Procedures and Requirements for Admission

An application and fee payment can be submitted online using the Graduate School's website: www.umass.edu/gradschool. The deadline for submitting applications for admission, complete with all supporting credentials, for the summer/fall entrance cycle, varies by program (generally December 1 through February 1). Refer to the Graduate Programs and Application Deadlines listing on the website for specific deadlines. For those graduate programs which offer spring entrance, the deadline is October 1.

Admission Requirements

1. Completion of the online application form.

2. The Certification of Residency form is required of all applicants applying as Massachusetts residents, as well as those applying for the New England Regional Student Program.  The form is automated into the signature process for the online application.

3. Payment of the required Application Fee. Waivers of the fee are available only to those applicants who are United States citizens and who receive a waiver of the Graduate Record Examination or Graduate Management Admission Test fee through their undergraduate financial aid office. A statement from a college or university official attesting to receipt of or eligibility for the fee waiver can be sent via email to gradfee@grad.umass.edu when the application is submitted. Applicants for graduate study through the Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement program are also eligible for an application fee waiver.  The waiver form must be submitted via email to gradfee@grad.umass.edu.

4. A minimum undergraduate cumulative grade point average of 2.750 on a 4.000 grading scale.

5. A bachelor’s degree or the equivalent from any college or university of recognized standing.

6. An official transcript of all previous college work where nine or more credits were earned (undergraduate and graduate). An applicant must request the registrar of each college previously attended send a transcript directly to the Graduate Student Service Center.  Electronic transcripts are accepted from domestic institutions as long as the previous institution has a mechanism to send electronic transcripts securely to UMass Amherst.  A final transcript showing that the bachelor’s degree has been awarded must be received before the applicant can enroll in the Graduate School.

7. Two (or three, depending on the program) letters of recommendation from persons in the field of the applicant's academic major at the institution most recently attended. In some cases, particularly in management, letters of recommendation from other persons may be more appropriate than those from members of their most recent academic field of study.

8. The Graduate Record Examination (GRE) General Test. For a list of graduate programs requiring the GRE General Test or a GRE Subject Test refer to the Graduate Programs and Application Deadlines on the Graduate School website. Scores must be sent electronically from ETS to the Graduate School. For the scores to be valid, the test must have been taken within five years prior to the anticipated date of enrollment. Applicants for fall admission are encouraged to take the GRE by December. The results of later testing are frequently not available before decisions on admission must be made. The Educational Testing Service administers the test in the United States as well as abroad. Applicants for admission to all programs in the Isenberg School of Management are required to take the Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT), but may submit GRE scores as an alternative.

9. For international student requirements, see the section below titled International Applicants.

10. Application procedures for the Five College Cooperative Ph.D. Program are listed in the Doctoral Degree Requirements section.

11. Applicants for dual master's degrees must select a graduate educational objective of Two Master's Degrees in the online application and indicate the specific programs. Each program makes its admission decision independently. Some applicants may be accepted into only one of the collaborating programs.

12. Finally, recommendation of admission by the graduate program applied for and formal acceptance by the Dean of the Graduate School.

International Applicants

Applicants whose native language is not English must prove their ability to speak and understand English by taking TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language), IELTS Academic (International English Language Testing System), or PTE Academic (Pearson Test of English).  The official test scores must be transmitted electronically from the test agency to the University of Massachusetts Amherst Graduate School.  The test must have been taken within two years prior to the anticipated date of enrollment and must meet the minimum Graduate School standards, as outlined below:

Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) - A total score of 80 or above on the Internet-Based Test TOEFL.   

International English Language Testing System (IELTS) - A combined score of 6.5 or above on IELTS Academic.

Pearson Test of English (PTE) - An overall score of 53 or above on the PTE Academic.

Students scoring between 71 and 79 on the TOEFL IBT (IELTS 6.0, Pearson 48-52) who otherwise meet the requirements set by the department may be admitted provisionally provided they agree to attend, at their own expense in the summer prior to entrance, a summer institute in English.

The English language testing requirement is waived for applicants meeting any of the following conditions:

  • Citizenship of Australia, Botswana, Canada, Caribbean English speaking countries, Dominica, Gambia, Ghana, Great Britain, Guyana, Hong Kong, Ireland, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Namibia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Scotland, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, West Indies, Zambia, Zimbabwe. Note that there is no waiver for applicants from India.
  • The student has earned a college or university degree in the United States or in one of the countries listed above.
  • A degree earned from the American University in Beirut, American University in Bulgaria, American College of Greece, or from Bogazici University in Turkey.
  • Current enrollment as a full-time student who will have completed two academic years of college/university work in the United States prior to the date of anticipated entrance at the University of Massachusetts.
  • An Education Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) certificate has been obtained (prior to June 2005 only.)

Additional information for prospective students from other countries is available on the Graduate School website.