Prospective Students

UAF students comprise a diverse group who ultimately seek and obtain careers in economic geology, petroleum industry, or continue their education in graduate school, and seek careers in academia. Our undergraduate BS Geoscience degree offers four different options: Geology, Paleontology, Geospatial sciences, and Geophysics.

The link below provides information and perspectives about seeking a masters degree, crafted by graduate student Meika Jensen, shared with us by the UAF Graduate School:

Undergraduate Admissions

Interested prospective undergraduate students should apply through the UAF Admissions office, following the standard Undergraduate application procedures. Undergraduate students can then select the appropriate degree program and declare the appropriate Geosciences major or minor. To see the many benefits that the Department of Geosciences offers its undergraduates, and for more information about our degree programs, click the link below .

Undergraduate programs

For more information about applying to UAF for your undergraduate degree, please see the UAF Admissions website for more information:

UAF Admissions

Graduate Admissions

Prospective students are encouraged to contact department faculty whose research interests match their own.

Admission to our graduate program is restricted on the basis of:

  1. Meeting the admissions requirements for the appropriate degree program
    1. Geology
      -- complete a background at least to the level of a B.S. concentration in geology, geophysics or earth science
    2. Geophysics
      -- complete a background at least to the level of a B.S. concentration in geology, geophysics or an appropriate physical science or engineering and complete MATH F302, MATH F314, MATH F421 and PHY F220 or equivalent
  2. A 3.0 minimum undergraduate cumulative GPA (grade point average).
  3. Faculty interest and availability of funding.
  4. Completion and submission of all required application materials

For more information, please see our Degree Programs page!

Application deadline for admittance into the fall semester is January 15

Steps to take when applying for our graduate program

  1. Apply to UAF through the Office of Admissions

    A formal application for admission to graduate school, along with the application fee You may apply online at UAOnline or apply with Office of Admissions. Please click the following link for more information:

    UAF Graduate School, prospective students

  2. Make contact with the Department of Geosciences

    Send an e-mail to: uaf-geosciences@alaska.edu and let the Department know that you have applied to the Graduate School for the upcoming semester. Please list your name, contact e-mail address, and what program you have applied for. This will aid the Department in assisting you through the application process. Remember, those applications that are completed first will usually be the first to be looked at by the application review committee.

  3. Complete and return the following documents
    • Preliminary Summary Form (see pdf below - this can be downloaded and printed, or completed electronically and emailed).
    • Statement of interest: an essay describing your interests and goals for study in geology/geophysics at UAF (see Preliminary Summary form). We recognize that your career goals may not be well defined at this point, but do your best. This will help us understand your expectations of a graduate program as well as to evaluate our ability to support your interests.
    • Resume
    • Official transcripts of previous academic work from each college you attended. Note that "official" means that the transcripts will be sent from the university itself or given to you  in a sealed envelope, and not opened until they are received here.
    • Three letters of recommendation from appropriate references, along with the UAF evaluation form (see pdf below - this can be downloaded and printed, or completed electronically and emailed).
    • Official GRE **In September 2020 the department made the decision to remove this requirement as it's been shown to reduce the diversity of applicants and is not a good indicator for graduate school success. Other metrics will be utilized to determine academic suitability for our programs**

    All of these documents need to be sent to: Office of Admissions, University of Alaska Fairbanks , P. O. Box 757480, Fairbanks , Alaska 99775-7480 or emailed to: uaf-admissions@alaska.edu.   

    Preliminary Summary (PDF) - Explanation and instructions for the preliminary summary sheet.

     

  4. Information for international applicants only

    All of these documents need to be sent to: Office of Admissions, University of Alaska Fairbanks , P. O. Box 757480, Fairbanks, Alaska 99775-7480.

For additional information about international student application process, please visit the following website:

UAF Graduate School, international student information