mit mathematics phd application

How to Apply

The BCS Doctoral Program is highly selective. We receive over 700 applications each year, and we typically enroll 15-20 new graduate students.

GRE scores are not required.

The final degree objective for all students in the program is the PhD (Doctor of Philosophy). Regardless of undergraduate major, applicants must have an outstanding academic record, particularly in mathematics and the sciences. Relevant research experience is also highly desirable. Students who were unable to obtain research experience at their undergraduate institution often work in research during summers or after graduation. An applicant's likelihood of admission cannot be estimated based on one or two criteria: the graduate admissions committee carefully reviews the entire application package (statement of objectives, recommendation letters, transcripts, etc.) to make admissions decisions. The tabs below will guide candidates through the admissions process. 

Steps in the admissions process

Applications to the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences Graduate Program must be completed online . Paper applications are not accepted. The application, unofficial transcripts, and letters of recommendation must be submitted by December 1 for admission the following September. Items received after the deadline will be added to your file. The Graduate Admissions Committee begins reviewing applications shortly after the deadline, so materials received late may not be reviewed.

The Office of Graduate Education (OGE) is offering graduate application fee waivers for US citizens and US permanent residents who demonstrate financial hardship, are current or former members of the United States Armed Forces, or who have participated in special fellowship programs, including MIT-sponsored diversity programs (e.g., MIT Summer Research Program, CONVERGE). Fee waivers are also available for prospective students the OGE has met during diversity recruitment events. International students attending US colleges and universities who have participated in MIT sponsored programs, such as CONVERGE or MSRP, are also eligible to apply for a fee waiver. More information and the fee waiver request form can be found  here .

The MIT Graduate Admissions page has information about all graduate programs at MIT (master's and doctoral), information for international students, and a grad student blog.

For more detailed information regarding the cost of attendance, including specific costs for tuition and fees, books and supplies, housing and food as well as transportation, please visit the SFS website .

We require one copy of transcript(s) from each university attended. Original, official transcripts are not required until after a student has been admitted. Official transcripts for admitted students should be sent to: 

Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences  Academic Office (Room 46-2005) Massachusetts Institute of Technology  77 Massachusetts Avenue  Cambridge, MA 02139-4307

Transcripts are verified upon receipt. Any discrepancy between uploaded and official transcript(s) will result in withdrawal of our admission offer.

Does the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences offer clinical, counseling, or social psychology? No, we do not offer studies in these areas.

Will I be notified about the status of my application? You will receive notification of application status within two weeks of the deadline. The only information you may view in our online system is confirmation of receipt of letters of recommendation.  

Do I have to complete the area of the application that asks about subjects taken? Yes, but only include relevant subjects. This section is designed to gather information not included on transcripts, such as textbooks used for particular courses. 

What if I completed a course that did not use a textbook or the textbook is unknown? In these cases, leave that area of the application blank. 

Are GRE scores required? No.

What are the requirements to demonstrate English language proficiency? Applicants who have received instruction in English in their primary and secondary schools and applicants who have been in the United States for four years or longer and have received a degree from an American institution are eligible for a waiver of the English proficiency exam requirement by sending a written request to [email protected] . Applicants who do not meet those requirements must take either the Test of English as a Foreign Language ( TOEFL ), the International English Language Testing System ( IELTS ), or the Duolingo English Test ( DET ).   In addition to the TOEFL/IELTS/DET, all students whose first language is not English are required to take the English Evaluation Test (EET) at MIT during the week prior to Registration Day. This examination is a diagnostic test whose purpose is to help students identify their strengths and weaknesses in written and oral English. English classes may be recommended as a result of the applicant’s EET score.   Do you accept old TOEFL/IELTS/DET scores? We follow the guidelines set by Educational Testing Service, IELTS, and DET, all of which state that scores are valid for two years.

Why can’t I choose cognitive neuroscience as a research area on my application?  If you enroll in our program, you will have opportunities for interdisciplinary studies in many areas, including cognitive neuroscience. On your application, please select either cognitive science or systems neuroscience, whichever category is more applicable to your area of interest.

