Fall Quarter Start
Applications are accepted beginning in the Winter Quarter for admission in the Fall. The DASA program begins only Fall Quarter. Students are not admitted for any other starting time.

Application Elements
Applications must include four elements:

1. The UCI Graduate Studies application form including a 'Why DASA?' personal statement;
2. Transcripts for all college-level course work;
3. Graduate Record Exam (GRE) scores earned within the last five years; and
4. Three letters of recommendation.

Applicants originating in countries where English is not the primary spoken language must, in addition, submit scores for the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). Finally, applicants may optionally submit a writing sample or other comparable evidence that demonstrates their potential for successful completion of the DASA program.
 

Application Screening
Applications are reviewed by a faculty committee in consultation with the Graduate Advisor. The committee attempts a balanced evaluation of undergraduate record (GPA, trajectory, and performance in quantitatively intensive courses), letters of recommendation, test scores, personal statement, and (where applicable) writing sample or professional experience. Candidates should at least meet UCI minimum standards for graduate admission: college grade point average (GPA) = 3.0 (on a scale 0-4) and combined GRE Verbal and Quantitative scores (V+Q) = 295; applicants falling below the minimum on either standard must show exceptional strength in other areas.
 

Full-time Study and Professional/Returning Students
Applications from returning students and working professionals are encouraged. Such admissions constitute a good part of DASA success. Nonetheless, the intensive curriculum necessitates full-time enrollment throughout an entire academic year (nine months). Even with simultaneous work obligations, students must be able to attend all DASA classes which, with few exceptions, are offered during daytime hours, two days a week. DASA is most emphatically not an evening- or weekend-oriented "executive" or "distance-learning" program!
 

Financial Support
DASA awards a few very modest grants to recognize extraordinary qualifications on admission or exceptional achievement after enrollment. Financial support for all master-level programs is generally limited, but this serves to underscore one real advantage of DASA's single-year program of intensive study -- an abbreviated period of investment. During the academic year, DASA students may have opportunities to work for their advisor as a reader or grader, based on needs.
 

Rolling Admissions Deadline
Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis with first consideration accorded to those received by March 1, for admission in the fall. Applications for DASA Master's admission will reopen for six weeks beginning April 15th, after first-round applications close on March 1st. Applications received as late as June 1st may still receive consideration, but only if a qualified class has not already been admitted. Thus, to ensure maximum consideration, prospective students should submit their applications, and complete the GRE exam, as early during the applications window as possible.