ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS FOR GRADUATE DEGREES IN AEROSPACE AND MECHANICAL ENGINEERING Application Deadlines MS: Sept. 15th for Spring, Jan 15th for Fall (Dec. 15th for for scholarship consideration) PhD: Dec. 1st for Fall (applications are not considered for Spring admission) Please note that verification and processing of materials by the Office of Graduate Admission may take three to four weeks so it is recommended that you submit your application well ahead of the application deadline and send all materials before the application deadline. You will not receive your USC ID # until after you have submitted your online application. It is recommended that you submit your academic records after you have submitted your online application and have received your USC ID number. Including your USC ID number with your mailed documents will expedite their processing. Application The application is available on-line at http://www.usc.edu/admission/graduate/apply/index.html The following documents must be submitted to the Graduate Admission Office, by uploading them to our online application system:  The USC application for admission  Recommendations letters (3 required for PhD applicants, accepted but not required for MS applicants)  Your resume  Your statement of purpose Official Transcript(s) and GPA Admission Requirements The University requires official transcripts from all colleges or universities the applicant has attended. DO NOT SEND TRANSCRIPTS TO THE DEPARTMENT, THEY MUST BE MAILED TO THE USC GRADUATE ADMISSION OFFICE ONLY. For admission to AME graduate programs the department requires a B.S. degree in Aerospace or Mechanical Engineering. Candidates with B.S. degrees in other disciplines may be admitted after clearing course deficiencies identified by a graduate advisor. The deficiencies can be cleared by either taking undergraduate prerequisites, at USC or at another institution, or specific graduate and 400 level classes that can be a part of a graduate coursework. In all cases, to be considered for admission to AME graduate programs a minimum undergraduate GPA of 3.0 is required. Admission into the Ph.D. program is highly competitive and satisfying the minimum GPA requirements is no guarantee of admission because GRE scores, recommendation letters, statement of purpose, research experience and other factors are used in making the decision. The average undergraduate GPA of recently admitted Ph.D. applicants is 3.65 while for recently admitted MS applicants the average undergraduate GPA is 3.45. Statement of Purpose The statement should include the reason for the applicant’s desire to obtain a graduate degree in Aerospace or Mechanical Engineering. If applying to the Ph.D. program it must describe a proposed program of study and research at USC. Indicate scholarly and professional goals, and personal qualifications relative to the chosen program. Graduate Record Exam Although there is no minimum score required for admission, the AME Department recommends Quantitative scores of 154 for MS applicants and 165 for PhD applicants for the best chances of being considered for admission. The GRE must be taken within five years prior to the intended start date of your program. Official test scores should be sent from the testing agency directly to USC. USC’s ETS school code is 4852. TOEFL (International Students only) International student must submit a TOEFL or IELTS score report. There is no minimum score required for admission. If admitted, depending on an applicants TOEFL score, you may be required to take the International Student English (ISE) placement exam at USC and following course requirements that may result based on your performance on the ISE placement exam. Students who meet the following conditions may not be required to take the ISE exam upon arrival at USC: 1. MS applicants with TOEFL scores of 90 or higher with no less than 20 on each of the four individual sections of the new Internet-based TOEFL (iBT), or an IELTS score of 6.5 with no less than 6 on each band score. 2. PhD applicants with TOEFL scores of 100 or higher with no less than 20 on each of the four individual sections of the Internet-based TOEFL (iBT) or an IELTS score of 7 with at least a 6 on each band score. 3. Students with a bachelor's degree from a college or university in the US (note all 4 years of study must have been in the US). 4. Students whose native language is English. This applies to students from countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Canada (except Quebec) where English is both the first language of the country and the language of instruction. Official scores must be received directly from the testing service and date no earlier than 2 years prior to the start of your intended first term at USC. If you are sending TOEFL scores, the institution code for USC is 4852 (no department code is required). If you are sending IELTS scores, please choose USC from the list of available institutions. Letters of Recommendation For M.S. programs, letters of recommendation are accepted but not required. For Ph.D. programs a minimum of three letters of recommendation are required. It is preferred that former instructors provide the letters, however, the department will accept letters from the applicant’s advisors from work if the applicant has been out of school for a few years. It is preferred that all letters of recommendation be uploaded via the online application and not mailed to USC. Financial Support The Viterbi School of Engineering’s policy is that only Ph.D. students are eligible for Teaching and Research Assistantships. An application to the AME Ph.D. program will be automatically considered for all available USC fellowships and AME Teaching and Research Assistantships. The USC fellowships include the Graduate School, Viterbi, and Chevron fellowships. The AME PhD Admission committee evaluates all Ph.D. applications for admission. The committee recommends students for USC graduate fellowships but the decisions are made on the School or University level. Decisions about Teaching and Research Assistantships are made in the department on the basis of departmental needs, available research funding, and comparison among applicants. There are also a limited number of competitive scholarships available to MS students. See the following website for more information: http://gapp.usc.edu/graduate-programs/graduate-funding/scholarships_financial_aid If admitted to the MS program, qualifying applicants will be notified to apply to certain scholarships. Please send official transcript(s) and any additional materials not uploaded with the online application to the USC Office of Graduate Admission, making sure that the applicant’s name and USC ID # is included. The correct address to use is: University of Southern California Office of Graduate Admission 3601 South Flower Street Room 112 Los Angeles, CA 90089-0915