Graduate Program Requirements, Composition and Theory
Admission
Consideration for program admission requires:
• An Office of Graduate Studies online application with
fee by the stated admission deadline
• A bachelor’s degree comparable to a degree from the University
of California in both distribution of academic subject matter and
scholarly achievement
• Three letters of recommendation (Recommenders can be listed in
the “Recommendations” section of the application. Letters
are submitted by the recommenders themselves to the
application.)
• Official transcripts
• GRE scores not required
• TOEFL or IELTS score (if applicable)
• Samples of work (a single PDF file of three recent scores)
should be uploaded in the “Writing Sample” section of the
application. Please be sure that all sound files are complete
recordings, not excerpts. A link to recordings of the same three
scores should be entered in the “Other Information / website
link” section of the application. The recordings must be linked
in a ready-to-play format using programs such as Sound Cloud,
Bandcamp, YouTube, or to a personal website. The
admissions committee will not listen to recordings that must be
downloaded. Do not send hard copies of scores or
CDs.
If you do not have a website or other link, please send your mp3 sound files to musicgradsubmissions@ucdavis.edu. If your scores are larger than 4 MB, please send them to musicgradsubmissions@ucdavis.edu. Be sure that your file names begin with your last name.
• A CV
• A minimum GPA of 3.0
Residency
UC Davis CA residency requirements for graduate students are HERE. First year graduate students who are US citizens but not CA residents must complete the CA residency process before the end of their first quarter.
Language
Composition and theory Ph.D. students must successfully pass an exam in two foreign languages, one of which must be a language relevant to the student’s fieldwork/research.
Examinations
After the second quarter of the second year, students take comprehensive examinations, and then draft their dissertation proposal. At the end of the third year, they take a qualifying examination. Upon successful completion, students advance to candidacy.
Transfer Credits
Ordinarily, the master’s degree is completed as part of the Ph.D. program. However, with the consent of the graduate advisor and the Dean of Graduate Studies, course work completed at another institution may be credited toward the master’s degree. The limit for such transfer credit is six units from another institution or up to one-half of the unit requirement if earned from another campus of the University of California, provided the units were not used in satisfaction of the requirements for another degree. Students may transfer up to 12 units of work from the Concurrent Courses program offered by University Extension.
Dissertation
Candidates are required to present and successfully defend a dissertation in a final public oral examination. The doctoral dissertation is to be an original composition of scope and substance and an original theoretical or analytical essay. The dissertation is supervised by the faculty and approved by a committee named by the Graduate Division. The final copies should conform to the requirements described by the Office of Graduate Studies.
Length of study
Typical time to complete the Doctor of Philosophy degree is five years. Candidates must be in residence for at least six quarters.