Graduate admissions



What are the basic requirements to apply to the department? An applicant for admission must hold a bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university and must have the necessary academic preparation to participate successfully in graduate level courses.

For students who are interested in a fee waiver please consult the Division of Graduate Education’s Admissions website for more information.

The Department only considers graduate applications for the fall quarter. Applications are evaluated only when all of the materials listed below are received.

What we require
  • Online graduate admissions application.
  • A statement of purpose.
  • A personal statement.
  • Three letters of recommendation: enter names & information of recommenders in the online application; they will receive an email with link to upload their letter.
  • Transcripts: All applicants may upload unofficial copies of transcripts with the application for review purposes. If you are recommended for admission and decide to accept the offer, you must submit final, official copies of your transcript for final approval of your admission by The Division of Graduate Education’s Graduate Admissions Office.
Test scores

GRE Physics and GRE general scores for the Physics PhD:

  • GRE (updated for 2024 admissions):
  • The selection of the Ph.D. students admitted to the Physics program is based on an individualized review of each application. Students who wish to apply for admission to our graduate program for the 2024-2025 academic year are not required to take the GRE or submit a GRE score report as part of their application package. However, students may voluntarily submit GRE test scores and they will be reviewed as part of the holistic application consideration. The applications with GRE scores will not be given greater weight than those that do not include scores.
  • Students who are admitted and intend to enroll may send official reports to UCLA institution code 4837, major code 0808.
  • We will accept GRE scores from tests taken within the last 5 years. If the test was taken multiple times, enter the most recent scores on the online application.

GRE Physics and GRE general scores for the Astronomy & Astrophysics PhD:

  • GRE (updated for 2024 admissions):
    The selection of the Ph.D. students admitted to the Astronomy and Astrophysics program is based on an individualized review of each application. Students who wish to apply for admission to our graduate program for the 2024-2025 academic year are not required to take the GRE or submit a GRE score report as part of their application package. However, students may voluntarily submit GRE test scores and they will be reviewed as part of the holistic application consideration. The applications with GRE scores will not be given greater weight than those that do not include scores.
  • Students who are admitted and intend to enroll may send official reports to UCLA institution code 4837, major code 0801.
  • We will accept GRE scores from tests taken within the last 5 years. If the test was taken multiple times, enter the most recent scores on the online application.

TOEFL/IELTS scores (international)

  • Request official report from ETS – the Physics department major code: 76 / the Astronomy department code: 61. We will accept TOEFL scores from tests taken within the last 2 years. Acceptable scores include: TOEFL: 570 (paper), 230 (computer), TOEFL IBT: 88, IELTS: 7.0.
    Send TOEFL e-scores to the department and IELTS scores to both the Department & Grad Division: UCLA Department of Physics & Astronomy, Graduate Office, 430 Portola Plaza, Box 951547, Los Angeles CA 90095-1547
    UCLA Graduate Admissions Student & Academic Affairs, 1255 Murphy Hall Box 951428, Los Angeles CA 90095-1428.
Fellowship application

We encourage all U.S. citizens and permanent residents to submit the fellowship application.

For the Astronomy & Astrophysics PhD only

Graduate students from overseas in the Astronomy and Astrophysics PhD program are primarily funded by research grants and teaching assistant positions. Applicants from overseas interested in applying to the Astronomy and Astrophysics PhD program are urged to contact specific faculty members whose research is of interest to see whether research assistant positions are available. The average Astronomy and Astrophysics PhD program class size is 6 domestic and 1 international.

Deadlines

Deadline to submit application is December 15. Scores and letters should reach us by the first week in January. Note: only the required application items will be evaluated. Do not mail or upload any other supplemental documents or any duplicates of uploaded application items.

Questions? Contact us by email or phone 310-206-6994.