Informal Application Deadlines: January 5, 2010 for Financial Aid, February 12, 2010 - Final (by Midnight PST)

Formal Application Deadlines: January 12, 2010 for Financial Aid, February 26, 2010 - Final (by Midnight PST)

To be admitted to graduate status, the basic requirement is a bachelor's degree or its equivalent from an accredited institution, with a major appropriate to the proposed graduate program and a grade point average or equivalent of a 3.0 or above. Applications are considered as received. For consideration for our top fellowships and financial support, complete applications must be received by January 12, 2010. The final application deadline for Fall 2010 is May 1, 2010. International students whose native language is not English are required to take the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). Required TOEFL scores for admission are 550 Paper-Based Test (PBT), 213 Computer-Based Test (CBT), 80 Internet-Based Test (IBT) or IELTS (International English Language Testing System) Overall Band score of 7 or higher (if applicable).

The UCSB Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry graduate admissions committee asks that all interested international students submit an informal application. The informal application will assess the strength of a candidate. If the candidate is considered to be strong enough, and if there is interest expressed by a faculty member and a willingness to provide the financial assistance, then the applicant will be asked to submit a formal application for admission to the graduate program. In this manner, applicants do not have to pay an application fee, and the academic strength of an applicant can be assessed by the admissions committee and all faculty who may be interested in the applicant.

1. From the Graduate Division website, print two copies of the Statement of Purpose Coversheet. Complete these forms and mail with two copies of your Statement of Purpose to the address listed below.
2. Have two official transcripts sent from all Colleges and Universities attended to the address listed below.
3. From the Graduate Division website, print three copies of the Letter of Recommendation Coversheet. Give the Letter of Recommendation Coversheets to your recommenders and request that the coversheets be sent with your letters of recommendation to the address listed below. Hard copies of three letters of recommendation must be submitted.
4. Send a copy of your GRE score report from the Educational Testing Service (ETS) to the address listed below. Only the GRE general exam is required for admission, the Chemistry Subject Test is recommended, but not required.
5. Send a copy of your TOEFL score report to the address listed below.

Send Application Materials to:

Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry
Attn: Graduate Program Assistant
Physical Science Building North 1631
University of California
Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9510

Faculty Sponsor Required for International Applicants
For the formal application a UCSB Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry faculty sponsor is required. Please visit our faculty research area to learn about our faculty's research. Once you have submitted your informal application and when you have found a research group whose interests match yours, contact the lead faculty member via electronic or postal mail and ask the faculty member to review your informal application and serve as your faculty sponsor for the formal application process.

If a Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry faculty member is willing to serve as your faculty sponsor for your formal application please ask him/her to send an email to the Graduate Program Assistant (gradprog@chem.ucsb.edu) indicating formal support of your application. Once the Graduate Program Assistant is contacted by your faculty sponsor, our departmental staff will contact you to initiate the formal application process. You may also email us and notify us of whom your faculty sponsor will be and we will confirm with the faculty member. Do not submit a formal (online) application without an UCSB Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry faculty sponsor.