Applications for the Ph.D. Program are only accepted for the Fall Quarter. The deadline for Fall applications and supporting documents is December 15 of the previous year.
Prospective graduate students in statistics need not have an undergraduate statistics major but should have completed at least twelve-quarter courses (or eight semester courses) in substantial upper division quantitative work, preferably in mathematics and statistics. For direct admission to the doctoral program, a grade-point average of at least 3.5 must be presented. Applicants who have already obtained a master's degree must have maintained an average of better than 3.5 in graduate study. As a Ph.D. student in our program you can also get an M.S. degree on the way.
Applicants must take the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) General Test and must submit at least three letters of recommendation from people who can attest to their quantitative skills. International students must also take and submit TOEFL scores or ILETS scores. International students who plan to serve as a Teaching Assistant to help with their financial assistance are highly recommended to take and submit the Test for Spoken English (TSE) scores. For a complete checklist of the application materials needed please refer to the main applicant page.
Almost all of our doctorate students receive financial support in the form of Teaching Assistants, Research Assistantships, and University and Extramural Fellowships. The support is generally for 4 years and may include registration fees and non-resident tuition. Students are generally provided a fifth year of support if they are advanced to candidacy by that time. United States citizens and permanent residents who receive non-resident tuition for their first year are expected to establish California residency by the beginning of their second year. All applicants are strongly encouraged to apply for fellowships from outside sources (NSF, Javits, etc.) and UCLA special fellowship (with the application) if you qualify.
Completion of the doctoral degree general takes five years. Students are required to pass 54 units of approved graduate class work with a grade of B- or better and maintain an overall GPA of 3.0 or better. At least 40 of these units must be in courses from this department. The remaining units may be from courses in related departments. Students are strongly encouraged to take Statistics 200ABC, 210ABC, and 217ABC. These courses contain core material for the qualifying examinations. Statistics C180/C236 will not count towards the the doctorate degree. Doctorate students are required to take Statistics 290 and 296 and/or 596, 598, or 599 in each quarter enrolled in the program.
In addition, students are required to take a comprehensive qualifying exam by the end of their first year, a preliminary oral qualifying exam, and a final oral exam along with filing for their dissertation.