Application Deadlines & Requirements

• Applicants will need to complete all required sections of the online application prior to submitting it. This includes uploading the required credentials.
• Please note the applicants’ name on the application form must appear exactly the same as on applicants’ passports or official government documents. If an applicant’s name on any supporting credentials appears differently than it appears on the application form, the applicant must notify the Graduate Programs Office – enggrad@bu.edu – of the name variation to ensure that all the documents can be successfully matched.

This is a non-refundable processing fee and must be paid by credit card. Online applications are not submitted until this application fee is paid by credit card.

GRE requirements differ between programs. Please read the information below carefully. If you are unsure if you are required to submit GRE scores, please email enggrad@bu.edu.

Applicants to PhD Programs for Fall 2026:

The following PhD programs require you to submit the GRE if you earned your bachelor’s degree outside of the United States. Please note that if you were enrolled in a Dual Degree Program, such as a 2+2 program, and were not physically in the U.S. for more than three years, you are required to submit the GRE.

• PhD in Materials Science & Engineering

Applicants to Master’s Programs for Spring 2026 & Fall 2026:

The following master’s programs require you to submit the GRE if you earned your bachelor’s degree outside of the United States. Please note that if you were enrolled in a Dual Degree Program, such as a 2+2 program, and were not physically in the U.S. for more than three years, you are required to submit the GRE.

• Master of Science in Electrical & Computer Engineering
• Master of Engineering in Systems Engineering
• Master of Science in Systems Engineering

Applicants to the Late Entry Accelerated Program (LEAP) for Spring 2026 & Fall 2026:

All applicants to the Late Entry Accelerated Program (LEAP) are required to submit the GRE regardless of where they earned their degree.

HOW TO SUBMIT OFFICIAL GRE RESULTS:

Scores should be reported electronically from ETS to: Boston University, College of Engineering, institutional code 3087. No department code is required, but you may use dept. code “99” if necessary.

A GRE score is valid for five years. The five-year expiration date is based on January for Fall applicants and October for Spring applicants. For example, if an applicant is applying for Fall 2026 a GRE test taken prior to January 2021 is expired.

GRE Subject tests are not required.

• GRE Testing: ETS is now offering the GRE General Test at Home. 

• Discuss your short and long-term professional goals and the major influences that helped shape these goals. Describe your motivation for pursuing graduate study at the College of Engineering. You may also wish to support your application by providing any comments or information that you feel are not elicited by the application form.
• The Statement of Purpose will be uploaded to your application in the Documents section of the application. Students should complete and upload the Statement of Purpose before submitting the online application.
• We recommend that the statement of purpose not exceed 1500 words.

• The resume should include any relevant work and/or research experience; community and/or professional activities; any honors, distinctions, prizes, or scholarships you have received; publications, theses, scientific or literary articles; and any other creative work which could be used to support your application.
• The resume will be uploaded to your application in the Documents section of the application. Students should complete and upload their resume before submitting the online application.

• At the point of application, unofficial transcripts are acceptable. These documents should still have official seals and logos if possible and should be uploaded directly to the online application in the Academic History section or in Additional Documents. You should not request an official transcript from your previous institution until after your coursework is complete.
• To obtain an unofficial transcript, you should log in to your student portal at your institution. You can also contact the registrar’s office at your institution for additional assistance. The document must have the applicant’s name, the name of the institution, and a seal, logo, or signature of a school official (like the Registrar, Dean, etc.). It should also include each course taken and the grade earned for each course.
• If your transcript is in English, a professional translation or a course-by-course credential evaluation is not required.
• If the original transcript is not written in English, please provide a professionally-translated into English version in addition to your original unofficial transcript. Two U.S.-based translation services often used by applicants are ECE www.ece.org and WES www.wes.org. If using a U.S.-based translation service, please submit a course-by-course evaluation. Please note that U.S.-based translation services will charge a fee, and you are under no obligation to use these services.
• Applicants must upload a scanned copy of the transcript from each college or university attended.
• In order to complete your application, the College of Engineering requires a transcript from every university/college that you list in the “Colleges Attended” section of the “Academic History” of the application. The Admissions Committee reserves the right to request further information from an applicant. For purposes of application, you should list only the schools/colleges for which you are uploading transcripts.
• DO NOT mail official hard copies of your transcripts. The Graduate Programs Office will contact applicants directly if there are any problems with their uploaded transcript.
• College seniors should submit a PDF or scanned copy of their transcript for work completed in the first semester of the senior year as soon as it is available to enggrad@bu.edu and we will add it to your application.
• Please note, all students who enroll at Boston University will be required to provide an official, degree-conferring transcript and/or degree certificate issued by their college/university in a sealed envelope (or electronically submitted directly) to the Graduate Programs Office at the time they enroll.

• A minimum of two letters of recommendation are required. A maximum of three recommendations can be submitted online. Letters can be requested by the applicant through the ‘Recommenders’ tab on the Program Materials section of the application. Applicants can check the status of the recommendations and view when they are submitted by using the same tab. We advise applicants to use a due date no later than the application deadline.

