ucla phd admission requirements

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Ph.D. in Environment and Sustainability

Environment and sustainability ph.d. admission.

The deadline for submitting an application for admission is December 15.

UCLA’s PhD program in Environment and Sustainability seeks to recruit a diverse class of students who are keen to do path-breaking research to advance understanding and capacity for effective action on high-stakes societal challenges related to environment and sustainability.  As a newly established doctoral program with a deep commitment to supporting studies that are innovative and interdisciplinary, we seek students who are ambitious, confident, and entrepreneurial.  While we expect that the most successful candidates will have strong grounding in one or more of the research or scholarly disciplines relevant to environment and sustainability challenges, this program is most suited for students whose ambitions are too broad or too novel to be effectively addressed within a conventional disciplinary PhD program.

We expect to admit 4 to 5 students each fall. 

Overall approach to evaluating applications

Applicants must have completed a bachelor’s degree.  In addition, the program’s specific requirements for applications are listed below.  While we require these materials for all applications, we stress that our evaluation of applications will be holistic.  We will weigh all aspects of applications to form an assessment of candidates’ likely fit with, and contribution to, the program. We do not make admission decisions based on any single factor, including standardized test scores.

Application requirements:

Applications to the PhD program in Environment and Sustainability must be submitted online via the general application form for admission to graduate study at UCLA.

In addition to the general application requirements specified on that form, applicants to the PhD program in Environment and Sustainability are requested to submit the following. The general application form provides instructions how to submit letters of recommendation, as well as instructions how to upload additional materials as files.

• Please scroll to the bottom of this page for more information regarding transcripts
• For applicants whose native language is not English, scores from either the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or International English Language Testing System (IELTS) examinations.
• Three letters of recommendation, with letters from faculty members preferred.
• GRE Optional : Students are not required to take the GRE or submit a GRE score report as part of their application package. However, students may voluntarily submit GRE test scores and they will be reviewed as part of the holistic application consideration. The applications with GRE scores will not be given greater weight than those that do not include scores.
• First, briefly tell us about your engagement with research: for example, your research experience, research ambitions for your doctoral studies, and how you think you might pursue them (note: We recognize that your present plans may be preliminary and exploratory).
• Second, this program is committed to interdisciplinarity in research and scholarship. To help us assess the fit of your ambitions for this program, please identify what disciplinary fields of study are most relevant to your aims – and also tell us why you think the Environment and Sustainability PhD is a better fit for you than a disciplinary graduate program in one of these fields.
• Finally, please identify any UCLA faculty you have communicated with as potential advisors.

Preliminary consultation with potential  advisors:

To promote interdisciplinarity as the core of the program’s identity, each student’s program of study and dissertation research will be guided by two advisors, from distinct areas of research and scholarship.

We strongly encourage applicants to identify prospective areas of study, and to identify and communicate with at least one potential advisor before completing an application. 

Prospective advisors of students in the program will typically be drawn from the large number of UCLA faculty who make up the regular faculty and affiliated faculty of the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability.  If appropriate, advisors may also be drawn from other UCLA faculty, who represent a vast range of expertise across the physical and life sciences, humanities, fine arts, social sciences, and major fields of professional training. If you are unsure how to identify faculty whose interests and expertise fit with your aims, you might first contact a member of the PhD program’s Executive Committee , or the program’s administrative staff .  

The availability and interest of faculty advisors in applicants’ areas of interest will be one factor considered in admissions decisions.

Submitting Transcripts

You do not need to send official transcripts during the application process . The general application form provides space to upload unofficial transcripts from your prior university study. If admitted to UCLA, applicants must submit official, final academic records at that time.

Please see  https://grad.ucla.edu/admissions/required-academic-records  for more information. 

Which program should I apply for, the Environmental Science and Engineering D. Env. or the Environment and Sustainability Ph.D.?

The UCLA Institute for Environment and Sustainability (IoES) has two doctoral programs, the professional doctorate in Environmental Science and Engineering (D.Env.) and the Ph.D. in Environment and Sustainability. Both programs are interdisciplinary, both equip students with diverse perspectives to tackle pressing environmental issues, and both provide opportunities to interact with students and faculty across all the programs and projects of IoES, and more broadly across UCLA.

Environmental Science and Engineering, D.Env.

• A professionally oriented program – the only professional environmental doctorate in the nation.
• Emphasizes interactions between science, engineering, public policy, economics, and law in the protection of the environment and public health.
• Students spend two years on campus completing courses, including a major applied “Problems Course” completed in the second year.
• The dissertation is completed off campus, typically in two years, while the student is in professional residence at an environmentally focused organization – a business, public agency, consulting firm, environmental group, or non-profit organization.
• Of the program’s 250 alumni, about 90 percent are in non-academic careers in the public, private, or non-profit sectors.  

Environment and Sustainability, Ph.D.

• A research oriented program
• Newly established, with the inaugural class starting in Fall 2018
• Emphasizes interdisciplinarity and innovation in research to understand paramount environment and sustainability challenges
• Students have two advisors, from distinct disciplinary backgrounds
• Students develop an individualized program of courses in consultation with their advisors, including a small number of core courses plus additional courses that develop the foundation of knowledge and skills to support the student’s research aims, in their dissertation and their subsequent career.
• Students are typically in residence through the entire program. 
• The program will prepare students for a wide range of academic and research careers, as well as careers in environment and sustainability in the public, private, and non-profit sectors.

If you are unsure which program is right for you, we are happy to discuss it with you – or to help you transfer your application between programs.

• Ph.D. Fellowships and Support
• Ph.D. How to Apply

The UCLA Linguistics Department’s normal business hours are M-F 8am-12pm, 1-4pm. Office schedule and availability may change based on UCLA protocol ( www.covid-19.ucla.edu). Masks are optional but strongly recommended indoors. All UCLA affiliates and visitors must self-screen for symptoms before coming to campus.

The Department of Linguistics

Graduate admissions, graduate admissions information, the ucla linguistics department welcomes applications from students interested in pursuing the ph.d. degree . the department currently has approximately 45 graduate students. the admissions process is highly competitive; those offered admission are provided with full financial support, with commitments up to five years. support packages include tuition, fees, and salary or stipend, and normally involve a mixture of fellowship, research assistantship, and teaching assistantship., admission to the graduate program .

The admissions application is prepared and submitted online, through the website of UCLA’s Graduate Division . General information about applying to UCLA for graduate study (such as the University’s requirements for admission) is also available at this link.

Although the department offers both the M.A. and Ph.D. degrees, it normally admits only those students who plan to ultimately pursue a Ph.D. Students are admitted to begin residence in the Fall quarter only.

We assume a background roughly equivalent to a B.A. in Linguistics. This does not mean that the department will not accept applicants with little Linguistics background. Students lacking sufficient background may, however, need to complete preparatory or supplemental courses in their first year.

The typical class size of entering graduate students per year is about seven to ten. We make admissions offers to about 13-15 applicants per year, from an applicant pool of approximately 180.

Admissions decisions are made by an Admissions Committee composed of department faculty. It will be helpful if applicants include on their Statement of Purpose the names of particular faculty they hope to work with, since the Admissions Committee may solicit the opinions of those faculty in making their decision. You may find our list of active ladder faculty on our Faculty Profiles page.

We recommend you review our Graduate Program Overview page , which includes information about our Graduate Student Support packages .

The deadline for submission of applications for the Fall quarter is December 10 of the previous year.

The online application consists of the following:

• A statement of purpose , explaining their background for graduate study in linguistics and their immediate and long-range goals in the field. Statements of purpose should primarily focus on intellectual interests and research plans, though autobiographical material can be useful where it is clearly relevant. You can find guiding questions for the statement on the UCLA Graduate Division website here , under “Statement of Purpose”; 1,500 word limit for our application.
• Three letters of recommendation , ideally from scholars who can attest to the applicant’s potential in linguistics and general intellectual qualifications. Letters from employers can also be useful where they supplement the letters from teachers.
• Transcripts from each academic institution attended.  Transcripts are to be uploaded to the online admissions application by the deadline, December 10th. Official hard copy transcripts must be mailed to the Department of Linguistics by January 31st.  Official transcripts must bear the signature of the Registrar or seal of the issuing institution. If the transcript is in a language other than English, then a certified translated copy must also accompany the original official transcript.
• A research paper in linguistics (or a related field). This part of the dossier is very important, and is often given more weight in admissions decisions about admissibility than anything else, since it (potentially) provides evidence of the ability to pursue original research in the field.  Please note that a literature review is less useful than an original research paper. If no paper in linguistics or a related field is available, it is better to include a paper in some non-related field, rather than no paper at all.
• International applicants whose first language is not English must certify their proficiency in English, via the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or the International English Language Testing System (IELTS). More information, including minimum score requirements, UCLA’s institution code, and eligibility for a test waiver, is available on the Graduate Division’s website .
• UCLA’s fellowship application, found in online admissions application. It is useful to inspect the list of UCLA fellowships carefully, to see what you might be qualified for. Applicants are also encouraged to apply for as many extramural fellowships and scholarships as they are eligible . As part of the fellowship application, they require you to submit a Personal Statement: You can find guiding questions for the statement on the UCLA Graduate Division website here , under “Personal Statement.” To a limited extent, the Admissions Committee uses the criterion of what students can be supported with available resources.
• Although not required, it also would be useful to include with your application an informal list of the courses you have taken in your desired field . Add any information you think would clarify the kind of work you did, especially if the title of a given course does not reflect the actual course content.
• Please note that the GRE is NOT required for admission to our program . Please do not submit GRE score reports to us, as they will not be considered.

