Admission Requirements

Graduate School Admission Requirements

• Applicants may apply for admission to only one (1) program at a time.
• For admission to the Graduate School, an applicant must hold either 1) a bachelor's degree from a U.S. regionally accredited institution or 2) a post-secondary degree that is equivalent to a U.S. baccalaureate degree earned from an officially recognized degree-granting international institution.
• Ordinarily, an entering student must have completed in a satisfactory manner a minimum of course work in designated areas, the specific courses and amount of work depending upon the intended field of advanced study.
• Admission is granted jointly by the Graduate School and the graduate program in which the student plans to study. The establishment of standards by which applicants are admitted is the responsibility of the graduate program.

International Students Admission Requirements

• International applicants must hold either 1) a bachelor's degree from a U.S. regionally accredited institution or 2) a post-secondary degree that is equivalent to a U.S. baccalaureate degree earned from an officially recognized degree-granting international institution.
  • International applicants must submit official or attested university records, with certified translations if the records are not in English. Notarized copies are not sufficient.
• The language of instruction at Penn State is English. All international applicants must take and submit scores for the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) or the IELTS (International English Language Testing System), with the exceptions noted below. Individual graduate programs of study may require higher scores for admission.
  • TOEFL:
    • Internet-based test (iBT) - a total score of 80 with a 19 on the speaking section for the internet-based test (iBT).
      • Applicants with iBT speaking scores between 15 and 18 may be considered for provisional admission, with Graduate School approval, which requires completion of specified remedial English courses ESL 114G (American Oral English for Academic Purposes) and/or ESL 116G (ESL/Composition for Academic Disciplines) and attainment of a grade of B or higher within the first semester of enrollment.
    • Paper-based test (taken prior to July 2017) – the minimum acceptable score is 550.
    • Paper-based test (taken July 2017 or later) – a combined total of the 3 sections evaluated must be 60 or greater.
  • IELTS: The minimum acceptable composite score for the IELTS Academic Test is 6.5.

International applicants who have received a baccalaureate or a graduate degree in one of the following countries are exempt from the TOEFL/IELTS requirement: American Samoa, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Bahamas, Barbados Belize, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Canada (except Quebec), Cayman Islands, Dominica, England, Ghana, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Kenya, Liberia, Montserrat, New Zealand, Nigeria, Northern Ireland, Puerto Rico, Republic of Ireland, Scotland, Singapore, South Africa, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, Uganda, United States, U.S. Virgin Islands, and Wales.

Information about the TOEFL can be obtained by writing to the Educational Testing Service, Box 6155, Princeton, NJ 08541-6155 or visiting their Web site at www.toefl.org. Local administration at University Park campus of the TOEFL is handled by the IECP. Information about the IELTS can be obtained by contacting IELTS International, 100 East Corson Street, Suite 200, Pasadena, CA 91103 or visiting its Web site at www.ielts.org.

Department of Ecosystem Science and Management Admission Requirements

Minimum admission requirements for the Soil Science master's program include an undergraduate 3.0 cumulative grade point average for the junior-senior years, based on a 4.0 scale. Due to the diversity of programs in the department, professional preparation may vary considerably. In general, the following subject matter areas are required (with the number of course credits noted in parentheses) for admission to the Soil Science graduate program:

• Communication skills (9), including technical writing (3) and speech (3).
• Chemistry, mathematics, and physics (10 credits distributed among all categories).
• Biological science (8), including botany.
• Agronomy, geology, and plant science (12), including soil science.

Students with undergraduate degrees not in these disciplines are invited to apply, but may be admitted on a "provisional" status pending make-up of deficiencies. The faculty member who agrees to serve as adviser of a provisional student will stipulate conditions to be met for transfer from provisional status to a graduate degree program. Final decision on course deficiencies rests with the student's graduate committee.

Evaluation of the Applicant

Faculty evaluate:

• Bachelor's degree obtained
• Previous course work
• Academic performance (grade point average)
• TOEFL scores (international students)
• Course deficiencies
• Personal vitae
• Three letters of recommendation
• Statement of applicant's academic goals and career interests

Recommendation for acceptance or rejection of an applicant is made to the Graduate School by the Department's Graduate Program Coordinator in consultation with the reviewing faculty members. A favorable (majority) vote and a willing adviser are required for acceptance.

The best-qualified applicants are accepted within the limits of available openings in the department's graduate program. Exceptions to the admission criteria may be granted for applicants with special backgrounds, abilities, and interests. However, deficiencies must be fulfilled early in the program. Applicants with a large number of deficiencies may be advised to enroll in a second bachelor's program.

Admission to the Ph.D. program requires evidence of research ability, e.g., a master's degree thesis, paper, or equivalent publication and a grade point average of 3.3 or higher in a graduate degree program, exclusive of thesis and special problems. Baccalaureate degree students graduating from an honors program with a required thesis, or who have authored a refereed publication, may be considered for admittance without a master's degree.

The Graduate Program Coordinator of graduate studies and the electronic process will supply all necessary application materials and relevant information. Applications should be submitted prior to January 4 for beginning a program in the summer or fall. Many assistantship decisions are made in early February; therefore, early application is encouraged and increases the chances of accessing special support funds.