Hold a bachelor's degree (or equivalent) from a recognized academic institution with degree standards equivalent to those of the University of California

For applicants to our M.S. program, we follow the campus criterion of a minimum GPA of 3.0 based on a 4.0 scale, however, because of the highly competitive nature of admissions, the cutoff can be considerably higher and is currently around 3.3/4.0.

For admission to the Ph.D. program, our expectation is for a GPA near 3.5/4.0 or higher. In addition to the GPA, the admissions committee scrutinizes grades in key courses related to your area of interest, particularly upper-division technical courses.

GRE is not required this year. Regarding the recommendation letters, we expect that at least two of the three required letters are written by academics (professors) who can provide an analytical evaluation of your scholarly performance and potential as a graduate student. Additionally, unofficial transcripts will now be accepted and official ones are only required if admitted.

The campus requirement for minimum TOEFL is 80 on the internet based test (IBT) and at least 550 on the paper-based test (PBT). However, our expectation is a TOEFL score of at least 95. In order to establish eligibility for appointment as a UCI Teaching Assistant (TA), international students who are not citizens of countries where English is either the primary or dominant language are required to pass an oral English proficiency exam approved by the UCI campus. Students can fulfill this requirement by passing one of the following exams: TSE, TOEFL (must have 26 or higher in Speaking portion), SPEAK, or TOEP.

IELTS - An overall minimum score of 7.0 for admission, with a score of no less than 6.0 on any individual module.