Getting Started in the AEE Grad Program

Getting Started in Graduate Education in Agricultural and Extension Education at North Carolina State University

"What may be done at any time will be done at no time."

Scottish Proverb

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There are hundreds of agriculture teachers, extension agents and other agricultural professionals who plan on starting a graduate program “some day,” but haven’t. Those who procrastinate may be missing out on pay raises, promotions, and gaining new knowledge that can help on the job. Tuition rates keep climbing, so it would be smart to go ahead and get that graduate degree now.

With the array of courses offered by NC State there is really no excuse for not getting started. You can take courses on the job no matter where you are physically located. The cost is very reasonable. NC State has the 2nd lowest tuition rate in the nation among land-grant colleges.

There are two ways to get started in a graduate program.The first way is to take a few courses as a continuing education student to make sure this is what you want to do. The second approach is to go ahead and apply to the graduate program. The advantages and disadvantages of each approach are discussed in the paragraphs below along with information on how to apply to both.

The Continuing Education Approach - Students may take up to 12 hours as a Post-Baccalaureate Studies (PBS) student in the NCSU Non-Degree program and have those courses count toward a Master's degree.

There are several advantages to enrolling as a PBS student:

You can take the program for a "test drive" to make sure it is for you.
There is no application fee.
It only takes 24-48 hours to get enrolled.
There are no application deadlines.
If your undergraduate GPA is low, you can take courses to show that you are capable of doing graduate work. This will improve your chance of getting accepted into the graduate program. (Note: Please look at the Enrolling Directly in the Graduate Program below to see the GPA requirements for admission)

There are also some disadvantages to enrolling as a PBSn student.

In order to count the course in the Master's program the student must make a B or higher (if you were enrolled in the graduate program a B- or even a lower grade in a course could be counted).
All the courses taken must be letter graded. One cannot count a course that is graded S or U. This means continuing education students cannot take a 600 or 800 level course since these are graded S or U.
The courses must be at the 500 level or above (students accepted into the graduate school can take some 400 level courses in technical agricultural areas, continuing education students cannot).
Students are not assigned an academic adviser until they officially enroll as a graduate student.
The AEE faculty do not have access to continuing education student records. Therefore the AEE faculty can't look up student records and the student must contact the Distance Education office every semester to get a pin number in order to register for courses.
Some students "forget" to apply to the graduate school and end up with more continuing education courses than can be counted when they do apply.
A person has six year time to complete the Master's degree. The six year clock starts with the first course the student wants to count. Some continuing education students don't realize this and take an occasional course now and then. When the individual does apply for graduate school, this fact has a major impact on the length of time to complete the program.

In order to enroll in a course as a continuing education student, all one has to do is to go to http://distance.ncsu.edu/registration/index.html and follow the directions.

Enrolling Directly in the Graduate Program - One can also apply directly to the graduate program. This is the recommended approach. Students who enroll directly into the graduate program have fewer potential problems with their graduate program because they have an AEE faculty adviser from the beginning and having greater flexibility in their course choices.

The application process is all online. North Carolina State University no longer uses a paper application form except in unusual cases. The application form can be found at http://www2.acs.ncsu.edu/grad/applygrad.htm. The directions are straight forward. It will take about an hour to complete the application. As part of the application process, you are asked to provide the name and e-mail addresses of three references. NC State will contact these individuals electronically and ask them to complete an online reference form. There is an application fee that can be paid using a credit card.

As part of the application process you have to arrange to have transcripts of all previous collegiate work sent to the Graduate School. This is the step that normally takes the longest. It takes a while for some universities to send transcripts. The transcripts should be sent to the:

Graduate School Admissions Office
North Carolina State University
Campus Box 7102
Flex Lab, Module 6, Room 1418
1575 Varsity Drive
Raleigh, NC 27695-7102
USA

A commonly asked question is whether or not the GRE is required for admission. All graduate applicants for Spring 2009 and beyond are required to take the GRE.

Four major factors are considering in determining who is admitted to the Master's program. The first factor is the undergraduate GPA. The Graduate School is looking for an undergraduate GPA of 3.0. If one does not have an overall 3.0 GPA, we then look at the last two years of the undergraduate program to see if that is a 3.0. If this is not a 3.0, we then look at the courses in your major. Hopefully, this will be a 3.0. If none of these are at the 3.0 level, then it is recommended that you take some graduate courses as a continuing education student. If your GPA is below a 3.0, but close, it may be possible to admit you on a provisional basis. This means that you must make B or higher in your first three graduate courses. For doctoral students, we expect the applicant to have 3.5 GPA in the Master's program.

GRE scores are also considered in the application process. The higher the GRE score, the more likely one will be admitted to the program.

The other two factors that are also considered in the application process are the letters of recommendation and the personal statement. Strong letters of recommendation are expected. As part of the application process you are requested to prepare a personal statement of 300 words. This helps us determine if our graduate program fits in with your personal goals and future plans.

The deadlines for applying to the graduate program are:

Fall Semester - June 25 for US Students, March 1 for International Students
Spring Semester - November 25 for US Students, July 15 for International Students
Summer Semester I - March 25 for US Students, December 15 for International Students
Summer Semester II - May 10 for US Students, December 15 for International Students

If you have additional questions about getting started in a graduate program, please contact Gary Moore at gary_moore@ncsu.edu.

Department of Agricultural and Extension Education