Stony Brook University Graduate Admissions
Master Your Future. Transform Tomorrow.
At Stony Brook University, we equip students with the knowledge and tools to address the most critical issues facing our world today. Our graduates are leaders, inventors, discoverers, and agents for social change. With more than 150 graduate and professional programs across the Graduate School, the School of Professional Development, and Health Sciences, Stony Brook can help you master your future and transform tomorrow.
Once you create an account, you can save and update your material as often as necessary until you click the “Finalize Application” button. Once the application is reviewed and a decision is made by the programs admissions committee, the Slate portal will be updated. You should continue to check the Slate portal for information on your admissions decision.
Once your application is submitted, you can log on to track its status. Before applying review checklist below:
Application Checklist
All applications must be submitted electronically through our online application system. Once you create an account, you can save and update your material as often as necessary until you click the “Finalize Application” button. Once your application is submitted, you can log on to track its status.
An applicant must have a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.00 on a 4.00 point scale. 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.
Please see your specific department program page for information regarding admissions criteria.Provide a brief personal statement regarding your experience and interest in the program.
The application fee for admission to the Graduate School is $100. All applicants are required to pay the application fee, with limited exceptions (see below)
Exceptions are limited to:
- Applicants who re-apply for admission within one academic year of declining an official offer of admission. Please attach a copy of the offer letter and a copy of the email declining admission to the application before submission. These items are needed for review and approval
- Students who are U.S. citizens and have current documentation from a financial aid administrator of an appropriate college or university official substantiating that they are currently enrolled and that the payment of the application would create a financial hardship (complete financial information for the current academic year must be provided, including total cost of education and amount and types of financial aid received). To qualify, applicants must include the necessary documentation listed above at the time of application submission review. These items are needed for review and approval.
- Current students who have a fellowship/scholarship through EOP, HEOP, SEEK, McNair, Project 1000, AGEP, CSTEP, LSAMP, and AMSNY. To qualify, applicants must have a letter or email from the appropriate agency sent to the Graduate School attached to the application upon submission for review and approval of the application fee waiver request.
- Veterans of the United States Military Service, currently on Active Duty of members of the National Guard or Reserves are exempt from paying the application fee. NOTE: Before fee waiver is applied, veterans must be vetted through the Office of Veteran Affairs at Stony Brook University and must submit a copy of their discharge paperwork (DD Form 214) with their application submission for review and approval of the application fee waiver request.
For further information on application fee waivers and the fee waiver request process, please visit the Graduate Bulletin.
- Paper recommendations can be sent in, but you must use the paper recommendation form from your application portal and give it to your recommender. Paper recommendations must be sent directly to the graduate program you are applying to in sealed envelopes, signed across the seal by the recommender.
- In order to gain access to our recommendation forms, you must submit an application. Within your application, you can either send emails directing your recommenders to each submit a recommendation online, or you may download a paper recommendation form and give it to your recommender. Paper recommendations must be sent directly to the graduate program you are applying to in sealed envelopes, signed across the seal by the recommender.
Official transcripts are valid when they are issued by the school you attended. They have an official seal/stamp and an official signature by an appropriate academic administrative officer. They are sealed by the university. Official electronic transcripts, sent by authorized delivery agents, are also accepted. Photocopied documents are NOT official. Final transcripts state that a degree has been conferred and provide the date of conferral.
If you are in the process of completing a degree, please send an official transcript that shows your progress to this point. You will need to send a final, official transcript once your degree is conferred. Transcripts that do not show a degree awarded will not delay application processing, but failure to submit final documentation about conferral will result in a registration block.
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 members listed below, may be requested from the applicant.
- World Education Services (WES)
- International Education Evaluations, Inc. (IEE)
- Education Credential Evaluators (ECE)
- SpanTran Application
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 as noted above.
College-level courses completed outside the United States and recorded on official transcripts will be evaluated for transfer credit, provided that the institution where the courses were taken is accredited by the Ministry of Education in that country. International transfer students who have completed college level courses outside the United States may be requested to submit proof of accreditation by the Ministry of Education or provide a WES evaluation.