We are not the only linguists at UCLA.  There are graduate programs in  English ,  Indo-European Studies , and specific foreign languages , each with separate admission processes. Please contact these departments directly for information about applying to their graduate programs.

Admissions Materials

Virtually all admissions materials (writing sample, statement of purpose, etc.) are to be uploaded to the online application.

However, official transcripts (one hard official copy from each institution attended) are still required and should be mailed to:

UCLA Department of Linguistics c/o Graduate Admissions 335 Portola Plaza 3125 Campbell Hall Los Angeles, CA 90095-1543 (USA)

We can accept electronic official transcripts, as long as they are sent directly from the institution to the department. Please address electronic official transcripts to the Graduate Student Affairs Officer.

Please contact Graduate Student Affairs Officer if you have any questions.

Frequently Asked Questions

• How many years is the Linguistics Graduate Program?

The normative time to complete the program is 5 years. The department offers both the M.A. and Ph.D. degrees, and all students are expected to complete program requirements at both levels. You may review our Current Graduate Students page to review the normative timeline and requirements for our program.

2. What if I’m an international applicant, and do not meet the eligibility criteria to be exempt from UCLA’s English Language Requirement?

UCLA does not currently accept exception requests to waive the English Language Requirement outside of the exemption criteria listed on UCLA’s Graduate Division website . You will need to take and submit test scores for the TOEFL/IELTS with your graduate program application.

3. Where can I find more information on the graduate application fee waiver?

Please see the UCLA Graduate Division website here , under “Fee Waivers,” to review the eligibility criteria for the application fee waiver.

4. If I do not meet the criteria for a fee waiver, can I submit an exception to the department?

Unfortunately, the university does not accept exceptions to the criteria for fee waivers. These are set at the university level, and individual graduate programs/departments cannot waive this for you.

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Ph.D. Program Requirements

All Ph.D. requirements should be completed within five (5) academic years. Students who have not yet completed their M.S. will also have two (2) additional academic years to complete their M.S. degree requirements . Ph.D. students must maintain a minimum GPA of 3.5 through all stages of their graduate program.

M.S./Ph.D. Students

Ph.d. course requirements, ph.d. preliminary examination, ph.d. oral qualifying examination, ph.d. final oral examination.

Ph.D. students admitted without an M.S. degree must complete their M.S. degree before beginning their Ph.D. program requirements. The only exception to this rule is the Ph.D. Preliminary Examination, which may be taken while a Ph.D. student is completing M.S. degree requirements.

Ph.D. course requirements must be completed before a student takes their Oral Qualifying Examination. It is by this point that Ph.D. students are expected to complete a Ph.D. Program of Study that has been approved by their advisor. The Ph.D. course requirements are as follows:

• Four (4) formal graduate courses chosen in consultation with a student’s faculty advisor.
• At least two (2) of the four formal graduate must be from the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department.
• The EC ENGR seminar series course EC ENGR 297. (The course must be taken once per degree level, even if it was previously taken to satisfy M.S. degree requirements.)
• The EC ENGR 295 Technical Writing Course

A formal graduate course is defined as any 200-level lecture course taken for a letter grade. Formal graduate courses taken by the student to meet the M.S. degree requirements cannot be applied toward the Ph.D. course requirements. Additionally, Ph.D. students may not apply 500-level courses, 400-level courses, 300-level courses, undergraduate courses, or other seminar courses toward their course requirements.

Purpose and Format of the Exam

The purpose of the PhD preliminary exam is to assess the student’s preparation and potential for PhD research.  This includes:

• knowledge of fundamental concepts within a broad area of specialization relevant to ECE,
• presentation and communication skills,
• depth of understanding of research literature,
• creativity and potential for independent research,
• ability to engage in extemporaneous technical discussion and answer questions in real time.

Each student is examined by a committee of three ECE faculty members. During the exam, the student first presents a paper selected by the committee. Following the presentation, the student is examined on the presented paper and on fundamental topics related to the student’s research area. This preliminary exam format also allows the faculty to provide useful feedback to the student.

Eligibility and Timing

• Students who were admitted to the PhD program with an MS degree (“PhD students”) can take the preliminary exam after completing two graduate lecture courses (8 units). The courses must be 200-series courses taken for a letter grade and used to satisfy the PhD degree requirements. PhD students must take the preliminary exam no later than the fourth academic quarter of enrollment as a PhD student, and must pass the exam no later than the sixth academic quarter. (Academic quarters are Fall, Winter, Spring.)
• Students who were admitted as MS/PhD students (“MS/PhD students”) can take the preliminary exam after completing three graduate lecture courses (12 units). The courses must be 200-series courses taken for a letter grade and used to satisfy the MS degree requirements. MS/PhD students must take the preliminary exam no later than the fourth academic quarter and pass the exam no later than the sixth academic quarter after completing the MS course requirements.
• Students who were admitted as MS students and are in the process of transferring to the PhD program can take the exam with the support of a faculty member who agrees to serve as the prospective PhD advisor. The course requirements and deadline for passing the preliminary exam are the same as for MS/PhD students.
• A student must be registered and enrolled in the ECE PhD program or MS program during the quarter in which the examination is held.
• A student must have a minimum GPA of 3.5 by the start of the quarter in which the examination takes place.
• Students who do not pass the exam must wait at least one quarter (which may be the summer quarter) before retaking the exam. The exam may be repeated only once, and only if the second opportunity is granted by the first examiner committee.

Registration

• The exam is offered in the Fall, Winter, and Spring quarters. Students register for the exam before the start of the quarter via an online registration form.
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• On the registration form, students are also asked to suggest five papers to present at the exam. The student or any other member of the advisor’s research group cannot be an author of the suggested papers.
• The student’s advisor has the option to provide a letter of support. Through this letter, advisors have the opportunity to share comments with the Preliminary Exam Administrative committee and the student’s examiner committee. The letter is optional, and absence of a letter should not be interpreted as lack of support from the advisor.
• Students who have a conflict of interest with a potential examiner should communicate their concerns with the graduate vice-chair or the department chair.

Examiner Committee

• A Preliminary Exam Administrative Committee is formed with two representatives from each area and the graduate vice-chair. This committee meets at the start of every quarter to assign the examiner committees to the individual students.
• The Preliminary Exam Administrative Committee assigns an examiner committee of three ECE faculty members for each student. The assignment is based on the inputs provided by the student in the registration form and (possibly) the student’s advisor via the support letter.
• One of the examiners will serve as the chair of the committee. The committee chair serves as the contact person for the student when scheduling and preparing for the exam. The chair also moderates the exam, and announces the exam results and committee feedback to the student.
• The student’s advisor is excluded from the examiner committee.

Scheduling the exam

• The time of the exam is set by the student in coordination with the examiner committee.
• The examiner committee will assign a paper at least three weeks before the exam. There is no guarantee that the paper will be selected from the student’s suggested list.

Examination

• The student and the examiner committee should be all present at the same time during the exam. However, remote participation via video conference is allowed if necessary to resolve scheduling problems.
• The student’s faculty advisor can attend the examination although this is not encouraged, but not the committee deliberations, as a silent observer. The student’s advisor will not be part of the decision process.
• The student first gives a 20-minute presentation of the assigned paper. The presentation is followed by questions about the fundamentals on the topics related to the student’s research area, the presented paper, and the subject matter of the three courses selected by the student. This may include questions that require written answers (on a board or tablet).
• The duration of the Prelim exam is between 1 and 1.5 hours.
• The committee chair moderates the exam and manages the time.
• The deliberation by the examiner committee is closed to all, including the student’s faculty advisor.
• There are three possible outcomes for the Prelim exam: (1) pass, (2) fail with the chance to retake the exam, or (3) fail with no chance to retake the exam.
• The decisions are made by the examiner committee with a majority vote.
• The decision along with feedback should be relayed to the student by the committee chair within one week after the exam.
• Students who wish to appeal the result of the preliminary exam may do so for the following reasons: (1) procedural errors, (2) evidence that non-academic criteria determined the decision (e.g., violations of university nondiscrimination policies). Disagreements over the academic evaluation (e.g., exam content and questions, or correctness of answers) are not considered valid grounds for an appeal. Illness and other extenuating circumstances affecting the student’s performance are generally not accepted, because they should be brought to the committee’s attention before the start of the exam, if needed with a request to reschedule.
• Students have 30 days from the day they receive the exam results to submit an appeal. To submit an appeal, the student files a petition with OGSA, describing the reason for the appeal and including supporting documentation. The petition must be signed by the student’s advisor, and include a letter from the advisor supporting the appeal.
• Appeals are decided by the graduate vice chair, in consultation with the student’s examiner committee or the Preliminary Exam Administrative committee. Students can expect a decision on their appeal within two weeks. Repeat appeals will not be considered.

