Admission to the Graduate School

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Admissions Requirements

Admission to the Graduate School requires that the applicant have the preparation and ability that - in the judgment of the program and the Graduate School - are sufficient to enable satisfactory progress in the degree program or certificate. A U.S. bachelor’s degree or the equivalent is required (for example, a four-year/120 credit hour accredited program) with a minimum overall grade point average of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale. The student must present evidence that such a degree will be awarded by the time graduate work is to begin.

Students who already hold an advanced academic degree from any university may not earn a second degree from Stony Brook University at the same level in the same disciplinary field (e.g., if you have an MS in Computer Science, you cannot also earn a Stony Brook MS in Computer Science).

Application for admission to the Graduate School is made to a specific program for a designated degree or certificate. Additional admission requirements are listed in each program’s section of this publication. To be considered for admission, all applicants must submit a completed application online as well as the following documentation to the graduate program:

• Applicants with domestic credentials must submit an official transcript from each undergraduate college or university attended, regardless of whether a degree was conferred. Applicants must also submit an official transcript from each college or university relating to graduate-level work, regardless of whether a degree was conferred.

Applicants with international credentials must submit an official English translation of all coursework showing a complete course by course record, GPA, degree, and institution, in addition to the original documents. SBU graduate admissions personnel will evaluate coursework, GPA, degree requirements, and institutional equivalence. In some instances where the coursework, degree equivalency, GPA, and/or institution cannot be verified, a course-by-course evaluation from one of Stony Brook University’s approved NACES (insert link of www.naces.org) members listed below, may be requested from the applicant.

1. World Education Services (WES)
2. International Education Evaluations, Inc. (IEE)
3. Education Credential Evaluators (ICE)

Unofficial copies for both domestic and international credentials are acceptable for an admission decision to be made. If admitted, the applicant must submit final official transcripts/evaluations sent directly from the college/university or evaluation agency.

• Three letters of recommendation
• Statement of purpose
• The GRE General Test is required by several Graduate School programs. Please refer to the admissions requirement information about your specific program of interest. You can also view a list of programs that require the GRE test in Admissions FAQs under Test Scores. Scores for the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) General Test sent directly from ETS (photocopies are not acceptable).
• Documented proficiency in English for international students (see the English Proficiency Requirements for Non-Native Speakers of English below for details).

To fill out an application, students must go to www.grad.sunysb.edu and create an online account. A nonrefundable application must be charged via credit card when submitting the online application. All applicants are required to pay the application fee. Exceptions can be found under Waiver of Application Fee.

Early application is suggested for students seeking financial support. To receive full consideration for admission with financial support, complete admission and financial aid applications should be filed by January 15 for the fall semester and October 1 for the spring semester. Admission decisions are made by programs. Late applications will be accepted but will be considered only by the programs where openings still exist.

An offer of admission to graduate study at Stony Brook is for a specific semester. An applicant who is accepted to a program and is unable to enroll for the semester specified should request a deferment of admission from the primary department or program. If the request is granted, the student will be sent a new offer of admission for the subsequent semester, and the Graduate School will be notified accordingly.

Students who do not enroll within 12 months of the original offer of admission must submit a new application and fee.

International students must submit a new “Request for Certificate of Eligibility and Declaration and Certification of Finances” form to request an updated Form I-20 or IAP-66 valid for the updated semester of admission. Unused Forms I-20 or IAP-66 must first be returned. For more information, please see the Visa and International Services site.

Graduate Record Examination

The GRE General Test is required by several Graduate School programs. Please refer to the admissions requirement information about your specific program of interest. You can also view a list of programs that require the GRE test in Admissions FAQs under Test Scores.

Applicants who have taken the GRE should request that Educational Testing Service forward scores directly to the Graduate School (the Stony Brook code is 2548). When required, failure to submit GRE scores with the completed application will prevent the review of student applications by the program. Photocopies are not acceptable. To register for the GRE, please see www.ets.org.

Grade Point Average for Admission

An applicant must have a minimum undergraduate cumulative grade point average of 3.00 on a 4.00 point scale, where A=4.00, A-=3.67, B+=3.33, B =3.00, B-=2.67, C+=2.33, C=2.00, C-=1.67 and D+=1.33, D=1.00, D-=. 67 and F=0.00. If the student attends a college that only gives Passes or Credits for the first year of study then these grades will be evaluated as C for GPA admission purposes unless the student provides actual grades.

English Proficiency Requirements 

All students who are not native or primary speakers of English must demonstrate proficiency in English to be admitted to the Graduate School. Stony Brook University has established overall minimum English language competency requirements for admission to graduate study and additional, more stringent speak competency requirements for PhD applicants as well as master’s students who serve as Teaching Assistants. Students may be conditionally admitted without meeting some admission requirements, but under no circumstances may students teach in a class or laboratory until they have met Stony Brook University’s speak competency requirements.

A native speaker of English is someone who learned English as a child and uses English as his or her primary language at home. A primary speaker of English may speak a language other than English at home but has developed native fluency as a result of using English exclusively in most social and educational contexts.

All students must declare their native language as part of the admission process. Intentional misrepresentation by a student of his or her native language is academic dishonesty and is grounds for dismissal from the graduate school.

English Proficiency Requirements for Admission:

There is no need to submit an English language proficiency test if:

• you hold a degree such as a high school diploma, bachelors, masters, or PhD from an institution where the primary instruction was in English
• you are a US citizen (or US National)
• you served as a Teaching Assistant at an institution where the primary instruction was in English

To be considered for admission, an applicant who is not a native or primary speaker of English or do not qualify to be exempt from a language proficiency exam based on their answers to the application questions listed above, must present a minimum score for either the TOEFL or IELTS tests, as defined below. Students who fail to meet this requirement must enroll in a course at the Intensive English Center (IEC) and achieve satisfactory grades before admission to graduate study. At the request of the program, conditional admission may be offered to students who do not meet minimal language requirements for admission. Note: Students whose scores on either of these tests are more than two years old must retake the test.

• IELTS: Overall score of 6.5, with no subsection recommended to be below 6
• TOEFL iBT: Overall score of 90 for doctoral applicants and 80 for master’s applicants.

English Speaking Proficiency Requirements to Serve as a Teaching Assistant:

Supervised college-level teaching is required for the award of any doctoral degree at Stony Brook, and occasionally master’s students serve as teaching assistants. Eligibility for any student serving as a Teaching Assistant is contingent upon the candidate’s ability to speak English proficiently. All prospective Teaching Assistants who are not native or primary speakers of English must achieve a minimum score on the Speaking subsection of the Internet-based TOEFL or IELTS. The TOEFL iBT is administered at centers throughout the world several times each year; applicants should forward their scores directly to the Graduate School (the Stony Brook code is 2548). Further information is available by contacting the Education Testing Service, Princeton, New Jersey 08540, USA, or at www.toefl.org. Information on the IELTS test can be found at www.ielts.org.

All applicants who fail to achieve the minimum score on one of these tests will not be allowed to serve as a Teaching Assistant. This includes all doctoral students and all master’s students who will be assigned as a Teaching Assistant.

Students who will have a teaching role at the University and whose speaking test scores do not meet our minimum standards for teaching will be assigned to an Oral Academic English (OAE) course. NOTE: OAE courses are remedial and cannot be counted toward degree requirements or degree completion from any program.

Health Records

All accepted students are required by New York State law to file a completed health history and physical examination with the Student Health Service. Transfer students may submit copies of their health forms from their former schools provided they contain the information required by the Student Health Service and are less than two years old.