Admissions

Basis of Admission

Admission decisions are based on undergraduate academic record, three letters of recommendation, and, for doctoral candidates, GRE scores. GRE scores are required for all PhD applicants and are recommended for masters applicants. The GRE subject test in economics is not required. Students who are admitted must have an undergraduate grade point average of 3.0 (B) or better.

GRE Requirement

There is no official minimum GRE score for admission, however the following data are collected for average scores of admitted and funded students:

	GRE-V	GRE-Q	AnWr
Masters Applicants	471	759	3.8
Funded Doctoral Students	574	774	4.6
All Admitted Doctoral Students	504	758	3.9

Prerequisites for Admission

An undergraduate degree in economics is not required; however, applicants are required to have completed formal coursework in intermediate microeconomic theory and intermediate macroeconomic theory. Self-study and personal inquiry into the discipline will not substitute for formal coursework. Additional quantitative requirements are given below. Please note that prerequisite courses should be completed PRIOR to application.

PhD: Students applying to the Ph.D. program must have completed at least two semesters of calculus, differential equations and linear algebra, at least one course in mathematical statistics and a course in econometrics. Please note that these are minimum requirements. Competitive applicants (and those highly considered for funding) have also completed coursework in calculus III and real analysis, along with a complete sequence in mathematical statistics. Students are admitted to the Ph.D. program in fall only.

Masters: Students applying to the master's program must have completed a minimum of two semesters of calculus, a course in applied statistics, and a course in econometrics. Students may be admitted to the masters program in the fall or spring semesters, but fall admission is recommended.

English Language Proficiency for International Students -- TOEFL Requirement

The Graduate School requires that all international applicants, regardless of citizenship, demonstrate proficiency in English at a level necessary to be successful in a graduate program at NC State. One way that international applicants may demonstrate proficiency is by providing a Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) score of at least 80 on the Internet-based Test (iBT), with minimum test scores for each section as follows:

Listening	18 points
Reading	20 points
Writing	20 points
Speaking	20 points - for admission
	23 points - for TA appointment where TA has direct verbal interactions with students
	26 points - for TA appointment where TA presents lectures in the class or laboratory

Scores for the Computer Based TOEFL or Paper Based TOEFL may be submitted if the iBT version is not available. For the Computer Based TOEFL, the score must be at least 213 total (with at least 17 on three sections and no section score below 13). For the Paper Based TOEFL, a score of at least 550 is required (with scores of 50 on at least two of the three sections and no section score below 45).

Do you accept the IELTS as a measure of English proficiency?

International applicants may submit International English Language Testing System (IELTS) scores instead of the TOEFL. To demonstrate English proficiency, students must have an overall band score of at least 6.5, with minimum test scores for each section as follows:

Listening	6.5
Reading	6.5
Writing	6.5
Speaking	6.5 - for admission to the Graduate School
	7.0 - for TA appointment

Are any international students exempted from the TOEFL requirement?

International applicants who meet either of the following criteria are generally considered to be English language proficient and are therefore exempt from the TOEFL requirement.

1. the applicant is a citizen of a country where English is an official language and the language of instruction in higher education. A list of these countries is provided here: http://www.ncsu.edu/grad/handbook/official_language_english.htm.

2. the applicant has successfully completed at least one year of full-time study in a degree program at a four-year US college or university within the last five years.

More information about the Graduate School's English language proficiency requirement can be found here.

Application Process

Please be aware that the North Carolina State University Graduate School no longer accepts paper applications. Applicants may access the online application tool via the NC State Graduate School.

The Graduate School strongly encourages applicants to submit all materials (except transcripts) through the online application system. Official transcripts must be sent directly to the NC State Graduate School Admissions Office at the address shown below. Letters of recommendation should also be submitted electronically by the recommender via the online tool when possible. Please note that all other components of the application including the personal statement must be submitted online. Materials such as resumes, writing samples, etc. are not factored into the admissions decision.

All application fees are totally non-refundable.

A completed application package must contain:

Graduate School Application (ApplyYourself online application tool)
Official GRE Scores for doctoral applicants submitted via ETS
TOEFL or IELTS scores for international students submitted to the Graduate School
Transcript (s) mailed directly to the Graduate School
3 Recommendation Letters from academic sources submitted through Apply Yourself
Personal Statement submitted through Apply Yourself
$65 Application Fee

All hard copy materials should be mailed to:
The Graduate School
North Carolina State University
Room 240, Research Building III
1005 Capability Drive
Campus Box 7102
Raleigh, NC 27695

Application Deadlines & Application Evaluation

Applications are not evaluated on a rolling basis. Applications will be evaluated and decisions communicated according to the schedule below. Please be advised that applications must be received according to the deadlines given below.

Application Type	Application Deadline	Admission Decision Mailed	Funding Decision Mailed	Acceptance of Admission Due
Funding Priority	February 1	March 13	March 13	July 1
Fall
International	March 1	March 13	none	July 1
Domestic	June 1	June 15	none	July 1
Spring (master only)
International	June 1	June 15	none	December 31
Domestic	November 25	December 1	none	December 31

Please note, especially when considering application priority deadlines, that the application must be complete, with all components of the application received by the Graduate School, by the deadline date. This includes payment of the application fee. Students should periodically check the completeness of their application using the online application tool to ensure that the deadline is met.

International Student Application Process

• Submit complete application package according to Application Deadline dates
• Receive preliminary admission decision from Economics Graduate Program according to Application Evaluation dates
• Economics Graduate Program communicates decision to Graduate School
• Graduate School contacts international student with preliminary admission decision. In this communication, Graduate School requests necessary financial documents and completed CFR (Certificate of Financial Responsibility)
• Applicant returns CFR documents for Graduate School and Office of International Services approval
• Upon approval of CFR documents, Office of International Services issues appropriate I-20

Institution Codes

North Carolina State University: 5496
Department of Economics or Department of Agriculture and Resource Economics: 1801

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