Students must pass the Oral Qualifying Examination either within their first three academic years in the Ph.D. program or within one year of passing the Ph.D. Preliminary Examination (whichever comes first).

To take the Oral Qualifying Examination, a student must have passed the Ph.D. Preliminary Examination, completed all Ph.D. course requirements, and nominate a doctoral committee. As doctoral committees require the approval of the Graduate Division, our department requires that students notify our office of their committee members at least three weeks prior to the proposed that of their Oral Qualifying Examination. Doctoral committees must abide by the following guidelines:

• Two of the three doctoral committee members from UCLA must hold the rank of professor or associate professor (regular or in-residence series).
• The Chair always must hold a current UCLA Academic Senate faculty appointment per #1 above in the same department or IDP as the graduate student. If a committee has co-chairs, at least one must be from the student’s major department or IDP at UCLA
• It is not required that doctoral committees consist of at least one outside member. It is possible for the four committee members on a standard doctoral committee to be from the ECE Department

A full list of policies regarding doctoral committees may be found the Graduate Division’s website.

The student’s doctoral committee evaluates their performance in the Oral Qualifying Examination. A successful result on the examination confers upon the student the title of doctoral candidate.

After passing their Oral Qualifying Examination, Ph.D. students are expected to defend their dissertation in a Final Oral Examination . If their doctoral committee has changed since their Oral Qualifying Examination, the student must follow the appropriate procedures for reconstituting their committee and must notify the ECE Office of Graduate Student affairs at least three weeks prior to the anticipated date of their Final Oral Examination.

After passing the Final Oral Examination, Ph.D. students must file their dissertation by the filing deadline of the given quarter. The filing deadline is the final day of the quarter at 5:00 p.m. For their dissertation to be considered filed, students must submit their dissertation through the Graduate Division’s Electronic Thesis and Dissertation (ETD) portal and receive approval from all committee members.

About the Ph.D. Program

The Ph.D. Program in Economics at UCLA prepares students for careers as economists in academia, business and government. The program combines rigorous work in economic theory and careful study of real-world problems and institutions. Graduates from this program work at major universities around the world, national and international government agencies, banks, research centers and in private businesses. Some of our graduates have achieved great prominence, such as William Sharpe , who earned both his B.A. and Ph.D. degrees at UCLA, and was co-recipient of the 1990 Nobel Prize in Economics for his work on the capital asset pricing model.

The department includes internationally recognized scholars in economic theory, econometrics, and all the major applied fields. These outstanding scholars form one of the foremost departments of economics in the world.

The Economics Department is situated within one of the world’s most youthful and vibrant universities. Founded in 1919, UCLA first developed into a major university in the 1950’s. After so short a history, the university was ranked second in the United States among public research universities by the Conference Board of Associated Research Councils in 1982. Thirty-one of its Ph.D. programs are currently ranked in the top 20 in their field–third best in the nation.

The Ph.D. is the degree objective of the graduate program. This degree is awarded to students who demonstrate professional competence by passing written qualifying exams and by completing a major piece of individual research (the Ph.D. dissertation).

Preparation for the qualifying exams through coursework and independent study occupies most student time for the first two years. Thereafter the focus shifts to independent research and finally to the writing of a Ph.D. dissertation. Research in progress by our graduate students as well as our faculty is presented at workshops that meet weekly throughout the academic year. Currently, the Dept. has workshops in Theory and Mathematical Economics, International and Development Economics, Labor and Population Economics, Business Organization and Regulation Economics, Economic History, Econometrics, and Monetary Theory. In addition, many graduate students work as research or teaching assistants for faculty members. The normal time to degree is six years.

This degree program classifies as STEM (CIP Code 45.0603: Econometrics and Quantitative Economics).

UCLA Department of Economics

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graduate admissions

Frequently Asked Questions

More information for international students

Dear Prospective Applicant,

Thank you for your interest in graduate studies in the Department of Mathematics at UCLA. Applications are accepted for Fall quarter matriculation only. The application deadline is December 15. Application review process begins in late December; to ensure full consideration, applications should be complete, with all supporting material submitted, by that time.  Please note that admissions to the M.A. and M.A.T. programs have been suspended indefinitely, so if you’re interested in doing graduate work in our department you must apply for admission to the Ph.D. program.

You must submit the UCLA Graduate Admissions Application (see  http://www.gdnet.ucla.edu/gasaa/admissions/applicat.htm ). You also must submit the Application Fee for the UCLA Graduate Admissions Application. Instructions for this payment are given online. As part of the Graduate Division Application, you will be required to submit:

• Transcripts (scans and originals)
• Statement of Purpose
• Letters of Recommendation (see online UCLA application)
• List of Mathematics Courses taken
• Applicants whose native language is not English must take the TOEFL/IELTS exam and submit their TOEFL/IELTS score.

Each applicant must select an area (pure or applied) and a field of interest as part of the application. The two areas have slightly different course requirements, but both allow for flexibility to take many combinations of courses and qualifying exams throughout the department. Students can ask to switch areas or fields after starting the program if their interests change.

Transcripts (and TOEFL/IELTS scores, if required) should be mailed to:

Graduate Advisor UCLA Mathematics Department 520 Portola Plaza Los Angeles, CA 90095-1555

Admissions Requirements

The minimum Department requirements for applicants, in addition to the minimum University requirements, are:

*Applicants for the PhD program  must have a 3.5 GPA in upper division math courses.

Prospective students do not need to have an undergraduate mathematics major, but must complete at least 12-quarter, or 8-semester courses in substantial upper division mathematics.  Comparable Upper Division Courses at UCLA:

• Algebra 110AB : Ring of integers, integral domains, fields, polynomial domains, unique factorization. Groups, structure of finite groups.
• Linear Algebra 115AH : Abstract vector spaces, linear transformations, and matrices; determinants; inner product spaces; eigenvector theory.
• Analysis 131ABH : Rigorous introduction to foundations of real analysis; real numbers, point set topology in Euclidean space, functions, continuity. Derivatives, Riemann integral, sequences and series of functions, power series, Fourier series.
• Differential Geometry 120A : Curves in 3-space, Frenet formulas, surfaces in 3-space, normal curvature. Gaussian curvature. Congruence of curves and surfaces. Intrinsic geometry of surfaces, isometrics, geodesics, Gauss/Bonnet theorem.
• Ordinary Differential Equations 135AB : Systems of differential equations; linear systems with constant coefficients, analytic coefficients, periodic coefficients, and linear systems with regular singular points; existence and uniqueness results; linear boundary and eigenvalue problems; two-dimensional autonomous systems, phase/plane analysis, stability and asymptotic behavior of solutions.
• Applied Numerical Methods 151AB : Introduction to numerical methods with emphasis on algorithms, analysis of algorithms, and computer implementation issues. Solution of non-linear equations, numerical differentiation, integration, and interpolation. Numerical solution of differential equations.
• Three letters of recommendation with preferably all, but always at least 2, from mathematicians who are familiar with the student’s work.

The GRE Math Subject test . 

A General Recommendation:

The UCLA Mathematics Department encourages students to change their educational institution between their Bachelor and PhD degrees to broaden their horizons. In particular, no admissions advantage is given to UCLA undergraduates.

international students

Dear Prospective Applicant,

Thank you for your interest in graduate studies in the Department of Mathematics at UCLA. Applications are accepted for the Fall quarter only. The application deadline is December 15. The application review process begins late December; please ensure that all supporting documents, including reference letters and test scores, are received by that time. Please read all the information very carefully. In addition to the requirements below, return to Graduate Admissions for complete details.

Please note: THE UCLA Graduate Admissions Application fee is MANDATORY!! If the application fee is not paid, the UCLA Admissions Office cannot process the application.

Please note: DO NOT send publications.

Financial Support: International students are supported through a mix of fellowships, research assistantships, and teaching assistantships. Support is normally guaranteed for four years. A 5th year of support is usually provided if the student is in good standing and advanced to candidacy. Guaranteed support normally provides income that is enough for living expenses (exact amounts vary from year to year), and in addition provides full registration fees, health insurance, and non-resident tuition. All applicants are automatically considered for this financial support; no separate application is required. Students who have access to other means of support, for example scholarships from their own governments or international organizations, should apply for those separately.

Students whose first language is not English must pass UCLA’s “Test of Oral Proficiency” (TOP) before they can become teaching assistants at UCLA. Offers of support for international students are conditioned on passing this exam within the first year.

