View deadlines, course work details, program timelines including receiving a master's in two years and PhD in five years.

Deadlines

“Application due” means that you must have all required application documents and forms, including the Agreement to Advise form, turned in. After these deadlines, students admission and program will be delayed until the next semester.

Courses

Refer to the Animal Science (ANSI) OSU Catalog for the list of available courses.

• 5000 Master’s Research and Thesis
• 5010
• 5102 Ethics and Professionalism
• 5110 Seminar
• 5113 Basic Repro. Phys.
• 6000 Doctoral Research and Thesis

Realize that most graduate courses are not offered every semester. View the partial list of when courses are generally offered.

Plan of Study

Each student needs to plan out the courses they want to take, by semester. This plan of study is developed in consultation with the student’s committee, and the committee approves the plan. The plan can be modified as needed. Students should develop and submit a plan of study by the end of their first semester.

AG-IDEA

Great Plains IDEA offers online graduate courses in Animal Science. These are acceptable to use in your plan of study at OSU. Some students find that a course they need is only offered there, or that these courses fit their research schedule better. However, OSU does not cover the tuition for these courses (currently $600 per credit hour).

Seminar

Students enroll in ANSI 5110/6110, Seminar, to learn and practice scientific presentation skills. MS students take 1 credit (1 semester) and PhDs take 2 credits (2 different semesters). We recommend that MS students wait until their second year to take Seminar. PhDs can take Seminar as needed.

Generally, each discipline (nutrition, meats, etc.) offers a section of Seminar for students to enroll in. When you are enrolled in Seminar, it is just like any other course and you will receive a syllabus, assignments, and a grade. You should attend and participate in your disciplines’ seminar even during the semesters that you aren’t enrolled for credit, for the educational value.

Research Hours

Students enroll in ANSI 5000/6000, Research and Thesis/Dissertation, to account for the University resources they use in conducting their research and preparing and defending their thesis/dissertation. This course is self-directed; meetings, requirements, etc. are determined by your advisor. The course is graded pass/fail.

MS-thesis students are required to take 6 credits of ANSI 5000, and PhDs are required to take 30 credits on ANSI 6000. These credits are not necessarily taken at the same time that research and writing is done, but the credits are taken when they are needed to work in with the rest of the course plan. Students should be working on research and writing all the time, not just when they take research hours.

Course Performance

Graduate College Academic Regulation Section 11.0.

You must maintain a “B” average (3.0 cumulative GPA) to avoid academic probation. If you score below a 3.0 for two semesters, an academic mitigation plan will be developed with you, your advisor, the graduate advisor, and the Dean of the Graduate College. This plan can include dismissal from the program.

Grades of “D” or “F” are considered “failing” grades in the graduate program, and receiving a D or F may result in immediate dismissal. They cannot be used on a Plan of Study. Courses below a C must be re-taken and receive a C or better, or replaced with an acceptable course. Replacement is at the discretion of the committee.

To receive a graduate degree, a student must have a minimum 3.0 GPA in the coursework taken for graduate credit.

Acceptable performance in courses is an expectation. However, you must also learn to balance your course work, job duties, research and writing, and your personal activities. You may not be able to always prioritize course work above all other activities. There will be inevitable conflicts, and you must resolve those conflicts for your situation.

Enrollment /Credit Hour Requirements

• Fall/Spring Enrollment Guidelines
• Summer Enrollment
• OSU Graduate Student Tuition Waiver Benefit Information

Minimum hours required:

*A student not enrolled for 3 consecutive semesters must re-apply for admission. International students not on a assistantship do not need to enroll in summer hours just to maintain visa status.

Incoming (first-semester) international students cannot be enrolled in only online courses. They must enroll in a course requiring them to be present in Stillwater (regular course, research hours, etc.)

Program Timelines

Graduate degrees are awarded when they are earned by the student, not on any specific timeline. It is your responsibility to complete the work required by your committee to the level they expect. Periodically check with your major advisor and committee to ensure you are making progress on your degree in the timeline you desire. Realize that some aspects of graduate education (experience, seasoning, participating in conferences, etc.) require a certain amount of time and cannot be accelerated.

In general, one should expect a thesis MS degree to take approximately 2 calendar years to complete. The requirement for full-time graduate student status is 6 hours per spring/fall and 3 hours in the summer. That adds to 15 hours per calendar year, resulting in 2 years typically required to meet the MS requirement.

In general, one should expect a Ph.D. (following an MS) to take approximately 3 calendar years to complete. This timeline is more variable among disciplines than MS degrees. For example, a Ph.D. in genetics is often a somewhat longer program. The requirement for full-time graduate student status is 6 hours per spring/fall and 3 hours in the summer. The first two years at that pace result in 30 credits. PhD students typically take qualifying exams upon completion of coursework (generally after the second year). This results in becoming a doctoral candidate, after which the minimum number of hours drops to 2 in all semesters.

In general, one should expect a Ph.D. (following a BS) to take approximately 5 calendar years to complete. Again, this timeline is more variable as described above.

MS students must complete their degree within 7 years of matriculation, and PhD within 9 years.

Finish In Two (MS)

This is a suggestion for a course plan for a MS-T student interested in nutrition.

Finish In Five (Ph.D. direct from a B.S.)

This is a suggestion for a course plan for a Ph.D. student interested in nutrition.