Updated: November 8, 2023

Thank you for your interest in the graduate program in physics at Case
Western Reserve University. Below please find some general information
that we relay to potential applicants who have expressed interest in
our Ph.D. graduate program in physics. We believe the points covered in
this email will address most email questions we get from interested
students.  If you have further questions please do not hesitate to
contact me, Corbin Covault, Chair, Department of Physics, at
this email address: phys-grad-program@case.edu

1.  WHERE TO APPLY:

To be considered for admission into the CWRU Ph.D.
and/or MS program please apply to the CWRU School of Graduate Studies:
(SGS).  You must apply online.  See https://applygrad.case.edu/apply/.

2. APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS:

Application Requirements: There are two essential eligibility
requirements for application to the Ph.D. program in physics at CWRU

— Applicants MUST have (or should expect to soon receive) a
Bachelor’s degree in Physics or a Closely Related Field.

— Applicants MUST have an average academic record GPA corresponding
to a B average or better (3.0 out of 4.0) or better.

— Applicants MUST be proficient English speakers.

Note that a “Closely Related Field” means closely related. Examples of
closely related fields include astronomy and astrophysics,
mathematical physics, applied physics, and engineering physics.
Students with undergraduate degrees in other areas of science,
engineering and/or mathematics would only be eligible if they applied
also with substantial preparatory coursework in the standard upper level
undergraduate physics subjects such as (1) Quantum mechanics, (2)
Electricity and magnetism, (3) statistical mechanics and
thermodynamics, and (4) upper-level classical mechanics.  Students who
do not already have the “functional equivalent” of an undergraduate
degree in physics with upper-level coursework in all four areas are
not likely to be considered for our graduate program.

All applicants MUST arrange to have three letters of recommendation
submitted via the online application system.  Until and unless we
receive three letters, we cannot consider or process your application.

In terms of academic records, we need to see all of your undergraduate
transcripts and any graduate transcripts.  We need to see everything.
See more below on transcripts.

CWRU will accept any of three forms of evidence for your English language proficiency.

• If you are from an English-speaking country, or studied in an English-speaking country
• If the “primary language of instruction” of your degree was English, we will accept this for the purpose of the application and provisional admission, but the University will ask for confirmation paperwork before you can enroll 
• For international applicants who have learned English as a second
  language, scores for one of IELTS, TOEFL or PTE MUST be submitted.
  The minimum IELTS score for admission consideration is 7.0. The
  minimum TOEFL score is 90, if internet-based (iBT) and 577 if
  paper-based.  The minimum score for PTE is 61.

Note that there is unfortunately currently NO MECHANISM for accepting
any student directly into the physics program who does not meet
minimum IELTS/TOEFL/PTE scores boundaries as indicated.  No official
admissions offer for any graduate position will be made until and
unless we received official documentation verifying a passing score on
IELTS, TOEFL or PTE.  There is no flexibility on this point.

Institution Code: Please ask ETS to send TOEFL scores via Institution
Code 1105.  Do NOT use a “department code.”  There is no “Inquiry
Code” required for Physics.

 Please note that it is the CWRU School of Graduate Studies (SGS) and not the Department of Physics that has authority and responsibility for assessing and
approving petitions to waive English proficiency tests.

3.  WHERE SHOULD I SEND OFFICIAL MATERIALS?

NO official transcripts are required by SGS until after admission and then they should be mailed to Grad Studies – not the physics department.

4.  WHERE SHOULD I SEND UNOFFICIAL MATERIALS?

Unofficial copies need to go through the application system and should not be directly sent to the physics department.  SGS does not require official documents for admission.  Only after admission, and if the applicant decides to come, will official documents be requested.

5.  WHAT ABOUT APPLICATION FEES?

CWRU Physics is seeking applicants from all socioeconomic backgrounds and will charge NO fees to applicants with higher GPAs. Applicants with lower GPAs are welcome to apply but will be charged a $50 application fee by CWRU.  All applications are read completely and holistically; these are not cutoffs for admissions, just for fee waivers.

We have adjusted the fee waiver threshhold differently depending on your indicated subfield of interest.