Required Tests

• GRE: Math Subject Test
• TOEFL/IELTS: Your TOEFL score on the paper and pencil test must be at least 560 (600 is recommended) or at least 87 on the internet-based test. Your IELTS Academic overall band score should be at least 7.0. 7.0 is the  minimum  required.
• TOP (Test of Oral Proficiency):  Minimum score of 6.4 is a provisional pass permitting the student to TA.

frequently asked questions

Thank you for your interest in graduate studies in the Department of Mathematics at UCLA. Applications are accepted for the fall quarter only. The application deadline is December 15. The application review process begins late December; please ensure that all supporting documents, including reference letters and test scores, are received by that time. Please return to Graduate Admissions for more detailed information or email  [email protected]  for very specific questions.

The on-line University application must be submitted by December 15. We will accept scores, letters and other materials after the December 15th deadline, but your application package will be considered incomplete and will not be reviewed if we do not have all materials by the end of the second week in January.

Not really.  Three letters are sufficient for the review committee to get a sense of your abilities and strengths. 

Either way is acceptable as long as they are officially sealed when we receive them.

International applicants that have received a Bachelor’s degree or higher from a university located in the United States, or from another country in which English is both the spoken language and the medium of instruction are exempted from the TOEFL.  Please include this information in your application package.

It is University policy that you score at least a 560 on the pencil and paper test, 220 on the electronic test, or 87 on the iBT.

Students who wish to apply for admission to our graduate program for the 2024-2025 academic year are to submit a GRE Math subject test score report as part of their application package. However, students are NOT required to submit the GRE General test score.

Please note that admissions to the M.A. and M.A.T. programs have been suspended until further notice. 

Be aware that when we talk about a successful applicant, numbers are only one part of the total package. That being said; the minimum GPA is 3.5 for a PhD and 3.2 for a Master’s, and although there is no minimum GRE, you must keep in mind that admission is very competitive and the higher your score, the better.  On the average, those we offer admission to have GRE subject scores in or above the 80th percentile. Our GPA range is from about 3.6 to 4.0, though again there can be exceptions. Keep in mind that we look at the entire package and although we have a minimum, the average is higher. Also, there is no score at any level, which insures admission.

The Statement is your opportunity to explain your reasons for pursuing graduate study in mathematics, and to let us get a sense of who you are.  You may mention any relevant facts about your education or experience with mathematics that are not apparent in the other materials you submit.  You might want to note what kind of mathematics you find interesting and wish to pursue in graduate school, and what you plan to do after obtaining a Ph.D. It may include information about your background, interests, or career goals, and how UCLA might help you meet those career and educational goals.  There is no specific length, but one or two pages are typical.

Your application will be accepted if we receive your scores by the end of the first week in January.

Admission decisions are based on an applicant’s entire package.  Weaknesses in one area may be offset by strengths in another. The committee weighs many factors in addition to GPAs.  These may include the breadth of your undergraduate courses, your letters of recommendation, statement of purpose and GRE subject score.

You may apply for admission to our program before your actual degree date as long as you have your Bachelor degree by the fall enrollment date.

The UCLA code is 4837 and the Mathematics department code is 0703.

One of the most important things you can do is to get to know your professors. You want to have letters of recommendation that tell us knowledgeably and personally about your qualifications and abilities. Your letters of recommendation should attest to the fact that you have the potential and mathematical background to be a research mathematician. It is already expected that all applicants to UCLA have a solid preparation in undergraduate math, with strong grades and GRE scores, that allows them at a minimum to pass our Basic Qualifying Exam in their first year. What we would also like to see in addition is that you have potential for advanced mathematical research. This can be demonstrated through courses that are heavy in proof oriented math, honors and graduate courses, a senior research project, a senior thesis, or a summer REU program.

You will receive an official letter by the first week of March.

Clinical Psychology

Mission statement.

Our mission is to advance knowledge that promotes psychological well-being and reduces the burden of mental illness and problems in living and to develop leading clinical scientists whose skills and knowledge will have a substantial impact on the field of psychology and the lives of those in need. Our faculty and graduate students promote critical thinking, innovation, and discovery, and strive to be leaders in their field, engaging in and influencing research, practice, policy, and education. Our pursuit of these goals is guided by the values of collaboration, mutual respect, and fairness, our commitment to diversity, and the highest ethical standards.

Information about the Clinical Psychology Graduate Major

UCLA’s Clinical Psychology program is one of the largest, most selective, and most highly regarded in the country and aims to produce future faculty, researchers, and leaders in clinical science, who influence research, policy development, and practice. Clinical science is a field of psychology that strives to generate and disseminate the best possible knowledge, whether basic or applied, to reduce suffering and to advance public health and wellness. Rather than viewing research and intervention as separable, clinical science construes these activities as part of a single, broad domain of expertise and action. Students in the program are immersed in an empirical, research-based approach to clinical training. This, in turn, informs their research endeavors with a strong understanding of associated psychological phenomena. The UCLA Clinical Science Training Programs employs rigorous methods and theories from multiple perspectives, in the context of human diversity. Our goal is to develop the next generation of clinical scientists who will advance and share knowledge related to the origins, development, assessment, treatment, and prevention of mental health problems.

Admissions decisions are based on applicants’ research interests and experiences, formal coursework in psychology and associated fields, academic performance, letters of recommendation, dedication to and suitability for a career as a clinical scientist, program fit, and contributions to an intellectually rich, diverse class. Once admitted, students engage with faculty in research activities addressing critical issues that impact psychological well-being and the burden of mental illness, using a wide range of approaches and at varying levels of analysis. Their integrated training is facilitated by on-campus resources including the departmental Psychology Clinic, the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, and the David Geffen School of Medicine.

Our program philosophy is embodied in, and our goals are achieved through, a series of training activities that prepare students for increasingly complex, demanding, and independent roles as clinical scientists. These training activities expose students to the reciprocal relationship between scientific research and provision of clinical services, and to various systems and methods of intervention, assessment, and other clinical services with demographically and clinically diverse populations. The curriculum is designed to produce scientifically-minded scholars who are well-trained in research and practice, who use data to develop and refine the knowledge base in their field, and who bring a reasoned empirical perspective to positions of leadership in research and service delivery.

The program’s individualized supervision of each student in integrated research and practice roles provides considerable flexibility. Within the parameters set by faculty interests and practicum resources, there are specializations in child psychopathology and treatment, cognitive-behavior therapy, clinical assessment, adult psychopathology and treatment, family processes, assessment and intervention with distressed couples, community psychology, stress and coping, cognitive and affective neuroscience, minority mental health, and health psychology and behavioral medicine. The faculty and other research resources of the Department make possible an intensive concentration in particular areas of clinical psychology, while at the same time ensuring breadth of training.

Clinical psychology at UCLA is a six-year program including a full-time one-year internship, at least four years of which must be completed in residence at UCLA. The curriculum in clinical psychology is based on a twelve-month academic year. The program includes a mixture of coursework, clinical practicum training, teaching, and continuous involvement in research. Many of the twenty clinical area faculty, along with numerous clinical psychologists from other campus departments, community clinics, and hospitals settings, contribute to clinical supervision.  Clinical training experiences typically include four and a half years of part-time practicum placements in the Psychology Clinic and local agencies. The required one-year full-time internship is undertaken after the student has passed the clinical qualifying examinations and the dissertation preliminary orals. The student receives the Ph.D. degree when both the dissertation and an approved internship are completed.

Accreditation

PCSAS – Psychological Clinical Science Accreditation System

The Graduate Program in Clinical Psychology at UCLA was accredited in 2012 by the Psychological Clinical Science Accreditation System (PCSAS). PCSAS was created to promote science-centered education and training in clinical psychology, to increase the quality and quantity of clinical scientists contributing to the advancement of public health, and to enhance the scientific knowledge base for mental and behavioral health care. The UCLA program is deeply committed to these goals and proud to be a member of the PCSAS Founder’s Circle and one of the group of programs accredited by PCSAS.  (Psychological Clinical Science Accreditation System, 1800 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Suite 402, Washington, DC 20036-1218. Telephone: 301-455-8046). Website:  https://www.pcsas.org

APA CoA – American Psychological Association Commission on Accreditation

The Graduate Program in Clinical Psychology at UCLA has been accredited by the American Psychological Association Commission on Accreditation since 1949. (Office of Program Consultation and Accreditation, American Psychological Association, 750 First Street NE. Washington, DC 20002-4242. Telephone:  202-336-5979 .) Website:  http://www.apa.org/ed/accreditation/

Future Accreditation Plans:  

Against the backdrop of distressing evidence that mental health problems are increasingly prevalent and burdensome, the field of psychological clinical science must think innovatively to address the unmet mental health needs of vulnerable populations. UCLA’s clinical psychology program remains committed to training clinical psychological scientists who will become leaders in research, dissemination, and implementation of knowledge, policy development, and evidence-based clinical practice. This commitment is firmly rooted in our overall mission of promoting equity and inclusion, adhering to ethical standards, and developing collaborations in all aspects of clinical psychology.

