MS/PhD International Applicants

Graduate Program Application Deadlines

Please note:

• Due to the large number of applications we receive each year, it is difficult for us to respond to routine requests to check the status of your application. 
• You will receive your admissions decision via email.
• Admissions decisions will not be given by phone or in person. 
• Applicants are encouraged to submit their applications as early as possible. You do not have to wait for your letters of recommendation to be submitted before you submit your application. 
• All materials, including PDFs from ETS (for GRE/TOEFL scores) or scanned IELTS reports of official test scores and any required letters of recommendation, are due by 11:59 PM Central Standard Time on the deadline date.  

Eligibility

Applicants should have or be in their final year of a BS in Mechanical Engineering or a closely-related field from an accredited college in the United States or an approved institution of higher learning abroad. Other Engineering disciplines, Math, and Physics are considered closely-related fields. 

Students do not have to have a Master’s degree to apply to the PhD program.

Applicants who already hold a master’s degree may not apply for a second master’s degree in the same field.

Application Requirements

All application materials may be uploaded online during the application process. Please DO NOT send official copies of transcripts, diplomas, reference letters, or scores. Applicants will be contacted if additional materials are required.

• Online application with the Graduate College.
  • Submit all required materials and any optional additional materials you wish to submit.
• Application fee of $90
• Transcripts: Transcripts and native language (may be unofficial, but applicant name and university name must appear) must be uploaded to your online application. The transcript can be unofficial and should include the name of the institution, the applicant’s name, course titles, and course grades. Please enter your BS institution as School #1. If you hold an MS, please list the MS institution as School #2.  
• Certificate of degree in English and native language (if earned)
• Resume/CV: 2 pages maximum.
• Academic Statement of Purpose: 1000 words maximum. Please see how to write a Statement of Purpose here. 
• Two Personal Statements: Each statement is 250 words maximum. When you start your application, you will see 4 questions. 2 of these questions are mandatory and two of them are optional. 
• Letters of Recommendation – The application requires 3 online letters of recommendation. Please contact mechse-grad@illinois.edu if any technical problems arise for you or your letter writers. 
• TOEFL/IELTS requirements (outlined below) -- if you would like to see if you qualify for a waiver from this exam, please review the Graduate College's English Proficiency Requirement for Admission page >>

English Proficiency Required for Admission

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.  Official scores are required to be submitted directly from TOEFL/ETS or IELTS and must be less than two years old from the first day of class at the proposed term of entry.  You may send TOEFL scores to university code 1836. IELTS score report forms should be submitted directly to the online application. For more information on English proficiency, including minimum scores required, please visit the Graduate College's English Proficiency Requirement for Admission page.

There are exemptions to the English Proficiency requirement – please visit the Graduate College's English Proficiency Requirement for Admission page for more information on whether or not you these exemptions would apply to you. Please note that this exemption is for admission purposes only. This does not provide an exemption for international teaching assistants. For more information, please see the English Proficiency Requirement for International Teaching Assistants. Please click here for a list of countries that qualify for an exemption from the admissions requirement.

**Limited Status Admission is offered to applicants with outstanding academic records who do not meet the requirement for full status admission. Limited Status Admission indicates the need for further English study. An English as a Second Language Placement Test (EPT) will be required upon arrival at the University. Based on these results, new admits are generally required to enroll in non-credit "English as a Second Language" courses and take a reduced academic load in their first semester at Illinois.