Foreign students from non-English speaking countries are required to demonstrate proficiency in English via the TOEFL/IELTS exam.

The minimum TOEFL score required is 85 for Internet based (iBT) and the minimum TOEFL Speaking score required is 23. The minimum International English Language Testing System (IELTS) score required is Band Score 7 and the minimum IELTS Speaking score required is 7. The Test for Spoken English (TSE) is highly recommended.

International Students whose native language is not English will be required to demonstrate English language proficiency before they may serve as teaching assistants.

TOEFL iBT Special Home Edition and IELTS Indicator

Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, UC San Diego will be accepting the TOEFL iBT Special Home Edition test scores and IELTS Indicator test scores for the 2024-2025 academic cycle. Applicants that do not have in-person testing options may submit the home edition scores as an alternative.

The university-wide minimum score for the TOEFL iBT Special Home Edition is the same as the in-person TOEFL iBT minimum. Information regarding the TOFEL iBT Special Home Edition can be found on the ETS Website.

The university-wide minimum score for the IELTS Indicator is the same as the in-person IELTS minimum. Information regarding the IELTS Indicator can be found on the IELTS website.

The General GRE will not be used in our admission decisions. However, we recommend that PhD applicants take the Physics GRE subject test and submit the score with their application. If you are unable to take the Physics GRE subject test, we will still fully evaluate your application. All applications are evaluated holistically to assess an applicant’s preparation and potential for graduate coursework and independent research, which can be demonstrated in multiple ways.

No application will be penalized or placed at a disadvantage by not reporting Physics or General GRE scores.

Graduate Division has created a new section to the application this year that gives applicants an opportunity to describe how COVID-19 has impacted their educational experience in relation to your academic performance, grading scale or research experience. For example: "For the spring semester, my university let us take two classes P/NP and I chose this because..." or "For the spring quarter, my college graded all classes as P/NP and we didn't have an option for a letter grade" or "For spring term, my lab was unavailable due to campus closure so I was unable to do experiments. Instead, I worked remotely on modelling related to my research project."

This section is optional, but applicants should complete this section so we can better understand their experiences.

Some topics to consider:

1. How did you pursue your goals for research and advanced study in Physics during the COVID-19 pandemic?
2. What grading system did your university adopt during the pandemic and how did this affect you?
3. Were there any classes you planned to take, or research activities you planned to pursue but were unable to due to campus restrictions? What did you do in lieu of these?

Entering students must take an entrance diagnostic exam on Undergraduate Physics the summer before they start in the program. The exam will cover mechanics, electricity & magnetism, quantum mechanics, statistical mechanics, & math methods. Students who are found to have serious weaknesses in preparation will be directed to enroll in appropriate undergraduate upper division courses.

There are a couple of fee waiver programs offered by the Division of Graduate Education and Postdoctoral Affairs (GEPA) and the Department of Physics.

Please visit the GEPA website (https://grad.ucsd.edu/admissions/requirements/application-fee-and-fee-waiver/index.html) to see if you are eligible for a fee waiver with them. Follow their steps to request for one of their fee waivers.

If you are not eligible for an application fee waiver through GEPA, then please follow the steps below to be considered for one of our limited number of fee waivers by our department.

• Please fill out the application as much as you can (https://connect.grad.ucsd.edu/apply/)
• Do not submit the application nor enter any payment information
• Take note of your application's reference number (you'll need that for the next step)
• Fill out our Fee Waiver Request Form
• The deadline to be considered for one of the department's application fee waivers is December 8, 2024.
• If selected for an application fee waiver, we will contact you with further instructions by December 13, 2024.