LABB information for potential graduate students

This page has been prepared to provide those interested in pursuing graduate studies at the LABB with basic information about the process of obtaining a graduate degree at Texas A&M University. Please read the whole page! This information is intended to give you a first impression about graduate studies at Texas A&M University through research conducted at the LABB. This information is by no means complete and exhaustive, but merely a first overview. This information has been compiled to the best of our knowledge and may be subject to change.

First of all, posting of this information does not mean we are currently accepting graduate students in the LABB. If we are searching for graduate students we will post this on the <NEWS> page.

The best way to obtain additional information about graduate studies at A&M in general, and the LABB in particular, is to contact current or former graduate students!

 

THE BASICS:

The LABB is located at Texas A&M University at Galveston, in the Department of Marine Biology (MARB). Currently, we do not offer a graduate degree within this department at Galveston. The LABB does offer the opportunity to work towards a graduate degree through the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences (WFSC) at Texas A&M University College Station (TAMU CS). This means all applications have to be directed to this department at College Station. WFSC offers both an M.S. and Ph.D. degree. As a result of the affiliation with WFSC at TAMU CS, our graduate students usually have to spend two semesters taking classes in CS, away from the LABB. Most of our students do this during the first two semesters, and then move down to Galveston to conduct their research.

 

FUNDING:

In the LABB, we do not accept any students unless we have a resonable expectation of being able to fund the students. What expenses can you expect to incur as a graduate student, and how do we fund students?

EXPENSES:

Fees and Tuition:
These currently amount to about $2,500 per semester and $1,000 for the summer session, for a total of fees and tuition of about $5,800 for one full year of graduate school (actual amounts are based on semester credit hours and may vary). These are the numbers for Texas residents. For non-residents the fees and tuition are considerably higher. However, as long as graduate students are employed for at least 50% effort at the university as GAR, GANT or GAT (Graduate Assistant Researcher, Non-Teaching and Teaching respectively), they receive a waiver of the out-of-state portion of fees and tutition. TAMU Tuition and Fee Schedule 2002-2003. Unlike some other universities, Texas A&M currently does not offer any full tuition waivers to support graduate students. This means the students are responsible for paying all tuitions and fees. However, it is possible to cover the cost of a tuition waiver through some research grants (see LABB funding below), dependent on the sponsor (some allow tuition waivers, others don't). Some graduate fellowships also cover fees and tutition (not all).

Cost of living:
Cost of living in Texas is comparably cheap, but as always will depend on your expectations and lifestyle. In Galveston, individual housing can be found for as low as $250 per month, if you are lucky and take the time to search around. However, $400 to 450 per month is average, and some people who prefer prime housing pay as much as $650 per month. For $400 to 450 per month you can typically find a nice 1 bedroom appartment or studio. Texas does not have a state income tax.

INCOME:
Unless you already are a state resident, you pretty much have to work as a GAR, GANT or GAT to avoid out-of-state tuition. As opposed to employment at state institutions in other states, in Texas you cannot gain residency while employed as a student at the university. This means that if you start your graduate career at A&M as a non-resident, you will remain and complete it as a non-resident. GAR, GANT and GAT are all graduate assistantships. Salary level and work effort for these types of positions are set by the university and differ by department. The salary of LABB graduate students is generally determined by the TAMUG MARB department. Currently, the monthly stipend for incoming masters students in MARB is set to 50% of $2,500, for incoming PhD students to 50% of $3,000. These salaries include full benefits and health coverage. These salaries are current estimates and may change.

LABB funding:
Generally, we strive to provide either GAR or GANT employment for LABB graduate students, and we encourage students to TA for one semester (GAT). However, the LABB graduate study philosophy discourages extensive teaching efforts beyond one or at the most two semesters as this has the tendency to unfavorably prolong the duration of degree studies. We consider extensive teaching as a fall-back scenario and safety net in case projected funding falls through. Our GAR positions are funded through research grants. This is why advance planning is very important, and why we only accept a limited number of graduate students into the LABB. In addition, the LABB has now instituted a policy not to accept any new graduate students unless we can provide a tuition waiver through one or more of our research grants.

 

GRADUATE RESEARCH PROJECTS:

LABB graduate students work on a variety of research projects. Some students have developed their own projects, others have taken over projects that were previously developed in the LABB and for which we were searching for someone to conduct the work. In either case, the project has to fit into the framework of research activities at the LABB. Graduate research projects also have to be designed to be completed in a reasonable time frame (see below), and have to provide a reasonable chance of success (providing data for a viable thesis) in conjunction with a fallback plan in case the primary project falls through. Our students typically develop their research plan within the first year while taking classes. During this time we also apply for funding, although we often also try to do this even before the first year on account of long lead times to obtain funding. LABB graduate students are also encouraged to apply for fellowships and scholarships. Our graduate students have significantly contributed to the LABB funding success by obtaining grants and fellowships, as well as awards for their work:

 

TIME FRAME:

As mentioned above, our graduate students usually spend two full semesters at College Station. In addition, we encourage our graduate students to TA for one semester only (no teaching is currently required). This leads to the following projected and recommended durations for obtaining a graduate degree through the LABB: Masters degree: 2 to 3 years (3.5 maximum); Ph.D. degree: 3 to 4 years (4.5 maximum).

WFSC currently does not offer a straight-shot Ph.D. program. Holding a masters degree is a pre-requisite to acceptance into a Ph.D. program. However, it may be possible to convert from a masters program to a Ph.D. program, if certain criteria are met including having first-authored a publication in a peer-reviewed journal.

 

APPLICATIONS:

Applications to a graduate program have to be submitted to the Texas A&M University at College Station Office of Admissions and Records. Applications to the A&M graduate program are usually competitively reviewed by the departments based on a combination of undergraduate GPA, GRE scores, as well as any practical and work experience, publication record, the type of degree obtained and the institution it was obtained from, as well as letters of recomendation. Irrespective of the strength of a potential student's application to WFSC, we will only accept students into the LABB if 1) we are currently searching for students as listed in our <NEWS> section, AND 2) we have sufficient funding for students, AND 3) there is a match between the research interests of the applicant and the research we conduct in the LABB. For those interested in conducting graduate research at the LABB, we strongly encourage to get in touch with us prior to applying to A&M, when we have positions available.

 

If you have any questions about the information provided on this page, please email us at the address listed in the following gif image:
contact electronic mail information for the LABB. The complete email address consists of the abbreviated name of the Laboratory for Applied Biotelemetry and Biotechnology - use the four capitalized letters, then the at sign, followed by the abbreviation of our university Texas A and M University at Galveston - use the five capitalized letters in lower case, followed by dot edu

Updated January 12th, 2004

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