Is it possible to send more than three letters of recommendation?  Yes, you can have up to 5 letters of recommendation sent.

When will I hear if I’m accepted?  Emails regarding final admissions decisions are typically sent in April.

The academic community prospers when talents from different backgrounds come together to solve scientific problems. Since 2019, the BCS Application Assistance Program (AAP) has been striving to narrow the information gap and share social capital in STEM.   The AAP is a volunteer-based, student-run initiative that allows current graduate students to offer support to and share personal experiences with prospective students during the graduate application process. AAP volunteers are happy to answer questions related to student life, career planning and graduate application. Our volunteers are enrolled in the BCS PhD program and working in labs in computational, molecular, systems, and cognitive research domains of the department. Each volunteer comes from a unique set of personal trajectory, training experience and cultural background, and therefore represents their own views rather than the stance of BCS as a department. Personal information shared with the AAP volunteers will not be shared outside of the group, or with BCS faculty.   Applicants may sign up for the AAP here starting Sept 1, 2023. Enrollment to the AAP closes on Nov 20, 2023 (i.e. a few days before the PhD program’s application deadline).

For additional information, or if you have questions, please email  [email protected] .

MIT Interdisciplinary Doctoral Program in Computational Science and Engineering

• CSE PhD Overview
• Dept-CSE PhD Overview
• CSE Doctoral Theses
• Program Overview and Curriculum
• For New CCSE Students
• Terms of Reference

MIT Interdisciplinary Doctoral Program in Computational Science and Engineering (Dept-CSE PhD)

• Dept-CSE PhD Program of Study Form   (version date 05Feb2024)
• Checklist for Dept-CSE PhD Students (version date 05Sep2023)

Dept-CSE PhD Participating Departments

The interdisciplinary doctoral program in Computational Science and Engineering ( CSE PhD + Engineering or Science ) at MIT allows enrolled students to specialize at the doctoral level in a computation-related field of their choice through focused coursework and a doctoral thesis. This program is offered through a number of participating departments, namely

• Civil and Environmental Engineering (Course 1) ,
• Mechanical Engineering (Course 2) ,
• Materials Science and Engineering (Course 3) ,
• Chemical Engineering (Course 10) ,
• Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences (Course 12) ,
• Aeronautics and Astronautics (Course 16) ,
• Mathematics (Course 18) ,
• Nuclear Science & Engineering (Course 22) .

Program Outline

Once admitted, doctoral degree candidates are expected to complete the host department’s degree requirements (including qualifying exam) with CSE deviations relating to coursework, thesis committee composition and thesis submission that are specific to the Dept-CSE program and are discussed in more detail below.

Academic Performance

Dept-CSE PhD students are required to complete at least five graduate-level subjects, totaling no less than 60 credit units*, in computational science and engineering selected from the approved list of Computational Concentration Subjects . Moreover, students may not use more than 12 units of credit from a “meets with undergraduate” subject to fulfill the CSE curriculum requirement.

In addition to departmental academic performance expectations, Dept-CSE students are expected to maintain a grade point average (GPA) of at least 4.5 (out of 5) in CSE subjects and an overall GPA of at least 4.2 (out of 5) during the course of their studies.

*ChemE-CSE students are required to complete at least four subjects in computational science and engineering, in addition to 10.34, for a total of no less than 57 credit units.

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

A complete description of the doctoral program in Civil and Environmental Engineering can be found at https://cee.mit.edu/resources/ . Deviations associated with the CEE-CSE degree (“1.CSD”) are as follows.

Coursework Requirements

The CEE-CSE doctoral program of study consists of at least five graduate-level subjects in computational science and engineering selected from the approved list of Computational Concentration Subjects . Subjects taken as part of an MIT SM degree can be counted toward this requirement. Doctoral candidates are normally expected to take their major subjects at the Institute. The specific subjects will depend on the student’s thesis topic and background, and will be approved by their thesis committee.

Thesis Committee Composition

The thesis committee composition requirements are identical to those of Course 1, with the additional requirement that that either the advisor be a CCSE member or the committee contain at least two CCSE members.

