GE Requirements and Other Department Requirements
Dear Incoming Graduate Student:
We are delighted that you have decided to attend the UCLA Department of Statistics graduate program. We will try to help you as much as possible in providing a smooth transition to UCLA and the Statistics Program. Feel free to contact the SAO at (310) 206-3742 if you have questions.
In addition to welcoming you to our program, these WEBPAGES will attempt to answer most questions that a new graduate student may have about our program and UCLA. We change this every year to best serve the students, so if you have any input on information you would like to see added next year, please tell me.
We are tentatively scheduling our Deartmental orientation for September 23, 25 and 27. Keep an eye out on the Orientation page for information about our Departmental Orientation. The first day of classes for Fall is September 27.
The Graduate Division also has an Orientation page, that you should review. Also, feel free to contact Dr. Mark Hansen (310-206-8375), the department's Vice Chair of Graduate Studies on any questions you have on our program.
Once again, welcome to the UCLA Department of Statistics. If you have any further questions, feel free to drop by my office at 8117 Math Sciences Building or contact me.
We wish you all the best and look forward to seeing you this Fall.
On the acceptance letter you received online, you will find an URSA Security Code just below your University ID number. You will need these two pieces of information to sign up for courses. You should also be able to register in clases beginningg in late June, early July. You register on the Registrar's office URSA Page (www.ursa.ucla.edu). Students can check URSA online (http://www.ursa.ucla.edu) or call 310 208-0425 to check their enrollment appointments for Fall quarter.
Graduate students usually have no problems signing up for courses and must sign up for at least 12 units to serve as an assistant (Teaching Assistant, Research Assistant, or Reader). The payment for the Fall Quarter is September 20. Always check the URSA webpage to see that your payment is received by UCLA by the deadlines, even if you are receiving financial aid. A late payment may result in a $50.00 fee.
All incoming MS and PhD Statistics students are strongly recommennded to enroll in Statistics 200A 201A, 202A and 290 in their first quarter. Stat 290 is required for all Graduate Students to take every quarter. Students who will serve as a TA must also enroll in Stat 495A. Doctorate students are required to take a Stat 296, 596, 598 or 599 every quarter, but should talk to their academic advisor before signing for their first one.
If you feel you should be taking other courses, you should meet with the Department of Statistics Vice Chair of Graduate Studies, Professor Mark Hansen, to determine the appropriate classes for you. You can e-mail Dr. Hansen at cocteau@stat.ucla.edu to set up an appointment.
Housing near UCLA is a prized commodity. It would be in your best interest to find a place to stay at least one month before school begins. The cost of living around UCLA is very high, and the sooner you come to Los Angeles, the more housing options you will have. If you plan to live in on-campus housing or University apartments, you should have already submitted the application that they hopefully sent you earlier in the year. If you have questions on on-campus housing or University apartments, look at their website at: http://www.housing.ucla.edu/housing_site/index.htm.
If you were on our list to get guaranteed housing for the Weyburn Complex, the housing office informs us that they will send out information about your housing. Information on that can be found at: http://www.housing.ucla.edu/housing_site/apartments/weyburn-terrace.htm.
If you are looking for off campus apartments, information on that can be found at: http://www.cho.ucla.edu/.
If you need temporary housing when you come here for an apartment search, please review the list of hotels near UCLA on the website: http://www.commencement.ucla.edu/hotel.cfm. Also, at this time, it costs $8.00 to park on campus for a day so please be prepared to pay for parking if you are visiting.
You can find information on student health insurance and what it covers at http://www.studenthealth.ucla.edu. Health Insurance is part of the in-state fees that you pay to Register for classes. For students who do not need health insurance through the school (e.g., you are under your family's health plan), please inform us for it will decrease your school fees.
If you are receivng funding from the department, you should also tell us if you do not need health insurance. Although the department will cover these fees, you can help yourself and fellow students by waiving this expense if it is not needed. Please inform the SAO if you do not need the health insurance.
You will get two mandatory e-mail addresses at UCLA, one from the campus called your bruin online account and one from our department.
