The application due date is December 1 for prospective students wishing to enter for the fall semester the following year. This is a hard deadline, please have everything in by this date.  We only accept applications for the fall semester. 

Students applying must send materials to The University of Texas at Austin Graduate and International Admissions Center. The Graduate School has set certain criteria for admission that must be met before an individual can be admitted into a specific graduate program. Information about how to apply may be found at the Graduate School web page.

Applicants in EEB are not offered admission unless an individual professor indicates their willingness to have the applicant as a student in their lab. Without a faculty sponsor the applicant will not be admitted. It is therefore advantageous to contact professors of interest early in the admission process and to include their name(s) on the relevant question in the EEB application form. This will ensure that the application file is reviewed by the appropriate faculty.

Applicants are expected to have acquired a good foundation in the biological sciences before applying. Ideally, applicants will have completed upper-division coursework in the areas of ecology, evolution, and/or behavior as well as math up to the calculus level and at least one course in statistics.

Admission Criteria

Everything is taken into account by the EEB admission committee - grades, test scores, letters of recommendation and the application essay, or Statement of Purpose. The essay should include a description of the applicant's scientific interests, as well as any other training or relevant experience. Letters of recommendation should come from people who can evaluate the applicant's potential as a researcher. There is no minimum required GRE score. For International applicants whose native language is not English are required to take the TOEFL or IELTS. The minimum acceptable score for admission to the School of Graduate Studies for the TOEFL is score of 550 (paper test), 213 (computer-based test) or 79 (internet-based test) or for IELTS it is 6.5.  To be exempt from the International Teaching Assistant Assessment here at the University of Texas at Austin the score must be at least 25 for the TOEFL and at least 7.5 for the IELTS.

Application Requirements

Application Check List:

1. Contact faculty you would be interested in working with.
2. The Graduate School Application
3. GRE scores are no longer required. Please do not submit them. We will not use them in reviewing application materials. 
4. For international students, send official score reports for the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) or IELTS (International English Language Testing System) using the university code 6882. We do not have a department code.
5. EEB Graduate Application form - on the last page of the Graduate School Application, or you may download it here.  Once you have completed the form, upload it to your online application.
6. Official transcripts from all colleges and universities previously attended. Copies of official transcripts only should be uploaded to your online application. We cannot accept an unofficial copy.
7. The statement of purpose can be submitted online when filling out the UT Graduate School application, or uploaded to your application when you submit your other documents. Please see the EEB program application for the prompt.
8. Three letters of recommendation from people able to judge the applicant’s academic potential. When the names and e-mail addresses of an applicant's recommenders are entered on the Texas Common Application, an e-mail message will be sent to each recommender giving instructions on how to submit letters of recommendation on-line. It usually takes a few days for your recommenders to receive their request.