Increasingly, we believe that significant aspects of the academic and clinical-service requirements of accreditation by the American Psychological Association (APA) obstruct our training mission. Too often, APA requirements limit our ability to flexibly adapt our program to evolving scientific evidence, student needs, and global trends in mental health. Like many other top clinical science doctoral programs, we see our longstanding accreditation by the Psychological Clinical Science Accreditation System (PCSAS) as better aligned with our core values, including advancement of scientifically-based training.

Accordingly, we are unlikely to seek renewal of our program’s accreditation by APA, which is set to expire in 2028. The ultimate decision about re-accreditation will be made with the best interests and well-being of current and future students in our program in mind. To that end, we will continue to monitor important criteria that will determine the career prospects of students completing a doctoral degree in clinical psychology from programs accredited only by PCSAS. For example, we are working to understand the potential implications for securing excellent predoctoral internships and eligibility for professional licensure across jurisdictions in North America. Although the UCLA clinical psychology program has no direct influence over these external organizations, we are excited to continue to work to shape this evolving training landscape with the Academy of Psychological Clinical Science (APCS) and leaders from other clinical science programs.

Our ongoing monitoring of trends in clinical psychology training is encouraging for PCSAS-accredited programs. However, evolving circumstances could result in our program changing its opinion with respect to seeking APA re-accreditation in the future. In the spirit of transparency and empowering potential applicants to make informed choices for their own professional development, we are pleased to share our thinking on these important issues.

Notice to Students re: Professional Licensure and Certification

University of California programs for professions that require licensure or certification are intended to prepare the student for California licensure and certification requirements. Admission into programs for professions that require licensure and certification does not guarantee that students will obtain a license or certificate. Licensure and certification requirements are set by agencies that are not controlled by or affiliated with the University of California and licensure and certification requirements can change at any time.

The University of California has not determined whether its programs meet other states’ educational or professional requirements for licensure and certification. Students planning to pursue licensure or certification in other states are responsible for determining whether, if they complete a University of California program, they will meet their state’s requirements for licensure or certification. This disclosure is made pursuant to 34 CFR §668.43(a)(5)(v)(C).

NOTE:  Although the UCLA Clinical Psychology Program is not designed to ensure license eligibility, the majority of our graduates do go on to become professionally licensed.  For more information, please see  https://www.ucop.edu/institutional-research-academic-planning/content-analysis/academic-planning/licensure-and-certification-disclosures.html .

Clinical Program Policy on Diversity-Related Training 

In light of our guiding values of collaboration, respect, and fairness, this statement is to inform prospective and current trainees, faculty, and supervisors, as well as the public, that our trainees are required to (a) attain an understanding of cultural and individual diversity as related to both the science and practice of psychology and (b) provide competent and ethical services to diverse individuals.  Our primary consideration is always the welfare of the client.  Should such a conflict arise in which the trainee’s beliefs, values, worldview, or culture limits their ability to meet this requirement, as determined by either the student or the supervisor, it should be reported to the Clinic and Placements Committee, either directly or through a supervisor or clinical area faculty member.  The Committee will take a developmental view, such that if the competency to deliver services cannot be sufficiently developed in time to protect and serve a potentially impacted client, the committee will (a) consider a reassignment of the client so as to protect the client’s immediate interests, and (b) request from the student a plan to reach the above-stated competencies, to be developed and implemented in consultation with both the trainee’s supervisor and the Clinic Director.  There should be no reasonable expectation of a trainee being exempted from having clients with any particular background or characteristics assigned to them for the duration of their training.

Clinical Program Grievance Policies & Procedures

Unfortunately, conflicts between students and faculty or with other students will occur, and the following policies and procedures are provided in an effort to achieve the best solution. The first step in addressing these conflicts is for the student to consult with their academic advisor. If this option is not feasible (e.g. the conflict is with the advisor) or the conflict is not resolved to their satisfaction, then the issue should be brought to the attention of the Director of Clinical Training. If in the unlikely event that an effective solution is not achieved at this level, then the student has the option of consulting with the Department’s Vice Chair for Graduate Studies. Students also have the option of seeking assistance from the campus Office of Ombuds Services and the Office of the Dean of Students. It is expected that all such conflicts are to be addressed first within the program, then within the Department, before seeking a resolution outside of the department.

More Clinical Psychology Information

• For a list of Required Courses please see the  Psychology Handbook
• Psychology Clinic
• Student Admissions Outcomes and Other Data

Ph.D. Degree

Students enter the Ph.D Program, based upon a vote of the faculty, at the time the M.A. degree is conferred or, if entering with a master’s degree, when all requirements demonstrating basic knowledge in the field of anthropology are completed.

The Ph.D Program

The Ph.D degree requires further study in a more specialized branch of anthropology, requiring at least one further year of academic study.  Students are expected to demonstrate knowledge of the discipline by successful completion of: (1) the Written Qualifying Examination administered by a three-member Departmental Doctoral Committee, (2) the Oral Qualifying Examination administered by a four-member Ph.D Doctoral Committee and, (3) the writing of an original dissertation based on original research.  The dissertation is expected to be a significant contribution to anthropological literature and knowledge.

Beyond basic requirements, each student’s program of study is unique. Accordingly, academic advising for graduate students in the department is primarily conducted on an individual basis by a student’s faculty adviser. The department’s graduate adviser is primarily responsible for counseling students in regard to program requirements, policies, and university regulations. Upon admission, students will be assigned both a primary and a secondary first-year adviser.

Student progress is periodically reviewed at faculty meetings. Students entering the program with a master’s degree are expected to be evaluated no later than their sixth quarter (spring quarter of their second year). At the Student Review Meeting, which occurs once per academic quarter, the full faculty evaluates the student’s progress in the program: formation of three-member departmental advisory committee; completion of the Proseminar and core courses; and evaluation of the Master’s research paper or thesis. Possible outcomes of the Student Review for students entering with a Master’s degree are: a) continuation to the Ph.D. program requirements; b) one-quarter extension to complete remaining requirements; and c) recommendation for academic disqualification from the Ph.D. program. All students are notified in writing about the outcome of the faculty discussion concerning their continuation to the doctoral program or degree progress. Students continue to be reviewed periodically throughout their time in the PhD program. The purpose of these reviews is to assess academic progress and help to ensure timely completion of the PhD.

Students entering the program with a Master’s degree

Students who are entering the graduate program with a Master’s degree, whether or not in anthropology, are required to demonstrate basic knowledge of the discipline before being permitted to begin the requirements for the doctorate. It is expected that students accomplish this during the first year of academic residence through the following:

• Nominating a three-member departmental advisory committee.
• Completing the Proseminar (Anthropology 200).
• Taking the core course or methods course with a passing grade of B or better.
• Petitioning that course work completed elsewhere, or at UCLA as an undergraduate, constitutes the equivalent of such courses.
• Passing the subfield’s core course examination given in the Spring Quarter.
• Submitting to the student’s departmental advisory committee, for evaluation, a master’s paper or a research paper that was written while in graduate status in their former Master’s program.

Additional Course Requirement for Students in the Sociocultural and Psychocultural-Medical Program: All students in the Sociocultural and Psychocultural-Medical program are required to take Anthropology 283 – Proposal Writing, typically offered in the Spring. Students must consult with their three-member departmental advisory committee chair before enrolling. Students are expected to complete the course in their second year but may complete it no later than the quarter they hold their qualifying examination. Students who entered the graduate program with a Master’s degree must complete this course by their ninth quarter (third year) in the program.

A grade of B or better is required in any core course taken at UCLA. If students received a grade of B-, C+, or C, they may not repeat the core course, but must take the core course examination and pass or be subject to being recommended for academic disqualification. If a grade of C- or below is received, students may repeat the course, but must receive a grade of B or better the second time the course is taken, or be subject to being recommended for academic disqualification.

Only when these requisites have been met are students permitted to begin the requirements for the Ph.D. degree. Completion of 40 units is not required.

Students who completed the M.A in Anthropology at UCLA

Students who are entering the graduate program without a Master’s degree must complete all of the M.A. degree requirements en route to the Ph.D. Following completion of the M.A. degree requirements and permission by the faculty to begin the Ph.D. requirements, students are expected to enroll in three seminars, each with a different faculty member, between receipt of the M.A. degree from the department and taking the doctoral qualifying examinations.

Additional Course Requirement for Students in the Sociocultural and Psychocultural-Medical Program: All students in the Sociocultural and Psychocultural-Medical program are required to take Anthropology 283 – Proposal Writing, typically offered in the Spring. Students must consult with their three-member departmental advisory committee chair before enrolling. Students are expected to complete the course in their second year but may complete it no later than the quarter they hold their qualifying examination. Students who completed the M.A. degree requirements must complete this course by their 12th quarter (fourth year) in the program.

Foreign Language Requirement

Fulfilling the foreign language requirement  is not a requirement to be eligible to apply to the graduate program.

