How to Apply Graduate Program Home Page

For general information about our Admission Requirements:

For International Applicants there are some additional requirements: There are two different ways to apply: If you choose the On-Line Application, you will need to pay the application fee using Visa or Mastercard, and have an up-to-date version of Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Internet Explorer. There are also some other forms, e.g. for letters of recommendation, which you can download in PDF format. If you choose to make an old fashioned Postal Application, you can download and print all the forms from this page in PDF format. To view and print PDF format files, you can dowload the free Adobe Acrobat Reader here.

Admission Requirements Back to top

Admission to the Mathematics Department at the University of Oregon is a competitive process. We choose the best applicants based on your overall college GPA (grade point average), your transcripts, your general and subject GRE scores, and the information contained in your letters of recommendation. In a typical year, we admit 15-20 new students. The majority of these are supported by Graduate Teaching Fellowships for which there is a separate application form. If in doubt, we recommend that you apply initially to the Doctoral degree program, rather than the Master's degree program, since it is easy to switch from the pre-PhD program to the Master's program but not vice versa.

The minimum requirement to be considered for admission is a bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university in the U.S. or its equivalent from a foreign institution, and an overall GPA of 3.0 (B) in your most recent two years of study. To have a realistic chance of completing a graduate degree program in mathematics, you should have received grades of at least 3.5 (A-/B+) in most of your mathematics courses. Your undergraduate degree does not have to be as a math major, though it usually is. In particular, we expect applicants to have taken at least one year of upper-division mathematics courses. At the very least, every entering mathematics graduate student should be thoroughly familiar with the following subjects:

For more information about the University's requirements for admission to graduate school, see the UO Graduate Admissions web page.

International Students Back to top

We strongly encourage International Students to apply to our program! International Students are usually supported by Graduate Teaching Fellowships in exactly the same way as US students. There are however a few extra requirements before you can be admitted. Further information about these requirements can be found on the Graduate School's Information for International Applicants web page. Some other frequently asked questions are answered here.

Note the application fee can be deferred for international students from Bangladesh, Ghana, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal, and a few other countries with approval from the Director Martha Pitts or the Assistant Director Fumiko Breest of the Office of Admissions.

Most international students attending the University of Oregon enter the country with an F-1 student visa. In order to obtain this visa, you need to complete and submit an International Student Financial Statement together with supporting financial documents and bank statements along with the rest of your application. You may count your GTF salary and the tuition waiver as part of this statement. The financial statement allows the Office of Admissions to verify the availability of sufficient financial support for non-immigrant students, according to U.S. Government regulations.

If we decide to admit you as a student, and the Office of Admissions is satisfied that you meet all other requirements, you will be issued a Certificate of Eligibility (Form I-20). Upon receipt of this form, you should contact the US embassy or consulate in your country to find out about their procedures for applying for the F-1 visa. You should allow about 3 months for this process to be on the safe side, though you may be able to speed things up considerably by visiting your US embassy or consulate in person (depending on local regulations).

The Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) examination is required from all international applicants unless one of the specific exceptions stated below is met. No waivers from this English proficiency examination requirement may be given. The Department of Mathematics requires a score of at least 600 on the written test or 250 on the computer-based test for admission. The following are exempt from the proof of English language proficiency:

Non-native speakers of English who wish to be considered for Graduate Teaching Fellowships must also submit a score for the Test of Spoken English (TSE) or the Speaking Proficiency English Assessment Kit (SPEAK). The TSE is available at many TOEFL testing sites. You need a score of at least 50 on one of these tests. You should submit your TSE score to the Department of Mathematics along with the rest of your application documents, since this is an important factor when we decide to award Graduate Teaching Fellowships. Occasionally, we will admit a student who has not yet taken the TSE, in which case the student will need to take the SPEAK test administered at the American English Institute at the University of Oregon, and submit the scores to the Graduate School prior to the first term of appointment.

NOTE: In the light of recent security breaches, we prefer it if you take the written rather than the computer-based version of the GRE and TOEFL tests, but we are prepared consider applicants who have taken the computer version providing their application is fully supported by letters of recommendation and transcripts.

