Admission Requirements for Graduate Study

If you would like to apply to URI, please, use the online application process at http://www.uri.edu/gsadmis/ . We do not accept paper applications. All applicants are automatically considered for financial aid in the form of Teaching or Research Assistantships, when their applications are received by the specified deadlines; no special aid application is necessary. To receive the full consideration, international students should submit their completed applications before February 1st for September admission and before July 15th for January admission. Domestic students need to submit their applications by March 1st to receive full consideration for financial aid for September admission.

Applicants must hold a baccalaureate degree, preferably with a major in physics. The Graduate Record Examination (GRE), including the advanced test in physics, is recommended but not required. To be accepted as a graduate degree candidate, applicants should have maintained an average of approximately B (3.00/4.00 scale) in their undergraduate work. Applicants with undergraduate averages below this level, but not less than 2.00, may be admitted by submitting other evidence of academic potential; i.e., satisfactory performance in postbaccalaureate work, professional experience as evidenced by publications or letters of recommendation, and/or high test scores.

Foreign students must pass the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) with the score at least 550 or, for the IBT test, the scores for reading 20, listening 17, speaking 17, writing 22 (the cumulative IBT score is irrelevant). The exam must be taken within two years of the application date; the TOEFL requirement is waived for students with a graduate or undergraduate degree from an American school.

There is no set format for the recommendation letters which can either be submitted on-line or sent to the Department either by the applicant (in sealed and signed envelopes) or directly by the letter's author. For further information, contact the Chairperson () or the Graduate Program Directors Prof. Kahn and Prof. Meyerovich at the Department of Physics, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI 02881.

To receive the full consideration, international students should submit applications before February 1st for September admission and July 15th for January admission. Domestic students need to submit their applications by March 1st to receive full consideration for financial aid for September admission.