COGS Deadlines

A student may be considered for acceptance into the departmental PhD program for up to three years from the time of entry into the Atmospheric Sciences graduate program. For a student entering the department during the autumn quarter and not granted any extensions, the formal deadline for application to the COGS will be the Autumn quarter of the student’s fourth year in residence.

Application Procedure and Deadlines (rev. April 2008*)
Application to the COGS consists of the following:

1. Letter of Application
2. Completion of Course Requirements
3. Public Seminar and Defense
4. Submission of Evaluation Materials
5. Recommendation Letter from Supervisory Committee

Deadlines for upcoming quarters
Spring Quarter 2010
Fall Quarter 2010
Winter Quarter 2011

*Deadlines for students following qualification procedures in place prior to April 2008 can be found here.

1. Letter of Application - student must submit a letter of application* to the Student Services Coordinator (Samantha Scherer) and his/her supervisory committee, requesting admission to the PhD program. Letter must state the quarter in which the student is requesting admission, their choice of evaluation option, and which COGS procedures are being followed (ie. old or new; this page contains instructions for new procedures).
*Note: Letter of Application may be submitted as an email, as long as it includes all required information listed above.

DEADLINE: At least six weeks prior to the first day of the quarter of application; for students applying in fall quarter, letter of application must be submitted by the last day of spring quarter.
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2. Completion of Course Requirements - student must finish all required graduate courses prior to evaluation by COGS.

DEADLINE: Course requirement must be met by the end of the quarter preceding the quarter of application.
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3. Public Seminar and Defense - regardless of the basis for evaluation, the student will be expected to give a public defense of his/her research prior to evaluation by COGS. The student will give an oral presentation (of 30-40 minutes) and answer questions in a public defense open to all faculty and students. Immediately after the public defense, members of the student’s M.S. committee and of COGS will meet with the student for more detailed questions. The chair of COGS will lead this closed-door part of the defense. At least 2 members of COGS and 2 members of the student’s M.S. committee must be present. Scheduled COGS seminars will be posted here for future reference.

DEADLINE: The seminar should be given during the first five weeks of the quarter of submission to COGS, on a date chosen in coordination with COGS and the student’s M.S. committee. Scheduling of seminar should take place at least four weeks prior to the first day of the quarter of application; information on scheduling a COGS seminar can be found here.
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4. Submission of Evaluation Materials - student must choose one of the following three evaluation options and submit relevant materials to the Student Services Coordinator (S. Scherer) by the deadline listed below:

(1) A student entering the department, having already earned an M.S. degree in Atmospheric Sciences or a closely related discipline, may submit his/her thesis for evaluation by COGS in the last week prior to the autumn quarter of his/her second academic year in the department.

(2) A student may submit a draft of his/her M.S. thesis for evaluation by the COGS. The thesis draft must have been read and approved by the student's supervisory committee prior to submission to the COGS (committee will confirm this in their letter of recommendation.)

(3) A student may submit, for evaluation by the COGS, the manuscript of a journal article on which the student is lead author. The manuscript must have been submitted to a refereed journal prior to submission to the COGS; student must confirm journal submission with Student Services Coordinator (S. Scherer) by the deadline below.

DEADLINE: 3pm on the last Friday before the first day of the quarter of application.
For Spring Quarter 2010, deadline is 3pm, Friday March 26
For Autumn Quarter 2010, deadline is 3pm, Friday September 24
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5. Recommendation Letter from Supervisory Committee - once a student has submitted a letter of application, the Student Services Coordinator (S. Scherer) will contact the student's supervisory committee chair with a request for a letter of recommendation from the committee in support of the student's application. Guidelines for the content of this letter can be found here. The supervisory committee should read and sign the letter prior to submission. The student's committee chair is responsible for submitting the recommendation letter by the deadline below.

DEADLINE: 3pm on the last Friday before the first day of the quarter of application.
For Spring Quarter 2010, deadline is 3pm, Friday March 26
For Autumn Quarter 2010, deadline is 3pm, Friday September 24
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DEADLINES FOR UPCOMING QUARTERS

If you are applying to the COGS in Spring Quarter 2010:

Tues Feb 16, 2010 - Submit Letter of Application
Fri Mar 19, 2010 - Completion of Course Requirements
Mon Mar 1, 2010 - Schedule Public Seminar and Defense
Mar 29 - Apr 30, 2010 - Give Public Seminar and Defense
Fri Mar 26, 2010 - Submit Evaluation Materials
Fri Mar 26, 2010 - Submit Recommendation Letter from Supervisory Committee

If you are applying to the COGS in Autumn Quarter 2010:

Fri June 11, 2010 - Submit Letter of Application
Fri June 11, 2010 - Completion of Course Requirements
Wed Sept 1, 2010 - Schedule Public Seminar and Defense
Sept 29 - Nov 5, 2010 - Give Public Seminar and Defense
Fri Sept 24, 2010 - Submit Evaluation Materials
Fri Sept 24, 2010 - Submit Recommendation Letter from Supervisory Committee

If you are applying to the COGS in Winter Quarter 2011:

Mon Nov 22, 2010 - Submit Letter of Application
Fri Dec 17, 2010 - Completion of Course Requirements
Mon Dec 6, 2010 - Schedule Public Seminar and Defense
Jan 3 - Feb 4, 2011 - Give Public Seminar and Defense
Thurs Dec 30, 2010 - Submit Evaluation Materials
Thurs Dec 30, 2010 - Submit Recommendation Letter from Supervisory Committee

DEFINITION OF TERMS:
Quarter of Application/Submission - the quarter in which student wishes to be considered for entry into the PhD program; also the quarter in which student gives public seminar and submits evaluation materials on the last Friday preceding.

Thesis Draft - does not need to be a final draft of the M.S. thesis but should include substantial progress towards the final draft; supervisory committee should be familiar with the most recent draft prior to composing the recommendation letter.