• In addition to the application form and fee and official transcripts for all college study required by the Office of Admissions, the Department requires a Departmental application, three letters of recommendation, a letter of intent, unofficial transcript copies, and general GRE scores for admission consideration. Application instructions and forms for admission, financial aid, and letters of recommendation are available from the Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences
  • Entering graduate students must demonstrate via their transcripts that they have received rigorous scientific preparation in courses relevant to graduate study in earth, planetary, atmospheric, or environmental science. Because the E&PS Department offers graduate training in many aspects of the earth sciences, there is no single list of courses that must have been completed prior to graduate study.
  • Necessary background courses must instead be mutually agreed upon by the student, thesis advisor, and thesis committee, and must be approved by the Graduate Committee. It is expected that some students will need to take one or more 300-level EPS courses in order to prepare them adequately for their graduate programs; such courses must be taken as early in those students programs as possible. No graduate credit can be earned for 300-level classes in E&PS. Entering graduate students are expected to have completed the equivalent of Math 162 and 163, Chemistry 121 and 123L and 122 and 124L, and Physics 160 and 161 (calculus I and II, general chemistry I and II, and calculus-based physics that includes mechanics, electricity, heat, and magnetism). If one or more of these courses has not been taken, it will be formally identified as a deficiency that must be made up within the student first year in the graduate program. Additional coursework in math, chemistry, physics, statistics, or biology is encouraged. No graduate credit can be earned for 100- or 200-level math and science classes.