Graduate School

There are no need-based application fee waivers. We offer a fee waiver to McNair Scholars who can provide their McNair Scholar documentation. We also offer a TRIO waiver to UM undergraduate TRIO students – documentation for this waiver should be sent to the Graduate School directly from your TRIO advisor. If the program that you are applying for has advertised an application fee waiver, please contact them directly.

Yes. You will need to create a new application for each degree or program you are applying for, but as long as your information (name, email, birthday, etc.) is the same for all, you will have one application profile, where you will be able to access all applications with the same email and password. Your original application will cost $70, and all additional applications submitted within a year of the first will cost $25 per application. 

Our admissions policy requires that all applicants need a GPA of a 3.0 or higher US equivalent GPA in order to be fully admitted. However, students with below a 3.0 may be admitted provisionally at the discretion of their admitting program. Provisional admission of this nature requires students to work closely with their program throughout their first 2 semesters, and the provisional status would only be lifted if the student maintains a 3.0 or higher in their graduate studies. If, after the student’s second semester, the provision has not been met, they may be dismissed from the program. Programs will look at an application wholistically as they make their decision, taking into account not only your GPA, but your entire application. We recommend connecting with your program of interest to determine if it would be worth applying to the program. 

Nearly all of our programs open on our General Opening dates, though a few of our programs choose to open earlier or later, so it is always good to check in with your program of interest. Our general openings are as follows: Fall applications open September 1st; Spring applications open February 1st; Summer applications open August 1st.  

The Molecular and Biomedical Sciences application (or the MBS Umbrella) is an Umbrella application that houses 5 separate programs: Biochemistry & Biophysics; Cellular, Molecular & Microbial Biology; Neuroscience; Pharmaceutical Sciences & Drug Design; and Toxicology. While it is possible for these programs to overlap in some capacity, they are considered to all be separate programs. This umbrella application allows you to apply to any of these 5 programs with one application, but it is important to note that each of these 5 programs have different administrative teams and different admissions review committees. Each committee will look at your application separately, and for program-specific questions, you would need to specify which of the 5 programs you are interested in, so I can connect you with the appropriate administrative team.

While we do not offer graduate-specific campus tours, we encourage you to schedule a general tour of campus, which is led by our Undergraduate Admissions office. This will be a great opportunity to get a tour of campus to see facilities like the library, the university center, campus rec, and more. We also highly encourage you to schedule a time to meet with your program of interest while you are here. This will give you the opportunity to meet faculty, see the buildings you would be spending a majority of your time in, and potentially meet current students.

In most cases, no. Most of our programs only require an unofficial transcript to review your application and make a decision. However, a couple of our programs do require an official transcript to review your application, so please check with your program when you apply.

Yes. The link that is sent to your recommenders will remain active even after you submit your application.

Because the recommendation email includes a link for recommenders to upload their letters, this email can often be marked as junk or spam, especially if the recommender has an academic email. Please have your recommender check these folders first. If they still do not see it, we would be happy to resend them the link.

Our application is a 3-step process:

• The first step is entering your basic information and selecting your major, degree, and term of interest. You must submit this section to move onto the next step.
• The second step is a questionnaire-like section, in which you will input your biographical information, past academic history, information for your recommenders, residency information, etc. This section must be completed, signed, and submitted before you can move forward to step three. Between steps two and three, you must submit your payment for your application fee. 
• The third and final step is what is called your application status page. You will be redirected here after paying your application fee. In your application status page, you will be able to upload all documentation and track the status of your application.

We do not accept letters of recommendation from applicants. Your letters of recommendation must come directly from your recommenders. In your application, you will input the contact information of your recommenders. Once this is saved, they will automatically be sent an email that includes a link to the recommendation form. This will allow your recommenders to upload their letter of recommendation directly into your application, as well as complete the quick recommendation form that is required alongside their letter.

For proof of voter registration, we are ideally looking for something that includes the date in which you registered to vote in the state of Montana. The best documentation to this aim is a Voter Certificate of Registration, which can be requested at your county elections office.  

You are welcome to submit your unofficial score, or test-taker report, in your application. Upon your admission, we will be able to use the information provided on your test-taker report to find and save your official scores in the ETS or IELTS database. However, if your official scores may expire within the next 6 months, please arrange for your official scores to be sent to us, to avoid the possibility of your scores being expired and unavailable by the time of your admission.