Information on the bruin online account can be found at: http://www.bol.ucla.edu/. Bruin online account can be signed up for online or on campus at Kerckhoff Hall, Suite 124.
The department will also set up a departmental e-mail account for you. Please tell us your prefered e-mail name (up to twelve letters, no numbers) and we will add that as your @stat.ucla.edu e-mail name. Please send your preferred name to Jose (jose@stat.ucla.edu) and the SAO by end of August so we can have your account ready for activation when you arrive.
Both accounts are needed during your time here on campus. When we activate your department account, departmental information like TA assignments will be sent to you via the departmental account not the Bruin on-line account.
The bruin online account from UCLA will look like xxxx@ucla.edu. You will need this to receive general e-mails from the UCLA campus and see your student rosters if you are TAing a class. Your department account will be your primary account. During orientation, we will show you how to set up your Bruin On-line Account so that mail sent to that account is automatically forwarded to your departmental account."
Across from trhe BruinOnline office is the BruinCard Office (123 Kerckhoff Hall). The BruinCard is not only your UCLA ID card, but can also be used as a debit card for locations on and off the UCLA vicinity. It also, is your library card and can be used to get a discount when riding the Santa Monica Bus Line. Make sure to get your BruinCard when you come to UCLA.
| End of June - Beginning of July: Enrollment begns for Fall 2006 |
| July 4, 2007 - Independace Day Holiday, UCLA Closed |
| July 6, 2007 - TOP exams sign ups, International Students who want to TA should sign up for their TOP a day and time. Top exams will be scheduled beginning mid-September. |
| Sept 4, 2007; 1-2:30 PM - OISS Mandatory Workshop for Incoming International Students (Session I) |
| Sept 17, 2007; 1-2:30 PM - OISS Mandatory Workshop for Incoming International Students (Session II) |
| Sept 21, 2007; Graduate Division Orientation |
| Sept 24, 2007, 8-4:00 PM - tenative date for OID's Teaching Assistant Conference |
| Sept 23, 25 and 26, 2007 - tentative days for Department of Statistics Orientation |
| Sept 26, 2007 - 5-8 PM; UCLA Graduate Division's Welcome Reception |
| Sept 27, 2007 - first day of Fall Quarter Classes |
| Nov 12, 2007 - Veteran's Day Holiday, UCLA Closed |
| Nov 22 and 23, 2007 - Thanksgiving Holiday, UCLA Closed |
| Dec 7, 2007 - Last day of Fall Classes |
| Dec 14, 2007 - Last day of Fall finals |
| Dec 22, 2007 through January 1, 2008 - Winter Holiday, UCLA Closed |
| January 7, 2008 - First day of Winter 2007 classes |
If you are a US Citizen or Permanent Resident of the US, but NOT a California Resident, it is IMPERATIVE that you work on becoming a California Resident as soon as possible. U.S. Citizens and California Residents receiving support from the Department of Statistics must do this because your Departmental Support will only pay for ONE-YEAR of Non-Resident Tuition. By becoming a California Resident, you will not need to pay the non-resident tuition fees, which is normally more than double the regular registration fees. It is important that all non-residents start this process once they get to California since it takes a year to complete. If you have any questions on the process of becoming a California Resident, you must contact UCLA Residence Deputy at (310) 825-3447. They are located in the Registrar's Office, 1113 Murphy Hall.
Parking is another huge commodity at UCLA and you should apply for a parking permit as soon as possible if you need one. There is no guarantee that if you apply for parking that you will get it. The transportation webpages also shows other options that you have including vanpooling, free shuttles (that go to the new Weyburn Housing), taking the bus using Bruin Go and bicycing
All students are encouraged to look for outside fellowships to fund their graduate studies. There are numerous groups that offer multi-year funding to first year graduate students. For example, the National Science Foundation (www.nsf.gov) offers multi-year funds to first year graduates. Since the deadlines for their applications are in October 2007, it would be best if you worked on them over the summer.
If you are a doctorate student with a funding guarantee from our Department, you should have received infomation on your funding from the Graduate Divsion. if you have questions on that form or did not receive it, please contact the SAO.
