Frequently Asked Questions
about the Graduate Application Process
You must have a bachelor's degree to apply for graduate study and the bachelor's degree must be posted on your transcripts before you begin graduate studies. A master's degree is not required to apply for the doctoral (Ph.D.) program.
You must have a recognized undergraduate or graduate degree from an accredited college or university to be admitted to our graduate program. If you have attended an unusual undergraduate program and wish to be admitted to a graduate program at the University of Utah, you must get permission from the Graduate School.
All applicants admitted to the PhD program are offered a teaching assistantship. In
exchange for teaching, TAs are provided a stipend, tuition waiver, and health insurance.
The current stipend is about $27,000 per academic year. Additional financial support
may be offered in the summer months but is determined on an annual basis.
Guaranteed financial aid is not available for Masters students. In some semesters
we are able to provide teaching assistantships to Masters students, but such assistantships
are only determined on a semester by semester basis.
The deadline to apply for full consideration (for admission and financial assistance)
is January 1 each year. We will consider late application forms through March 15th
if positions are available. So, if you plan on applying for financial aid, submit
your application to the Mathematics Department before the January 1st deadline to
be sure to be considered.
No. But if you e-mail us requesting this we can consider it. We typically do not make
final decisions about admissions to our Masters program until late April.
The personal statement is a brief description of your interest in mathematics. We are more interested in concrete descriptions
of your background, specifically the courses you have taken and any research experiences
you may have had. We also like to see what you are currently thinking of pursuing
professionally after the completion of the degree (we are open to all possibilities).
Please also describe your research interests. It is very helpful if you include the
specific research groups that you may wish to join, and which faculty members you
would consider as potential advisors. It is useful for us to know how you envision
yourself fitting in to our department.
We do not require any GRE test scores for applications to our graduate programs.
While GRE general and mathematics subject test scores are not required for graduate
admission application, we understand that some applicants may prefer to have test
scores to be included in the evaluation. In this case you may submit the test scores,
especially the mathematics subject test score if you are interested in pure mathematics
areas, and we will take them into consideration. On the other hand, the omission of
GRE test scores will not adversely impact your application. Students interested in MS Mathematics (Teaching) should supply Praxis exam scores.
See Master of Mathematics (Teaching). The University of Utah ETS code is 4853.
No. All course work must be taken in person on the University of Utah campus.
The TOEFL, or something equivalent, is required for most international students. There are some exceptions.
A full list of requirements can be found on the University's English Proficiency website. Our department is unable to waive these requirements.
A small number of fee waivers are available for applications to the PhD program, especially
for applicants interested in joining one of our NSF sponsored Research Training Groups.
Preference is given to US citizens and permanent residents, and occasionally to students
currently studying in the United States on F-1 or J-1 visas. Fee waivers for international
students cannot be granted. To apply for a fee waiver please send an e-mail to Ms.
Paula Tooman at tooman@math.utah.edu with the subject line Application Fee Waiver.
You will be notified in writing as soon as a decision has been made on your application.
You should expect to hear from us at the latest by the end of April.