• PhD Admissions for Fall 2012 admission is January 18.
• MS Admissions for Fall 2012 is January 18. UC San Diego students applying have until second week of May.
• MS Admissions for Winter & Spring are only available to UCSD students, deadline is second week of the quarter before.
• JDP applicants are nominated by San Diego State University Chemistry Admissions Committee in June.

• A UCSD application. UCSD currently utilizes a Web-based application to apply for graduate study. You may work on your application a bit at a time, and then submit it once it is complete. The site is secure, and your application information and credit card payment will remain confidential. Please use the UCSD Office of Graduate Studies (OGS) Web page as your starting point once you are ready to apply.
• Three letters of recommendation. The forms for the letters as well as waiver forms to accompany them are available in online application.
• Statement of purpose. Please upload a PDF in your online application.
• Transcripts. Please upload a copy of your transcripts in your online application.
• GRE general exam score report. All applicants must provide official GRE general test scores (verbal, quantitative and analytical) from ETS.
• GRE advanced exam score report. All applicants must provide official GRE advanced test scores in either Chemistry or Biochemistry.
• Foreign applicants must submit the official report of their TOEFL or TSE scores. TWE scores are optional but encouraged.
• Optional. Please send copies of any research publications or abstracts you have authored or co-authored.  

Supplemental forms and application instructions

• Transcripts (minimum average grade of B, a 3.0 average on 4.0 scale, required)
• Quality of the undergraduate and master's (if applicable) university
• Research experience and any publications (very important!)
• Letters of recommendation (especially from research mentor)
• GRE scores on general test (verbal, quantitative, and analytical sections; no hard cut-off)
• GRE advanced test score (either chemistry or biochemistry required; no hard cut-off)
• TOEFL score (minimum of either a score of 79 on the iBT, 220 on the computer-based, or 550 on the paper-based. Test date within the past two years)
• Statement of purpose (research interests and reason for applying)
• Competitiveness of the applicant pool

• Research opportunities in all areas of contemporary and traditional chemical and biochemical sciences. Research is conducted in modern laboratories, and the facilities and equipment are first-rate.
• A doctoral program designed to accommodate individual interests. Students begin their research in the first year, and most finish in their fifth year.
• Full financial support, including an annual stipend including fees and out-of-state tuition for PhD students and are in good academic standing.
• Interactions and possible collaborations with local and national industry.
• Student housing for a large percentage of the UCSD graduate population.
• Campus resources and organizations for mind, body, and spirit.

UC San Diego is at the center of a vibrant and thriving scientific community located on the Torrey Pines Mesa. Our campus houses over 32 graduate programs, the Scripps Institute of Oceanography, the Howard Hughes Institute, a School of Medicine, and the San Diego Supercomputer Center. Our neighbors on the mesa include the Salk Institute, the Burnham Institute, The Scripps Research Institute, and a biotechnological park C&E News calls Eden. There are many more institutions in the area. With all of this scientific research going on, it fuels a lot of collaborations.

Only U.S. citizens or U.S. permanent residents may request a waiver of the application fee. Fee waivers or fee reductions are based solely on financial need. Applicants need to contact the Office of Graduate Studies (OGS) at GradAdmissions@ucsd.edu for such requests. Our department does not review requests for fee waivers or reductions. UCSD requires that all foreign applicants pay the full application fee. There are no waivers or reductions available for foreign applicants. In accordance with the UCSD policy, our Admissions Committee does not review a file until the fee has been paid or has been waived by OGS.

Beginning in December we expect to begin emailing applicants whether we have all materials for their files. Our Admissions Committee reviews files continuously from November through April, and applicants are notified by email as decisions are made. If you have not heard from us, your file is still pending a final decision. You can check on your application status at: https://gradreview.ucsd.edu/prospect_student/apps_status.cfm Please be sure to update your email and mailing addresses on the official graduate application site, should they change.

• PhD, MS, and JDP applicants are eligible to start the program in the Fall
• MS applicants that are UC San Diego undergrads are eligible for Fall, Winter, or Spring

• The Institution Code is 4836
• The Department Code for the GRE and Subject GRE is 0301
• The Department Code for the TOEFL exam is 62

If you put down a different Department Code then it is ok. All of the scores are sent to a central office. Best practice to check with us if they have not arrived by expected time of arrival.

Yes you can apply to our PhD program even if you have not taken the subject GRE test as our Graduate Admissions Committee made up of a select few of our faculty, do look at the whole application. I would like to let you know, that generally our committee like to see a complete application, as they would like to get a better overall picture of the applicant. If you are accepted into the program, this does NOT waive your requirement of taking the Subject GRE exam & submitting results eventually.

The Subject GRE is not required for MS admissions.

Yes, we do accept other forms of the language exam like the IELTS. Just remember that we like to see a score of 79 and above on the TOEFL iBT test. Please visit the ETS website to see the equivalencies.