Students are considered for admission into the Department's graduate programs in Physics and Physics & Astronomy after filing an application, the forms for which are given below. In order for your application to be complete, we need to receive from you by January 15 the following information:

1. Your completed application form.
2. An official transcript of grades from your undergraduate university.
3. At least three letters of recommendation from people who can comment on your potential for graduate study.
4. Your scores on the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) general exam.
5. Your score on the GRE Advanced Physics exam.
6. If you are not a native English speaker, your score on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) exam. We also recommend you to take the Test of Written English (TWE).

The first three items above should be sent directly to:

Graduate Admissions Committee
Department of Physics and Astronomy
University of Rochester
Box 270171
Rochester, NY 14627-0171

The exams in items 4--6 are administered by external testing agencies at certain fixed times throughout the year. Please arrange to take these examinations sufficiently early so that the testing agency can forward the official scores to the University of Rochester by the January 1 deadline.

Our Graduate Admissions Committee usually begins its deliberations near the beginning of the calendar year, with decisions made on a continuous basis. Only completed applications are considered, so you are therefore encouraged to send in your forms as soon as possible. The application fee is currently waived for all graduate applications.

Students should indicate if they are applying to the PhD Program, the Professional MS program, or the 3/2 MS program.  PhD applicants should also indicate if they wish to be considered for the Professional MS Program (with individualized course plan selected from Physics, Applied Physics and Engineering) in case their application to the PhD program is unsuccessful. MS students may apply for admissions to the PhD program after a year).

Answers to any questions or concerns can be obtained from our Administrative Assistant for Graduate Affairs:

Barbara Warren Department of Physics & Astronomy Bausch & Lomb 210 University of Rochester Rochester, NY 14627-0171 (585) 275-4356 barb@pas.rochester.edu

Application Forms

Online Application Form: All applications must be sumitted online by clicking here. (Note: to submit an online application, your browser must support SSL encryption.)

Recommendation Forms: You can download a hard copy of the recommendation form (item 3 above) in either postscript format or pdf format.


Go to Graduate Programs page.