The Department has several rooms available for rent in the Duane Physics Building. Our individual room calendars show information about reservations and room availability. Please be advised that use by Physics faculty, staff and students for meetings, study sessions and other activities (including informal use) will always have the highest priority. Other uses must adhere to our policies. Please call 303-492-6952 for more information and to reserve a room.
FAQs
General FAQs
The Duane Physics Building is divided into four wings. Typically, classrooms are located in the G-Wing, or the west side of the building. The main level is 1B, and is accessed via the main entrance along Colorado Avenue, and on the west side of the building, adjacent to the parking lot. Our largest classrooms (G1B20 and G1B30) are located on this floor. Floor 1 is located one flight up, and Floor 2B is located one flight down, in our basement. The E-Wing houses the main office on the 1B level, which is located opposite the main entrance from the north. Faculty offices are located in the Gamow tower, which is the F-Wing of the building. Experimental laboratories, LASP, the Trades Teaching Lab, and postdoctoral fellow offices are located in the C-Wing.
The Department of Physics is located primarily in the Duane Physics Building. The University of Colorado at Boulder has published a campus map to help visitors find their way around campus.The Duane Physics Building is located along Colorado Avenue in the north section of campus, across the street from the Stadium, and directly west of Benson Earth Sciences.
RTD, the City of Boulder and the University of Colorado operate several bus routes which stop near the Duane Physics Building, including the Hop, the Stampede and the 209.
Parking near the Duane Physics Building during business hours is available via metered parking along Colorado Avenue, as well as designated parking lots to the south and east of Benson Earth Sciences.
Parking after business hours (5 p.m. and weekends) is available in the parking lot adjacent to the west side of Duane Physics. The fee is $3.00 per day. For more information about parking on campus, please visit the Parking & Transportation Services page.
Undergraduate FAQs
Contact the Physics Department's Undergraduate Coordinator to be placed on the waiting list. When one is available, you will be emailed to fill out a locker contract.
To change your major within the College of Arts and Sciences, please contact Martin Black, the Physics Department Advisor. To change your major within the College of Engineering, please complete and submit a Change of Major Form. If you need to switch your college to either Arts and Sciences or Engineering, you need to undergo the Intra-University Transfer (IUT) process. The College of Engineering provides an informational guide for students interested in an IUT.
You will need to fill out a Special Action Form in order to drop/add a class after the official deadlines have passed. You may pick up a form in the main office of the Department of Physics (Duane E1B32). If the add/drop without dean's permission deadline has passed, you will need to fill out a petition form. Arts and Sciences students may fill out a form from the Academic Advising Center. Engineering majors must fill out a petition from the College of Engineering.
At least once a semester, so that the Academic Advising flag can be lifted and you can register for the next semester. Lists and forms are available in the main office of the Department of Physics, located in Duane E1B32. A directory of Academic Advisors and contact information is available for further reference.
All official communication will be through your university email address. You need to check it regularly to be aware of deadlines.
Paperwork will need to be filled out at your main advising office. Engineering Students will go to ECAD 100, Arts and Science to Woodbury 109. Watch for emails from the department for deadlines.
Traditionally, the Physics Graduation Ceremony occurs on the Thursday before the general University graduation at 4 pm in the G1B wing of the Duane Physics Building. We encourage our graduates as well as family and friends to participate!
Graduate FAQs
Please keep in mind that you are responsible for making all of the administrative arrangements for scheduling your Comps III and your Thesis Defense, this includes:
- Finding an available meeting time - Please work with your committee to find a time that works for the sufficient number of individuals.
- Scheduling an available meeting space - The Department offers several meeting spaces, all of which are listed in our room calendars section. Please contact Veronica Lingo to reserve your date and time as quickly as possible. It is also advisable to take note of the amenities available in the space, including projectors and projector screens, or lack-thereof.
- Reserving necessary equipment - As mentioned above, if you need IT equipment, please reserve the necessary items through ITS.
Course FAQs
You will need to fill out a Special Action Form in order to drop/add a class after the official deadlines have passed. You may pick up a form in the main office of the Department of Physics (Duane E1B32). If the add/drop without dean's permission deadline has passed, you will need to fill out a petition form. Arts and Sciences students may fill out a form from the Academic Advising Center. Engineering majors must fill out a petition from the College of Engineering.
