What Does It Take to Get into Graduate School? A Survey of Atmospheric Science Programs

© Copyright 2009 American Meteorological Society (AMS). Permission to use figures, tables, and brief excerpts from this work in scientific and educational works is hereby granted provided that the source is acknowledged. Any use of material in this work that is determined to be “fair use” under Section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Act September 2010 Page 2 or that satisfies the conditions specified in Section 108 of the U.S. Copyright Act (17 USC §108, as revised by P.L. 94-553) does not require the AMS’s permission. Republication, systematic reproduction, posting in electronic form, such as on a web site or in a searchable database, or other uses of this material, except as exempted by the above statement, requires written permission or a license from the AMS. Additional details are provided in the AMS Copyright Policy, available on the AMS Web site located at (https://www.ametsoc.org/) or from the AMS at 617-227-2425 or copyrights@ametsoc.org.The AMS's Board on Higher Education undertook a survey of atmospheric science graduate programs in the United States and Canada during the fall and winter of 2007–08. The survey involved admission data for the three previous years and was performed with assistance from AMS headquarters and in cooperation with the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR). Usable responses were received from 29 programs, including most major atmospheric science programs. The responding schools receive between 6 and 140 applications per year, and typical incoming class sizes range from 1 to 24. About 69% of applicants and 76% of enrollees are domestic students. At the majority of schools, all incoming students receive full financial support. The average graduate program looks for undergraduate grade point averages of at least 3.3 to 3.5, higher for nonscience majors. Grade point averages in math and science courses, typically 3.5 or better, are particularly important. The typical midclass GRE of entering graduate students was a combined verbal and quantitative score of 1,300. Larger schools tend to place particular emphasis on math/ science grades and letters of recommendation, while smaller schools typically value a broader range of application characteristics. Students considering graduate school should make a special effort to cultivate potential letter writers, working on research projects if possible. They should also become informed about the particular requirements and values of the programs to which they are applying by visiting them if possible or by contacting professors with active research programs in the student's area of interest