All applications and materials must be submitted through the ApplyYourself portal.

All applications and materials must be submitted by January 15, 2023.

Please see How to Apply.

Download the summarized checklist to track what you need.

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 single field of undergraduate specialization is required. However, applicants must have a thorough undergraduate background in the Sciences, and have mastered basic material in the following areas: Mathematics (calculus through differential equations) and Physics (college physics with calculus, including mechanics). The program of study does not include refresher courses, therefore, students without undergraduate quantum mechanics and electrodynamics courses (or the related foundational material such as calculus and differential equations) are rarely considered for admission.

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. The table of relevant courses is required in addition to your unofficial transcripts.

The application fee waiver code is available via the document provided on our How to Apply page. The instructions for using the code are noted in the PDF. The code is available to all applicants submitting a completed PhD application. The fee is $55 for Domestic applicants, $65 for International applicants on a visa or in need of a visa.

The application fee waiver code is available via the PDF provided on our How to Apply page. The instructions for using the code are noted in the PDF. The code is available to all applicants submitting a completed PhD application.

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 do, on occasion, admit Master's-seeking students. Students admitted to the MS program will need to have their own source of funding for tuition, such the GI Bill or a research fellowship. MS-seeking students should also secure a prospective research advisor prior to applying. Funding and research advisor information must be included in the MS application. Contact the graduate coordinator for more information.

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 Apply Yourself portal.

No, we only accept applications for the Fall semesters.

Graduate students become members of our departmental community and representatives of the University of Utah as a whole. All applications are evaluated for: program specific preparation, academic performance, research potential, persistence and determination, long term goals, scholarly engagement, leadership/community involvement, and communication skills. It’s important to convey how this particular program will aid in achieving your research goals.

Besides what is listed above, the admissions committee appreciates specifics. If you have a particular field of study, or a specific career which you would like to go into, be sure to state it in your personal statement. Also, it never hurts to contact professor(s) in our department who do research that you are interested in, and ask for more information, as a way of establishing a connection and introducing yourself.

It's important to ask for your letters of recommendation early in the process to give instructors and mentors time to compose a letter. You may list courses as "in progress" on your table of courses if you've yet to receive a grade. Applications need to be submitted no later than January 15, 2023. Applications submitted through the system after that date will not be considered, so please do not wait until January 15th 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/

Offer letters have been sent out Fall 2023. Please check the email used for the Apply Yourself application.

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 mid-March.

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 30.

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 Apply Yourself. 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: https://science.utah.edu/graduate-students/edges-fellowship-application/

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 ApplyYourself portal, you'll need to contact AY 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.