Admissions Information

Masters plan A and PhD:

January 5th: Application deadline for fall admission.

September 1st:  Application deadline for spring admission.

Masters plan B (not considered for funding)

Rolling admission

Fall Virtual Information Sessions (30 minutes)

September 28, 8a and 6p MT
October 26, 8a and 6p MT
November 30, 8a and 6p MT

Minimum Requirements:

The School of Advanced Materials Discovery believes in reviewing your application holistically. Each piece of your application informs our admissions committee about what you can bring to the program and how our program can accentuate your skills and potential. We will review your application with unofficial transcript and/or English proficiency test score copies, but the application portal says official copies are needed. If the committee wants to recommend you for admission, we will require official copies at that time. Read the frequently asked questions section below for more information.

Currently, our program does not require the GRE. Our admitted student GPA average is a 3.3 GPA (as of FA23). Although not required, a 3.0 GPA or equivalent is recommended. Students with a GPA between 2.8 and 3.0 or equivalent can be recommended for non-provisional admission. If you have below a 2.8 GPA, refer to the Access Admission Pathway. We recommend you request letters of recommendation from individuals that know you well. Write a personal statement that tells us what may not be visible in your application. For tips on writing your personal statement, click here.

A Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) Bachelors of Science is not required for admission to our MSE Graduate Program. However, our admissions committee requires you demonstrate knowledge of the following subjects/courses:

One year of calculus-based physics

One year of collegiate chemistry for the sciences

Calculus and differential equations

The commitee also recommends you demonstrate knowledge of: Materials Science, Materials Science & Engineering, Matlab or other coding program.

Once admitted, the admissions committee may recommend/require additional courses to ensure all students are successful in our MSE program. Additional courses may be recommended and/or required of the student’s thesis/dissertation committee as well.

Please refer to our frequently asked questions section below for additional information.

Admissions contact: Carolina Bañuelos
Phone: 970-491-4879

Frequently Asked Admissions Questions

At this time, we have a limited number of application fees we can cover. If you do not qualify for one from the graduate school (check here), the department will cover the fee after the application review if both of the following are true:

 

  • Application is complete with unofficial or official documents
  • Committee wants to recommend you for admission

IMPORTANT: As long as we have all your materials by the due date (official or unofficial), we will review your application. You will receive automated messages that your application fee is due or that your application is incomplete, but we cannot turn those off. The system marks it as incomplete if there are unofficial documents and if fee is unpaid. Rest assured we will still review your application. If we do not move your application forward for admission, you won’t need to worry about the fee for our degree program application. This only applies to the MSE degree program application.

 Contact the program manager if you have additional questions:  ([email protected]).

  • All PhD and MS-thesis applications (domestic or international) are considered for funding, no additional application for funding is required.
  • Our program offers financial support in the form of Graduate Teaching Assistantships, Graduate Research Assistantships, and Rotating Graduate Assistantships. Assistantships cover all of tuition and provide a monthly stipend.
  • No funding is offered for the MS-coursework only degree (seminar, paper, project option). 
  • No, but MS-Thesis and PhD applicants must mention 2-4 faculty they are interested in working with in your application and/or personal statement. Check out our faculty page and research areas for more information.
  • Regardless of residency status, you are eligible for funding when applying to PhD or MS-thesis degree programs.
  • There is no additional funding application required.
  • We do not offer funding for the MS- coursework only (seminar, paper, project)
  • No. We do not require GRE for our application.
  • Yes you can apply. We can recommend students who have between a 2.8 and 3.0 (or equivalent) for admission. The graduate school has the final say on admission.
  • For applicants with a GPA below 2.800, the Access Admission Pathway (see Access Admission Pathway section) provides an admission pathway that balances accessibility with individual student success for applicants who have completed six credits of regular, graduate-level coursework at CSU and received a B or better in each individual course. Applicants who qualify for Access Admission will be provisionally admitted and immediately placed on academic warning.
  • CSU requires that proficiency in the English language be demonstrated either by the TOEFL, IELTS, Duolingo, or and PTE Academic tests prior to admission.
  • TOEFL minimum score – 550 (paper based), 80 (Internet based)
  • IELTS minimum score – 6.5
  • Duolingo minimum score – 120
  • PTE minimum score – 58

Official scores, taken within two years prior to admission, must be submitted directly from the testing agency.

  • General IELTS
  • IELTS indicator
  • iTEP
  • TOEFL Essentials
  • TOEFL ITP
  • TOEFL My Best Score
  • Yes, our MSE program is interdisciplinary. Our faculty and students come from a variety of backgrounds (chemistry, physics, mechanical engineering, math, textile engineering, etc.). However, our admissions committee requires you demonstrate knowledge of the following subjects/courses:
    • One year of calculus-based physics
    • One year of collegiate chemistry for the sciences
    • Calculus and differential equations
  • PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING CAREFULLY: the application portal will say you need official transcripts and official English language proficiency test scores, but WE WILL review your application with UNOFFICIAL copies if we have unofficial copies and your other application materials are submitted by the due date. You also do not need to pay for your fee for us to review your application.
  • Important note: If the committee wishes to move your application forward for an admission recommendation, we will require official documents at that time and will cover your fee after we see official documents submitted.
  • If we do not move your application forward for admission, you do not need to worry about the fee for our degree program application. This only applies to the MSE degree program application.
  • An official transcript paper copy that is sent via mail to graduate admissions:

Colorado State University – Office of Admissions

1062 Campus Delivery

Fort Collins, CO 80523-1062

  • Copies emailed from the university ARE NOT considered official
    • An official transcript copy sent from the university through a secure service like TrueCopy or World Education Services (WES) will count as official. These must be sent to ADM GradProcessing at [email protected]

4-6 weeks after the due date. The committee does not review applications until we have a complete applicant pool. We do not have an early admission for early decision timeline. Please be patient with our process. We take our time and review your application as holistically as possible and have several “stops” in the process.

Submit Application Materials:

After submitting your online application and paying your application fee, begin submitting your supporting materials to complete your application.

  • Upload a variety of supporting documents directly to your application.
  • To submit official transcripts, contact your previous institutions to request they submit official transcripts to Colorado State University (use institution code 4075).
  • To submit test scores, contact the testing agency to request that scores be sent to Colorado State University (use institution code 4075).
  • For any documents that cannot be uploaded, submit paper copies directly to the Office of Admissions at:

Graduate Admissions
Colorado State University – Office of Admissions
1062 Campus Delivery
Fort Collins, CO 80523-1062

Check Your Application Status

View the status of your application at any time to ensure your application checklist is complete or check on updates. This new online application status is only available to applicants for Fall 2016 and beyond.