Language Proficiency Testing: International students are required to submit scores from the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) that meet our minimum requirements, unless otherwise waived. We do not accept Duolingo scores. Applicants should take either the TOEFL iBT or the TOEFL iBT Special Home Edition.

We do not accept the TOEFL ITP Plus for China test. We do not accept the TOEFL Essentials test.

Applicants who are unable to take the TOEFL may submit results from IELTS, or the IELTS Indicator (at home test).

Applicants submitting IELTS Indicator scores should contact enggrad@bu.edu with the subject line “ATTN: IELTS Indicator Results” before submitting scores from the IELTS Indicator (at home test).

How to Report your scores:

TOEFL: If submitting a TOEFL test, please select Boston University, College of Engineering, institutional code 3087, as a recipient for official reports. No department code is required, but you may use dept. code “99” if necessary. We are looking for a minimum of 90 overall on the TOEFL.

IELTS: Please contact the test center directly where you took the IELTS test and request that your official test scores be sent electronically using the IELTS system. All IELTS test centers worldwide are able to send scores electronically to our institution. We are looking for at least a 7.0 on the IELTS.

E-download Account Name: Boston University Graduate Programs

Please be sure to report your IELTS TRF number in the application (in Standardized Tests or in Additional Documents).

TOEFL and IELTS tests are valid for 2 years. For example, a student applying for Fall 2026 must have taken the test after January 1, 2024.

The Late Entry Accelerated Program (LEAP) curriculum begins with courses building on Calculus I concepts. To ensure students are adequately prepared for the program coursework, LEAP applicants are required to have completed Calculus I at an accredited college or university prior to starting the program. Please note that any Calculus I courses designated as “Calculus I for non-STEM majors” or  “Calculus I for humanities majors” will NOT count since they will not adequately prepare students for the LEAP curriculum. To learn more about the courses that satisfy this requirement, please visit our LEAP FAQ’s page here.

The Graduate Programs Office highly encourages applicants to complete this course prior to applying to LEAP. If you have specific questions about this requirement, please contact the Graduate Programs Office at enggrad@bu.edu.

• Students who are currently taking classes may upload a brief class list and descriptions of the classes they are currently taking or plan to take in their final year.
• Please note that student transcripts are required and cannot be replaced by a course list. This is strictly for additional information students may wish to provide on their current courses. Please do not submit a course list for courses already shown on your transcripts.

• If applicants have any additional information they wish to provide for the admissions review committee, they can upload a document that explains their additional information. Examples of additional information students may wish to include:
  • Information pertaining directly to your desired course of study that has not been mentioned anywhere else in the application.
  • Internships or other programs you have participated in that have not been mentioned anywhere else in the application.
  • Any other area of your application you would like to address in further detail.

This system will allow you to provide personal and educational information for your application, request online recommendations, self-report test scores from ETS, and upload official transcripts and other required credentials. Please do not mail documents to our office.

Your legal name is with your first name being your given name and your last name being your family name. Your application should list your name as it appears on your passport or government-issued ID.

Your legal name should be used for all of your application materials including GRE scores, TOEFL / IELTS scores, and supporting credentials. If you have a former name or name discrepancy, please notify the GPO office.

Your BU ID number is an eight digit number preceded by the letter U. This is a number that our office uses to identify and track applicants and current students. As part of the application, all students will be asked if they have any previous BU affiliation. If yes is selected, applicants will be asked to log in with your previous BU log in and password to verify your affiliation. If NO is selected, your BU ID will be provided to you.

Please do not select NO to the previous BU affiliation if you have forgotten your username and password. Instead follow the steps to request this information again. Creating multiple BU IDs will delay your application process.

Your CAS ID is the ID associated with your specific application. This will be a 10 digit number found on your application portal in the upper right corner.

If you contact our office at any point in the admissions process, we may request one or both of these numbers to help us assist you.

All documents should be provided online with the online application. International Students will be contacted if they are offered admission and further international student documentation is required. If you must submit certain documents by mail, please make sure your legal name is clearly listed along with your BU ID number.

The Graduate Programs Office will initially review all applications to confirm they are complete. A complete application will contain all of the required credentials listed above. If documents are missing, your application will be incomplete and will not be reviewed until the required credentials have been received. The Graduate Programs Office will notify everyone via email when their application is complete; please do not assume your application is complete until you receive that email.

The College of Engineering offers application fee waivers to the following applicants:

• Current BU Engineering Students
• Veterans
• BU Employees
• Peace Corp Volunteers
• FEM and Project 1,000 applicants
• McNair Scholars
• GEMS (Please provide ID number with your request)
• Fulbright
• MARC Undergraduate Student Training in Academic Research (U-STAR) Awards
• Other students with approval of BU College of Engineering

We cannot grant fee waivers to applicants that have already submitted at least 1 application in our system. You must request your fee waiver AFTER THE CREATION OF YOUR ACCOUNT and BEFORE YOU SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION. No refunds will be made to students requesting a fee waiver after they submitted an application.

Applicants that would like to request a fee waiver may do so by completing the form on our website at: Application Fee Waiver Request. Any questions may be directed via email to: enggrad@bu.edu.