FAQs for Newly Admitted Graduate Students

Here are a few general pieces of advice for all graduate students: 

• Your primary contact on academic issues is your advisor, and you can find your advisor information online (see FAQs for current students on Advisors)
• Beyond your advisor, you can contact ggsgrad@gmu.edu for academic advice such as course substitutions. For procedural issues, including form submission and academic status in the university system, you should contact ggsform@gmu.edu.
• Please note that the university constantly changes the required forms and the processing procedures. If what said in any entry of the FAQ is no longer valid, please let us (ggsgrad@gmu.edu and/or ggsform@gmu.edu) know.
• GGS follows the policies of the university and the College of Science closely. Therefore, in most situations, a student can find the information in the university catalog or other materials. Commonly encountered issues include, but are not limited to, leave of absence, skipping semesters without taking any courses, re-enrollment, program clock and time extensions, deadlines for thesis/dissertation submission, general credit transfer requirements and limits, and continuity of 799 and 999 enrollment.
• GGS-specific policies include: course requirements for core and electives, course substitution approval, composition of MS Exam, MS Thesis, and PhD Dissertation committees, and minimum GGS 999 credits. 

The general procedures, such as obtaining a student ID, setting up an account, and getting housing information are managed by the university and the college. You may check the Student Resources page for university-level information and the COS Graduate Student Resources page for college-level information. For specific academic questions, such as finding an advisor or choosing courses, you are encouraged to check the GGS FAQs for current graduate students.

The department tries to provide financial support for all highly qualified students upon admission. Unless under very special cases, such as new fund availability or a new GTA position becoming available, your chance of receiving financial support after admission is low.  

Both the university and the college provide some forms of financial support to graduate students. Please visit the COS Graduate Funding page and the Financial Support page by Mason Graduate Education. The Office of Fellowships also provides support for students seeking external funding.

GGS does not require anything beyond your application package to begin your graduate studies. The most important first step is course selection. You can find more information in the other FAQ entries on this website. Although there is no formal orientation for new graduate students, the department usually runs an information session in the first month of each fall semester.

This is really an individualized question. If you would like to prepare for a smooth transition, the general suggestion is to check the core course requirements in the University Catalog or on the GGS Graduate Program page. After that, check the GGS course syllabi to learn more about those courses. From these resources, you should have some idea about the core requirements and the background needed for the corresponding graduate program.

Yes. With a reasonable reason, you may defer your admission. Please visit graduate policies and check the Deferral or Reconsideration of Admitted Students section for details on how to start that process. GGS follows the university policies on deferment and reconsideration. Since the deferral is not determined by GGS, you should address additional questions on this to either University Graduate Admissions or the College of Science Graduate Office.