Graduate Degree Programs

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Admission Requirements for the Masters of Science in Atmospheric Sciences

The Department of Geosciences offers a wide range of courses leading to the Degree of Master of Sciences in Atmospheric Sciences. Applicants to the Master's of Science Program must have earned a Bachelor's Degree or its equivalent. Applicants to graduate school will be evaluated based upon their Grade Point Average (GPA), Graduate Record Exams (GRE) scores, and letters of recommendation. A GPA of 3.0 or better in the last 60 hours and commensurate scores on the verbal, quantitative, and analytical writing sections of the GRE is generally considered acceptable for admission. Individuals with a lower GPA but elevated GRE's may also be admitted. Letters of recommendation are also given considerable weight in the evaluation process. All non-native English-speaking students must take the TOEFL examination and receive a score of 550 or better for the paper exam and 213 or better for the computer exam.

All application forms, transcripts, test scores, and three letters of recommendation should be sent to:

Sylvia Marshall
Advising Assistant
Department of Earth & Atmospheric Sciences
Rm. 312 SR1
University of Houston
Houston, Texas 77204-5007


Deadlines

Domestic students: The first Friday of July for the Fall, the first Friday of December for the Spring, and April 1st for the summer.

International students: General application deadlines are April 1st for the Fall semester, Oct. 1st for the Spring semester, and April 1st for summer enrollment.

Financial Aid: Students applying for financial support (Teaching Assistantships, Research Assistantships, Fellowships, etc.) should have all of the required forms, letters, scores into our departmental office by March 1st for the following Fall semester, and October 15th for the Spring semester. Additional funding may be available for late applicants.

Please do not send any material to the office of admissions.


Background Requirements

All graduate students in the Atmospheric Sciences program will be required to have the necessary background in Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics. Some graduate courses listed in the Master's proposal explicitly require prerequisite courses, e.g. MATH3363, MATH2431, MATH2433, GEOL3378, GEOL1340, BIOL3445 or their equivalent at other institutions. All other courses require consent of instructor.


Program

A minimum of 30 credit hours is required for the M.S. degree in Atmospheric Science, 6 of which are thesis hours. All students are responsible for familiarizing themselves with all rules, regulations, etc., of the University, College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, and Department of Geosciences and for meeting all requirements.
Applicants are encouraged to review the detailed requirements for the M.S. degree.


Rules

A minimum of 30 credit hours is required for graduate students pursuing the M. S. Degree in Atmospheric Sciences. Twenty one (21) hours must consist of 6000 level atmospheric sciences courses (including 6 hours of thesis credit), and the remaining 9 hours can be selected approved courses outside the area of atmospheric sciences, but relevant to the degree program. No more than 6 hours of approved 4000 or 3000 level courses and no more than 6 hours of special problems courses can be counted towards the required 30 hour minimum.

A maximum of 6 semester hours of graduate level course work may be transferred from other institutions, with the approval of the graduate director and provided that they were taken as part of a graduate degree program, the grades are B or higher, and the courses were taken within the last 5 years. In order to insure breadth, each student is required to take at least one course from the three Atmospheric Sciences Graduate Core Categories: 1. Atmospheric Dynamics and Physics, 2. Atmospheric Chemistry, and 3. Atmospheric Measurement and Modeling. An average of B must be maintained in courses taken for graduate credit. A grade of C+ or lower in four courses (12 hours) renders the student ineligible for any advanced degree at the University of Houston.

All graduate students in the Atmospheric Sciences program will be required to have the necessary background in Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics. Some graduate courses listed in the Master’s proposal explicitly require prerequisite courses, e.g. MATH3363, MATH2431, MATH2433, GEOL3378, GEOL1340, BIOL3445 or their equivalent at other institutions. All other courses require consent of instructor.


Detailed Requirements for the M.S. Degree in Atmospheric Sciences

  1. Acceptance into the program.
  2. All students are responsible for familiarizing themselves with all of the rules, regulations, etc., of the University, College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, and Department of Geosciences and for meeting all requirements. Additionally, all international students must familiarize themselves with all regulations, etc. relevant to their status (e.g., International Student Services). Students are reminded that the University requires them to complete their degree requirements within five (5) consecutive years after their initial enrollment in graduate course work at the University of Houston. Additionally, graduate credit is not given for any University of Houston course work completed prior to admission into the graduate program, e.g., courses taken as a post-baccalaureate student (PB).
  3. All new students must meet with Graduate Committee and Director of Graduate Studies the week prior to registration for the first semester. In succeeding semesters, students must meet with Graduate Committee the week prior to registration and also with either the Director of Graduate Studies or the Thesis Advisor. These meetings are to review your progress toward the degree and to advise you on course work.
  4. A minimum of 30 credit hours is required for graduate students pursuing the M. S. Degree in Atmospheric Sciences. Twenty one (21) hours must consist of 6000 level atmospheric sciences courses (including 6 hours of thesis credit), and the remaining 9 hours can be selected approved courses outside the area of atmospheric sciences, but relevant to the degree program. No more than 6 hours of approved 4000 or 3000 level courses and no more than 6 hours of special problems courses can be counted towards the required 30 hour minimum. A maximum of 6 semester hours of graduate level course work may be transferred from other institutions, with the approval of the graduate director and provided that they were taken as part of a graduate degree program, the grades are B or higher, and the courses were taken within the last 5 years. In order to insure breadth, each student is required to take at least one course from the three Atmospheric Sciences Graduate Core Categories: 1. Atmospheric Dynamics and Physics, 2. Atmospheric Chemistry, and 3.
    Atmospheric Measurement and Modeling. An average of B must be maintained in courses taken for graduate credit. A grade of C+ or lower in four courses (12 hours) renders the student ineligible for any advanced degree at the University of Houston.
  5. All supported students (T.A.s, R.A.s, etc.) are required to enroll in at least nine (9) hours Fall and Spring, semesters and 6 during the Summer while receiving financial support from the University. A student working on a dissertation must be continuously enrolled in a minimum of 3 hours of dissertation courses each Fall and Spring semester as well as their final semester.
  6. Select a thesis topic and Thesis Advisor (tenure track faculty member) as soon as possible (usually prior to completion of 9 hours of graduate course work, definitely prior to completion of 15 hours).

