Graduate Admissions - Department of Aerospace Engineering, University of Maryland

Graduate Admissions

For General inquiries regarding Graduate Admissions to the Department of Aerospace Engineering you may contact:

Dr. Sung Lee
Director, Graduate Studies Aerospace Engineering
swlee@umd.edu | (301) 405-3457

Erika Aparakakankanange
Program Management Coordinator
eaparaka@umd.edu | (301) 405-2376

The Aerospace Engineering Graduate Program encourages applicants with other related engineering backgrounds to apply to our program. The Graduate Admissions Committee may recommend that an incoming student take selected undergraduate courses before the core courses. Please review our graduate program prequisites page.

Minimum Requirements for Applicants:


Masters Program Minimum GPA of 3.2	Doctoral Program Minimum GPA of 3.5

International Applicants Minimum TOEFL score = 577 (paper-based) or 233 (computer-based).
All Applicants Minimum GRE Combined Scores = 1950 (Quantitative + Verbal + Analytical*)

*Note: Analytical Scores are converted from the 1.0 to 6.0 (holistic) scale to a three digit raw number and then added to the quantitative and verbal scores. For example:

A 5.0 Analytical Score is converted to [ (5.0100) + 200] = 700* ]

Application Process:

Complete the online application:

There is a $60, nonrefundable application fee.

Access the Application Supplemental Form (ASF):

After you submit your online application, you will be given the option to immediately access your program’s ASF.
If you wish to complete the ASF at a later date, you can log back to any unfinished form using the same screen name you created to begin your online application.
The ASF also contains an Online Letters of Recommendation* feature, through which applicants can request electronic letters from their recommenders.
Statement of Goals, Experiences, and Research Interests are also submitted using the ASF.

Submit your official test scores and transcripts:

All test scores and transcripts must be reported to:
- University of Maryland College Park
  Enrollment Services Operations
  Application for Graduate Admission
  0130 Mitchell Building
  College Park, Maryland 20742
Graduate Record Examinations (GRE)
GRE Scores should be sent to the University via Educational Testing Services (ETS) immediately upon completing the exam.
The University of Maryland, College Park institutional code for the GRE is 5814.
The GRE is not required, but highly recommended, particularly for international students coming from a non-U.S. institution.
- Graduate Record Examinations
  (609) 771-7670
Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL)
International students must submit TOEFL scores if you did not previously attend a U.S. school for undergraduate studies. For the University of Maryland College Park to receive your scores, please use the reporting code 5814. See "Minimum Requirements for Applicants" above.

Sumit your letters of recommendation:
- *Letters of recommendation must be submitted online.
- Failure to sumit letters electonically will delay and potentially prevent a timely review of your application.
- Do not submit your ASF without first submitting the appropriate contact information from the individuals whom you plan to have recommend you.

Evaluation Process:

The student's files are evaluated by the members of the Graduate Admissions Committee and by a faculty member(s) whose area of research is related to the student's stated research interest. Only students who meet or exceed the admissions standards of the Department of Aerospace Engineering will be considered for admission.

The following are some of the criteria used in deciding whether to admit an applicant:

An applicant’s competitive ranking among other applicants, based on test scores and GPA.
The quality of an applicant’s letters of recommendation, including the authority of the author.
A match of the applicant’s research interests with the interests of the Aerospace Engineering faculty.
An applicant’s degree of professional experience.
The availability of funding.

Since admission into the program is frequently contingent on the availability of financial support, which requires the student to engage in focused research, applicants should determine carefully which areas of aerospace engineering most interest them, and to indicate their interests explicitly in their statement of goals and experiences. Contacting faculty directly may be useful, but the applicants should carefully examine the field of interest of the faculty member(s) whom they wish to contact.

Admission recommendations and offers of financial support are made on a rolling basis. Most graduate assistantship offers are made before the May 15 deadline. Rejection letters to candidates who do not have the required qualifications are also sent out also on a rolling basis. In some cases no decision is made until May 31 for the Fall Semester or October 31 for the Spring Semester.

Application Deadlines:

All admission decisions and offers of financial assistance are made on a rolling basis. Most admission decisions and offers of financial assistance are made relatively early in the review process which is why applicants are strongly encouraged to submit their applications far in advance of the posted deadlines. For more detailed information about application deadlines, please refer to the online Graduate School Catalog.

Fall

The preferred deadline for U.S. applicants is February 1.
The final deadline for applicants is May 15.
The preferred and final deadline for all international applicants, including international applicants currently studying at U.S. institutions is February 1.

Spring

The preferred deadline for U.S. applicants is October 1.
The final deadline for U.S. applicants is October 31.
The preferred and final deadline for all international applicants, including international applicants currently studying at U.S. institutions is June 1 of the preceding year (i.e., if you apply for Spring 2012, your application should be submitted no later than June 1, 2011).

Transfer of Credit:

A maximum of 6 semester hours of graduate course work taken at other regionally accredited institutions prior to matriculation in the Graduate School, or afterward, may be applied toward the Master's degree. The course must have been taken within the time limits for completing the Master's degree; the Graduate Director must agree that the specific courses are appropriate to and acceptable in Chemical Engineering, and the student is responsible for providing an official transcript of this work to the Graduate School.

Due to academic and procedural differences between U.S. regionally accredited and foreign institutions, credit from foreign universities is not normally acceptable for transfer.

The grades on transfer work do not affect the grade point average of the work taken at the University of Maryland. A grade of A from another institution cannot balance a C in a course here.

Transfer work cannot be used to satisfy the requirements for upper level courses in a student's program. The required credits of 600 level or above must be part of the work taken at the University of Maryland.

No credit transfer will be allowed for any courses which have been used in fulfillment of the requirements of any other degree. No credit will be granted for correspondence courses.

The request for transfer credit shall be submitted to the Graduate School for approval at the earliest possible time. The candidate is subject to final examination by this institution in all work offered for the M.S. degree.