Prospective Graduate Students
Frequently Asked Questions
What are my chances of admission if my BS degree is in a discipline other than chemical engineering?
Your chances are lower than students with BS degrees in chemical engineering. If you feel you are prepared for the transition [for example you took some chemical engineering classes during your BS in chemistry] please highlight this in your statement of purpose.
What are the minimum entrance requirements?
We do not impose numerical requirements on GPA or GRE scores. Although exceptions occur, the typical student entering our program will have a gpa above 3.4, be in the top 20% of their class, and have GRE scores over 1100 [quantitative+verbal] and 4.0 [analytical writing]. You should be aware that the letters of recommendation and your presentation of yourself in the statement of purpose are also extremely important.
The exception to this is the TOEFL exam for international students, on which the graduate school has a minimum requirement of 80 [iBT] overall and 19 [iBT] speaking. Provisional admission with speaking scores between 15 and 18 may be requested from the graduate school; we reserve this for very strong applicants.
What are my chances of admission?
We understand that often students, particularly international students with limited resources want to know their chances for admission before applying. Please understand that we cannot evaluate your chances without a full application. The standards above can serve as guidelines, but are not absolute. The quality of your BS university also plays a role. If you are an international student from Iran, you may wish to contact Prof. Ali Borhan for more information. If you are an international student from Korea, you may wish to contact Prof. Seong Kim for more information.
What is the timeline for admissions decisions?
After receiving applications by December 15, we make our initial admission selections for domestic students by January 15, and international students by February 15. We hold some applications and often make more offers up until April 15, which is the deadline for replying to offers from all US Universities.
Can I apply if my test scores will not be ready before the application deadline?
If your test scores will be a little late, this is acceptable, but you must indicate on the application form when you are taking the test. If we do not have this information when we evaluate applications, any potential offer may be delayed, or we may not be able to evaluate your case.
What if I haven't heard about my application?
If it is between mid January [mid February for international] and mid April, we are holding your application in case we need to make further offers. If you need to respond to other offers, please contact Prof. Janna Maranas and explain your situation.
Is my application complete?
A checklist application components for both domestic and international students is provided in the How to Apply section of our webpage. If you have completed the appropriate checklist, you should consider your application complete.
Additional Questions
- If your question is not addressed there, please contact us by email at ChemEng@psu.edu.