MS/PhD Admission Requirements and Process

Application Requirements:

• Online application with $90 non-refundable application fee 
• Transcripts: If transcripts are not in English, a copy in English and native language should be submitted. Transcripts can be unofficial but should include the name of institution and your name.
  • Certificate of degree (if applicable). If COD is not in English, a copy in English and native language should be submitted.
• Resume/CV: 2 pages maximum.
• 3 letters of recommendation
• 2 - 4 personal statements (2 required, 2 optional) - 250 word maximum each statement. Questions 1 & 2 are required, Questions 3 & 4 are optional and not answering these questions will not affect your admissions decision)
  
  • Question #1: Please describe pivotal experiences, opportunities, and/or challenges (including any financial or access barriers) that have influenced your educational or professional development
  • Question #2: At Illinois, we value a student's ability to contribute to a community of inclusion, belonging, and respect where our gradaute students can learn and collaborate productively and positively. Please provide an example of how you contributed to or engaged with a community of students or colleagues with different perspectives, abilities, and experiences to achieve a positive outcome, and reflect on what you learned from this experience. 
  • Question #3: If you believe your academic record does not demonstrate your true capabilities, please explain why. You may also discuss any gaps in your academic and professional experience. 
  • Question #4: If there is something you would like to share with the admissions committee, that you have yet to discuss in other areas of this application, please do so here. If needed, you may also use this space to expand upon topics discussed in the above essays.
• Academic Statement of Purpose that answers the following questions: (1,000 words maximum); 
  • How has your academic background, including any training, research, or other educational experiences, prepared you for graduate study?
  • What are your intellectual interests, and what scholarly questions are you interested in exploring in graduate study?
  • Are there any specific faculty members whose research interests align with your own with whom you would like to work?
  • How will our program help you achieve your academic and professional goals?

International applicants only:

• Official TOEFL/IELTS submitted to the Graduate College 

Eligibility

Students with a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Mechanical Engineering or a closely related field from an accredited college in the United States or a recognized institution of higher learning aboard are eligible to apply to MechSE MS and PhD programs. Closely related fields include math, physics, and other engineering disciplines. A Master’s degree is not required to apply to the PhD program.

Students with a Master of Science (M.S) in Mechanical Engineering or a closely related field from an accredited college in the United States or a recognized institution of higher learning aboard are eligible to apply to MechSE PhD programs only. Closely related fields include math, physics, and other engineering disciplines. Students who already hold a master’s degree may not apply for a second master’s degree in the same field.

Grade Point Average (GPA)

For full status admission, the Graduate College requires a minimum GPA of 3.0/4.0 (B average), or comparable GPA for an international applicant, for the last two years of a four-year undergraduate program or the last three years of a five-year program.

Our department requires a higher minimum GPA for our applicants. In order to be competitive for our programs, applicants should hold at least a 3.5 GPA or higher on a 4.0 scale or equivalent for undergraduate and graduate study.

Letters of Recommendation

We require 3 letters of recommendation, While there is an option to submit more than 3 letters of recommendation, we do not recommend this. Due to the volume of applications we receive each year, there is no guarantee that additional letters will be read.

These letters should come from those who can attest to your character and potential as a graduate student and researcher. This could include professors or supervisors. See the Graduate College's website on who to include for your recommenders.

It is the responsibility of the applicant to follow up with their recommenders to make sure letters are submitted by the deadline. We recommend that you send your recommenders notifications through the portal long before you submit your application so they can submit their letters by the deadline. Letters received after the deadline will be viewable to the admissions committee. However, late letters are not guaranteed to be reviewed by the admissions committee as reviews begin immediately after the deadline. 

Personal Statements/ Academic Statement of Purpose

Tips for writing your academic statement of purpose and personal statements can be found here.

Minimum admission requirements by Country

The Graduate College provides minimum requirements by country. Please refer to our GPA scale above for our minimum program requirements.  

English Proficiency Requirement

All applicants whose native language is not English are required to submit the results of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or International English Language Testing System (IELTS) as evidence of English proficiency. All English proficiency scores should be verified prior to the department deadline for test score verification. Please note that it can take up to several weeks for official test scores to be matched to your application. We recommend applicants to submit official test scores long before the deadline to ensure our office has the official scores by the deadline. It is the applicant's responsibility to ensure official test scores are received by the deadline. Applicants without verified test scores by our deadline may not be reviewed.

Accepted tests include: TOEFL iBT, TOEFL iBT Home Edition, IELTS Academic Exam

Official scores are required to be submitted directly from the TOEFL/ETS or IELTS and must be less than two years old from the first day of class at the proposed term of entry. 

TOEFL iBT: Applicants should send their official scores to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign using our institution code number 1836.

IELTS: Scores should be sent electronically via your testing center to the following account name: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Graduate.

Applicants who meet one of the following criteria are exempt from the English proficiency requirement for admission as stated on the Graduate College website:

• Received a post- secondary degree from a US institution (or an institution within an approved country) within 5 years of the proposed admission term.
  • Approved countries with English as the Primary Language: Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, Canada, Dominica, Fiji, Gambia, Ghana, Grenada, Guyana, Ireland, Jamaica, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, New Zealand, Nigeria, Philippines, Scotland, Sierra Leone, Singapore, South Africa, St. Kitts, Trinidad, Tobago, Uganda, United Kingdom, United States, and Zimbabwe.
• Completion of at least two years of post-secondary study in the US (or an approved country) within 5 years of proposed term of initial enrollment.
• Completion of at least two years of professional work experience in the US (or an approved country) within 5 years of the proposed term of initial enrollment.

Faculty Preference Notes

Applicants should list all MechSE faculty members that they have an interest in working with. You can find a list of our faculty by research area here. This will make your application easily searchable for faculty when they go to review applications. (You may list faculty outside of MechSE but please note that most of our admission offers come from faculty within the department or MechSE affiliate faculty). If you secure an outside advisor (who is not an affiliate), you would be required to have a MechSE co-advisor. Please note that securing an advisor outside of MechSE does not guarantee admission. Your application will still need to be reviewed and deemed admissible by our admissions committee before any offer goes out.

Optional Documentation

Graduate Record Examination (GRE):

GRE test scores are not currently required for MechSE admission. The admissions committee will not review any GRE test scores submitted.

International applicants only: Funding Documents and Passport
All international applicants requesting via eligibility documents (I-20 or DS-2019) are required to demonstrate that they have adequate financial resources to cover the cost of their education while in the United States. Our department does not require evidence of financial resources at the time of application. All funding offers will be subtracted from the total amount of funding the applicant is required to show. For more information regarding funding requirements, please see the Graduate College's website.