What We Look For
We are looking for the well-rounded individual with proven academic accomplishment as well as demonstrated personal character and ambition. Our decision is based on careful evaluation of each applicant's complete record, including an online application, statement of purpose, TOEFL or IELTS scores if applicable, transcripts and letters of recommendation.
Important for the 2023-2024 admissions cycle: The School of Engineering is not requiring Graduate Record Examination (GRE) scores for consideration for admission.
Also note: for international students who did not graduate from an institution in a country where English is the official language, proficiency in English must be shown by a minimum score of 89 on the TOEFL or 7.0 on the IELTS test. For the admission cycles for which we are accepting the DuoLingo test, the minimum acceptable score for this is 110. All programs will accept both the ‘iBT TOEFL home-edition’ as well as the ‘DuoLingo’ test to fulfill the requirement to submit proficiency in English for international applications (as substitute for the regular TOEFL or IELTS). This exception is for the upcoming Spring '24, Summer '24, Fall '24 admissions cycles.
Vanderbilt is a comprehensive research university and holds the highest designation of research universities in the Carnegie classification system. Preference is given to students interested in pursuing the doctoral degree; however, all applicants for both the master and doctoral degrees are considered on the basis of merit.
DATES TO REMEMBER
August 1st
Date by which most programs begin accepting Fall applications. If you have further questions, please directly contact the office of your program of interest.
Application Deadlines
Deadline for receipt of completed application form and all supporting credentials for a decision about fall semester admission.
January 1st
Biomedical Engineering(M.S. and PhD)
Environmental Engineering(M.S. and PhD)
Chemical Engineering(PhD)
Mechanical Engineering(M.S. and PhD)
Civil Engineering(M.S. and PhD)
January 15th
Computer Science(M.S. and PhD)
Electrical and Computer Engineering(M.S. and PhD)
Interdisciplinary Materials Science(M.S. and PhD)
February 15th
Chemical Engineering(M.S.)
Admission decisions:
March 31st
Target date by which admission offers for fall semester will be mailed to all applicants whose files are complete by the deadline of the program you chose.
Response to admission offers:
April 15th
Deadline for applicants to respond to offers of admission. If your reply is not received by April 15th, the department may reallocate any offer of financial award.
Application deadlines vary for M.Eng. and online degree programs
Transcripts:
Transcripts can be sent either via the postal service or via secure electronic delivery. In order to be considered official, transcripts and other documents must come directly from the institution attended. Some institutions provide secure electronic delivery of transcripts. These submissions may be made to cdm@vanderbilt.edu.
Transcripts sent via the postal service should be addressed as follows:
CDM
PMB 407833
2301 Vanderbilt Place
Nashville, TN 37240-7833