The department requires proficiency in a second language for all students in the Ph.D. program in anthropology. It is the responsibility of the student’s three-member departmental doctoral committee to determine what language(s) are required for their particular program of study.

If the requirement for second language proficiency is to be waived, students must prepare a request for a Ph.D. language requirement waiver, which consists of a letter justifying the request, addressed to the committee and filed with the graduate adviser. The committee must then draft a letter of approval, to be placed in the student’s file. If alternate research skills that are deemed necessary for the program of study for the student’s dissertation have been identified and satisfied, these are noted by the committee. However, no specific other courses or skills are obligatory.

If foreign language proficiency is required, proficiency will be determined by the three-member departmental doctoral committee and may include but is not limited to:

• Completion of an appropriate level of language instruction; or
• Demonstration of previously acquired language skills through documentation or an examination; or
• Submission of an annotated bibliography, in English, of selected publications (in the selected language) that are related to the student’s dissertation topic.

The bibliography may be supplemented by a related analytical examination question or further translation examination.

For students required to demonstrate foreign language proficiency, all monitoring of the requirement takes place within the department. The committee chair is responsible for consulting with other committee members about the language requirement and plans for proficiency testing, and notifying them of the results of those tests, or otherwise providing them with copies of the documentation of proficiency.

Written and Oral Qualifying Examinations

The qualifying examinations for the Ph.D. degree consist of a written and an oral examination. The timing of these examinations is set in consultation with the members of the doctoral committee. Students must be registered and enrolled to take the qualifying examinations. The committee for each examination determines the conditions for reexamination should students not pass either portion of the qualifying examinations.

Departmental members of the doctoral committee administer the written portion of the qualifying examination. The fields and format of the examination are to be determined by the student’s departmental doctoral committee. There must be a minimum of two weeks between completion of the written examination and the scheduled date for the oral portion of the qualifying examination.

The University Oral Qualifying Examination is primarily a defense of the dissertation proposal. This examination is administered by the four-member doctoral committee.

Doctoral Dissertation

Doctoral candidates must complete an approved dissertation that demonstrates the student’s ability to perform original, independent research, and constitutes a distinct contribution to knowledge in the principal field of study.

Final Oral Examination

The department does not require a final oral defense of the dissertation. However, individual doctoral committees can institute this requirement if they deem it important to do so; this decision is made by the doctoral committee.

Time to Degree

Full-time students admitted without deficiencies normally progress as follows:

Entering without a Master’s degree

• Completion of M.A. degree  and approval to begin the Ph.D. requirements: End of sixth quarter
• Selection of three internal members of the doctoral committee: During ninth quarter
• Four-person doctoral committee nomination: End of 11th quarter
• Completion of foreign language requirement, unless exempted: During 12th quarter
• Completion of written and oral qualifying examinations: Expected by end of 12th quarter
• Advancement to candidacy: Expected by end of 12th quarter
• Final oral examination (dissertation defense), if applicable: Expected by end of 24th quarter
• Normative time-to-degree: 24 quarters (8 years)

Entering with a Master’s degree

• Selection of three internal members of the doctoral committee: During sixth quarter
• Approval to begin the Ph.D requirements: End of sixth quarter
• Four-person doctoral committee nomination: End of eighth quarter
• Completion of foreign language requirement, unless exempted: During ninth quarter
• Completion of written and oral qualifying examinations: Expected by end of ninth quarter
• Advancement to candidacy: Expected by end of ninth quarter
• Final oral examination (dissertation defense), if applicable: Expected by end of 21st quarter
• Expected time-to-degree: 21st quarter (7 years)

If feasible, students may complete the program before the expected or normative time-to-degree.

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Chemistry PhD Program Detailed Degree Requirements

Please visit the the ucla graduate division – chemistry phd page for the latest detailed degree requirements.

Freshman Requirements

In addition to your UC application, we take both your academic record and your personal experiences into consideration during the review process . At UCLA, we seek students who have excelled academically and gained valuable perspective from the personal experiences that have helped shape their lives.

Read on to find out more.

The Criteria We Consider

When reviewing an application, we implement a holistic review process, which includes looking at some of the following criteria:

• Achievement in high school or college coursework
• Personal qualities
• Likely contributions to the intellectual and cultural vitality of our campus
• Achievement in academic enrichment programs
• Other achievements in any field of intellectual or creative endeavor, including the performing arts, athletics, community service, etc.

Academic Preparation

You must complete 15 A-G courses with at least 11 courses finished prior to the beginning of your last year of high school. To be competitive in the UCLA admission process, applicants should present an academic profile much stronger than any minimum UC admission requirements.  See below for a listing of the A-G requirements:

• 2 years history/social science
• 4 years of college-preparatory English
• 3 years of mathematics (4 years recommended)
• 2 years of laboratory science (3 years recommended)
• 2 years of language other than English (3 years recommended)
• 1 year of visual and performing arts (if available)
• 1 year of college-preparatory elective

Keep in mind that there is no single academic path we expect all students to follow. However, competitive applicants earn high marks in the most rigorous curriculum available to them.   Each application for admission is reviewed within the context of courses available to that student. If a particular required subject is not available, we’ll consider your application without it.

Standardized Testing (SAT/ACT)

UCLA will not consider SAT or ACT scores for admission or scholarship purposes.

If you choose to submit test scores as part of your application, they may be used as an alternative method of fulfilling minimum requirements for eligibility or for course placement after you enroll.

UCLA’s ACT number: 0448 UCLA’s College Board (SAT) number: 4837

Personal Insight Questions

These personal questions are just that — personal. This is your chance to augment the information elsewhere in your application and give us more insight into you during the review process.  Our hope is to hear your true, authentic voice in your responses.   As a freshman applicant, you may respond to four of eight questions. Each response is limited to a maximum of 350 words. Which questions you choose to answer is entirely up to you. You should select questions that are most relevant to your experience and that best reflect your individual circumstances.

Frequently Asked Questions

Because we receive more applicants than we have room to accept, admitted students usually have academic achievements far higher than the minimum requirements. So, to be “competitive” is to be among the strongest achieving students to apply.

We look for students who take advantage of the academic opportunities available to them. If you have advanced courses, we encourage you to take advantage of them. The University of California adds extra weight to grades received in UC-certified honors, AP, IB and transferable college courses.

We do not require or accept letters of recommendation in our process and we do not collect transcripts at the point of application . However, once admitted, students are required to submit official transcripts f rom any high school or college they have attended . Some professional schools may request a letter of recommendation as part of their supplemental application process.

We do not offer admission interviews. Applicants are considered for admission based upon the information they submit in the UC application . However, some majors in our  specialty schools require a supplemental application as part of their admission process. Supplemental applications may involve an audition, portfolio submission and/or letters of recommendation. Find out more from the supplemental applications page.

Supplemental Applications

Of course, a strong academic performance combined with sustained, meaningful involvement in extracurricular activities is the ideal. But if it comes down to a choice between excelling in your coursework or your extracurricular activities, choose your academics.

UCLA will honor full IGETC certification from a first-time freshman if the requirements were completed before entering UC. Partial IGETC, however, will not be accepted from entering freshmen at any UC campus and IGETC is not recommended for applicants to the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

UCLA Civil and Environmental Engineer Heads LA County’s Chief Sustainability Office

May 17, 2024

Photo Courtesy from Rita Kampalath

Article From UCLA Samueli Newsroom

F or Rita Kampalath M.S. ’05, Ph.D. ’10, every day is Earth Day as the Los Angeles County’s chief sustainability officer. But when she first came to UCLA as a graduate student, Kampalath said she didn’t have a clear vision for her career. Through her research and the mentorship she received, however, she found a sense of purpose to complement her love of science.

“My time at UCLA taught me a few things,” Kampalath said. “First, I wanted to continue to be challenged intellectually — to find opportunities to continue to learn, grow and stretch my understanding. Second, it really taught me how important it was to me to spend my time working toward a purpose and mission.”

After getting her bachelor’s in chemical engineering from Columbia University, Kampalath pursued a master’s in the same field and her doctorate in civil and environmental engineering at the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering. She chose to center her doctoral research on developing a better understanding of one of the most toxic metals in the world — mercury.

“I’m proud that my research added to such an important body of knowledge — one that I hope will allow us to better protect natural systems and all the living things that rely on them,” she said.

Kampalath joined the research group led by Civil and Environmental Engineering Department professor and vice chair of graduate affairs Jennifer Jay .

“I came to find a through line to the work that I find most meaningful,” Kampalath said of Jay’s mentorship that helped her understand how to leverage science to support social good. “It’s basically this: helping people and communities. As an engineer, particularly a civil or environmental engineer, your work is almost always about the built systems that people rely on for basic needs.”

Influenced by her early experiences seeing communities in India with a strong connection to and reliance on the environment, Kampalath said she felt that it was a natural choice for her to pursue a career that can help improve the environment, with a particular focus on sustainability.

