Application Requirements

Applicants should have the following materials and qualifications ready to submit:

  • Application + application fee
  • Academic records: Electronic unofficial transcripts are acceptable for the application
  • Minimum 3.0/4.0 GPA or equivalent is required
  • Statement of Purpose
  • Resume
  • Letters of recommendation: A minimum of three (3) letters of recommendation are required for the PhD and MS program. ISU graduates and MEng applicants may submit two letters of recommendation for admission consideration. Submission of complete application before the posted deadline is required for financial support consideration.
  • English language: International students must also meet the English requirement. It can be met by earning a minimum score for an English test (IELTS, TOEFL, etc). It can also be met by earning a four-year degree in a country whose primary language in English. More information can be found here.
  • Prerequisite courses: We welcome applicants from non-ME and non-engineering undergraduate majors. We may require or recommend prerequisite courses based on your academic background. Applicants are advised to consult the Graduate Programs Office to discuss their particular requirements. While it is not a required qualification, we strongly encourage applicants to have an undergraduate degree or background in STEM. Students without this background may experience challenge in courses without the background.
  • Ph.D. and M.S. only: Previous research experience (not required, but recommended)
  • M.Eng. only: U.S. residency is required for the M.Eng. in ME online program
    Find more information for U.S. Students and International Students
  • GRE scores (not required but may be submitted if available; recommended minimum GRE scores are 145 for Verbal, 155 for Quantitative and 3.0 for Writing)

Already applied? Check your application status here.

Visit the Grad College to find more information about these requirements.

Apply Now

Admissions FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)

Below are answers to some common questions. We respectfully ask that you refrain from calling or sending an e-mail unless it is absolutely essential. The time we spend responding to these inquiries greatly slows our applications processing.

You are welcome to submit official copies of your materials any time after you submit your application. However, official copies are not required until after you have been offered admission.

1. Download the PDF copy of the Letter of Recommendation form, complete Sections 1 and 3, and save the completed form.

2. Send the form to your recommender. You must include the megradapp@iastate.edu e-mail address so your recommender will know where to send the form once completed.

Most offers of admission include an offer of financial assistance. Teaching assistantships are determined by the Graduate Committee. If a faculty member has funding and space in their research group, they may make offers for research assistantships from the group of applicants deemed eligible by the Graduate Committee. (For more information on the review process, please see “Have I been admitted?” below.)
New applicants can denote their interest in being considered for teaching and research assistantship positions on their graduate application. Once in the program, students’ assistantships are arranged by their major professors.
Tuition and fee information for each semester may be found on The Office the Registrar’s website. Students on assistantship will receive a half (M.S.) or full (PhD) tuition
scholarship.)

We highly recommend you arrange to have your scores sent before the application deadline. However, it is acceptable for your GRE and TOEFL score reports to arrive after the application deadline as long as it is during the review process, which is one to two weeks after the application deadline. If your reports arrive within the above timeframe after the deadline, your chances of being admitted or receiving financial assistance will not be affected unless final admission decisions have all been made. You can send an inquiry to the Office of Admissions regarding the status of your application.

Note: You can submit scanned copies of your exam scores with your application, but you will need to have official copies sent directly from the testing for validation if offered admission.

In most cases, this means that we have not yet received your official GRE and/or TOEFL score report from ETS. If you have already requested ETS to send your official scores, you need not take any further action.

On the application, you are asked to indicate your GPA at each institution attended. You should provide the GPA attained and the maximum grade attainable in the grading system used at your institution. Please report your GPA as it is reported by your institution. You do not need to convert it.

If you are already committed to a research-oriented career (industry or academia) then you should considering applying directly to the PhD program. For the purposes of flexibility you can let faculty know in your Statement of Purpose that you would be willing to be considered for admission to the master’s program.
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