Current Graduate Students
New Students
Welcome!-
Welcome to the University of Utah!
This page was created to answer common questions that may come up as you prepare for graduate study at the University of Utah. The information on this page was selected specifically for you, so please take time to explore. You may find that there is additional information presented here that is not relevant to your own situation or degree. After you have reviewed this page, I am happy to connect with you to answer any remaining questions.
I look forward to supporting you in your studies at the University of Utah.
Mina Castro | Graduate Academic Advisor
Schedule an appointment→https://youtu.be/CEWM-tPIeT0
Additional New Student Resources
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Housing in Salt Lake City
I strongly recommend that you consider placing your name on the waiting list for the University Student Apartments and/or that you secure temporary housing with another student ~1 month upon arrival. Please know that housing in Salt Lake City requires thoughtful planning and thorough preparation. You will need to take action to locate housing at your earliest convenience. Consider exploring multiple opportunities for housing to ensure that you find a suitable option. You may use the following resources to support you in locating housing.
- University of Utah Family Housing.
- Off-Campus Housing
Additional information from ISSS regarding housing.
Learn about recent updates related to student housing:
- Housing Issues at the U
- A Student's Guide to Renting
- U of U Leases The Draw, in Downtown Sugarhouse for 5 Yrs
Obtain and Submit Immunization Records
Learn how to comply with these immunization requirements.
Need a vaccination? Learn about the charges and fees here. Please note, immunizations are available at the Student Health Center (building 685) by appointment ONLY, from 9am-4pm Monday-Friday. Call for details: (801) 581-6431.
Obtain Official Transcripts
Please submit official transcripts from all colleges or universities previously attended by contacting the appropriate transcript office at each institution. Transcripts may be delivered by hand upon arrival in Salt Lake City.
Paper transcripts can be mailed directly from the college or university, or brought in a sealed envelope to the school:
The Office of Admissions
201 S 1460 E, Rm 250 S
Salt Lake City, UT 84112The University of Utah ONLY accepts electronic transcripts as official from the following agencies:
- Credential Solutions/Parchment/Naviance
- National Student Clearing House
- eScript-Safe
- Scoir
- ScribOnline
- My eQuals
- MyCreds
- Digitary (see “How does Digitary work?” section)
- Vitnemalsportalen Diploma Registry
- University of Mumbai Online Attestation
*When requesting your transcripts using any of these services please use this email admisstranscripts@utah.edu.
Transcripts submitted by a student are not considered official. Transcripts must be sent from the awarding institution directly to the University of Utah to be considered official. Physical transcripts must arrive at the University of Utah in a sealed and unopened envelope from the awarding institution. Please do not order transcripts to be sent to your personal or student email, or open the envelope of mailed physical transcripts – they will be considered unofficial upon submission.
Documents submitted for admission become the property of the University of Utah and cannot be returned, with no exceptions.
Upload Photo for University ID (UCard)
Learn about the UCard Mobile.
The link above contains information regarding the activation, use and troubleshooting for this identification.
Research Course Offerings
- To be listed as full-time, graduate students must be enrolled in nine or more graduate credit hours. Graduate courses are designated by the University as those with a course number of 5000 or higher. If a course is "co-listed" meaning that there's a 5000-level listing and a 6000-level listing graduate students should enroll in the higher of the two course number options.
- Most often, graduate students pursuing a research-based degree will enroll in six credit hours of coursework, and three credit hours of research. This differs from student to student, and your faculty advisor will be the best resource to help you identify what will best support your research.
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Submit Official Transcripts
If you have chosen to submit hard-copy transcripts, bring the unopened envelope(s) from your prior university to the University of Utah Office of Admissions. This office is located in the Student Services Building (SSB, building 40), second floor, south side of the building.
Connect to University WIFI
- Use UGuest network to access onboard.utah.edu. ( Additional information.)
- Windows users will be asked to download a file named “NetworkWizardLoader-<unique-alphanumeric-string>.exe,” to set up UConnect.
- Download Duo Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) you will need to login to University resources.
Update University Email
The default address for each student is Uxxxxxxx@umail.utah.edu (where Uxxxxxxx is your UNID). You can customize your email address by following the steps linked here.
Other Resources:
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Obtain a SIM Card that will work within the US: Learn about SIM Cards and data plans for US use.