Thesis Submission

In addition to approval from the Chair of Course 1 Graduate Program Committee, the complete thesis needs to be submitted to and approved by CCSE. Students should provide a copy of the thesis title page to the CCSE academic administrator for review and approval prior to submitting the final thesis.

Thesis Fields

Course 1 will award degrees under the thesis fields “Civil Engineering and Computation” and “Environmental Engineering and Computation.”

Department of Mechanical Engineering

A complete description of the doctoral program in Mechanical Engineering can be found at http://meche.mit.edu/academic/graduate . Deviations associated with the CSE degree are as follows. MechE-CSE PhD candidates (“2.CSD”) are expected to pass the ME qualifying exam in Computational Engineering (present thesis in computational engineering and take computational engineering subject exam).

The MechE-CSE doctoral program of study consists of at least five graduate-level subjects in computational science and engineering selected from the approved list of Computational Concentration Subjects . Subjects taken as part of an MIT SM degree can be counted toward this requirement. Doctoral candidates are normally expected to take their major subjects at the Institute. The specific subjects will depend on the student’s thesis topic and background, and will be approved by their thesis committee.

The thesis committee composition requirements are identical to those of Course 2, with the additional requirement that  either the advisor be a CCSE member or the committee contain at least two CCSE members.

In addition to approval from the ME Graduate Officer, the complete thesis needs to be submitted to and approved by CCSE. Students should provide a copy of the thesis title page to the CCSE academic administrator for review and approval prior to submitting the final thesis.

Thesis Field

Course 2 will award degrees under the thesis field “Mechanical Engineering and Computation.”

Department of Materials Science and Engineering

A complete description of the graduate program in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering (DMSE) can be found via https://dmse.mit.edu/graduate/programs . Deviations associated with the DMSE-CSE degree (“3.CSD”) are as follows.

The DMSE-CSE doctoral program of study consists of at least five graduate subjects in computational science and engineering selected from the approved list of Computational Concentration Subjects . The CSE five-course requirement can be satisfied through courses that simultaneously satisfy the DMSE core, post-core electives, and/or minor requirements. CSE subjects that a student may have applied towards a MIT SM degree may also be applied towards a DMSE-CSE doctoral major field of study requirement. Doctoral candidates are normally expected to take their major subjects at the Institute. The specific subjects will depend on the student’s thesis topic and background, and will be approved by Thesis Committee.

The Thesis committee composition requirements are identical to those of DMSE, with the additional requirement that that either  the advisor be a CCSE member  or  the committee contain at least two CCSE members.

In addition to approval from the Chair of the Departmental Graduate Program Committee, the complete thesis needs to be submitted to and approved by CCSE. Students should provide a copy of the thesis title page to the CCSE academic administrator for review and approval prior to submitting the final thesis.

DMSE will award degrees under the Thesis field “Computational Materials Science and Engineering”.

Department of Chemical Engineering

A complete description of the doctoral program in Chemical Engineering can be found at  http://web.mit.edu/cheme/academics/grad/advising.html#phdscd . Deviations associated with the ChemE-CSE degree are as follows.

ChemE-CSE students (“10.CSD”) are expected to complete the ChemE core curriculum with a CSE minor consisting of at least four graduate level subjects in computational science and engineering selected from the approved list of Computational Concentration Subjects .  The minor subjects shall not include 10.34, which is already part of the Chemical Engineering core curriculum. Subjects taken as part of an MIT SM program can be counted toward this requirement. Doctoral candidates are normally expected to take their major subjects at the Institute. The specific subjects will depend on the student’s thesis topic and background, and will be approved by the student’s thesis committee.

The thesis committee composition requirements are identical to those of Course 10, with the additional requirement that  either  the committee chair be a CCSE member  or  the committee contain at least two CCSE members.

Course 10 will award degrees under the thesis field “Chemical Engineering and Computation.”

Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences

Once admitted, doctoral degree candidates are expected to complete the Course 12 degree requirements as outlined at https://eapsweb.mit.edu/academic-resources/grad-resources , except those relating to coursework in the Major Field of Study, Thesis Committee Composition and Thesis Submission that are specific to the EAPS-CSE program and are discussed in more detail below.

Degree candidates are expected to pass the qualifying exam in Course 12.

The EAPS-CSE (“12.CSD”) doctoral program of study consists of at least five graduate-level subjects in computational science and engineering selected from the approved list of Computational Concentration Subjects . The specific subjects will depend on the student’s thesis topic and background, and will be approved by the Thesis Committee. Subjects taken as part of an MIT SM program can be counted toward this requirement. Doctoral candidates are normally expected to take their major subjects at the Institute.

The Thesis committee composition requirements are identical to those of Course 12, with the additional requirement that either the advisor be a CCSE member or the committee contain at least two CCSE members.

In addition to approval from the Examination Committee, the complete thesis needs to be submitted to and approved by CCSE. Students should provide a copy of the thesis title page to the CCSE academic administrator for review and approval prior to submitting the final thesis.

Course 12 will award degrees under the Thesis field ” Computational Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences “.

Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics

A complete description of the doctoral program in Aeronautics and Astronautics can be found at http://aeroastro.mit.edu/graduate-program/doctoral-degree . Deviations associated with the AeroAstro-CSE degree are as follows. AeroAstro-CSE PhD candidates (“16.CSD”) are expected to pass the Aerospace Computational Engineering track qualifying exam in Course 16.

The AeroAstro-CSE doctoral program of study consists of at least five graduate-level subjects in computational science and engineering selected from the approved list of Computational Concentration Subjects . Subjects taken as part of an MIT SM program can be counted toward this requirement. Doctoral candidates are normally expected to take their major subjects at the Institute. The specific subjects will depend on the student’s thesis topic and background, and will be approved by thesis committee.

The thesis committee composition requirements are identical to those of Course 16, with the additional requirement that either the advisor be a CCSE member or the committee contain at least two CCSE members.

Course 16 will award degrees under the thesis field “Computational Science and Engineering” to students matriculating in/before September 2023 and “Aerospace Engineering and Computational Science” for students matriculating after September 2023.

Department of Mathematics

A description of the plan of study for the Applied Mathematics option of the PhD degree in Course 18, can be found at http://math.mit.edu/academics/grad/timeline/plan.php . Deviations associated with the Math-CSE degree (“18.CSD”) are as follows.

The Math-CSE doctoral program of study consists of at least five graduate-level subjects in computational science and engineering selected from the approved list of Computational Concentration Subjects . Subjects taken as part of an MIT SM degree can be counted toward this requirement. Doctoral candidates are normally expected to take their major subjects at the Institute. The specific subjects will depend on the student’s thesis topic and background, and will be approved by the Chair of the Applied Mathematics Committee in the Mathematics department and CCSE.

The thesis committee composition requirements are identical to those of Course 18, with the additional requirement that either the advisor be a CCSE member or the committee contain at least two CCSE members.

Course 18 will award degrees under the Thesis field “Mathematics and Computational Science”.

Department of Nuclear Science & Engineering

NSE-CSE PhD candidates (“22.CSD”) must satisfy all NSE requirements for doctoral students, including passing the 22.15 module final exam with a satisfactory grade and completing an NSE Field of Specialization requirement. A complete description of the NSE doctoral program  and its requirements can be found at: http://web.mit.edu/nse/education/grad/phd.html .

Deviations associated with the NSE-CSE degree are as follows. The oral exam committee must include at least two CCSE-affiliated faculty members (one or both of whom may be NSE faculty members). The content of the oral exam must address some aspects related to computation.

In addition to satisfying a NSE Field of Specialization requirement, students pursuing the computation option must take at least five graduate-level subjects in computational science and engineering selected from the approved list of Computational Concentration Subjects . Subjects taken as part of an MIT SM program can be counted toward this requirement. Each of these subjects can be applied towards either the Advanced Subject requirement or the Minor requirement (but not both).  None of these subjects can count towards the Field of Specialization requirement. Doctoral candidates are normally expected to take their major subjects at the Institute. The specific subjects will depend on the student’s thesis topic and background, and will be approved by thesis committee.

