Admissions Requirements

The MS Marine Science and Oceanography accepts students in both Fall and Spring semesters of each year.

Application deadlines:
Jan. 15 for fall admission
Oct. 15 for spring admission

In addition to meeting all of the University and College admission requirements for graduate study, each applicant for the MS MSO program must:

  1. Have a minimum of 3.0 GPA (B or better average) on the last 60 hours of undergraduate credits, or established graduate level proficiency.
  2. Provide two letters of recommendation
  3. Resume
  4. Personal essay
  5. Completed Faculty Advisor form. Obtain an Advisor from within the faculty of the MS-MSO program, who agrees to act as the student’s advisor.

Finding a Faculty Advisor: Your application package must include a signed Faculty Advisor form. For Advisor selection, look at the Marine Science and Oceanography faculty list. Use the links to the faculty web pages to examine the fields and interests of individual faculty. When you find a faculty member in your field of interest, contact them directly to determine if they are willing to act as your advisor. Not all Faculty will be able to accept new students; please contact all Faculty with research programs in areas that interest you.

Conditional Acceptance: Applicants who show promise, but fail to meet the program's minimum standards, may be admitted on "conditional status." Such students must complete a minimum of two (2) graduate courses taken for a letter grade (not S/U) with a minimum of ‘B” grade in each class. Satisfactory performance in these courses will enable the student to be reevaluated by the MS Marine Science and Oceanography Program Committee for full entry into the graduate program. Excluding summer terms (when graduate class offerings are limited), conditionally-admitted students should complete the two (2) graded courses in their first term.

Program Deferrals: Students who are accepted must register for classes for the term in which they were accepted - there are no deferments. Students who do not register in their initial term will have their records deactivated and, thus, will need to reapply if they wish to be considered for future enrollment.

HBOI ocean fish