Physics, Astronomy and Meteorology

Graduate Application Information

Admission Requirements

For admission to the M.A. program, a student must have received an earned bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university with a combined undergraduate GPA of at least 2.5 and:

  1. A minimum of 45 semester hours in the sciences and mathematics, including 6 – 8 semester hours in three of the following disciplines: astronomy, biology, chemistry, computer sciences, earth sciences, geology, mathematics, meteorology, oceanography and physics. Deficiencies may be rectified by taking undergraduate courses while taking graduate course work, or;
  2. students must receive written permission from the physics, astronomy and meteorological graduate
    committee.

If the cumulative undergraduate GPA is below 2.5, the applicant may submit Graduate Record Examination (GRE) scores (the general plus one advanced in mathematics or physics) in support of his or her application. In that case, both the undergraduate record and GRE scores will be taken into consideration for admission into the program.

Degree Requirements

Requirements for the degree of M.A. in Earth and Planetary Sciences include:

  1. Cumulative GPA or 3.0 or better, and;
  2. A minimum of 24 semester hours of course work, and;
  3. Capstone experience:
    1. Six semester hours of independent thesis research. The thesis must be approved by the graduate committee and the graduate program coordinator and the director of university admissions.
      Thesis students must also pass a thesis defense, or;
    2. Six semester hours of education (ED 500 and another ED 500-level course#) for students who meet the admissions requirements of the education department. All non-thesis students must pass a comprehensive examination.

* Acceptable 500-level ED courses include:

  • ED 530 Curriculum of the Secondary School
  • ED 532 Computer Literacy in Education
  • ED 556 Curriculum Development using the Internet