The thesis committee composition requirements are identical to those of Course 22, with the additional requirement that either the advisor be a CCSE member or the committee contain at least two CCSE members (who may be NSE faculty members).

In addition to approval from the Chair, Department Committee on Graduate Students, the complete thesis needs to be submitted to and approved by CCSE. Students should provide a copy of the thesis title page to the CCSE academic administrator for review and approval prior to submitting the final thesis.

Course 22 will award degrees under the thesis fields “Nuclear Engineering and Computation” and “Computational Nuclear Science and Engineering”.  Student may choose either; the requirements are identical.

Doctoral candidates in general may petition to change the name appearing on their degree certificates. However, petitions from students in the CSE-participating departments listed above to include the keywords ‘computation’ or ‘computational’ in the degree name will only be approved if the student has satisfied requirements listed above. The PhD thesis field “Computational Science and Engineering” will be reserved for students graduating from the standalone CSE PhD program.

Master’s Degrees

The master’s degree generally requires a minimum of one academic year of study..

Admission to MIT for the master’s degree does not necessarily imply an automatic commitment by MIT beyond that level of study.

In the School of Engineering, students may be awarded the engineer’s degree. This degree program requires two years of study and provides a higher level of professional competence than is required by a master’s degree program, but less emphasis is placed on creative research than in the doctoral program.

Below is a list of programs and departments that offer master-level degrees.

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Mathematics

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This program is designed for students looking to conduct original mathematical research with the aim of becoming a research mathematician . Students will be located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, one of the most active centers of mathematics in the world. Other universities in the area include Boston College, Boston University, Brandeis University, MIT, and Northeastern University.

Students will have access to a wide range of resources including the Center of Mathematical Sciences and Applications, which brings together researchers from an extensive variety of disciplines and institutions and hosts conferences, seminars, and workshops.

Most graduates of the program have been very successful at securing postdoctoral fellowships in academia. A number of recent graduates have won prestigious fellowships including the Clay Fellowship, the Simons Fellowship, and NSF Graduate Research Fellowship. Others now have jobs in industry. 

Additional information on the graduate program is available from the Department of Mathematics and requirements for the degree are detailed in Policies .

Admissions Requirements

Please review admissions requirements and other information before applying. You can find degree program-specific admissions requirements below and access additional guidance on applying from the Department of Mathematics .

Statement of Purpose

The statement of purpose should convince the admissions committee that the applicant is able to communicate effectively and with a deep understanding of mathematics. It is not intended to be a biographical sketch or a reflection on one’s decision to enter the field.

Standardized Tests

GRE General: Not Accepted GRE Subject: Required

Theses & Dissertations

Theses & Dissertations for Mathematics

See list of Mathematics faculty

APPLICATION DEADLINE

Questions about the program.

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Interdisciplinary Doctoral Program in Statistics

The Interdisciplinary Doctoral Program in Statistics is an opportunity for students in a multitude of disciplines to specialize at the doctoral level in a statistics-grounded view of their field. Participating programs include Aeronautics and Astronautics, Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Economics, Mathematics, Mechanical Engineering, Physics, Political Science, and the IDSS Social and Engineering Systems Doctoral Program.

The program is administered jointly by the Statistics and Data Science Center and the participating academic units. Students enrolled in a doctoral program in a participating department may choose to be considered for the Interdisciplinary Doctoral Program in Statistics. Please refer to the program's website for details on the selection process.

Selected students will complete the home department’s degree requirements (including the qualifying exam) along with specified statistics requirements including a doctoral seminar, coursework in probability, statistics, computation and statistics, and data analysis, and a dissertation that utilizes statistical methods in a substantial way. 

For more information about the program, contact the Statistics Academic Administrator .

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The PDF includes all information on this page and its related tabs. Subject (course) information includes any changes approved for the current academic year.

