Admissions Guidelines and Deadlines

The material on this page deals with the CEMS Graduate Program admission process. For information about the Graduate School at the University of Minnesota visit Graduate School.

Our FAQ, under related links to the right of this page, has answers to more specific questions about the application process. Please review the FAQs and if you still have questions please contact Julie Prince.

Preliminary Evaluations:

We do not make preliminary evaluations based on one or two qualifications. The Admissions Committee will carefully review your entire application (recommendations, statement(s), grades, test scores, previous research experience, etc.) when making a decision on admissions.

Degree Programs Offered:

Ph.D., M.S., and professional Masters degree programs are offered. However, as a research institution we primarily admit students to the Ph.D. program. Students requesting a research assistantship from the department should apply directly to the Ph.D. program. Only under special circumstances will the department admit students requesting a research assistantship to the M.S. program. For additional information about the degree programs offered and requirements, go to: http://www.catalogs.umn.edu/grad/programs/g026.html

Program Requirements:

A bachelor's degree in chemical engineering, materials science, metallurgy, ceramics, polymer engineering, chemistry, physics, mechanical engineering, or electrical engineering is required. Admission is very competitive. Most applicants accepted into the program have grade-point averages well above the Graduate School minimum of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale. The Graduate Record Exam (GRE) general test is required of all applicants, except for those applying to the professional Masters. Applications are evaluated on the basis of previous academic record, GRE scores, letters of recommendation, and your Educational and Career Objectives statement (statement #1 of the Grad School Application for admission). The M.S. degree is not a prerequisite for the Ph.D. degree.

How To Apply:

The entire application process is two-tiered. You apply directly to the Graduate School for consideration for admission. You apply directly to the Chemical Engineering and Materials Science Department for consideration for financial support. We will not review any applications until both applications are complete.

For both the Chemical Engineering and Materials Science Department and the Graduate School application, you will need to APPLY ONLINE.

Application Deadlines:

Applications for Fall Semester 2010 should be submitted by January 1, 2010 to be considered for a fellowship or research assistantship. Applications received after February 1 will still be reviewed but offers will only be made to exceptional applications, if space is available. We do not admit for summer and will admit for spring only under extenuating circumstances. Questions about spring admission should be directed to Julie Prince. Please indicate your reason for requiring spring admission when you write and when you apply.

Recommendation Letters:

You can view the status of your online recommendations each time you log into your Graduate School’s application account. When the recommendation provider submits the recommendation you will be notified by email that the recommendation has been received, and the recommender will be sent a thank-you email.

Please note that the recommendations are not required by the Graduate School but are printed by the Department once they are received. If you are notified by the Graduate School that your application for admission is complete and sent to the Department for review, this does not imply that your recommendations have been received. Please view the status of your online recommendations if you are not sure.

Financial Support:

All full-time doctoral students in good academic standing receive complete financial support in the form of an assistantship or fellowship. These are 50% appointments and receive a stipend, full tuition waiver, and a health insurance package for which you will be charged a minimal fee.

Graduate Assistantship - The stipend for students being offered an Assistantship from the department will be about $25,500/yr for 12 months.

Graduate School Fellowship - - Candidates must be nominated by their graduate program's Director of Graduate Studies (DGS) to this all-University competition. The purpose of the Graduate School Fellowship (GSF) is to assist directly in the recruitment of outstanding Ph.D. students by providing the incentive of a full-support academic-year merit fellowship. Prospective students who will enter the University of Minnesota Graduate School for the first time in the upcoming academic year may be nominated. Nomination deadline is mid January for the following academic year. The stipend for GSF students (including additional support from the department) will be about $29,000/yr for 12 months.

Other Fellowship Opportunities - Fellowship opportunities are available for students who are in their first year of graduate studies and are citizens or permanent residents of the United States.

The National Science Foundation
National Defense Science and Engineering
Department of Energy
The Graduate School has put together an excellent list of other funding opportunities.

We augment the fellowship stipends of students who hold a fellowship from most sources outside the University. The amount of the augmentation varies and should be discussed with the Director of Graduate Studies as soon as you know about the fellowship award.

Benefits - Tuition, health and dental insurance are provided to students admitted with financial support from the department. Support continues as long as satisfactory progress is maintained. Also, eligible students may elect to purchase dependent health and dental care.

Notifications from the Department:

We strive to respond as quickly as possible after your "Department" application is complete or if additional information is needed. We will notify you by email when a decision has been made on your your application. When the faculty decision has been made we will also notify the Graduate School.

Notifications form the Graduate School:

The Graduate School will notify you when the "Graduate School" application is complete or if additional information is needed. In addition, the Graduate School Admissions Office is responsible for sending you official notice of the faculty decision.

Accepting/Declining the Offer of Admissions to the Department:

We ask that you notify us in writing as soon as you make your decision to attend or not attend our program. You may do so by email in addition to submitting the Graduate School Enrollment Form (see below). The deadline to notify us is April 15, 2010.

Accepting/Declining of Offer of Admissions to the Graduate School:

Complete the Graduate School Enrollment Form. The form can be found at
http://www.grad.umn.edu/prospective_students?apply_online.html