D.

Six classes (twenty-four units) are required in addition to the core. Three of these should be graduate level Geography classes (excluding 375, 495 and the 500-series classes). One 500-series course may be applied toward the minimum course requirement for the PhD degree but not toward the minimum graduate course requirement. Students may count up to one further core elective course as part of this requirement. The three remaining classes may be upper division or graduate classes drawn from one or two fields inside or outside geography. These allied field classes must be related to the student's major research area or sub-disciplinary specialization and be approved by the student's interim committee (the formal doctoral committee must be constituted prior to oral qualifying exams). Quarterly course enrollment plans should be approved by the student's adviser.

Individual Study Courses. The following rules pertain to individual study courses (Geography 596, 597, 598, 599):

(1) Before enrolling in one of these courses, students must consult with the responsible faculty member and work out a program of study and consultation.

(2) All 500-series courses must be taken for S/U grading only.

(3) Students may enroll in Geography 597, 598, or 599 as often as required.

Teaching Courses. Geography 375 and 495 may not be applied toward course requirements for the Ph.D. degree.

Written Examinations

The goal of the written qualifying exams is to ensure that students develop a command of literature in three parts of the discipline as well as to ensure adequate preparation for the research area within which the project falls. A committee of three Geography faculty (chair and two others) is required to set and grade these examinations.

The structure of the exam is as follows:

(a) 8-hour exam in the major field
(b) 4-hour exam in the minor field
(c) 4-hour exam in another minor field, region, or technique
     (determined by committee and student)
(d) Field or "Practical" exam>

The student is expected to take the written qualifying examination no later than the sixth quarter of the Ph.D. program, and normally, not before the end of the third quarter. Exceptions may be made for students who enter the program without a Geography degree.

Students should begin preparing reading lists at least two quarters prior to exams. Final reading lists should be developed in consultation with committee members. Reading lists must be finalized by the last week of the quarter prior to exams. Total length of reading lists for all three written exams should normally require preparation time equivalent to a typical academic quarter workload.

After written examination, reading lists and exam questions should be maintained in the counseling office and made available for consultation by faculty and students. Please be sure to submit your reading lists and exam questions to the counseling office.

It is expected that the doctoral candidate and advisor will meet with all members of the doctoral committee to ensure that the format and rules related to the qualifying examinations are clearly understood. It is the student's responsibility to understand fully what is to be expected in each examination. In case of uncertainty, the graduate advisor should be consulted. In case of failure, the student may retake the examination once, but no sooner than three months and no later than one year after the original examination.

Oral Qualifying Examination

Preparation of the dissertation proposal follows successful completion of the written qualifying examination. The maximum length of time permitted between written and oral exams is 6 months. Oral Qualifying Exams are normally scheduled by no later than the end of the quarter following completion of written exams. Proposals should be no more than 30 pages double-spaced in an easily legible point size.

Proposals must be distributed to committee members at least two weeks prior to the date of the exam. Students are eligible for advancement to candidacy after passing the Oral Qualifying Examination with no more than one negative vote, completing four quarters of academic residence, completing the required coursework and maintaining a 3.0 GPA in graduate standing. This allows the student to begin dissertation research, and to receive the C.Phil degree. In instances of failure, the oral qualifying examination may be repeated once.

On the day of the exam, all members of the doctoral committee must sign the advancement to candidacy form. The candidacy fee will be billed to the student automatically upon receipt of the completed from in Graduate Division.