The physics department graduate admissions committee is composed of 20+ faculty members and a few current graduate students.ÌýEach of the applications we receive is reviewed by 1-3 members of the committee.ÌýThese reviews attempt to evaluate the likelihood of a student successfully completing the graduate course work and completing an independent research project that is the hallmark of a Ph.D.ÌýInformation from the personal statement and letters of recommendation are used at this stage.ÌýOnce reviews are available, the full committee considers admission to the program by evaluating the reviews, GPA, and test scores in a holistic process.ÌýThere isÌýno absolute minimumÌýGPA or test scores required for consideration.ÌýThis process runs from the last week of January through the first week of March, with students notified by email during that time frame.
Students that are admitted to the program are provided support through a Teaching Assistant or Research Assistant position (about $30,000 per year), given a full tuition waiver, and offered subsidized health insurance.ÌýAdmitted students are also invited to attend one of our two recruiting weekends in the spring to learn more about the department.
To help gauge the level of students in our department, the tables below provide some statistics on the students that have entered the department in the three years of 2015-2017.
| Ìý | Average | 25% – 75% range | 5% – 95% range |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPA | 3.79 | 3.69 – 3.96 | 3.42 – 3.98 |
| GRE Verbal | 162 | 158 – 166 | 153 – 169 |
| GRE Quantitative | 164 | 162 – 168 | 158 – 170 |
| GRE Writing | 4.3 | 4.0 – 5.0 | 3.5 – 5.0 |
| GRE Physics | 809 | 735 – 875 | 620 – 960 |
| Ìý | Average | 25% – 75% range | 5% – 95% range |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPA | 3.75 | 3.62 – 3.90 | 3.48 – 3.97 |
| GRE Verbal | 156 | 152 – 160 | 147 – 165 |
| GRE Quantitative | 168 | 167 – 170 | 163 – 170 |
| GRE Writing | 3.5 | 3.0 – 4.0 | 2.7 – 5.0 |
| GRE Physics | 948 | 920 – 990 | 820 – 990 |
| TOEFL | 102 | 99 – 106 | 91 – 114 |
For additional information about the application process, please refer to the FAQ page