On-Line Application Back to top

Applications for Fall Quarter 2005 must be received no later than 1 March 2005; applications for Fall Quarter 2006 must be received no later than 1 March 2006.
For late applications, please contact the director of graduate studies directly to see if we still have positions available before you apply. You should also contact us in advance if you wish to apply for Winter or Spring rather than Fall, since this is something we are prepared to consider only under exceptional circumstances.

You can download printable versions of the various additional forms you will need from these links:

Alternatively, you can request hard copies of the forms to be mailed to you by contacting our graduate secretary, Judy Perkins.

Application Procedure

1. Complete the On-Line Application Form. When finished, you will be instructed to pay the non-refundable $50 application fee using either Visa or Mastercard.

2. Submit official transcripts of all previous undergraduate and graduate study (except those from the University of Oregon) to both the Office of Admissions and the Department of Mathematics at the addresses below:

If your official transcripts are in a language other than English, you will need to supply an official English translation of your transcripts, in addition to the originals.

3. If you wish to apply for a Graduate Teaching Fellowship, you should also submit a hard copy of the GTF Application Form directly to the Department of Mathematics at the above address.

4. Arrange for letters of recommendation (using hard copies of the Report on Graduate Applicant Form) from three people you select who best know your academic qualifications to be mailed directly by them to the Department of Mathematics at the above address.

5. Arrange for your scores on the GRE general and subject tests to be sent directly to the Department of Mathematics. To do this, you need to know that our institutional code is 4846 and our departmental code is 0703.

Additional Procedure for International Students

6. If you are an international student, you must also submit a hard copy of the International Student Financial Statement directly to the Office of Admissions at the above address.

7. If you are an international student whose native language is not English, you must also submit a TOEFL score of at least 600 (250) to both the Department of Mathematics and to the Office of Admissions. If you wish to be considered for a Graduate Teaching Fellowship, you must also submit a TSE score of at least 50 to the Department of Mathematics.

What happens next

As soon as we have received your application, you will be e-mailed a password and ID number which allows you to monitor the progress of your application. The address for that is

The appointments committee starts reviewing completed applications in February, with final decisions about offers made usually in early to mid March.

Postal Application Back to top

Applications for Fall Quarter 2005 must be received no later than 1 March 2005; applications for Fall Quarter 2006 must be received no later than 1 March 2006.
For late applications, please contact the director of graduate studies directly to see if we still have positions available before you apply. You should also contact us in advance if you wish to apply for Winter or Spring rather than Fall, since this is something we are prepared to consider only under exceptional circumstances.

You can download printable versions of the various forms from these links:

Alternatively, you can request hard copies of the forms to be mailed to you by contacting our graduate secretary, Judy Perkins.

Application Procedure

1. Print three copies and submit two copies of the Application Form, a $50 non-refundable application fee made payable to the University of Oregon, and official transcripts of all previous undergraduate and graduate study (except those from the University of Oregon) to:

If your official transcripts are in a language other than English, you will need to supply an official English translation of your transcripts, in addition to the originals.

2. Submit the third copy of the Application Form together with all Official Transcripts (except those from the University of Oregon) to:

3. If you wish to apply for a Graduate Teaching Fellowship, you should also submit the GTF Application Form directly to the Department of Mathematics at the above address.

4. Arrange for letters of recommendation (using the Report on Graduate Applicant Form) from three people you select who best know your academic qualifications to be mailed directly by them to the Department of Mathematics at the above address.

5. Arrange for your scores on the GRE general and subject tests to be sent directly to the Department of Mathematics. To do this, you need to know that our institutional code is 4846 and our departmental code is 0703.

Additional Procedure for International Students

6. If you are an international student, you must also submit the International Student Financial Statement directly to the Office of Admissions at the above address.

7. If you are an international student whose native language is not English, you must also submit a TOEFL score of at least 600 (250) to both the Department of Mathematics and to the Office of Admissions. If you wish to be considered for a Graduate Teaching Fellowship, you must also submit a TSE score of at least 50 to the Department of Mathematics.

What happens next

As soon as we have received your application, you will be e-mailed a password and ID number which allows you to monitor the progress of your application. The address for that is

The appointments committee starts reviewing completed applications in February, with final decisions about offers made usually in early to mid March.