Admissions Requirements
GPA
It is expected that applicants to this program will have a minimum GPA of 2.7 (A = 4.0).
Coursework
Students With Fewer Than 50 Transferable Credit Hours at Time of Application
If you’ll apply to Illinois with fewer than 50 transferable credit hours, you must complete transfer coursework equivalent to the following University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign courses before or during the term you’re submitting your application:
- MATH 220, Calculus
Students With 50 or More Transferable Credit Hours at Time of Application
In addition to the above course, if you’ll apply to Illinois with 50 or more transferable credit hours, you must complete transfer coursework equivalent to the following University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign courses before or during the term you’re submitting your application:
- MATH 231, Calculus II
- MATH 241, Calculus III
- PHYS 211, University Physics: Mechanics
- PHYS 212, University Physics: Elec & Mag
Admissions Recommendations
Students who intend to transfer into Astrophysics should enroll in the most advanced mathematics course for which they are qualified and continue with mathematics each semester. Differential equations and/or advanced calculus are recommended for students who complete introductory calculus before the end of their sophomore year.
We also highly recommend that you meet the following criteria before transferring into this program, although it isn’t required that you do so in order to be admitted.
Coursework
Students With Fewer Than 50 Transferable Credit Hours at Time of Application
If you’ll apply to Illinois with fewer than 50 transferable credit hours, we recommend that you complete transfer coursework equivalent to the following University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign courses before or during the term you’re submitting your application:
- MATH 231, Calculus II
- PHYS 211, University Physics: Mechanics
Please note that if the transferable physics sequence at the community college is equivalent to the university physics sequence at Illinois (PHYS 211, 212, 213, and 214), an equivalent of Illinois’ MATH 220: Calculus, must first be completed as a prerequisite to the physics sequence.
Students With 50 or More Transferable Credit Hours at Time of Application
If you’ll apply to Illinois with 50 or more transferable credit hours, we recommend that you complete transfer coursework equivalent to the following University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign courses before or during the term you’re submitting your application:
- ASTRO 210, Introduction to Astrophysics
- MATH 284, Intro Differential Systems
- or MATH 285, Intro Differential Equations
- PHYS 213, University Physics: Thermal Physics
- PHYS 214, University Physics: Quantum Physics
All Students Applying to the Astrophysics Major
- RHET 105, Writing & Research (at most institutions, the equivalent requires a two-course English composition sequence)
Graduation Requirements
To graduate, all students are required to complete at least 45 semester hours of credit at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. At least 21 of these credit hours must be at the 300 or 400 level.
General Education Courses
Included in our graduation requirements are general education (gen ed) courses. These classes allow you to gain and use broad knowledge beyond the specialized learning you’ll do through your major. Learn more about our general education requirements. You may be able to use Transferology to find gen ed courses that will transfer over from your institution to UIUC.
Language Other than English
Although this program doesn’t require you to complete our language graduation requirement for admission, we strongly encourage you do so before transferring.
| For Admission | For Graduation |
| No Requirement | Level 4 |
Learn More About This Major
To learn more about this program, including degree requirements and similar majors, we encourage you to check out the below resources.