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Admissions

Overview

  • Students must complete 120 semester credit hours at the baccalaureate level, which will conform to the requirements for a major in environmental science, and recommended coursework in information science. Courses will be chosen in consultation with advisors in environmental science and in SILS.
  • Students must complete 48 credit hours at the post-baccalaureate level. This will consist of 24 hours of required coursework in information science, 19.5 hours of electives, and 4.5 hours of thesis substitute credits.
  • Students will begin taking courses at the master’s level in their fourth year in college. While they are still officially in the baccalaureate program, they may take up to 12 post-baccalaureate-level credit hours (some combination of 3 and 1.5 credit hour SILS courses) that will subsequently be transferred to the MSIS, as long as they take enough courses in addition to these graduate-level courses to meet the 120-credit bachelor’s graduation requirement. Hence, by the end of their fourth year, students will have taken 123-132 credit hours, three to twelve of which will be at the graduate level and do not count toward the bachelor’s degree requirements.
  • Students will not officially be offered admission by the Graduate School until they complete their Bachelor of Science graduation requirements. As a result, students must apply and be conditionally accepted into the program in their junior year.
  • Students must complete the Graduate School’s reapplication and dual bachelor’s-graduate admission application form when they are about to earn their bachelor’s degree. Note: Conditional admission does not guarantee admission to the Graduate School.

How to apply for conditional admission to the Dual Degree Program (as an undergraduate)

Upon declaring a major in Environmental Science (BS), students should complete a statement of intent form. It is strongly recommended to declare the BS major and complete the statement of intent form as early as possible.

How to apply for official admission to SILS (upon completion of bachelor’s degree)

The process

The Graduate School waives application fees for UNC undergraduate students applying for the master’s degree as part of the Dual Degree program. For admission to study at the master’s level in the fall semester, students should meet the application deadline in the prior spring. Admissions deadlines are listed here.

Applicants are required to:

Complete the paper application. Please note: The deadlines listed in the PDF application are incorrect; remember to refer to admissions deadlines here. Turn the application and all supporting materials in to the SILS Graduate Student Services Manager, Lara Bailey (ljbailey@email.unc.edu). In addition to the application, please submit:

  • A copy of your transcripts. If admitted, you’ll be required to submit a final transcript.
  • A resume.
  • A Statement of Purpose. The Statement of Purpose for Bachelor’s – Master’ applicants should reflect the applicant’s career goals, how the applicant’s educational background and work experience will contribute to their experience a SILS, and how attending SILS will assist the applicant in achieving their career goals. A formal prompt for the statement of purpose can be found here.
  • GRE scores. Also send GRE scores to The Graduate School (school code 5816). Provide the SILS Graduate Student Services Manager with a paper copy of your scores.
  • Three letters of reference. For Dual Degree students, 2 of these letters must be from instructors of a course the student has taken; 1 from a SILS course and 1 from a non-SILS course.

Notification

Formal acceptance and rejection letters are sent from the Graduate School, which can take several weeks after the admissions committee finishes meeting.