Admission to the Graduate Program

To apply to the TPSS Graduate Program, you will need to submit a general application to the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa Graduate School and a supplemental application to the TPSS Graduate School Program.

1) Apply to the UH Manoa Graduate School, which includes submission of:

• General Application (See website for general eligibility information as well as online application form)
• All post-secondary academic transcripts (College and beyond)
• For foreign students only (One of the following tests is required for international students who did not attend college at a US or primarily English-speaking institution.):
  • Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) – minimum scores are 600/100 (paper/Internet), with subtest scores of 25 for listening and 25 for speaking
  • International English Language Testing System (IELTS) – minimum score is 6.00 for the overall band test results. For teaching assistantship applicants, minimum score is 7.00.

2) Submit a Supplemental Application to the TPSS Graduate Program. Upload these documents, along with the contact information of your letter writers in the General Application process. The Supplemental Application includes:

• Statement of objectives
• Three letters of recommendation
• Optional supplemental documents

Statement of Objectives
In an essay, please describe your aptitude and motivation for graduate study in your area of specialization, including your preparation for this field of study, your research interests and academic plans, your future career goals, and how a graduate degree will help you fulfill those goals. Discuss how your personal background motivated your decision to pursue a graduate degree. Include any educational, cultural, familial, economic, social experiences, challenges, or opportunities relevant to your academic journey, including how you might contribute to social or cultural diversity within your chosen field. Please be specific about how a particular lab and/or Professor in the Department of Tropical Plant and Soil Sciences would be a good academic fit for you.

Be sure to draft your Statement of Objectives as carefully and as specifically as you can because we rely heavily on this statement to gauge your qualifications and potential for success in the TPSS Graduate Program. Include relevant details such as previous research or work experiences, awards or recognition of your scholarship, or any details that can help strengthen your application. Be sure to mention any communications with TPSS faculty members that you have contacted prior or during this application process, and whether they have agreed to accept you into their lab.

The Statement of Objectives should be a maximum of 2 pages, have 1” margins, single-spaced, with no more than 6 lines per inch (e.g., Times New Roman 12pt or Arial/Calibri 11pt font).

Recommendation Letters
Please have three letters of recommendation submitted. Writers of recommendation letters may come from different backgrounds (academic or employment), but should include at least two who are qualified to evaluate the quality of your scholastic achievements and academic training as well as your ability to carry out independent research. This is especially important if you have had previous research experience. One character or personal recommendation is permissible (this may come from someone outside of our academic or work environment). It is helpful to tell your letter writers to address those characteristics that are important to your admission (e.g., the traits that make you a successful student, researcher and colleague). Recommendation letters should be on a professional letterhead unless it comes from outside of your professional or academic environment. All letters must have the signature of the letter writer (electronic signatures are acceptable).

To submit recommendation letters, login to Graduate Division’s Graduate Application Supplemental Documents Upload Website. Once you have entered the site, you will be able to request recommendation letters. Your letter writers will receive an email with an upload link, and the letters that they have uploaded will automatically be connected to your General Application.

Optional Supplemental Documents
Supplemental documents help to build a more rounded application, and we highly encourage that you include them with your application package. Examples include: CV/resume, writing samples (published work, senior thesis, literature review, project report, grants, etc.), and GRE scores. Upload these documents to Graduate Division’s Graduate Application Supplemental Documents Upload Website along with your General Application.