Required Application Data for Graduate Study

1. Online Application
2. Three (3) Letters of Recommendation
3. Unofficial Transcripts
4. Graduate Record Exam (GRE)
5. The Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or The International English Language Testing System (IELTS) (for international students)
6. Application Fee

APPLICATIONS THAT ARE INCOMPLETE BY THE TIME OF REVIEW WILL NOT BE COMPETITIVE FOR ADMISSION.

The application process is ENTIRELY ONLINE. Please DO NOT mail transcripts, copies of the Statement of Purpose, GRE AND TOEFL scores, publications, resumes or recommendation letters. Directions for submitting the recommendation letters online are included below. Supplemental data, such as transcipts, publications, resumes, and homepages, should be submitted online following the instructions in the application. All applications must be submitted through the Berkeley campus online application site for graduate admissions. Please take care to ensure all email addresses, as well as your own email address, are entered correctly.

The Online Application

The Online Application has several sections, including two essays, the Statement of Purpose and the Personal History Statement. Please note that these essays are very important to the application process and should be taken seriously. They should also be two separate essays-please do not cut and paste one into the other.

The Statement of Purpose asks:

Please describe your aptitude and motivation for graduate study in your area of specialization, including your preparation for this field of study, your academic plans or research interests in your chosen area of study, and your future career goals. Please be specific about why UC Berkeley would be a good intellectual fit for you.

The Personal History Statement:

In an essay, discuss how your personal background informs your decision to pursue a graduate degree. Please include any educational, familial, cultural, economic, or social experiences, challenges, or opportunities relevant to your academic journey; how you might contribute to social or cultural diversity within your chosen field; and/or how you might serve educationally underrepresented segments of society with your degree.

Faculty Contact

We do not require you complete sections Faculty Contact or Faculty Interest under ACADEMIC INTERESTS, although if you wish to work with specific professors, feel free to list them here.

Preferences (Required!)

Please review your options at Research Areas before making your choice. Picking a preference is required regardless of your degree goal.

Some EE and CS programs overlap, with research projects involving faculty and students from both programs. The area you choose determines whether you will be considered for EE or CS. For example, if your interest is Wireless and Sensor Networks, you would choose the area COMNET, which would make you an EE applicant. If your interest is in Learning and Probabilistic Inference, you would choose AI, which would make you a CS applicant.

If you apply to the BIO area of research, you must include which faculty member you would like to work with in your application. For other areas, this is advised but not required.

GPA Calculation

If you attended an international university, please do not try and convert your grades to our system--just leave that section blank.

Ethnicity Survey

Though this section is not required, the provided data may be used by the department for various purposes, one of which is granting financial support.

California Residency

To determine if you are a California Resident, please use the UC Berkeley Residency Office criteria.

Parents' Educational Level

Though this section is not required, the provided data may be used by the department for various purposes, one of which is granting financial support.

Three (3) Recommendation Letters

Do not send hardcopies or have them sent. Please follow the directions in the online application. Applicants will receive an e-mail acknowledgement for every letter submitted electronically. Recommendation letters should arrive no later than the deadline stated on the main Graduate Admissions page.

If it is necessary for you submit letters in another format, please contact us directly at

Recommendation Letter Tips:

• Having more than 3 letters, though we allow it, is not recommended. Due to the volume of applications we receive every year, there is no guarantee that more than 3 letters will be read.
• Having more letters is not necessarily better. Three strong letters is much better than 3 strong letters and one mediocre or bad letter.
• It can be a good idea to ask your recommenders if they can write you a good, detailed letter. You would be surprised at the number of mediocre or nondescriptive letters we receive every year. A one-two sentence letter is probably not going to help your cause. The best letters gauge your ability and potential for research and graduate study, often citing examples from the recommenders own experiences with you.