Applicants cannot directly apply for provisional admission. All applicants will go through our online application, and at the time of admission, your department and the Graduate School will determine whether you need to be admitted provisionally. All international students who have not received a degree from an English-speaking university already are required to provide an approved English proficiency exam. If your overall score does not meet our Minimum Score requirements as stated on our website but meets or exceeds our minimum score for provisional admission, you may be offered provisional admission, provided you are academically eligible. If you are admitted provisionally due to low English proficiency exam scores, you must enroll in the English Language Institute (ELI) and then score sufficiently high on an English proficiency exam to gain full admission to the university. This would delay the start of your graduate program, and funding would not be available to you during your time enrolled in ELI.

No. If you received a degree from an institution whose primary language of instruction was English, we can accept a verification of language of instruction in place of an English proficiency exam. This verification can either be sent to us directly, or uploaded into your application in place of your English proficiency exam. This verification is only required if your university is not from one of the exempt countries listed here. 

An official transcript is a transcript that is sent directly to the Graduate School or your department by your previous university. It can also be sent using a transcript service, such as Parchment or National Student Clearing House. A transcript is not considered official if it is given by the student.

Yes, as long as it is in the original sealed envelope (i.e. you have not opened it). It should be brought in or sent to the Graduate School office in its original sealed envelope.

Work with your department to defer your admission. You are able to defer your admission for up to a year with your department’s approval.

Work with your department to defer your admission. You are able to defer your admission for up to a year with your department’s approval. Deferring your admission will mean that you will be issued an updated I-20 and will need to go through the visa interview process again. In order for your updated I-20 to be issued to you, you must provide updated financial information, which must cover the full amount of the cost of attendance for your new semester (it is likely different). Departmental funding that may have had for your original admission term may not be guaranteed for your deferred admission, please check with your program. You must go through the readmission process before your updated I-20 can be issued to you. 

At the Graduate level, nearly all funding and scholarship opportunities are determined by your program. If interested in funding, you should communicate primarily with your program of interest.

Please watch this video outlining how to pay your tuition bill.

The Western Regional Graduate Program (WRGP) is a tuition reduction program that allows nominated students in qualifying programs who are residents of qualifying western states to receive a tuition rate of 150% of in-state tuition. If you wish to be considered for WRGP, you will need to let your program know of your interest early on, as each qualifying program only receives a certain number of WRGP slots each admissions cycle. If they wish to grant you a WRGP slot upon admission, they will nominate you to the Graduate School after you have been admitted. You will then be asked by the Graduate School to supply proof of residency to a qualifying western state, which most commonly comes in the form of a driver’s license or state ID. Once your residency has been verified, you will be granted the WRGP tuition benefit.

Our Registar's Office has detailed instructions on how to register for classes in Griz Portal.

Our Registrar’s Office has a how-to guide on how to adjust variable credit hours.

Please watch this video outlining how to clear your Financial Responsibility Hold.

Please watch this video outlining how to clear your Financial Responsibility Hold.

A degree candidate is a student who has officially applied for graduation by submitting a graduation application through GrizPortal. Once your application has been received and processed, you are considered a degree candidate for that term. Only students who submit this application are eligible to have their degree or certificate awarded.

Yes. You must submit a graduation application in order to receive information about Commencement and to be included in the event program. Be sure to work closely with your advisor to confirm your eligibility and degree completion timeline before submitting your application. Submitting the graduation application is also required for your degree to be officially awarded—whether or not you plan to attend the Commencement ceremony.

Not exactly. While the terms are often used interchangeably, they refer to different parts of the process: 

• Graduation is the formal completion and conferral of your degree after all academic and administrative requirements have been verified by the Graduate School. 

• Commencement is the celebratory ceremony recognizing students who are expected to graduate that term. Participation in Commencement does not mean your degree has been awarded. 

No. Attending Commencement is a celebration of your academic achievement, but your degree is not officially conferred until all final grades are posted and your academic record has been reviewed by the Graduate School. 

No. Diplomas are not distributed during the Commencement ceremony. Degree candidates receive a diploma cover during the event to hold their diploma once it arrives. After your degree is officially conferred, your diploma will be mailed to the diploma mailing address listed on your graduation application. Please ensure that this address is accurate and up to date to avoid delays in delivery.

If you determine that you will not complete your degree requirements in the current term, you should notify the Graduate School as soon as possible and request that your graduation application be moved (or “rolled”) to the next term. In most cases, your graduation application remains valid for up to one year from the original submission date. After that time, you will need to submit a new application and pay the associated fee to be considered for graduation in a future term.