Understanding the process: Admissions statistics

We love data at MIT. Reliable data, properly contextualized , can help people understand complex systems and make informed decisions. So, a few years ago, we began publishing our own admissions statistics which went beyond the stats already contributed to the MIT’s standard  Common Data Set .

Holistic admissions

It is important to understand that these numbers do not  determine  our admissions process, but are the  result   of  our process. In our  holistic admissions process,  we consider quantifications like  test scores , but we also care deeply about factors like  your match with MIT . Qualitative characteristics like these are much harder to quantify and are therefore not included in the tables below despite their centrality to our process.

The most important thing to remember is that at MIT  we admit people, not numbers . With that in mind, here are some numbers about the people we admit.

Admissions statistics for the Class of 2027

See also  First-year class profile .

Early Action

Regular action, u.s. citizens/permanent residents, international students, middle 50% score range of admitted students (25th and 75th percentiles), other sources of data about mit.

• Common Data Set
• Registrar’s Enrollment Statistics
• International Students Office Statistics
• College Board
• College Navigator
• College Results Online
• College Scorecard

Applying to Graduate School

Welcome to the MIT Chemical Engineering Graduate Admissions page. This page explains the application process in general. To apply, go to the online application . You will be asked to create a user ID and password. Please write down your user ID and password for future use. You do not need to complete the entire application in one sitting. You may begin the application, save it, and return to it at a later time using your user id and password.

MIT’s Department of Chemical Engineering offers three graduate degree programs — PhD , PhD CEP and MSCEP .  MIT admits students for the Fall term each year; there is no January or June admissions.

Before you apply…

• Admission Frequently Asked Questions
• ChemE Application Mentorship Program (ChAMP)
• Learn about our Interdisciplinary Programs
• Watch Graduate Admissions Info Session Webinar
• Q&A and Slides from the Webinar

Note: Many questions are answered in our Frequently Asked Questions ( FAQ ) section. Prior to contacting MIT ChemE ( [email protected] ), please take the time to review our FAQ page.

The Department of Chemical Engineering does not provide application updates via email. All updates will be posted in the application portal.

Online Application: Due November 13

Fill out the online application by 23:59, EST, November 13

You will be providing the following information:

• Field(s) of interest
• Personal information
• We recommend that before October 15 you notify your letter writers that you will be requesting evaluations from them. This will give them time to prepare and submit their letters by November 13 . Once you have submitted your online application, instructions to your letter writers will be generated for you. You are responsible for making sure that your letter writers have copies of these instructions.
• Letters of recommendation should address the admissions criteria listed below.
• Scanned copies of your college transcripts
• For international students, official TOEFL, IELTS, or Cambridge English exam scores
• PhDCEP only : Self-reported GRE general exam scores
• PhD & MSCEP: GRE scores are not required or accepted as part of the graduate application
• Application fee of $75*
• Any honors, awards, prizes, or fellowships you have received
• All teaching, work, and research experiences you have had
• Any publications or presentations, including full citation with title and list of all authors and the DOI if applicable
• Any military or major volunteer service and study abroad experiences
• Anything else you’d like to share
• What motivates you to earn a PhD/PhDCEP/MSCEP in Chemical Engineering at MIT? (300 words)
• For up to two of your most important scientific, engineering, research, or work experiences over the last four years, describe your specific role, the new knowledge or discovery that you made, and the potential impacts of the project on science or society. (300 words per experience)
• In what type of environment do you and others thrive?  How do you find, create, and maintain those environments?  (300 words)
• Please tell us anything else about yourself that you think we should know. (No word limit)

* Fee waivers are available for eligible applicants.

Applicants are encouraged to submit their applications as early as possible and are responsible for ensuring that all admissions credentials are submitted on time. Your application will not be reviewed until all materials have been received. There is no separate application for financial support; all admitted students are offered financial support.

Admissions Criteria

Prospective student applications will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

Understanding of the Chemical Engineering Fundamentals: The candidate’s core knowledge of chemical kinetics, transport phenomena, thermodynamics, and the underlying quantitative skills that form the core solution methods for Chemical Engineers.