“As a kid, I was lucky to be able to travel a fair amount with my parents, and visit rural India, where my mom grew up in a house without running water or electricity,” Kampalath said. “Seeing the vast contrasts of people’s lives, and literally between the lives of me and my first cousins had a big impact on me, and I think that focused me, maybe subconsciously at first, on work that would support people.”

“Everything has an impact — be it from taking shorter showers, replacing your turf with native plants, buying an electric vehicle, taking public transit or biking, or eating less meat and throwing away less food,” said Rita Kampalath.

Following her academic journey, Kampalath worked as the science and policy director at environmental nonprofit organization Heal the Bay, where she spearheaded advocacy and research projects on water quality. She also took a position at Geosyntec Consultants, working on stormwater management. In 2017, she joined the Chief Sustainability Office in the county of Los Angeles as a sustainability program director. As the head of the unit since 2023, she leads a team of experts tasked with implementing the county’s sustainability plan — an initiative with 12 cross-cutting goals to address environmental, social and economic issues that affect more than 10 million residents across 4,000 plus square miles.

“Policy guides so much of our work in the public sphere,” Kampalath said. “I was lucky to be given the opportunity to make the leap from a more straightforward engineering career to one that combined science and policy, and I haven’t looked back since.”

Kampalath said she envisions a future where the county can lead by example: addressing broader sustainability challenges specific to the region such as homelessness, traffic, and environmental justice and equity, as well as newer and growing challenges around climate resilience and biodiversity.

“While we have some massive challenges to tackle, we also have some incredible strengths in all the people who are committed to the goal of creating a sustainable and equitable Los Angeles,” Kampalath said.

Under Kampalath’s leadership, the Chief Sustainability Office is said to have achieved a number of goals that included phasing out oil drilling, adopting a climate action plan and drafting a community forest-management plan centered around shade equity and climate resilience. Kampalath said she hopes these early wins will put the office on track to meet some of its most ambitious sustainability targets, such as sourcing 80% of water locally by 2045 and achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.

Angelenos have an important role to play in creating a more sustainable future, according to Kampalath, who emphasized that many of the county’s sustainability goals are dependent on personal choices.

“Everything has an impact — be it from taking shorter showers, replacing your turf with native plants, buying an electric vehicle, taking public transit or biking, or eating less meat and throwing away less food,” Kampalath said. “Don’t get overwhelmed or discouraged if you’re not perfect right away or all the time. Think about habits you can adopt and start incorporating them into your daily life over time.”

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UCLA Institute for Carbon Management and Equatic to Build the World’s Largest Ocean-Based Carbon Removal Plant in Singapore

The $20 million system will be capable of removing 3,650 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year while producing 105 metric tons of carbon-negative hydrogen                     

Charles Grace Rendering of an ocean-based carbon dioxide-removal demonstration plant in Singapore

Feb 27, 2024

Following the successful launch and operation of two pilots in Los Angeles and Singapore last spring, UCLA and its startup Equatic are scaling up for the next phase: a $20 million full-scale demonstration plant (“Equatic-1”) supported by Singapore’s national water agency PUB; the National Research Foundation (NRF), Singapore; and UCLA’s Institute for Carbon Management (ICM) .

Over the next 18 months, a multi-disciplinary team comprising researchers and technology-scaling experts from ICM and Equatic will set out to build the world’s largest ocean-based carbon dioxide-removal plant at PUB’s research and development facility in Tuas, located in western Singapore. 

Equatic’s existing plant in Singapore, piloted at 0.1 metric ton (220 pounds) of carbon dioxide removal per day, has proven successful. Equatic-1 will be constructed over two phases, with the first phase beginning in March and designed to remove 1 metric ton (approximately 2,205 pounds) of carbon dioxide per day by late 2024. Nine additional modules will be installed in early 2025 to complete Phase 2. With all 10 modules, Equatic-1 will be able to remove 10 metric tons of CO 2 per day from seawater and the atmosphere — 100 times more than the amount removed by the pilot. The pioneering technology could allow for the greenhouse gas to be removed and durably stored while simultaneously producing nearly 300 kilograms (660 pounds) of carbon-negative hydrogen daily. Once this facility has successfully fulfilled its technical demonstration objectives, Equatic will scale and commercialize the technology globally.

“We are very grateful for the catalytic support of PUB and NRF, which have helped us create a world-class partnership in our joint efforts to mitigate climate change,” said Equatic co-founder and ICM director Gaurav Sant , who is the Pritzker Professor of Sustainability in the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering. “Scaling carbon removal solutions requires technology, bold and committed partners, and a focus on timely and measurable success. We have been very fortunate to create this shared vision with our partners in Singapore to scale Equatic’s solutions to the commercial scale and around the world.” Sant also holds faculty appointments in the departments of civil and environmental engineering and materials science and engineering, as well as the California NanoSystems Institute at UCLA.      

The Equatic process activates and expands the ocean’s natural ability to store carbon dioxide by removing dissolved CO 2 while enhancing the sea’s capacity to absorb more of the greenhouse gas. Utilizing electrolysis, an electrical current is passed through seawater brought in from the adjacent desalination plants operated by PUB. The process induces a series of chemical reactions that break water into its hydrogen and oxygen constituents while securely storing both dissolved and atmospheric carbon dioxide in the form of solid calcium and magnesium-based materials for at least 10,000 years. 

“Scaling carbon dioxide removal solutions requires technology, bold and committed partners, and a focus on timely and measurable success. We have been very fortunate to create this shared vision with our partners in Singapore to pilot and scale Equatic’s solutions,” Gaurav Sant said.

According to the World Bank, the average global annual carbon emissions per capita in 2020 are about 4.3 metric tons . At full scale, Equatic-1 can remove as much carbon dioxide as what nearly 850 people emit annually. Once the plant meets its projected carbon-removal goal, Equatic plans to launch a commercial plant designed to capture nearly 110,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year — equivalent to the annual carbon emissions of more than 25,000 individuals.

PUB has set a target to achieve net-zero emissions by 2045 with a three-pronged approach to replace, reduce and remove   carbon emissions. Besides replacing fossil fuel sources with renewable solar energy and investing in research and development to reduce energy required in water-treatment processes, capturing and removing carbon released into the atmosphere is a key thrust of PUB’s decarbonization strategy. This collaboration with UCLA and Equatic is part of Singapore’s broader efforts to source novel technologies, such as carbon capture, utilization, storage, which could contribute to mitigating the impacts of climate change.  

“We are pleased to further our collaboration with UCLA and Equatic to develop a solution that has potential synergies with PUB’s desalination plant,” said PUB chief engineering and technology officer Chee Meng Pang. “At PUB, we firmly believe that technological advancements, delivered in partnership with academia and the private sector, hold the key to addressing the complex challenges posted by climate change.” 

Equatic-1 is being built as a modular system, allowing the performance of individual units to be staged and stacked in preparation for systematic and rapid expansion. This approach reduces risks traditionally associated with scaling technology innovation. The system will also employ selective anodes, newly developed with the support of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), to produce oxygen while eliminating the unwanted byproduct of chlorine during seawater electrolysis. This opens a new pathway to carbon dioxide removal at the gigaton scale with the co-production of hydrogen — a clean fuel vital to decarbonizing transportation and industrial applications.

“The pilot plant commissioned in 2023 provided critical performance data to substantiate our carbon dioxide-removal efficiencies, hydrogen-production rates and energy requirements for the process,” said Equatic co-founder Dante Simonetti , an associate professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at UCLA Samueli and ICM’s associate director for technology translation. “The findings helped define the pathway for the design and engineering of Equatic-1 based on scaling performance confirmed by the pilot system.” 

In addition to Sant and Simonetti, the project also involves Equatic co-founder and UCLA Samueli civil and environmental engineering professor David Jassby , who serves as ICM’s associate director for knowledge discovery.

The carbon credits from Equatic-1 are allocated to the project’s partners, and Equatic has entered into agreements with companies including Boeing for the purchase of carbon credits from future commercial plants. 

Equatic’s first pilot operations were unveiled at the Port of Los Angeles and Singapore in April 2023, less than two years after creating bench-scale prototypes at UCLA in 2021. The technology has been named one of TIME’s Best Inventions of 2023 and listed among Popular Science’s 50 greatest innovations of 2023 . It has also won the 2021 Liveability Challenge , a global competition backed by Singapore-based nonprofit Temasek Foundation with 450 applicants from more than 60 countries. 

In addition to funding by PUB, the Equatic process (formerly known as Project SeaChange) has been supported by, among others, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, the Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment, the Nicholas Endowment, the Temasek Foundation and Boeing, as well as the U.S. Department of Energy’s ARPA-E and its Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management.      