Transcripts

We no longer require official hardcopy transcripts. Please do not mail hardcopy transcripts. Please upload unofficial transcripts using the instructions in the online application. Transcripts should arrive no later than the deadline stated on the main Graduate Admissions page. (Please note that even if you have not yet finished your coursework when you apply, we still require current transcripts from you.)

For more information about transcripts, please see: http://www.grad.berkeley.edu/admissions/admis_require.shtml

Graduate Record Examination (GRE)

Oldest acceptable exam date: June 2008

Note: The GRE has a new scoring system beginning in August 2011. We will accept test scores from the previous scoring system as long as the test date is June 2008 or later.

The Graduate Record Examination (GRE) is required for all applicants. It is composed of three sections:

Analytical Writing
Verbal Reasoning
Quantitative Reasoning

For more information about the test, as well as locations, test dates, and the time it will take for score reports to reach Berkeley, please consult the Educational Testing Service (ETS). They can be reached at (609) 771-7670. Inquiries can also be made to and http://www.gre.org

The institution code for Berkeley is 4833 and the Department codes are 1203 for Electrical Engineering and 0402 for Computer Science. We encourage you to take the November administration at the latest to ensure that your scores arrive by the deadline, but we will also accept scores from the early December administration. GRE Scores should arrive no later than the deadline stated on the main Graduate Admissions page.

Please note that if you send the tests with the wrong code, we will still receive the scores electronically from ETS. Even with the wrong code, if all of the other information is correct, we will be able to match up your scores to your application. Just DO NOT send it to 4925-it will not get to our department.

Computer Science applicants are advised to take the GRE Subject test in Math or Physics, although it is not required. The GRE in Computer Science was discountinued in April 2013. If you took the Computer Science GRE in the last five years (2008-2013), it can count towards your application, but please note that it was never a requirement. The subject tests are offered only 3 times a year.

Though there are no minimum score requirements, many of our successful applicants score on the 90th percentile or higher. The average Verbal Reasoning score for students who were admitted and came last year was about 595.

Also, please keep in mind that ETS sends us test scores (GRE and TOEFL) twice a month electronically, so even if you've received them, it does not mean that we have. Because of this, it's a good idea to take the tests as much in advance as possible.

The Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or The International English Language Testing System (IELTS)

Oldest acceptable exam date: June 2011

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, Nepal, India, Pakistan, Latin America, the Middle East, Israel, the People's Republic of China, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia, most European countries, and non-English-speaking countries in Africa.

If you have completed at least one year of full-time academic course work with grades of B or better in residence at a U.S. university, you do not need to take a standardized test. Instead, you must submit an official transcript from the U.S. university. (The following courses will NOT fulfill this requirement: English as a Second Language courses, courses conducted in a language other than English, courses that will be completed after you apply, and courses of a non-academic nature. Also, simply having lived and worked in the US or another English-speaking country does not satisfy the English Language Requirement.)

Applicants must receive a score of at least 570 on the written test. The computer-based TOEFL must have a minimum score of 230. The minimum score for Next Generation TOEFL (iBT) is 68. Graduate Division will not accept tests taken before June 2011. Take the TOEFL at least 60 days prior to the deadline. Inquiries about the TOEFL can be made at http://www.toefl.org/ or at . The institution code for Berkeley is 4833. There is no Department code for the TOEFL.

Please note that if you send the tests with the wrong code, we will still receive the scores electronically from ETS. Even with the wrong code, if all of the other information is correct, we will be able to match up your scores to your application.

The International English Language Testing System (IELTS) is also acceptable. The minimum acceptable score is 7 on your most recent exam. The oldest acceptable score is June 2011. More information about IELTS can be found at http://www.ielts.org

Also, please keep in mind that ETS sends us test scores (GRE and TOEFL) twice a month electronically, so even if you've received them, it does not mean that we have. Because this is the case, it's a good idea to take the tests as early as possible in advance.

Application Fee

Please see: http://www.grad.berkeley.edu/admissions/before_begin.shtml#6.

 

updated 9/14/12

Questions? Please contact EECS Graduate Admissions.