Current Students
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The Thesis Office is responsible for approving the formatting of your finalized document. This format approval is the final step in the completion of a research degree. Email is the fastest way to get a response from this office. Please email them at thesis@gradschool.utah.edu.
Thesis Office Resources Helpful Links:
- The Thesis Office Handbook
- Use this as your go-to reference for all things thesis & dissertation.
- Submission Deadlines
- Thesis Office How-To Videos
- Document templates available for download
- These include Word, LaTeX and Overleaf. Templates do not guarantee format approval however they are a helpful tool.
The Preliminary Review Process. Editors report that individuals who submit for preliminary review, require fewer edits prior to the final format approval. You may submit with only a portion of the document complete- in fact, this is what editors prefer. By doing so, you will familiarize yourself with the formatting expectations earlier in the writing process, rather than correcting these much further along in the writing process.
The Preliminary Review Process
Editors report that individuals who submit for preliminary review require fewer edits prior to the final format approval. You may submit with only a portion of the document complete. In fact, this is what editors prefer. By doing so, you will familiarize yourself with the formatting expectations earlier in the writing process rather than correcting these much further along in the writing process.
- The Thesis Office Handbook
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Scheduling Your Defense
You will need to find a two-hour window of time that all committee members are available. Start by asking committee members about a two-week window of time and find out when they are unavailable. After finding the common days that committee members are free, identify the two-hour window of time the presentation will be held. The following tools can help you simplify the scheduling process: When2Meet and schej.it.
Reserve a Room for your Defense
Once you have found a time for your defense, reserve a room from the department using this tool.
Announce your Defense to the Department and your Committee
Use this form to create an email announcement for your defense. Please do this two weeks prior to your defense date.
Meeting Invites
As a University of Utah student, you have access to a fully licensed version of Zoom. Learn more about your Zoom account.
If you send your committee members a Microsoft Outlook meeting invite, ensure that you remove the autogenerated Microsoft Teams meeting. Please only send a Zoom link to the committee members who must be remote. This will ensure the local committee members attend the presentation in-person. The department’s expectation is that the committee chair should be present in-person at the time of the final defense. It is advised that all professors within the department attend in-person.
Power Point Templates
University of Utah branded PowerPoint Templates are available for download.
Committee Review
Send your thesis/dissertation to the committee members for their review three weeks prior to the defense. After the professors have had sufficient time to review the document, it is suggested that you seek feedback from the committee members, particularly those who are not co-authors, or have been less involved in the writing process. You may choose to have an in-person meeting with the committee members, or you can seek this feedback over email. By seeking this feedback, this allows you to address their comments/concerns prior to the final defense. Please ensure that these items are addressed in the presentation.
As you approach the date/ time of your scheduled presentation, send several reminders to the supervisory committee including the date, time, and location. Please send more reminders than you think necessary.
Suggestion: To support a smooth defense, you consider “banking” PowerPoint versions that you created for prior presentations at the end of your defense presentation. These can be helpful if a particular question comes up regarding a component of your research.
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Designate a notetaker during your final defense. These notes will come in handy with the edits to your thesis/ dissertation. This notetaker could be a friend- or even better, would be a committee member. Often the committee chair will do this, however it is important to discuss this prior to the presentation time.
Ask your committee members if they would like to review the document after you have made the requested edits and prior to submission to the Thesis Office.
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Edit and Submit to Thesis Office
Allocate time to allow yourself a breather. Consider taking a weekend, before diving into the edits. Complete the requested edits, and following your committee’s approval submit to the Thesis Office. You will need to provide the University IDs of all committee members. Please note: This system has difficulty with Gmail email addresses. Please reach out to thesis@gradschool.utah.edu to request any links are sent directly to the committee member with a Gmail.
Prepare Lab for Departure
- Ensure that all data and papers can be accessed by the supervising professor.
- Refer to this article from UIT about access following degree completion.
- Another article about IT access upon concluding time at the U.
- Return keys to the academic department. You'll receive a letter documenting these have been returned and you'll be able to receive money back from Income Accounting.
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Allocate time to allow yourself a breather. Consider taking a weekend, before diving into the edits. Complete the requested edits, and following your committee’s approval submit to the Thesis Office. You will need to provide the University IDs of all committee members. Please note: This system has difficulty with Gmail email addresses. Please reach out to thesis@gradschool.utah.edu to request any links are sent directly to the committee member with a Gmail.