May 16, 2024 Legislative Assembly Notification of Actions

May 17, 2024

• Legislative Assembly

Members of the Los Angeles Division of the Academic Senate: In accordance with UCLA Academic Senate Bylaws 140 and 155, the following constitutes a distribution by electronic mail of a “Notification of Actions” taken at the Thursday, May 16, 2024, Legislative Assembly. Action items are defined as “any item on the Legislative Assembly agenda, including items on the consent calendar, requiring a vote of approval.” Materials related to the May 16, 2024, meeting of the Legislative Assembly are available on the  Legislative Assembly website . Any petition by at least one-third of the voting members of the Legislative Assembly on any actions taken by the Legislative Assembly must be received in writing by the Academic Senate Chair within 10 instructional days from the date of distribution of this “Notification of Actions” memorandum. For the May 16 meeting, that date is May 31, 2024. Minutes become official when the Legislative Assembly approves the document at the subsequent Legislative Assembly meeting. This notification is not a substitute for or an alteration of the requirement to record action items in the meeting minutes. Sincerely, Linda Sarna Secretary, Academic Senate  

May 16, 2024, Legislative Assembly Meeting – Notification of Actions

1. Approval of Draft Minutes: The Legislative Assembly approved unanimously the draft minutes of the April 4, 2024, and May 10, 2024, meetings as part of the Consent Calendar. 2. The Legislative Assembly approved unanimously the following items as part of the Consent Calendar:

• Amendment to Appendix III: Bylaws of the Graduate Council
• Amendment to Bylaw 60: Executive Board
• Amendment to Bylaw 65.2: Graduate Council
• Amendment to Bylaw 65.5: Undergraduate Admissions and Relations with Schools and Repeal of Appendix IV: Undergraduate Requirements
• Amendment to Bylaw 85: Committee on Committees
• Amendment to Department of Management Bylaws
• Establishment of Department of American Indian Studies Bylaws

3. Resolution of No Confidence in Chancellor Block: “Whereas, Chancellor Block failed to ensure the safety of our students and grievously mishandled the events of last week. Resolved, that we make a motion of no confidence in Chancellor Block.” The Legislative Assembly voted 79 Approve, 103 Oppose, 5 Abstain, and 7 were present but did not vote. This resolution required a majority of votes cast to be approved. [AIPSC (2nd ed.) 5.1] As 43% of votes cast were in favor, the Legislative Assembly did not approve the resolution.

4. Resolution to Censure Chancellor Block: “Whereas, Chancellor Block failed to ensure the safety of our students and grievously mishandled the events of last week. Resolved, that we make a motion to censure Chancellor Block.” The Legislative Assembly voted 88 Approve, 88 Oppose, 3 Abstain, and 15 were present but did not vote. This resolution required a majority of votes cast to be approved. [AIPSC (2nd ed.) 5.1] As 50% of votes cast were in favor, the Legislative Assembly did not approve the resolution.

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Professor Stuart Soroka in the Daily Bruin!

In the final episode of Code Red, Podcasts contributors Zoë Bordes and Alicia Ying sit down with UCLA professors Sarah Roberts and Stuart Soroka to get their perspective on the causes and consequences of online extremism. Correction: This podcast and the original version of its description incorrectly referred to Stuart Soroka as Robert Soroka.

Zoë Bordes : Welcome to the third episode of Code Red. In episode one, we explored the different definitions of online extremism, the reasons people turn to extremism and a few real-life examples. Then in episode two, we discussed how algorithms and misinformation contribute to online extremism. Today, we’ll be talking with experts to get their opinions on these topics.

Alicia Ying : In this episode, we have two amazing speakers lined up. First, we’ll hear from Dr. Sarah Roberts – an assistant professor at UCLA who’s a leading scholar on social media policy, commercial content moderation and the role of the internet in perpetuating global inequities. She’s also the faculty director of the UCLA Center for Critical Internet Inquiry, co-director of the Minderoo Initiative on Technology and Power, and a research associate of the Oxford Internet Institute. Dr. Roberts brings a unique perspective informed by feminist science and technology studies, and we’re excited to have her on the show.

ZB : Our second speaker is Dr. Stuart Soroka, a professor in the departments of communication and political science at UCLA. He is also the series editor for Cambridge Elements in Politics and Communication and an associate member of the Centre for the Study of Democratic Citizenship. Dr. Soroka specializes in political communication and political psychology, as well as the relationships between public policy, public opinion, and mass media. He is mainly interested in negativity and positivity within news coverage and the role of mass media in shaping representative democracy.

So, we’re going to begin by hearing Dr. Roberts’ take on the ethics of Big Tech.

AY : We live in a world where technology is seamlessly integrated into our lives, leading us to pay little attention to the hidden tools and algorithms designed to hook us into these online platforms. To understand Big Tech companies thriving off their users, we went to Dr. Roberts.

She says that users’ endless clicks, scrolls, swipes and content interactions themselves aren’t the endgame for companies.

Sarah Roberts : The companies are all about taking our activity, our preferences, our behavior, our networks of friends and others, and monetizing. And they monetize it, because it’s true. Their true clientele is other companies. So these are really what you would call like business to business corporations. They are trying to sell ad space, not an unfamiliar model to, you know, people who work in news media, but they’re trying to sell ad space, they’re trying to sell ads aligned with particular users and particular behaviors or particular preferences. And the thing with social media is because we do so much and all of that is tracked and analyzed to an absurd degree, the way in which those ads can be targeted and sold, the value that’s placed on them, is predicated on that specificity. We are being commoditized and sold. So that is what I mean when I say that we’re not really users, we’re being used.

AY : Basically, the main method of understanding how material is really evaluated is in the context of its monetary value in this ad marketplace.

ZB : Understanding this concept is crucial to grasp how economic models and user engagement expectations drive the decisions of platforms. These decisions impact the visibility of content. Whatever social media platform we decide to open, it’s really natural to anticipate fresh and engaging content that’s tailored to our past interactions. Dr. Roberts emphasized that at the end of the day, users are part of a production chain that shapes content. Content moderation, in essence, is an editorial practice that is driven by the platform’s economic interests. This perspective reveals that decisions on content moderation are driven not just by safety concerns but also by a need to maintain user engagement and satisfy advertisers. This alignment can lead to inconsistencies and challenges in moderating content effectively.

AY : With all of this in mind, we wonder at what point will these companies feel some sort of responsibility for all of the misinformed, extremist, violent and hateful content on their platforms.

SR : I think the answer is in, you know, the history of other industries that caused harm. They are disinclined to change a business model that is basically turning on a faucet from which, you know, Benjamins pour out, right? It’s just, “Hey guys, can you maybe make less money?”

AY : In our interview, Dr. Roberts listed off some previous examples when companies only acted when they were pressured. For example, despite the tobacco industry knowing that smoking caused cancer, they didn’t say anything. Another example is that the automobile industry didn’t always have safety features such as seatbelts and airbags in the event of accidents. People needed to educate and push for elected officials in Congress to add such regulations.

With all of this in mind, our crucial question is: At what point will social media companies acknowledge their responsibility for the spread of misinformed and extremist content on their platforms? The history of other industries suggests that companies are often reluctant to alter profitable business models, even in the face of harmful outcomes. Just as the tobacco industry long denied the dangers of smoking and the automobile industry resisted adding essential safety features, social media companies may need significant external pressure – whether from the public, regulators, or both – to implement meaningful changes.

As we’ve seen throughout this series, the ease with which users can be drawn into extremist content underscores the urgent need for a proactive approach. Social media platforms must consider their ethical responsibility to monitor and manage their content effectively not only to improve user safety but to foster a healthier digital environment for all of us. Understanding the complex dynamics of content moderation, which is driven by economic incentives, is essential in this endeavor. Only through informed advocacy and demanding accountability can we hope to influence these powerful entities to prioritize the well-being of their users over mere profit.

And with that, we turn to Dr. Soroka.

ZB : So, Dr. Soroka has done a lot of work on the negativity bias. This is how he defines it:

Stuart Soroka : So mammals have evolved with brains that prioritize negative information over positive information. And we attach valence to information, we identify the valence of information very, very quickly within milliseconds. And that identification of valence then structures how that information then finds its way through our brains and how we think about things, whether we pay attention to them, whether we believe them or don’t believe them, and all kinds of other things. So we along with other mammals exhibit negativity biases. And that means that when we go to read news, like any other situation in which we’re receiving information, when we go to read news, we’re going to be more attentive, more responsive to that negative information. So means we mean, we basically set media up to do this for us, right? The whole notion of media as a fourth estate, monitoring error and identifying error and letting us know, we kind of set media up so that media processes information, in the same way that our brains do, right? We’re all – we are and the media that we read – are prioritizing negative information. And that might make sense in an information environment in which we have to make decisions about what to pay attention to and what not to pay attention to. Right, it might make sense because the consequences of negative information are bigger than the consequences of positive information. But it might also make sense because in a very complex information environment, we can’t pay attention to everything all the time. We have to decide what to pay attention to. We have to have some kind of quick way of deciding, like not deciding by reading all of it, but some kind of quick, within milliseconds decision like, “This is the thing I’m going to be attentive to, and this is the thing I’m not going to be attentive to.” Because we just don’t have enough attention for all of it. So for all of those reasons, what you get is media consumption that prioritizes negative information and media production that prioritizes negative information.

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