All applications and materials must be submitted through the Slate Application.  Follow the detailed instructions on the How to Apply page.

All student-uploaded applications and materials must be submitted by December 15th.  All recommendation letters must be uploaded by December 31st.

Please read through the Admission Overview, How to Apply, and Review Criteria pages for descriptions on the required materials, how to prepare them, and for instructions on how to complete the online application.

Please see the Office of Admissions Graduate English Proficiency page for more information about scores and ways to demonstrate English proficiency. The Office of Admission requires official scores. This means that if you submit unofficial scores with the application, you will continue to receive automated requests for your official scores. Applicants should be aware that while unofficial scores are acceptable for the application, unofficial scores may delay or preclude admission to the university. The department does not have authority to waive requirements. A student who receives a conditional offer of admission from the department must be prepared to submit official scores or risk rescindment of the offer.

First and foremost, applicants must have a bachelor's degree from an accredited institute, college, or university.  Beyond that, no... For more details, see the Review Criteria page.

Applicants must have a grade point average equivalent to 3 or better on a 4-point scale in their Bachelor or Master degree courses. Subject area course grades above 3.5 and/or a trend of increasing GPA are considered positive indicators for applications. In addition to uploading unofficial transcripts, you will need to provide a list of courses as part of the online application forms; see the How to Apply page for details.

The application fee waiver code request form is available on our How to Apply page. Filling out the request form does not guarantee a fee waiver code. The deadline for requesting a fee waiver code is November 15th at 11:59 PM MST. Approved fee waiver codes will be dispersed on November 20th. The fee is $55 for Domestic applicants, $65 for International applicants on a visa or in need of a visa. Application fees are non-refundable, even with a fee waiver code.

Our graduate program is primarily available to students seeking a PhD. Student's may be awarded a non-thesis Master's as a milestone on the way to their PhD. The Master's is also available to PhD-seeking students who do not complete the PhD program.

We have, on occasion but not in several years, admitted Master's only-seeking students.  As such, we do not offer an option for students to apply to a separate Master's program.  In the past, students admitted to the MS program had their own source of funding for tuition, such the GI Bill or a research fellowship.  A prospective research advisor must be secured prior to applying.  Your application must be submitted to the Ph.D. program even if you only wish to complete an MS.  It is required that you contact the graduate coordinator to determine whether this could be an option for you and what additional information you need to provide.

Applicants without the required preparation for a Ph.D. program might consider applying to the post-baccalaureate fellowship.

No. However, your research interests should align with our research offerings. The application should clearly demonstrate that you are familiar with the available research opportunities in our department. It can be helpful to communicate with researchers, current graduate students, and postdocs to gain insight to our program.

Yes. All letters of recommendation should be submitted by the letter writer through the Slate application portal." (provide link) "You will provide contact information for your letter writers, and the system will email each one with a submission link.  All letters are due by January 9th, 2024.

No, we only accept applications for the Fall semesters.

The background and qualities of prospective graduate students that we are looking for are laid out in detail on the Review Criteria page.

It's important to ask for your letters of recommendation early in the process to give instructors and mentors time to compose a letter.  On the Review Criteria page, read over the text under "Advice for Creating a Strong Application," where we suggest how to prepare strong application materials, including how to help your letter writers provide the strongest possible letters.  Due to holiday breaks in many places, it is wise to secure recommendation letter writers several weeks ahead of the deadline and to start brainstorming for your personal statement and CV around the same time.

You may list courses as "in progress" on your table of courses in the online form if you've yet to receive a grade. Applications need to be submitted no later than January 2nd, 2024. Applications submitted through the system after that date will not be considered, so please do not wait until the last minute to submit.

Because your application is reviewed in both the Admissions Office and the academic department, it is difficult to estimate the exact amount of time before you receive a final admission decision. Your application and transcripts will be summarized by the Admissions Office and sent to the academic department for consideration. If the department recommends you for admission, they will send a graduate referral form to the Admissions Office. Then, you will be sent an official letter of acceptance from the Admissions Office. Students typically receive notice of acceptance by March. Rejection notices may take more time to process.

International students can begin the I-20 document process and should make sure you have these materials ready as soon as you are admitted: https://admissions.utah.edu/i-20-information/

Preliminary admission emails will be sent out mid-to-late February.  Please monitor the email you entered into the online Slate application portal, potentially including spam/junkmail folders.  Invitations for interviews will be sent to the same address, and offers will not be made without successful interviews.

You will receive 2 letters of acceptance, one from the department, and one from the Admissions Office that will contain your Student ID number and important registration information. Your accepted status is not official until you receive *both* letters. We do our best to send departmental offers by the end of February.

If you are anxious about your admission status, you can contact the Graduate Advisor via email at admissions@physics.utah.edu. Please do not inquire about your admission status until after March 15th.

We ask that all applicants who receive an offer letter, inform us of their decision to accept or decline the offer by April 15 so we can ensure as many people as possible are awarded funding. You can accept or decline your offer in Slate application portal. If you do not see the option to accept or decline, contact the Graduate Program Coordinator.

Our program is fairly competitive, and because of this, we have a lot of highly qualified students who send in their applications. Unfortunately we aren't able to accept all of them. We place some applicants on a waiting list and when a spot opens up, we fill that spot with someone from the waiting list. Students are admitted from the waitlist at the discretion of the Admission Committee. The waitlist remains active until the start of Fall semester, in the event that a spot opens up before the semester begins.

The Versant Spoken Language Test is required for all International students, after they have been accepted into the graduate program. All International students must attend the International Teaching Assistant Workshop (ITA). More information is available here.

All students admitted to the Ph.D. track are offered a Teaching Assistantship, which is noted in the departmental offer letter. Only those who are affiliated with a research group (which can happen a year or so from your first semester depending on the research area) are eligible to become Research Assistants (RA). RAships are available based on the availability of funding in a research group and, more broadly, that specific subfield. TAs and RAs receive the same stipend and financial support during their time in the program.

Tuition Benefit covers tuition costs for matriculated graduate students who meet the eligibility criteria. We strive to ensure that all PhD students meet the eligibility criteria during their enrollment in the program. The department generally covers fees not covered by the Tuition Benefit Program. https://gradschool.utah.edu/funding/tbp/

Accepted PhD-seeking students receive an offer letter from our department outlining the funding options available. They have until April 15 to either accept or decline the offer. Eligible students can participate in the Tuition Benefit Program, which covers graduate tuition and provides health insurance. Those who accept the offer can also receive a stipend and support for moving costs. All admitted students with an interest in equity and diversity can apply for the EDGES fellowship.

Subsidized student health insurance is offered to students employed by the department. More information is available here.

Send an email to our graduate program coordinator: admissions@physics.utah.edu

If you encounter issues with the Slate application portal, you'll need to contact Slate directly:

If you or a recommendation provider run into technical problems, Hobsons’ support team can help with technical problems. For example, if the self-service password reset doesn’t work, Hobsons can help with this problem. Applicants and Recommenders contact Hobsons end-user support by: 1. Going to http://hobsonsupport.force.com/applicationsupport OR 2. Selecting a Technical Support link available from the application or recommender pages. • For the application, the Technical Support link can be found at the bottom of the login page. • Once an applicant is logged in, the link can be found at the top of the screen. There is not a direct phone line that applicants or recommenders can call to reach end-user support.