B1.2 Admission Cycle
Updated: May 25th, 2011
Nearly all departments accept applicants for the fall semester; some also consider students for spring admission. The online application goes live in early September each year. The application deadlines vary by department. Deadlines for fellowship competition and admission consideration may be set within the range of December 1–January 5. Departments may set the final deadline for admission in the range of December 1 – February 10.
Applicants may only apply to one single degree program or one concurrent degree program per admission term. An exception is applications for Law degrees, which are handled by the Berkeley Law School.
Any student who was previously registered at Berkeley as a graduate student, for no matter how long, must apply for readmission, not admission, when he or she wishes to return. (For information on Readmission, see below.)
Basic application requirements.
- Official transcripts of all college-level work must be submitted in sealed envelopes as issued by the school. In general, international applicants are required to submit official copies of all academic records. Records must be in the original language and accompanied by English language translations. Specially prepared English versions are not acceptable in lieu of the records in the original language.
- Three letters of recommendation are required by most programs. Applicants can request online letters of recommendation through the online application system. A paper copy of a request form to is available online (www.grad.berkeley.edu/admissions/app_instructions.shtml). Hard copies of recommendation letters should be sent directly to the department.
- Waiver of access to departmental evaluations. Applicants who want to waive access to their letters of recommendation must complete the waiver section of the letter of recommendation form, which is included in the application and available online (www.grad.berkeley.edu/admissions/app_instructions.shtml).
- Evidence of English language proficiency. The university does not admit students for the purpose of learning English, and no full-time program of this type is offered during regular semesters. All applicants from countries in which the official language is not English are required to submit official evidence of English language proficiency. This requirement applies to applicants from Bangladesh, Burma, Nepal, India, Pakistan, Latin America, the Middle East, the People’s Republic of China, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia, and most European countries.However, applicants who, at the time of application, have already completed at least one year of full-time academic course work with grades of B or better at a U.S. university do not need to take a standardized test. Instead, they must submit an official transcript from the U.S. university. The following courses will not fulfill this requirement: 1) courses in English as a Second Language, 2) courses conducted in a language other than English, 3) courses that will be completed after the application is submitted, and 4) courses of a non-academic nature.If applicants have previously been denied admission to Berkeley on the basis of their English language proficiency, they must submit new test scores that meet the current minimum from one of the standardized tests.
Readmission. For students who were ever formally enrolled at Berkeley and wish to be considered for a new degree program or re-enter their major after a period of withdrawal, an “Application for Readmission” (for which there is a fee payment) and Statement of Legal Residence must be submitted to the Degrees Office (318 Sproul Hall). If an individual wishes to be considered for a degree program different from his or her previous major or for a new degree goal (e.g., a former master’s student who wishes to return to do a Ph.D.) a “Petition for Change of Major or Degree Goal” along with the Readmission and Legal Residency forms must also be submitted. The application is downloadable (http://registrar.berkeley.edu/DisplayMedia.aspx?ID=ReadmGrad.pdf) as is the Statement of Legal Residence (http://registrar.berkeley.edu/DisplayMedia.aspx?ID=SLRReadm.pdf).
Students who have been away from the University for more than five years must submit the same documentation to the department as those applying for initial admission in addition to the readmission application. For general Readmission policy, see “Readmission” in the “Registration and Exchange Programs” chapter of this guide (Chapter D, Section D1.9).
See All Topics in the Category: B. Admission, Guide to Graduate Policy
