Admission Information

Field of Entomology Graduate Program

The Graduate School requires that applicants:

1. hold a baccalaureate degree or its equivalent, granted by a faculty or university of recognized standing;
2. have adequate preparation for graduate study in the chosen field of instruction;
3. have fluent command of the English language
4. present evidence of promise in advanced study and research

How To Apply

Applications must be received by December 8th, 2007 for Fall 2008 admittance. The application deadline for starting Fall 2007 was December 1st, 2006. We are strongly requesting that you apply online if you have access to the web. Applying online will be faster and more efficient. You will be able to apply on the web at http://www.gradschool.cornell.edu/admissions/admissions.html. If there is a situation in which you can not apply online, we can send you a paper application. Requests for paper applications should include your name, address, and reason that you can not apply online. These requests and/or additional information should be sent to the Graduate Field Assistant at sls68@cornell.edu.

Address:	Graduate Field Assistant Department of Entomology 2134 Comstock Hall Cornell University Ithaca, NY  14853
Phone:	607-255-6198
Fax:	607-255-0939

Application Requirements

After submitting your application online, you will need to obtain three letters of recommendation and official transcripts. The letters of recommedation and official transcripts must be submitted to the University in sealed envelopes. Alternatively, letters of recommendation and transcripts may be sent directly by references or institutions to the Graduate Field of Entomology. But often the probability of timely submission of those documents is higher if you submit them yourself. You may submit these materials directly to the address listed above.

The Field of Entomology requires that applicants residing in the United States, Canada, and all other countries in which English is the official language, take the Graduate Record Examination (GRE), both the aptitude test and the advanced test in biology. Applicants residing in other countries are encouraged, although not required, to take the GRE. It is your responsibility to arrange that the Educational Testing Service in Princeton send your scores directly to the Graduate School. If you know your scores, please also indicate them on your application. Since it frequently takes at least 8 weeks for ETS to release the scores after you take the examination, you should take the GRE no later than October 1 in order to meet our deadline for applications. If you receive your scores close to our deadlines (see below), please send us a copy immediately. Information concerning the sites for the GRE in you country can be obtained by writing to: Graduate Record Examination, Box 955, Princeton, NJ 08450, USA. You can also visit their web site at http://www.gre.org/.

All instruction at Cornell is in English, and fluency in English is essential for graduate study. If your native language is not English or if you have not studied at least two years in a college program in a country where the native language is English, you must take the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) and obtain a satisfactory score (550 or higher paper based or 213 or higher computer based).

The field of Entomology admits students only for fall term admission, except under extenuating circumstances. Since all fellowships and assistantships are awarded on an academic-year basis, we maintain one annual application deadline. For the 2007-2008 academic year, your credentials must be received by December 8, 2006. Please contact the Graduate Field Assistant by email at sls68@cornell.edu, prior to the application deadline to insure that all of your documentation has been received. If you have an extenuating circumstance why you cannot wait for the fall admission cycle, and wish to be considered for admission for the Spring Semester, please contact us so that we can evaluate your situation.

Selection Process

The Field encompasses a wide variety of basic and applied concentrations in entomology and offers the opportunity to pursue a program of study leading to M.S. and/or Ph.D. degrees.

The procedures listed below will be followed concerning your application. The Graduate School will forward your online application form and any credentials they receive to the department. Our Graduate Field Assistant will collect all the required documentation and assure the application is complete. The Admissions Committee of the Field of Entomology (consisting of the Director of Graduate Studies and three other elected faculty) will meet shortly after the application deadline and consider all completed applications. They will recommend to the faculty those applicants who meet the qualifications set by the Graduate School whose proposed studies can be encompassed by the faculty and facilities in the Field. Students passing this phase of the admissions process are deemed "admissible" and will be notified. Although there are no formal "cutoffs" for undergraduate grades and GRE scores, the Graduate School expects that successful applicants will be in the top third of their graduating classes, and will have a combined score of at least 1200 in the verbal and quantitative aptitude tests of the GRE.

The entire faculty of the Field of Entomology will then have the opportunity to examine the credentials of the recommended applicants, and to indicate their interest in serving as major advisors for them, at least on a provisional basis. At this time, one or more field members should communicate this interest to you. Such an interest implies the willingness to provide laboratory space for you as well as the principal guiding role in your thesis research. The field member and Director of Graduate Studies also work with you to seek financial support for the first, and subsequent, years of your graduate program. If an interested field member, laboratory space and financial support are identified you will receive notification that you have been admitted into our program. The Field of Entomology guarantees 2 years of support for M.S. students and 4 years of support for M.S./Ph. D. or Ph. D. students. You are not obligated to remain with the same major advisor throughout your graduate program.

The Field of Entomology will accept you as a student if you are undecided about a major professor, as long as there is at least one faculty member provisionally interested in serving as your major advisor and financial support is available for the first year of your program. In those cases, we expect that you select an advisor within your first semester at Cornell. The Graduate program at Cornell is centered on your Special Advisory Committee, consisting of your major professor plus 1-3 minor professors (chosen by you during your first year of study), who are solely responsible for determining your program of courses and other requirements for your degree.

If you are deemed admissible you are strongly encouraged to correspond directly with those faculty members (www.entomology.cornell.edu/IthacaCampus/EduTraining/GradField/faculty.html) you are interested in working with.  If there is one or more faculty members interested in working with you, you will be invited to our "recruiting weekend".  This event will give you a chance to visit campus, talk with faculty and students, and see our facilities.

We cannot forward your application to the Graduate School for final approval until we secure financial aid for you, for at least the first year of your program. The top applicants are nominated by the Field Admissions Committee for competitive fellowships awarded by the Graduate School. Other qualified applicants are placed in consideration for research assistantships supported by grants or departmental funds, or for teaching assistantships in General Biology. Such assistantships include a tuition and fee waiver, health insurance, as well as a stipend. Once the first year of support has been secured, it is our policy to guarantee a total of 2 (M.S.) or 4 (M.S./ Ph.D.) years of support, the details of which are determined on a year-by-year basis.

Response to an Admission/Fellowship Offer is requested as soon as possible. You can respond on line at www.gradschool.cornell.edu/nextstep/ You are not obligated to notify us of your response to this offer until April 15th. If you know your decision before that tine, however, earlier notification would be very much appreciated and most helpful to us in making plans for the coming year.

Please contact our Graduate Field Assitant at sls68@cornell.edu if you have any questions or require any further information.