UMass Boston

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Please review the first-year and transfer apply pages for important information about application requirements, deadlines, and application status check.

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Financing Your Education

Become a Beacon and pursue your passion in UMass Boston’s diverse, supportive environment. Many students across our 200+ undergraduate and graduate programs receive financial aid—providing access to an education that’s exceptional and affordable. Click below to learn more about financial aid opportunities and deadlines.

Financial Aid Deadlines & Application Process

Scholarships for First-Year & Transfer Students

Early action deadline: November 1; Regular Decision Deadline: June 15

Financing Your Education

Become a Beacon and pursue your passion in UMass Boston’s diverse, supportive environment. Many students across our 200+ undergraduate and graduate programs receive financial aid—providing access to an education that’s exceptional and affordable. Click below to learn more about financial aid opportunities and deadlines.

Financial Aid Deadlines & Application Process 

Scholarships for First-Year & Transfer Students

For additional information regarding tuition and fees, please visit the Bursar’s Office or send an email to Bursar@umb.edu.

Complete at least 42 credits from 14 courses including four introductory courses, six required 200 and 300-level courses, two required mathematics courses, and two upper-level physics electives.

GPA: A minimum GPA of 2.0 is required for all major courses.
Pass/fail: No courses taken pass/fail beyond the introductory level may be applied toward the major.
Residency: At least five physics courses for the major must be completed at UMass Boston.

Introductory Courses (12 Credits)

• PHYSIC 113 - Fundamentals of Physics I 4 Credit(s)
• PHYSIC 114 - Fundamentals of Physics II 4 Credit(s)
• PHYSIC 181 - Physics Laboratory I 2 Credit(s)
• PHYSIC 182 - Physics Laboratory II 2 Credit(s)

Required 200 and 300-Level Courses (18 Credits)

• PHYSIC 211 - Introduction to Contemporary Physics 3 Credit(s)
• PHYSIC 214 - Thermodynamics 3 Credit(s)
• PHYSIC 281 - Physical Laboratory I 3 Credit(s)
• PHYSIC 312 - Mechanics 3 Credit(s)
• PHYSIC 321 - Theory of Electricity and Magnetism I 3 Credit(s)
• PHYSIC 382 - Intermediate Laboratory 3 Credit(s)

Required Mathematics Courses (6 to 7 Credits)

• MATH 240 - Multivariable Calculus 3 Credit(s)
  or
• MATH 242 - Multivariable and Vector Calculus 4 Credit(s)
• MATH 270 - Applied Ordinary Differential Equations 3 Credit(s)

Upper-Level Electives (6 to 8 Credits)

Take two additional PHYSIC courses at the 300-level or higher.

Students may complete up to two mathematics or cognate science courses in place of upper-level electives with prior approval from the department.

For more information on curriculum, including course descriptions and degree requirements, visit the Academic Catalog.

• Students acquire appropriate competence in physics foundations and have been given a working knowledge of methodologies in a wide range of sub-fields in modern physics.
• Students acquire competence in laboratory skills and can work independently.
• Students acquire the ability to select from an array of analytic and computational tools to solve specific problems.
• Students are able to scientifically justify this decision and gauge its efficacy.
• Students acquire competence in laboratory skills and can work independently.
• Students acquire the ability to select from an array of analytic and computational tools to solve specific problems.
• Students are able to scientifically justify this decision and gauge its efficacy.
• Students demonstrate the ability to extend ideas from one area of physics to problems in other areas or disciplines.
• Students are broadly aware of the challenging and open problems of the day.
• Students are encouraged to engage in research at the earliest opportunity.
• Students can relate and articulate the connections between abstract theoretical constructs and reality.
• For our Bachelors of Arts in Physics students our goal is to give them a liberal arts background, where they develop communication and quantitative skills that are generically applicable to a broad set of possible career paths: to teach them how to think about and model problems, using the tools of a Physicist.

Department of Physics
W04-0045
University of Massachusetts Boston
100 Morrissey Blvd.
Boston, MA 02125 -3393

Email: Physics@umb.edu

Telephone: 1-617-287-6050