Please note that since our program is heavily research-based, we tend to admit only Ph.D. students. Only under special circumstances and when initiated by faculty members, M.S. degrees may be granted. At this time, M.S. students are not being admitted and M.S. inquiries might go unanswered. It is the responsibility of the applicant to reach out to faculty and inquire about such positions.
Application Deadlines
Applications for admission are accepted for fall and spring starts. All admissions decision are made in the context of laboratory space and resources available each year.
Please also note that since our program is very heavily research-based, we tend to admit only Ph.D. students. We do admit master's candidates occasionally when a faculty member has an opening in their research group for an M.S. student. It is the responsibility of the applicant to reach out to faculty and inquire about such positions.
Fall Admissions
Domestic Students: ALL materials are due by December 1st. No late materials will be eligible for review so please plan accordingly and begin your application well before the deadline.
International Students: ALL materials are due by December 1st. We will accept TOEFL/IELTS until January 15th. This means they must be submitted by then, not that you can take your exam on January 15th. Since the availability of testing centers is sparse in some regions of the world, we would like to accommodate international students within reason by extending the deadline for only those materials. The rest of your application must be completed by December 1st without exception.
Spring Admissions
Domestic & International Students: ALL materials are due by September 15th. No late materials of any kind will be eligible for review so please plan accordingly and begin your application well before the deadline.
Applications that are incomplete as of the listed deadline, including all documents and scores, will not be given full consideration and all open applications after the deadline will be closed. The deadline is absolute and we cannot grant extensions due to the condensed timeline of the admissions process.
General Admissions Procedures
Admission to the University of Texas at Austin
All applicants need to complete the UT Graduate School's application for admission. For more information about their admission application and process, refer to the Graduate School's Admissions page.
Allow plenty of time to complete your application as the entire process can take a week or more to complete: the initial application can take 2-3 business days to load into the system and issue you an EID, paying the application fee to submit the application can take another 2-3 business days to complete, and uploaded documents can take days (or weeks, during the busy season) for the Admissions Office to process. We STRONGLY advise applicants to start the process early and to not wait until the day before the deadline to begin the application process.
Graduate School Requirements
- Bachelor's Degree from a regionally accredited institution in the United States or proof of equivalent education at a foreign institution. A master's degree is not required to apply.
- Grade Point Average (GPA) of 3.0 or higher in all upper-division work (junior- and senior-level courses) and in any graduate work completed.
- Office of Graduate Admissions (OGA) application and admission fee. At this time, our program does not offer fee waivers. Domestic students can find more about possible fee waivers at the Graduate School's website.
- Transcripts from all institutions attended. Follow the requirements on the Graduate School's Admissions page. Our program is not invovled with transcripts, so all questions regarding them should be addressed to the OGA.
- TOEFL or IELTS scores for international students. The OGA's page for International Students includes more specifics on what tests are accepted, minimum scores, and countries exempt from scores. They will be accepting the new scoring system for the TOEFL.
MS&E Application Requirements
- Resume or CV
- Personal Statement (also called a Statement of Purpose) that can be used to address what you are interested in, the research you are interested in learning and conducting, how the MS&E program will further your future goals and plans, and explain anything that would concern PIs or the Committee (such as a low GPA, gap in a CV, etc.).
- Three Letters of Recommendation from those best able to speak to your academic and research abilities.
*There is no GRE requirement for the MS&E program. However, if you want to send your GRE scores, UT Austin's code is 6882 and we will consider them along with the rest of your application during the decision process.*
Admissions Decision Process
Our program handles admissions in a manner that is unique among materials graduate programs. Most programs will offer general admission to qualified students. When those students enroll, they will then have a semester, or in some cases, a full year to choose a research supervisor and project.
We prefer to do things differently. We consider the research interests of the applicants alongside the research interests of faculty who are seeking new students. We match the research interests of both parties to ensure a satisfactory research experience on both sides. This takes a little time during the admissions process, but it saves the student and the faculty supervisor a great deal of time when the student enrolls. Entering a graduate program with a faculty supervisor in place allows students to begin research immediately, which in turn enables the students to choose courses that are directly related to their research projects.
As stated above, these faculty-applicant matches are made during the admissions process, which means it takes a little longer for admitted applicants to receive offers of admission. However, when an admitted applicant receives an offer, it comes directly from a specific faculty member, giving the applicant a clear idea of what to expect regarding his or her research project.
Holistic Review
The MS&E admissions committee takes a holistic approach to application reviews. We fully review every application that we receive by the established deadline. We do not use cut-off scores to eliminate applicants from the pool, and we do not require minimum GRE scores to apply. The committee considers all parts of the application when making admission decisions:
- GPA
- Official GRE scores (no minimum scores to apply) if sent in - they are no longer a requirement
- Three letters of recommendation
- Personal Statement
- Transcripts
- Research and work experience
- TOEFL/IELTS scores, if applicable (see min scores in FAQ)
TOEFL/IELTS scores (if applicable) are required to apply. Scores must be valid on the application deadline (see in FAQ).
