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Admissions, Enrollment, Grading, Transfer of Credit and Course Loads
Admission Requirements
College graduates with an undergraduate degree in animal sciences or a related biological or social science, with a grade-point average of 3.00 (A=4.00) on the last 60 hours of class work (both graduate and undergraduate), and three supporting recommendations are considered for admission. When openings are limited, the best qualified candidates are given priority. Candidates for admission to the Department of Animal Sciences are required to take the Graduate Record Examination prior to enrollment to full standing in the Graduate College.
Candidates who have been accepted into the Graduate Program in Animal Sciences, but have not taken the Graduate Record Examination, will be enrolled with limited standing in the Graduate College (see Handbook for Graduate Students) until such time as the Graduate Record Examination is taken and the scores are received by the Department. No minimum Graduate Record Examination score is required for admission.
Students with a GPA less than 3.00 (A=4.00) from the last 60 hours of class work, but with superior records or special backgrounds, abilities, and interests may be admitted as limited status students until they qualify for consideration for full status in the Graduate College. All deficiencies must be made up with a GPA of 3.00 or better within the first two semesters.
All students whose native language is not English must also achieve a minimum score of 590 on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or enrollment in English as a Second Language (ESL) courses will be required. Note that the Departmental TOEFL requirement is higher than that for the Graduate College in general. Furthermore, these students are required to take the Test of Spoken English (TSE) and Test of Written English (TWE) prior to enrollment to full standing in the Graduate College. Candidates who have been accepted into the Graduate Program in Animal Sciences, but have not taken the TSE and TWE, will be enrolled with limited standing in the Graduate College (see A Handbook for Graduate Students and Advisers) until such time that the TSE and TWE are taken. No minimum TSE or TWE score is required for admission. Arrangements to take the TOEFL, TSE and TWE examinations should be made directly with the Educational Testing Service, Box 592, Princeton, NJ 08540. Information on the TOEFL test is available at (http://web1.toefl.org/). All applicants applying for teaching assistantships must be able to meet the University's oral English proficiency requirements by taking the SPEAK test. International applicants also must submit evidence that they have sufficient financial support for the length of their graduate study program.
Applications for admission to the graduate program in the Department of Animal Sciences are accepted at any time. For candidates who wish to be considered for fellowships, completed application materials must be received by February 15 in order to be fully considered for fellowships for the following fall semester.
Tuition and Fees
Tuition and fees policies and procedures are established by the Board of Trustees and administered through various campus offices. Current tuition rates may be found through UI Direct or at (www.oar.uiuc.edu/records/). Tuition and fees may be modified from time to time without notice. Graduate students may receive Fellowships, Assistantships, Tuition and Fee Waivers or Student Loans.
Enrollment
A student currently enrolled at the UIUC campus may advance enroll for the following semester using UI Direct, the on-line registration system. Instructions for using UI Direct are published in the University Timetable of Courses or at (www.oar.uiuc.edu/ui_direct/). The Timetable is available from the Illini Union, the Graduate College, the Graduate Program Office or at (www.uiuc.edu/admin_manual/Courses/time.top.html) shortly before the advance enrollment period. New students will receive timetable and enrollment information before the beginning of their first semester or when they arrive on campus.
A student who wishes to audit a course without registering for credit may submit a Visitor's Permit form to the Office of Admissions and Records and pay the appropriate fee. Such courses are not to be included on UI Direct enrollment. Official audit courses appear on the transcript but do not earn credit and cannot be converted to a credit basis. A course that has been audited may not be repeated for Graduate Credit.
Extramural graduate course credit, up to two units, may be applied toward a Master's degree only. Such courses should be approved in advance by the student's academic advisor with attention to the requirements for the M.S. degree. They may not be used to remove deficiencies.
Grading
The University of Illinois awards letter grades on the A through F scale. For graduate students, only courses taken for unit credit and graded on the A through F scale are included in the grade point calculation. Any repeated course is ignored when computing the GPA and the accumulated credits toward a degree. Credit for a course in which a student has received an F cannot be counted toward the degree. Grades are evaluated numerically on a four-point scale for the computation of grade-point averages as follows:
A+ =4.00 |
A = 4.00 |
A- = 3.67 |
B+ = 3.33 |
B = 3.00 |
B- = 2.67 |
C+ = 2.33 |
C = 2.00 |
C- = 1.67 |
D+ = 1.33 |
D = 1.00 |
D- = 0.67 |
no + for F |
F = 0.00 |
no - for F |
Other Symbols used by the University grading system include:
W = Officially withdrawn from a course. No grade is given.
