Frequently Asked Questions

You may check your status page and view which items have been received and which items the Graduate Office is still waiting to receive.

The Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry does not use GREs in our evaluation process.  Applicants do not need to take the GRE exam or report GRE scores to be considered for PhD, MS or MA admission.

We do have students with biology, physics, and engineering backgrounds but we want to be sure that the student has the academic background to succeed in our coursework. If the prospective student does not have undergraduate classes in chemistry, the chance of their being admitted is smaller. If there is any other evidence of this proficiency, we will take it in to consideration.

At this time we are not offering any fee waivers.

All full-time Ph.D. students who are cleared to TA receive a generous stipend and tuition waiver​.

Graduate Student Support

Our priority deadline for evaluation of applications is December 15. Applications will continue to be reviewed through March 20.

We do have spring admission; however, the number of available positions is limited.

Our priority deadline for evaluation of applications is August 31. Applications will continue to be reviewed through September 30.​

The University of Delaware’s graduate programs have moved toward exclusive use of electronic recommendation submissions. Exceptions can only be authorized by a direct communication from the Department. We cannot accept any third-party recommendation service or any individual letters already in the applicant’s possession.

For exceptions, recommenders should contact Lars Gundlach at chem-grad@udel.edu

No financial support is available and most of the part-time graduate students are supported by their employers. Attending only evening classes would not be possible in our department. However, if you can attend the seminar series that start at 4 pm (Monday, Wednesday, or Friday, depending on the division), there are some possibilities for taking graduate-level classes in the evening to fulfill all the requirements over a longer period of time than that for full-time students.

The University of Delaware requires a minimum score of 550 (paper) or 79 (IBT) to be considered for admission to graduate studies. Applicants meeting this minimum criteria will be considered by the department, but preference will be given to applicants with scores of 600 (paper) or 100 (IBT), or higher. TOEFL scores alone do not guarantee admission, applications are considered in their entirety.

• The minimum TOEFL ibt is 79 and this is equal to an IELTS (International English Language Testing System) score of 6.5 overall with no individual Speaking sub-score below 6.
• Other questions about TOEFL / IELTS equivalencies can be answered on the TOEFL website.
• The same policies for the TOEFL above are relevant for IELTS.
• IELTS scores can be sent electronically or by hard copy to the University of Delaware Office of Graduate Admissions (please do not mail to the department):

Electronic Address: 108 Computing Center, S Chapel Street, 19716