PhD_Geography

Masters degree from an accredited institution
Acceptable GRE scores (most of our students have a combined verbal/quantitative score of at least 1150)
All applicants whose native language is not English are required to take the TOEFL and score better than 550 (paper-based) or 213 (computer-based).

Additionally, admission into the program is dependent on the availability of a geography faculty member to serve as major advisor in the topic area of the student’s research emphasis. Students are encouraged to contact directly those faculty members whose research interests overlap with their own. It is especially important for Ph.D. students to identify faculty members whose research expertise is a good match with their interests.

Deficiencies

All students in the graduate program must have a basic background in both human and physical geography, as evidenced by at least two courses in human geography and two courses in physical geography, with a “B” or better grade in all courses used to demonstrate proficiency in geography. The transcripts of students entering the program with prior degrees in fields other than geography will be evaluated for deficiencies in these areas. You may be asked to provide course descriptions or syllabi for some courses on your transcript if necessary. Any coursework required to remove the deficiencies should be taken as early in the student’s program as possible. Students should also be advised that the required coursework below includes courses with math prerequisites.

Required Coursework for Ph.D. Program:

a) College of Graduate Studies requirements:

Minimum of 78 credits beyond the Bachelor’s degree, 52 credits must be in courses numbered 500 or above
39 of the 78 credits must be in courses other than 600 level (Doctoral Research and Dissertation)
100 and 200 level courses may not be used
300 level courses may be used only in topic areas supporting the research.

b) Department of Geography requirements

All students must complete the following courses (or have completed equivalent classes in other programs) with grades of “B” or better :

STAT 401, Statistical Analysis
GEOG 507, Spatial Analysis and Modeling
GEOG 475, Advanced GIS
GEOG 591, History & Philosophy of Geography

Two additional 3-credit geography seminars at the 500 level

A minor is required in a field outside of Geography, consisting of not less than 12 credits earned in a field related to the individual's interests in Geography.

Other Requirements for Graduation

Pursuant to the Graduate College guidelines, students should assemble a graduate committee and file a graduate Study Plan (a list of coursework agreed upon by the graduate committee) within their first year in the program. A student’s graduate committee is typically comprised of three faculty from the Department of Geography and one external member of the UI graduate faculty.

Advancement to Candidacy

Students may not register for Dissertation Credits (GEOG 600) until they advance to candidacy by passing the preliminary exam and obtaining committee approval of their dissertation proposal.

Preliminary exams MUST be taken no later than the 4th semester or upon completion of 24 credits after enrolling in the program. Preliminary exams consist of written questions contributed by each committee member, followed by a comprehensive oral exam.

Upon successful completion of the preliminary exam, the written dissertation proposal must be orally presented to the department, defended by the student and approved by the student’s graduate committee.

Application Procedures

All materials except the department application for should be sent directly to the UI Graduate Admissions Office. When packets are complete, they forward materials to our department for review. For the graduate admissions office, a complete graduate admissions packet includes:

UI Graduate College application form
Complete college transcripts
GRE scores
Statement of interest and goals regarding research and coursework
3 letters of recommendation

The department application form should be sent directly to:

Graduate Admissions Committee
University of Idaho
Department of Geography
PO Box 443021
Moscow, ID 83844-3021

Departmental Financial Aid

All students admitted to the program are automatically considered for a research assistantship or teaching assistantship.

Research assistantships (RAs) are usually associated with grants supervised by individual faculty members and, when available, are typically offered to a prospective student by individual faculty members.

Teaching assistantships are offered by the department, upon recommendation by the department graduate admissions committee. Our department teaching assistantships are typically used to support graduate students who assist in teaching labs in introductory physical geography and courses in GIS and remote sensing. Funded students usually continue to receive their aid while in residence up to a maximum of two years (optional), if they make satisfactory progress toward the degree.

Other forms of aid, such as college scholarships, non-resident tuition waivers, work study, and research assistantships are available to some students and are granted by the appropriate committee or faculty member in each case. Applications for financial aid can be obtained from the Office of Student Financial Aid, and are to be submitted to that office.

Students receiving financial aid must be enrolled during each semester that they are receiving aid.