Ex = Temporarily excused. An extension granted by the instructor to a student who has not completed the final examination or other requirements for the course. An excused grade must be replaced by a letter grade no later than the reading day of the following term. Failure to complete work within this time automatically results in a grade of "F".
Df = Grade temporarily deferred. Used only in research courses that usually extend beyond one semester. The time limit for the DF grade to revert to "F by rule" is the same as for the Ex grade except in regard to the thesis research course (499).
S = Satisfactory or U = Unsatisfactory. Used as final grades only in the thesis research course (499) and in certain other approved courses. Not computed in the GPA.
CR = Credit or NC = No Credit. Used only if students have registered for a course under the Credit/No Credit Option with the approval of their major department. No letter grade is given and none appears on the transcript.
Ab = Absent from the final examination without an acceptable excuse. Counts as a failure "F" in the GPA.
A student may take some courses under the credit/no credit option. Over the entire course of a degree program, a student must earn at least two units of graded (A-D) course work (excluding thesis and non-credit seminars) for each unit of credit-no credit course work. In any one semester, a student may take no more than one unit on a credit-no credit basis. Units transferred from another university cannot be used as part of the "graded course work." If a student is admitted on limited status, or if a student falls below the Department minimum GPA of 3.00 and is placed on limited status, he or she will not be allowed to register for Credit/No Credit course work for units of credit until the GPA has been raised to the minimum and the limited status designation has been removed.
To take a course under the credit/no credit option, complete a "Credit/No Credit Option" form, obtain the academic advisor's signature, and submit the form to the Graduate Program Office, 436 Animal Sciences Laboratory, before the Graduate College Credit/No Credit option deadline (consult the academic calendar for deadlines). The form may be obtained in the Graduate Program Office. To return to the letter grade system, the student must submit a second version of the form by the same deadline.
Transfer of Credit
If the student has completed graduate courses at another university but does not have a Master's degree, the student may petition for transfer of credit. The petition includes the recommendations of the academic advisor and the Head of Department. The Graduate College will render the final decision.
Usual and Maximum Credit Loads for Graduate Students
Graduate students with various percentages of University appointments are considered to be making adequate progress when within the following credit load ranges.
| University Appointment | Usual Credit Load | Maximum Credit Load | ||
| Semester | Semester | Summer Session I | Summer Session II | |
| (Percent) | (Units) | (Units) | (Units) | (Units) |
| 0-10 | 3 - 4 | 6 | 1 ½ | 3 |
| 11-25 | 3 - 4 | 4 ½ | 1 ½ | 2 ½ |
| 26-40 | 2 ½- 3 ½ | 4 | 1 | 2 |
| 41-60 | 2 - 3 | 3 ½ | 1 | 2 |
| 61-74 | 1 ½ - 2 ½ | 3 | 1 | 1 ½ |
| 75-90 | 1 - 2 | 2 ½ | 3/4 | 1 ½ |
| 91-100 | ½ - 1 ½ | 2 | 3/4 | 1 |
Registration for more than six units will not be permitted unless the Department Head submits a written request for an exception explaining the factors which justifies the exception and the request is approved by the Graduate College. For purposes of course loads and units of credit, there is no difference between graded courses and those taken under the Credit/No Credit option.
Certification of Full-time Status
Students need to enroll for at least 3.0 units per fall and winter(spring) semesters and 1.5 units for a summer session in order to be considered a "full-time student." Failure to enroll for these amounts can result in loss of fellowship, insurance benefits and may influence the payback agreement of certain student loans. University appointments are not considered in the definition of a "full-time student" used for loan deferrals. Loan deferment provisions are strictly defined by federal law. Students with specific loan repayment questions should consult their lenders (school, bank, or loan agency). International students should check with the Office of International Student Affairs for details. Certification for full-time status is obtained from the Registrar's Office, Transcript Section, and may be ordered at Window 25, 100A Henry Administration Building. The number of units required for full-time student status is not diminished for students holding an assistantship. A student who holds a fellowship is expected to carry a full credit load of three units or the equivalent.