General Information for Potential Graduate Students
   

Thank you for your interest in graduate programs in the Department of Geology and Geophysics at the University of Utah. In the following material we provide information about our department, entrance requirements to our graduate program and application procedures.

The Department of Geology and Geophysics is a highly ranked earth science department offering graduate degrees in four programs: geology, geophysics, geological engineering and environmental engineering. Within the department, areas of research specialization include structural geology and tectonics, stable isotope geochemistry, metamorphic petrology, geochronology, stratigraphy, sedimentology, paleontology, environmental geology, paleoclimatology, geothermics, rock magnetism, marine geology, ground water and surface water hydrology, igneous petrology, aqueous geochemistry, economic geology, exploration seismology, earthquake seismology, and electromagnetics.

You can find out more about specific research areas by scanning the research interests of faculty members listed in the Faculty Directory. By selecting individual faculty from the list, you can read about the details of their research programs and see a list of selected recent publications.


Basic Entrance Requirements:

1. Students entering the graduate program are expected to have met the fundamental course requirements for a B.S. degree in the Department of Geology and Geophysics at the University of Utah. Students who are admitted to the graduate program without this basic background may be expected to make up any course deficiencies.  Courses that are taken to make up for undergraduate deficiencies will not be counted as credit for the graduate degree.
2. A cumulative GPA of at least 3.0 must have been achieved either overall for the entire undergraduate program or else in the last two years of undergraduate work. A person with a cumulative GPA below 3.0 can be admitted by the Graduate School of the University only if approval is recommended by the Geology and Geophsyics Graduate Affairs Committee.
3. Applicants must take the verbal, quantitative and analytical portions of the Graduate Records Examinations. A GRE specialty exam is not required, but applicants may submit their specialty exam score for consideration.
4. An international applicant to graduate school whose native language is not English must take the TOEFL exam and achieve a score of at least 500.
5. Three letters of recommendation, preferably from current or former professors, are required.  If possible, these recommendations should be submitted on the University of Utah recommendation form, which can be downloaded here.
6. Applicants must submit a brief (maximum two pages) personal statement describing his/her educational background, special interests, and reasons for wanting to enter into graduate studies in the geosciences at the University of Utah.  If the applicant has previously communicated or interacted with particular faculty members in this department and/or has contemplated the possibility of working with a particular professor on a graduate research project, that information should be included in the personal statement.

Links:
Application Procedure
Financial Assistance
Reference Form

Graduate Application Deadline:  January 15, 2007

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Financial Assistance:

Qualified full-time graduate students are eligible for financial aid in the form of Teaching Assistantships, Research Assistantships and Graduate Fellowships.  An application form for financial assistance is available from either the Graduate Fellowship Office, 312 Park Building, University of Utah, or from the Department of Geology and Geophysics.  The form can also be downloaded (pdf format) here. The completed application for financial aid should be submitted to the Department of Geology and Geophysics by January 15 for aid to commence the following fall semester. The current level of support for Teaching and Research Assistants is approximately $6,300 per semester.

Tuition Benefit:

A full tuition benefit is provided to all full-time Teaching and Research Assistantships, as well as fellowship recipients whose stipends equal or exceed $5,000 per semester.

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Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action

The University of Utah is fully committed to policies of nondiscrimination and equal opportunity, and vigorously pursues affirmative action in all programs, activities, and employment with regard to race, color, national origin, sex, age, status as a handicapped individual. Religion, sexual orientation, and status as a disabled veteran or veteran of the Vietnam era also are protected under nondiscrimination and equal opportunity employment policies. Evidence of practices not consistent with these policies should be reported to the Office of the President of the University, 581-8365.