Graduate Admissions

Thank you for your interest in mathematics graduate study at the University of Virginia. We hope you will decide to apply. The deadline for application is JANUARY 15.

Application Checklist:

  1. Application;
  2. Statement of purpose;
  3. 2 or 3 letters of recommendation;
  4. Unofficial transcript;
  5. $85 application fee;
  6. TOEFL score for international students (see here). In exceptional circumstances, it might be possible to replace TOEFL with an in-person / video interview with UVA faculty.

Criteria for Admission

Please note that Department of Mathematics does not normally admit students seeking only a Masters degree; we are primarily a PhD program.

In making its decisions about admission and financial aid, the Department is first and foremost looking for students that we feel will flourish in our program. To determine if a student will be successful, the Department pays close attention to the overall undergraduate record, letters of recommendation, and the student's personal statement.

Regarding the undergraduate record, the rigor of the applicant's mathematics program is an important factor; a good grounding in real analysis (as in our MATH 4310 and MATH 4330 ), algebra (as in MATH 4651 and MATH 4652 ), general topology (as in MATH 5700 ), and complex analysis (as in MATH 3340 ) is ideal. Applicants may or may not choose to include unofficial GRE Mathematics Subject scores. Applications that do not include GRE Mathematics Subject scores will not be penalized in any way.

Research areas

Students occasionally arrive with an area of interest in mind, planning to work with a specific research group: this is quite common for international students. Foreign applicants are particularly encouraged to contact our faculty about their specific mathematical interests.

Students interested in our program in the history of mathematics should contact Professor Karen Parshall for admission prerequisites.

Finally, we are looking for enthusiasm for mathematics in all its depth and beauty!


International Students

As the University's most international department, we welcome applications from foreign students!

The following websites for international students should be helpful:

New teaching assistants whose first language is not English have their spoken English proficiency evaluated by the International Students Office and Teaching Resource Center. This test is similar to ETS's Test of Spoken English (TSE), and students who have taken the TSE, and have a high enough score, can be exempted from this evaluation.


Contact Information

Graduate School of Arts and Sciences

P. O. Box 400775
University of Virginia
Charlottesville, Virginia 22904-4775
e-mail: gsas.admission@virginia.edu
Telephone (434) 924-7184 (TDD: (434) 982-HEAR)

Admissions, Department of Mathematics

P. O. Box 400137
University of Virginia
Charlottesville, Virginia 22904-4137
e-mail: Andrei Rapinchuk
Telephone: (434) 924-4918 (TDD: (434) 982-HEAR)