Admissions information

Applicants will be considered for admission and advising on all campuses by faculty associated with an appropriate Foundation, based on the applicant's requests. Prospective students may apply through either the Graduate School at the University of Maryland Baltimore (UMB), the Graduate School at the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC), the Graduate School at College Park (for UMCP or UMCES; click on APPLY NOW), or the Graduate School at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES).  

Please review in the below section the following campus specific application information.

CAMPUS SPECIFIC APPLICATION INFORMATION

FOR UMBC applicants: Please include in the Personal Statement portion of the application your preferred foundation and (if available) any faculty members you have identified or like to worth with.

FOR UMCP/UMCES applicants

The Resume/CV and Description of Research/Work Experience sections are not required, only the sections with a red bar to the left as stated in the instructions. 

This optional section is for applicants that may have had significant research experience or work experience to expand upon outside of the general 'statement of purpose';  a statement of purpose discusses past academic and research achievements and how attending graduate school in the MEES Program fits into your career trajectory. 

PERSONAL EXPERIENCE SECTION - (UMCP/UMCES applicants)

The MEES Program is committed to fostering a brilliant community of people from diverse backgrounds with unique perspectives who can contribute to a stronger learning environment for the entire program.  

Additional personal experience questions have been added in order to ensure a holistic admissions process that attracts, recruits, supports and graduates a diverse cohort of exceptional students.  UMCP/UMCES Applicants are required to answer 1 of the 3 personal prompts; a one page response is sufficient, but is not a limit in length. Please use as much space as needed.

GENERAL ADMISSION INFORMATION

The initial screening of an applicant's credentials is done by the Admissions Committee of the appropriate Foundation. Each Foundation has specific course prerequisites (described in the curriculum section of the website). Students missing one or two of the courses would be expected to successfully complete them during their first year of study. Students missing three or more prerequisites will generally not be admitted, and may wish to consider successfully completing some of them before applying or re-applying to the MEES program.

No student will be admitted to the Program until an advisor has been identified and secured and funding have been confirmed.  The ultimate responsibility of finding an advisor rests with the applicant.  It is strongly recommended that you contact an appropriate member of the MEES faculty to inquire about the possibility of working with him or her.  Once identified, the advisor needs to contact the MEES office via email to confirm their intent to advise.  The student will be matriculated on the degree-granting campus of their advisor, following formal acceptance of the applicant by the appropriate Graduate School.

In general, a student who has identified a specific member of the faculty with whom to work should apply to the campus where that faculty member is affiliated. Of note, no student will be admitted to the MEES Program until an advisor is identified and secured and funding is confirmed.  If you are unsure where to apply, apply to UMCP as we can always transfer your materials should you matriculate elsewhere. 

Applicants to the MEES Program will be considered at both the M.S. and Ph.D. levels. In the event an applicant to the Ph.D. program has only a B.A. or B.S. degree, admission may initially be made to the M.S. program with the possibility of a change to the Ph.D. program upon successful completion of a probationary period and the recommendation of the student's Research Advisory Committee.

An Admissions Committee from each Foundation has been established to evaluate the applications of prospective students based on the following criteria: 

1. The applicant's research interests must be clearly stated and relevant to the MEES Foundation
2. The academic preparation of the applicant must be consistent with stated interests and Foundation requirements.
3. All prerequisite courses must be completed with a grade of C or better
4. The undergraduate GPA must be at least 3.0, although some students with a GPA below 3.0 may be provisionally accepted based on related research or work experience.
5. Applicants must submit the following documents as part of their application for graduate study in the MEES Program:

  • Official transcripts of all college-level work.

  • A brief essay clearly defining areas of research interest and research objectives (preferably including the Foundation of interest). The essay should not be in outline form.

  • A current CV or resume.

  • Three letters of recommendation from persons familiar with the academic work of the applicant.

  • Official Graduate Record Examination (GRE) Scores *Optional

    • GRE scores are not considered as a criteria for admission into the program. GRE scores that are submitted are made available to potential faculty advisors.

  • International Applicants: Most international applicants will be required to submit TOEFL or IELTS exam scores. Should you have any questions as to whether you are exempt, please contact the appropriate graduate school.

Please submit all application materials through the appropriate graduate school listed above.  DO NOT SEND APPLICATION MATERIALS TO THE MEES OFFICE.

Program Prerequisites

The following prerequisites are required for acceptance into the program itself regardless of specific foundation.  Prerequisite courses facilitate standardization of admission to the MEES program across the Foundation areas. The MEES Program Committee has proposed the following related to programmatic prerequisite undergraduate courses.  These prerequisites are general by design - as there is such a broad spectrum of disciplinary needs and expectations for students dependent on both Foundation and potential advisor.  The general admission requirements listed below would result in provisional acceptance of students, by an admissions committee composed of Program Committee members across the Foundations. Final admission will still be dependent on finding an advisor, who may have more specific requirements. 

  • 2 Introductory science courses

    • Introductory science courses are defined as 100 and 200 level courses, generally taken in students’ freshmen or sophomore years in college.

  • 2 Advanced science courses

    • Advanced science courses are defined as 300 and 400 level courses, generally taken in students’ junior or senior years in college.

  • 2 Quantitative courses

    • Quantitative courses can be Calculus-level math (or higher), computer programming, or statistics courses.

  • 2 Foundation-relevant courses

    • At least one of these must be an advanced science course.

MEES APPLICATION DEADLINES:

All MEES Applications must be received by the following dates:

FALL Application Deadline:

January 17 of the same year you wish to enroll

Spring application deadline:

September 30 of the preceding year in which you wish to enroll

NOTE: The MEES Graduate Program does not offer application fee waivers.

How To Apply

Prospective students may apply through any of the University of Maryland campuses. In general, a student who has identified a specific member of the faculty with whom to work should apply to the campus where that faculty member is affiliated. 

Please submit your application materials to only one campus. All application materials should be submitted through the appropriate graduate school. If you have any questions, please contact the MEES Office.

Note: Please contact the MEES Office for information about the Spring Admission.

Graduate School at the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC)
Graduate School at the University of Maryland at College Park (UMCP, UMCES, or UMB)
Graduate School at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES)

Please submit all application materials through the appropriate graduate school listed above.  DO NOT SEND APPLICATION MATERIALS TO THE MEES OFFICE. 

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