Graduate Admissions

Boston College Chemistry graduate students are drawn from a competitive field of applicants who maintain the tradition of intellectual excellence. They bring exceptionally strong quantitative and analytical skills, as they join their 100+ graduate student colleagues at the Merkert Chemistry Center. They are a geographically diverse group with almost half having completed their undergraduate degrees at international universities. In all, they represent a broad range of interests in the many areas of contemporary chemical science and at the cutting edges where chemistry interfaces with the physical and life sciences.

The Chemistry Department at BC is committed to foster a diverse and inclusive environment for learning and research. We support education/research opportunities for high school women and underrepresented minorities, and we have a dedicated committee of faculty, staff, graduate students, and postdocs that continue to drive new diversity initiatives. We welcome anyone who shares our commitment to diversity and inclusion. Please feel free to add a paragraph or two to your personal statement of your application that highlights your experience/commitment to diversity.

Applicants for whom the application fee would constitute a serious financial hardship may also request a fee waiver. Requests are granted, in most cases, if accompanied by official documentation demonstrating financial need (e.g. a currently enrolled student should seek a letter from his/her financial aid officer). If it is not possible to provide official documentation, the applicant should submit a detailed description of his/her current financial situation. Such requests will be considered on a case-by-case basis.  For more information on the fee waiver process, please visit this page on the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences website.

Graduate Admissions

Admissions decisions are made on a rolling basis; only completed applications are reviewed.

Get Started


Request Info

Graduate Admissions Info

Apply Now
Deadline: December 15th

Financial Assistance

Graduate students receive financial support in the form of Teaching (TA) and Research (RA) assistantships as well as tuition remission, which covers the full cost of tuition. Teaching assistantships are provided by departmental funds and carry a 9-month stipend, which may be supplemented by a three-month summer research assistantship stipend. Research assistantships are provided by individual faculty from their active research grants. First year graduate students usually serve as TAs and are involved in all aspects of teaching, grading, and administering undergraduate laboratories and/or recitation sections. In subsequent years, graduate students are generally full-time RAs or split their time between RA and TA duties. The 12-month graduate stipend for academic year 2024–2025 is $40,000.

Several advanced graduate students also receive prestigious fellowship support from BCC’s industrial sponsors.

Students are encouraged to apply for external fellowships, such as the National Science Foundation and the National Physical Sciences Consortium.

Student Profile

BCC’s graduate students are geographically diverse. Domestic students come from every region in the United States, and our international students comprise 30% of all graduate students. Our student body is 57% male and 43% female. Many students enroll in the Boston College Chemistry Ph.D. program immediately following their undergraduate studies, and others begin their Ph.D. studies after working in a chemistry-related industry. This represents a partial list of the many universities and companies from which our current students come:

Selected Academic Institutions

Assumption CollegeWorcester, MA
Binghamton UniversityBinghamton, NY
Boston UniversityBoston, MA
Brandeis UniversityWaltham, MA
University of CambridgeCambridge, England
Clark UniversityWorcester, MA
Clarkson UniversityPotsdam, NY
Colorado State UniversityFort Collins, CO
Connecticut CollegeNew London, CT
Dartmouth CollegeHanover, NH
Emory UniversityAtlanta, GA
Fairfield CollegeFairfield, TX
Florida State UniversityTallahassee, FL
Fudan UniversityShanghai, China
Hamilton CollegeDes Moines, IA
Hobart and William Smith CollegesGeneva, NY
Holy CrossWorcester, MA
Illinois Wesleyan UniversityBloomington, IL
Iowa State UniversityAmes, IA
MITCambridge, MA
Montclair State UniversityMontclair, NJ
Northeastern UniversityBoston, MA
Notre DameNotre Dame, IN
Peking UniversityBeijing, China
Occidental CollegeLos Angeles, CA
Ohio State UniversityColumbus, OH
Pennsylvania State UniversityUniversity Park, PA
Pomona CollegeClaremont, CA
Purdue UniversityWest Lafayette, IN
Rutgers UniversityNew Jersey
St. Joseph’s UniversityPhiladelphia, PA
Seattle UniversitySeattle, WA
Smith CollegeNorthhampton, MA
SUNY BuffaloBuffalo, NY
SUNY OswegoOswego, NY
Trinity CollegeHartford, CT
Trinity UniversitySan Antonio, TX
University of MassachusettsAmherst and Boston, MA
Union CollegeUnion, NY
University of ArizonaTucson, AZ
University of BuffaloBuffalo, NY
University of CalcuttaCalcutta, India
University of CaliforniaIrvine, Berkeley, San Diego and Santa Cruz
University of ConnecticutStorrs, CT
University of IllinoisUrbana-Champaign, IL
University of MinnesotaMinneapolis, MN
University of PennsylvaniaPhiladelphia, PA
University of RichmondRichmond, VA
University of Rhode IslandProvidence, RI
University of RomeRome, Italy
University of Science and TechnologyHefei, China
University of TenneseeChattanooga, TN
University of TexasAustin, TX
University of VirginiaCharlottesville, VA
University of UtahSalt Lake City, UT
University of WisconsinStevens Point, WI
Virginia TechBlacksburg, VA
Wake ForestWinston-Salem, NC
Wellesley CollegeWellesley, MA
Wesleyan UniversityMiddletown, CT
Wheaton CollegeNorton, MA
Williams CollegeWilliamstown, MA
Worcester Polytechnic InstituteWorcester, MA
Xavier UniversityCincinnati, OH

Chemical and Biotech Companies

Pfizer
Repligen
Perkin-Elmer
P&G Pharmaceuticals
Los Alamos National Laboratory
Textron Systems