    Students are encouraged to talk with different faculty members as early as possible in order to identify those with similar research interests. The early identification of a research problem is important, because it will allow the student and the advisor to efficiently and effectively choose the course work that will directly supplement the research. The student and the advisor will together plan the remainder of the course work. The 30 required hours are a minimum and, for a specific area of interest, it may be necessary for the student to complete additional course work. The initial selection of an advisor is not binding on the student or the faculty member. The student may change his/her advisor, but it is the responsibility of the student to review his/her degree plan with the new advisor.
  7. No later than during the second semester should a student establish a Thesis Committee composed of, at a minimum, two tenure track Geoscience’s faculty members (one as the advisor) and one member external to the department. The thesis committee must be formally constituted (i.e., paperwork to NSM Dean’s office) at least one long semester (Fall, Spring, or Summer) prior to graduation from the University of Houston. Tenure track faculty members must comprise 50% or more of the committee.
  8. All students must present a thesis proposal. All students financially supported by the University must propose prior to the end of the 11th week of classes during their second semester in the program. Scheduling of the Thesis Proposal is done by each applicant through the Advising Assistant. Proposals (and re-proposals) can take place Monday-Friday, with starting times between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., during the Fall and Spring semesters. Proposals can not occur during Summer terms, vacations, reading days, or final examination periods (nor over spring or inter-semester breaks). Two hours should be allocated for the Thesis Proposal presentation and questions. Proposals are preceded by the distribution of a 5 to 10 page (10 page maximum for text) written description of the thesis project to the Thesis Committee. A one page abstract must be posted and distributed to all Faculty members at least one week prior to presentation and a copy of the full proposal filed with the Advising Assistant at that time. The proposal abstract must contain the title, time and place of the proposal, and the names of the committee members. The Thesis Advisor and at least one other member of the committee must initial the abstract prior to posting, indicating that they approve of the presentation of the proposal. Upon successful presentation of the proposal, a copy of the complete proposal with the Thesis Advisor’s signature indicating approval must be filed with the Advising Assistant, to be placed in the student's permanent academic file.

    The student should demonstrate, both in the written and oral presentation, a thorough understanding of the thesis research, i.e., its anticipated significance, previous work in the area, methods by which pertinent data will/can be gathered, limitations of the research, possible pitfalls, etc. It is incumbent upon the applicant to convey to the Faculty that the applicant has a thorough understanding of all aspects of the thesis research. Thus, it is strongly recommended that the applicant go over all aspects of the thesis research, both the written and oral proposal presentations with the Thesis Advisor as well as with any other pertinent faculty member(s), other professionals, and/or fellow students prior to the proposal.

    The oral presentation, approximately 30 minutes long, will be followed by a period during which all present can ask questions of the student related to the suitability and feasibility of the project, as well as the student’s ability to perform the research. All faculty present can participate in the deliberations and vote on the success or failure of the student’s performance in the Thesis Proposal. Approval by a majority of those voting is needed to pass the proposal. At their discretion, a majority of those voting can allow a student who failed the Thesis Proposal to re-propose, however this can only be done once. The second presentation must take place within one (1) month of the initial presentation and is subject to the same constraints (when it can take place, posting of proposal, etc.) as the original proposal.
  9. Initiate thesis research during summer or earlier and continue into second year. Conclude course work and finish thesis research.
  10. Completion of all course requirements, i.e., a minimum of 24 hours of course work plus 6 for thesis research. The student must be registered for Thesis Research (Geol. 6399) each semester after successfully proposing his/her thesis. During the semester in which the student wishes to graduate, the student must be enrolled for Thesis Research Geol. 7399 and also file for graduation.
  11. Upon completion of the research and the writing of a thesis deemed acceptable by the Thesis Committee, a defense of the thesis is scheduled by the student. A public defense of the complete thesis research will be presented to the Faculty at large and may be attended by any other interested parties. An abstract, which lists the time and place of the defense, must be distributed to the department Faculty and posted publicly at least one week prior to the scheduled date. The Thesis Advisor and at least one other departmental committee member must initial the notice of defense, thus indicating that they approve of the defense. An unbound copy of the final draft, including all illustrations, must be made available in the Departmental Office at least one week prior to the defense date for inspection by the Faculty of the Department of Geosciences. M.S. defenses can be made Monday-Friday during the Spring, Summer, and Fall semesters with starting times between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Defenses cannot be given during vacations, reading days, or final examination periods (nor over spring or inter-semester breaks). Scheduling of defenses is done through the Advising Assistant. A vote to pass by a majority of the Thesis Committee is required for successful defense of the thesis.
  12. Submission of an acceptable thesis in final form to the Department and the College. A brochure outlining the format to be followed can be obtained from the Office of the College of Natural Sciences & Mathematics.
  13. Graduate.