There are three basic types of assistantships that students can get from the Department of Statistics: 1) Teaching Assistantship, 2) Research Assistantship and 3) Readership. The Department offers the Teaching Assistantships and Readerships, while faculty who have research funds offers Research Assistantships. Usually, if you receive any of these assistantships, it will decrease you Registration Fees (which are about $8,000 per year) but will not affect your non-resident tuition (which is about $14,000) per year (California Residents do not pay non-resident tuition). It will also defer the date that you need to pay your fees. Students should know by their admissions letters if they have been guaranteed an assistantship in the first year or not. If so, we will defer your fee payment date.
Teaching Assistantships are normally assigned one month before the beginning of the quarter. We offer TAships to qualified Statistics graduate students before offering the position to anyone outside of the Department. To be eligible to TA you must remain in good standing, and doing so involves enrolling in and attending Stats 495 A,B in your first year, receiving acceptable evaluations from students and faculty, and maintaining satisfactory progress towards the degree. As a TA, you will be observed and possibly videotaped for evaluation purposes.
If you are a foreign graduate student (including permanent residents), whose first language is not English and plan to serve as a Teaching Assistant, you MUST pass the Test for Spoken English (TSE) or UCLA's TOP exam to be a qualified Statistics graduate student. University policy states that you cannot become a teaching assistant until you pass one of these tests. Contact the TOP office at top@oid.ucla.edu if you have questions on the exam or if you would like to register for one. You can also register online at http://www.oid.ucla.edu/units/top/ and should do it soon since the times fill up quickly. They have set exam dates and you should look at the website for that information. For those Intrenational Students or PRs who do not pass this exam by the time they are scheduled to TA, you will most likely get a Readership offer instead of a TA offer.
If you plan to be a Teaching Assistant, you are encouraged to attend the Office of Instructional Development's Orientation. The OID orientation is normally held on the Monday that school begins (September 27, 2006). Keep an eye on this at: http://www.oid.ucla.edu/units/tatp/conference and if it is on Monday, our Department has tentatively scheduled our orientation for September 23, 25, and 26, 2007.
The Department is not in charge of offering Research Assistantship to students. Faculty with funding will normally offer students funds if they have it. Usually, faculty will offer RAships to continuing students who they have already met. Since the faculty who has funds changes, we do not have a list of available Research Assistantships.
Readers help grade the homework assignments for a course. Reader assignments are normally completed one week after the TA assignments. You do not need to pass the SPEAK exam to be a Reader or RA, but the perks and the pay are less than being a TA. International students who are guaranteed an assistantship but do not qualify to serve as a Teaching Assistant will get a Readership offer. Students must attend the Fall 2007 Reader Orientation in order to serve as a Reader in the 07-08 academic year.
If you are thinking about getting loans or financial aids to help with your payments, you should look at fellowship locations such as the the UCLA GRAPES site for specific outside funding. Note: the GRAPES pages are not comprehensive so please look for funding at other loactions like the ASA site, etc. If you are thinking about loans, you must appy for the FAFSA. Check the deadlines since they are soon approaching.
If you are an international student, you must attend one of UCLA's Office of International Students and Scholars (OISS) orientations. The OISS offers many resources to help international students adjust to the USA and UCLA. It is mandatory for all international students to make one of these orientation sessions, so sign up as soon as possible to assure you of a space. Information on the Orientation can be found on the following page: http://www.intl.ucla.edu and you need to sign up for the orientations through their office (not ours).
Another orientation for international students is handled by the Dashew International Center and separate from the orientation by OISS. The OISS orientation is required but Dashew's is not. Although Dashew's orientaion is helpful for integrating to the Los Angeles area, it cannot be used as a substitute for the OISS orientation.
International students, who are non-native English speakers, are required to take the English as a Second Language Placement Exam (ESLPE). Information on the ESLPE can be found on the webpage (http://www.humnet.ucla.edu/altesl/frames/eslpert.htm) of the department that administers the test. This is a separate test from the TOEFL, TSE or UCLA SPEAK or TOP exam and must be taken by all new international students.