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The Texas A&M University formal graduate admission process is centralized and is administered by the Office of Admissions and Records (OAR). On-line graduate applications are accepted at www.applytexas.org or here. In addition to the application, the University required the Graduate Record Examination; official transcripts from all previously attended institutions, and three letters of recommendation. Applications will be considered incomplete until OAR receives the official GRE, TOEFL scores from ETS and official transcripts. GRE scores may be self-reported by the applicant but must be verified by the start of the semester of enrollment. Letters of recommendation are sent directly to the department's graduate office. International transcripts are evaluated by the OAR using the standards in the Handbook of Placement of Foreign Graduate Students by the National Association of Foreign Student Affairs in order to determine the applicant's equivalent Grade Point Ratio (GPR).
When the OAR releases the application to the department, the graduate office will attach the material that has been previously submitted to the department (letters of reference, statement of purpose, resumes, previous publications, etc). The application is then routed to the graduate recruiting and admission committee. who will review the graduate application and will make an official recommendation to the Office of Graduate Studies. The Office of Admission and Records officially notifies the applicant of the admission decision.
Entrance Requirements for Graduate Students
The University computes GPR (Grade Point Ratio) on a four-point scale for each applicant. Generally, a minimum GPR of 3.1 is required to be considered for admission into the graduate program. However, the average GPR for admitted students in previous years was 3.3 for students admitted to the Masters program and 3.65 for students admitted to the Ph.D program. While there is no minimum GRE score required, the average quantitative GRE score for Ph.D. students accepted in previous years was around 780.
The Department considers various factors when making the graduate admission decisions, such as quality of institutions previously attended, content of past academic work, letters of recommendation, applicant's statement purpose, personal interviews, and writing samples.
The University requires all international graduate students whose native language is not English to fulfill an English proficiency requirement. Verification of English proficiency can be achieved by a Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) score of at least 550 paper-based, 213 computer-based or GRE Verbal score of 400. Those graduate applicants not verified must take the English Language Proficiency Examination (ELPE) prior to registering for courses in their first semester. The ELPE evaluates English skills in the area of grammar, vocabulary, reading, listening, written composition, and oral communication. The Engish Language Institute (ELI) administers the ELPE as well as offering English courses in these areas.