Official transcripts can be mailed to:
Stony Brook University Graduate School Office of Admissions and Student Services Old Computer Science Bldg, Room 2401 Stony Brook, NY 11794-4433
Electronic transcripts can be sent to gradadmissions@stonybrook.edu
Academic records from international universities that are not in English must be accompanied by an official English translation. Academic records must be translated by an authoritative party:- We will accept translations from any of the accredited agencies that can be viewed at www.atanet.org or naces.org. We will also accept translations from SBU faculty members or the institution from which the degree was conferred.
If your official transcript (or mark sheet) does not specifically state that a degree (or its equivalent) has been conferred, you will also need to submit an official (attested) diploma or an official certification of degree(s) awarded.
Educational systems that cannot be compared to the United States must be evaluated by a US credentials evaluation service before admission can be finalized. The transcript evaluation service accepted by Stony Brook University is World Education Services (WES), which can be accessed at http://www.wes.org/ .
The application and all materials submitted to the Graduate School become the property of Stony Brook University and will not be returned to the applicant or forwarded to another college, university, or place of business under any circumstances.
If you are sending GRE or English Proficiency scores, please upload unofficial score reports to your application in order for your application to be reviewed. Your English proficiency exam must have been taken within 2 years of the application deadline. Prior to enrollment at the University, official scores must be submitted. You must request that ETS send official score reports to Stony Brook University (School code: 2548).
ETS Educational Partnership
ETS believes that the cost of taking a GRE® test should not be a barrier to graduate study. To do its part, ETS provides the GRE® Fee Reduction Program, which reduces the cost of taking a GRE test by 50%. The program is offered for U.S. citizens and resident aliens who can demonstrate financial need or are unemployed and receiving unemployment compensation.
GRE Fee Reduction Program Information
ETS proposes to host a monthly student GRE test prep workshop: A Deep Look at the GRE General Test. GRE Virtual Events (ets.org) Hear directly from the people who make the GRE® General Test! In this free 3-hour preparation session, you’ll get information about:
- question types and test-taking strategies to help you tackle the Verbal Reasoning, Quantitative Reasoning and Analytical Writing sections
- what to expect on test day, scores, and score reporting
- tools to help you prepare for the test
- services available to help you stand out, including tools that can make it easier to connect with graduate program recruiters
All students who are not native or primary speakers of English must demonstrate proficiency in English to be admitted to the Graduate School. 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) or Permanent Resident.
- you served as a Teaching Assistant at an institution where the primary instruction was in English.
English language proficiency test results will be considered as part of the review process for admission for any applicant who submits test results as part of their application. If the scores are below the stated requirements, an offer of admission cannot be extended.
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, IELTS or Duolingo tests, as defined below.
- TOEFL iBT: Overall score of 90 for doctoral applicants and 80 for master’s applicants.
- IELTS: Overall score of 6.5, with no subsection recommended to be below 6.
- Duolingo will no longer be accepted after Spring 2025.
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.
TOEFL iBT Speak
TOEFL Essentials Speak
IELTS Speak
Course Requirement
Result
23-30
10 +
7 or higher
none
Eligible to TA
21-22
8-9
6.5
OAE 594
Eligible to TA
18-20
6-7
6
OAE 592
Eligible to run recitation and lab sessions and/or grade
15-17
4-5
5-5.5
OAE 590
Not Eligible to TA
Stony Brook University accepts TOEFL iBT to demonstrate your English language proficiency and academic readiness. Take it at home or in a test center in less than 2 hours.
For more comprehensive information on the language proficiency requirements for admissions, please refer to the Graduate Bulletin, and see your specific Department Program page for information regarding admissions criteria.
Deadline Information
The deadlines to the applications vary by program. Typically for funding consideration for fall applications the deadline will be January 15. It is best to check the website of your intended program of entry.
Deposit Information
Once admitted to a Stony Brook University master's or advanced graduate certificate program in the College of Business, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, or School of Health Professions, students will be required to submit a tuition deposit of $500.00 upon acceptance of their offer of admission.