• Condensed matter experiment (Berezovsky, Gao, Kash) will grant a fee waiver to applicants with GPA > 3.25
• Condensed matter theory (Lambrecht, Zhang, Mathur) will grant a fee waiver to applicants with GPA > 3.5
• Theoretical particle astrophysics and cosmology (Fileviez Perez, Hinterbichler, Starkman, Mathur) will grant a fee waiver to applicants with GPA > 3.5
• Medical imaging (Brown, Martens) will grant a fee waiver to applicants with GPA > 3.5

All applicants with GPA > 3.0 will be granted fee waivers if applying for:

• Experimental particle astrophysics and cosmology (Covault, Monreal, Nagy, Ruhl, Zehavi)
• Experimental biophysics (Kisley, Freeman)
• Theoretical biophysics (Hinczewski)

Department staff will inspect your application-in-progress to confirm that you qualify for the fee waiver.   To make this possible, we ask all applicants to complete the Academic History section of the application form, and to enter their GPAs on 4.0 scales.  The free WES iGPA calculator will be necessary if your schools used non-4.0 GPA scales.  

6.  IS THE GRE EXAM REQUIRED?

 

7.  I’VE SUBMITTED MY APPLICATION BUT I AM NOT SURE IT IS COMPLETE.

Concerns Regarding Completeness of Applications: The CWRU School of
Graduate Studies (SGS) provides an online mechanism for applicants to
check the status of their application.  However, updates to this
status are NOT fully automated and may not reflect materials already
received directly.  All materials should go through the application system.  In
particular, the Physics Department does not comprehensively review
application portfolios for completeness before the January 5th deadline
(as we are waiting for letters to come in, for example). Based on past
experience, it may take two or three weeks beyond the date of
materials for the SGS online status report to show that an applicant’s
materials are complete.

Applicants should rest assured that we check applications for
completeness and if important items are found missing, the applicant
will be notified personally and directly by the department.  This
means that if you have not heard from our department regarding any
missing items, you can very likely safely assume that your
application is complete and that no further action is needed. If
something is missing that we need, we will contact you generally by
email. For applicants who have some specific concerns regarding the
late and/or missing arrival of materials, particularly regarding
letters, exam scores and/or transcripts, they can contact Valerie Price
by email: valerie.price@case.edu.

8. ADMISSIONS ADVICE FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

Prospective applicants sometimes write emails to me and/or our
department to ask if admission is likely prior based on grades, exam
scores, research experience, CVs, etc.  Unfortunately, we cannot
predict how likely any given student’s applicant is to receive an
offer of admission before we receive a complete application.  At CWRU,
we consider each and every application in detail on a case-by-case
basis.  Our program is selective, but outside of the minimum
application requirements indicated above, there are no “cut-offs” for
grades or test scores that correspond either to automatic rejection
and/or automatic acceptance into our graduate program.  In particular,
strong letters of recommendation, personal application statements, and
potential promise in research are all considered carefully for each
admission decision, along with grades, test scores, and all-around
academic performance.  Therefore, the CWRU Physics Department
warmly encourages all potential applicants who have a serious interest
in our program to apply.  Again, we remind you: for international
students, there is no application fee.  The best way to find out if you
are likely to be admitted is to simply apply.

9.  FINANCIAL SUPPORT

Please note that as a rule, ALL offers of admission to our Ph.D. graduate
program in physics will include at least one year of full support that includes
stipend, health insurance, and tuition, which is associated with either a Teaching
Assistantship (TA) or (on rare occasions) a Research Assistantship (RA)
assignment.  CWRU Physics does NOT admit students into our Ph.D. program
without also offering financial support for stipend and tuition.  Also,
we do NOT admit students into our Ph.D. program unless we believe that
the student has good prospects for success in our graduate program with a
likelihood of continued support as an RA or TA beyond the first year.
Students who have third-party fellowship and/or home country
fellowship support are also encouraged to apply.  In a nutshell, if
you are admitted to our Ph.D. program, you will arrive with financial
support and we never admit anyone in the Ph.D. program without also
offering financial support.

We also encourage students to consider applying to our Master’s
Program (MS, Physics). The master’s program is a 30 credit hour
degree program that can be completed in less than two years and
includes fundamentals of graduate coursework and opportunities for
research. However, the physics department generally offers no financial
support for students in our Master’s program — no stipend, no tuition
support. This means that students applying to our master’s program
should have the resources to cover tuition costs and costs of living
for at least three semesters. Admission standards for the master’s
program are similar to those for the Ph.D. — but less rigorous.  The
master’s degree program is designed to be completed within three
semesters.  Students applying to our master’s program are especially
encouraged to describe how a master’s degree would benefit their
overall academic and career plans in their personal statements.

10.  WHAT ARE THE RESEARCH SPECIALTIES IN YOUR DEPARTMENT?

Research Specialties: Applicants are in particular encouraged to
explore the research program described on the CWRU website and
reflect in their application on potential overlap between their own
likely research interests and those of faculty groups in the
department.  See:

Research