Graduate Application FAQs
Personal statements do not follow a specific format. But the following list provides some guidelines of what you should include:
- Your previous research experience
- Current research interests
- Other experience that may be relevant to your experience in physics
- Your career goals (why do you wish to study physics?)
- An explanation of any low grades or time gaps in your education
There are no specific minimum scores. Admission decisions are made by a committee. The committee considers all aspects of your application, i.e. GPA, standardized test scores, personal statement, and letters of recommendation to arrive at admission decisions.
No, only the university code is required. That way, you only need to send them once if you are applying to more than one department.
The online application deadline is Dec.1 for international students and Dec. 15 for domestic students. ALL supporting material (i.e. transcripts, test scores, and rec letters) should be here by January 1.
No. Transcripts are the only part of the application that is normally mailed in. Recommendation letters can be mailed but preferably should be uploaded by your recommenders.
All students must have the testing agency submit official scores directly to the university.
You may leave those spaces blank. We add your scores to your application once we receive them from the testing agency. If the application won't let you proceed without a score, put in a '200'. Self-reported scores are deleted by our staff.
No. Please be sure your application is complete and accurate before you submit it.
There is a checklist on the online application. That will tell you what materials have been received and which ones are missing.
While there are no absolute guarantees, this is the situation as it has existed in the past.
- All admitted students, whether domestic or international, receive a full tuition waiver. Each student is still responsible for student fees. (The fee schedule may be found on the CU Bursar’s website)
- Virtually all of our students are supported through a Teaching Assistantship or Research Assistantship.
- During academic year 2012-13, the University will pay $1,100 per semester towards the cost of the Gold Comprehensive Insurance Plan for appointments of 20% or greater. Additional information is available by calling the Wardenburg Student Health Insurance Office at 303-492-5107 or accessing the Golden Buffalo Student Health Insurance website at http://www.colorado.edu/studenthealthinsurance/.
- You do not have to apply for financial aid from the department. It is automatically given to you as part of your admission package.
- A social security number is required to receive financial aid. International students should apply for one only after they have been admitted to the program.
Domestic: US citizens, permanent residents (green card holders), or have refugee or asylum status.
International: Non-US citizens who have or will need to apply for an F-1 or J-1 visa. International students are not eligible for in-state classification.
Please note: If you are an international student but have completed 1 or more years of study at a US college or university, you do not have to take the TOEFL.
The current economic conditions will not affect admission decisions for Fall 2012. We do not accept a specific number of domestic and international students. Our goal is to attract the most qualified students to our program.
No. In this situation, the student needs to complete an additional year in a master’s program in the same country where they received their bachelor’s degree.
The Graduate Admissions office will convert all grade points to a 4.0 scale.
You do not have to do anything. Our International Admissions Office converts international GPAs so they are comparable to the scale used in most US universities.
No. We need to evaluate all international applicants' language skills using the same standard.
Financial information is not required as part of the initial application. And this document is NOT a condition of admission. However, if you are admitted, filling it out now (if you need an F-1 or J-1 visa) will save you time in the long run. It takes time to round up the information and to process immigration paperwork.
All application materials including test scores need to be here by January 1, 2013. Test results from November exams will be accepted.
Due to the volume of material sent to the Admissions Office, it may take several weeks for the update to be recorded on your checklist. Please be patient.
Admission decisions will be communicated as soon as they have been made. Traditionally, the earliest you can expect to hear is the end of February. This is due to the volume of applications. The Admissions Committee wants to look at everyone before choosing the most qualified applicants. The Graduate Assistant will not relay acceptance or rejection information over the telephone. You will be formally notified by email after decisions have been made.
Yes. If you are a domestic student, have your school submit your transcript to transcripts at colorado.edu. If you are an international student, have your school submit your transcript to intlgrad at colorado.edu. If you are not sure if you are a domestic or international student, please see FAQ #12.
No. We understand that because of the deadlines, Fall grades don't arrive in time to be included. You do not need to send another transcript in January.
