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Environmental & Plant Biology
Mailing address: Porter 315

Plant Biology-MCB Ph.D. Graduate Admissions

NOTE: Admission to the Ph.D. program or the M.S. concentration in Molecular and Cellular Biology requires simultaneous admission to a home department in Biological Sciences, Chemistry & Biochemistry, or Environmental & Plant Biology.

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Admissions Requirements

All graduate applications must be submitted electronically through the Graduate College. Criteria considered are coursework completed, grades, letters of recommendation, and scores on the Graduate Record Examination.

  • B.S., B.A. or M.S. in a biological or physical science. Coursework in the physical sciences (physics, chemistry, math and related disciplines is recommended.
  • GPA of 3.0 or better (Note: Unconditional admission requires an overall grade-point average of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale. Financial aid is contingent upon unconditional admission.)
  • Three letters of recommendation from current or former professors.
  • Statement of purpose [PDF] (one to two pages) indicating preferred faculty adviser(s) and describing previous research experience, graduate school goals, and career plans after graduate school. Please respond to each of the six following questions. The entire statement should be 2 pages or less, single spaced, using 12 point font. Important Note about your statement of purpose: Please answer all six questions below. Be sure to number each paragraph to correspond with a question number.
    • Please describe your career goals and how graduate school at OHIO would help you achieve those goals. (i.e., why do you want to earn a M.S. or Ph.D.).
    • Please describe any coursework or other training received during your B.S. or M.S. degree that is relevant to your application.
    • Please describe your quantitative skills and relevant experiences (e.g., experimental design, data collection and entry, bioinformatics, and/or statistical analyses) from your prior degree(s).
    • Please describe any relevant research or work experiences. This can include independent research, experiences as part of a course, internships, volunteering, paid jobs, presenting in a class or in a conference, communicating science, etc.  
    • Please identify your potential adviser(s) and briefly describe the project(s), research question(s), and/or general area of research that you are interested in pursuing while at Ohio University. Please do not hesitate to be in touch with any faculty member with whom you think you might like to study. See Faculty Research Areas for individual contact details and more information about the research interests of faculty.
    • In our department, most graduate students earn a stipend by being a teaching assistant (TA). If you are seeking TA support, then broadly describe the type of course you could imagine teaching, and what approach (maybe observed from your favorite teacher) you would take to engage undergraduate students. If you have teaching experience, please also broadly describe the courses you served as TA or lecturer.
  • Transcripts. A set of official transcripts of all past post-secondary education (college or university) in native language with English translation both certified by the institution(s) attended.
  • Resume or Curriculum Vita with employment and research experience, including part-time and/or unpaid volunteer or internships experiences.
  • English Proficiency. International students whose native language is not English also must submit scores from the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or the International English Language Testing System (IELTS academic). To be considered official, test scores must be reported directly from the testing agency to Ohio University. A TOEFL-iBT of 95 or higher is required; the Ohio University code is 1593. The minimum IELT is 61. More information on English Proficiency.

See more information about Ohio University's graduate admission requirements.

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Application Instructions

Please read instructions carefully and fill out the application completely, including sections on prior experiences.

Make sure to follow the directions on the "U.S./Permanent Resident Graduate Application Checklist" or "International Graduate Checklist" for additional materials that should be submitted.

On Form 3, "Background Information and References," under "Professional or vocational plans," please list faculty with whom you would like to do research.

To answer the question, "What will be your graduate major/degree?" Under the Bold "Biological Sciences", please choose one of three options:

  • MCB/Biology-Environmental & Plant Biology Ph.D.

Note: The MCB graduate program does not have access to your application, nor will your recommenders be notified on your behalf, until payment has been submitted and cleared.

Once your application has been submitted online you can view your application, however, you no longer have access to make changes.

Application Deadline

For entrance in the fall semester, submit completed applications and supporting materials before December 30 of the prior year. It is recommended that students enter in the fall.