Analytical and Scientific Preparation: A candidate’s background in chemistry, biology, physics, mathematics, and computer science as relevant to the candidate’s area(s) of interest.

Drive and Persistence: A candidate’s commitment to education and research and ability to overcome adversity when challenges are encountered.

Excellence in Research: A candidate’s demonstrated accomplishment in scientific research, including scientific creativity and ability to formulate important scientific questions.

Character: A candidate’s integrity, leadership potential, and ability to work effectively on teams and as a community member within a diverse and multicultural environment.

Communication Skills: A candidate’s demonstrated effectiveness with scientific written and oral communication in English on technical and non-technical subjects.

Admissions Timeline

Overview of the PhD Program

For specific information on the Applied Mathematics PhD program, see the navigation links to the right. 

What follows on this page is an overview of all Ph.D. programs at the School; additional information and guidance can be found on the  Graduate Policies  pages. 

General Ph.D. Requirements

• 10 semester-long graduate courses, including at least 8 disciplinary.   At least 5 of the 10 should be graduate-level SEAS "technical" courses (or FAS graduate-level technical courses taught by SEAS faculty), not including seminar/reading/project courses.  Undergraduate-level courses cannot be used.  For details on course requirements, see the school's overall PhD course requirements  and the individual program pages linked therein.
• Program Plan (i.e., the set of courses to be used towards the degree) approval by the  Committee on Higher Degrees  (CHD).
• Minimum full-time academic residency of two years .
• Serve as a Teaching Fellow (TF) in one semester of the second year.
• Oral Qualifying Examination Preparation in the major field is evaluated in an oral examination by a qualifying committee. The examination has the dual purpose of verifying the adequacy of the student's preparation for undertaking research in a chosen field and of assessing the student's ability to synthesize knowledge already acquired. For details on arranging your Qualifying Exam, see the exam policies and the individual program pages linked therein.
• Committee Meetings : PhD students' research committees meet according to the guidelines in each area's "Committee Meetings" listing.  For details see the "G3+ Committee Meetings" section of the Policies of the CHD  and the individual program pages linked therein.
• Final Oral Examination (Defense) This public examination devoted to the field of the dissertation is conducted by the student's research committee. It includes, but is not restricted to, a defense of the dissertation itself.  For details of arranging your final oral exam see the  Ph.D. Timeline  page.
• Dissertation Upon successful completion of the qualifying examination, a committee chaired by the research supervisor is constituted to oversee the dissertation research. The dissertation must, in the judgment of the research committee, meet the standards of significant and original research.

Optional additions to the Ph.D. program

Harvard PhD students may choose to pursue these additional aspects:

• a Secondary Field (which is similar to a "minor" subject area).  SEAS offers PhD Secondary Field programs in  Data Science and in  Computational Science and Engineering .   GSAS  lists  secondary fields offered by other programs.
• a Master of Science (S.M.) degree conferred  en route to the Ph.D in one of several of SEAS's subject areas.  For details see here .
• a Teaching Certificate awarded by the Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning .

SEAS PhD students may apply to participate in the  Health Sciences and Technology graduate program  with Harvard Medical School and MIT.  Please check with the HST program for details on eligibility (e.g., only students in their G1 year may apply) and the application process.

In Applied Mathematics

• First-Year Exploration
• Areas of Application
• AM & Economics
• How to Declare
• Who are my Advisors?
• Secondary Field
• Senior Thesis
• Research for Course Credit (AM 91R & AM 99R)
• AB/SM Information
• Peer Concentration Advisors (PCA) Program
• Student Organizations
• How to Apply
• PhD Timeline
• PhD Model Program (Course Guidelines)
• Oral Qualifying Examination
• Committee Meetings
• Committee on Higher Degrees
• Research Interest Comparison
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Graduate Admissions

Applicants for graduate degree programs are evaluated for previous performance and professional promise by the department in which they wish to enroll.

Selected 2023 Graduate Admissions Statistics

Applications for graduate study

Offers of admission (11%)

First-year students registered in advanced degree programs (59%)

International citizens from 102 countries

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