ND-EE Admission Requirements

Admission Requirements for ND-EE Graduate Programs

Required Materials for NDEE Graduate Applicants

Online Application Form to be completed and submitted electronically
Statement of Intent: to be attached to your Online Application Form
Curriculum Vitae or Resume to be attached to your Online Application Form
Three Letters of Recommendation to be submitted by the recommender via the online recommendation system associated with the online application
Transcripts: an unoffical transcript for each post-secondary institution must be uploaded and submitted through the Online Application Form. Transcripts received by mail or electronically will be discarded. An "official" transcript will be required only if the student accepts an offer of admission to Notre Dame.
Graduate Record Exam (GRE) Test Scores: The EE department strongly recommends GRE test scores for all applicants whose cumulative GPA is below 3.75/4.00.
TOEFL or IELTS Test Scores: Submission of offical scores from the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or from the International English Language Testing Systems (IELTS) are required of all applicants whose native language or language of college instruction is not English. TOEFL/IELTS scores are not required from applicants whose country has English as its official language. Reported scores must be from a test taken within the last two years. DUOLINGO test scores are not recommended as a replacement for the TOEFL/IELTS test scores. To expedite the review process, you may also upload preliminary (unofficial) scores, if available. Requests for waiving the TOEFL/IELTS requirement should be sent to eegrad@nd.edu.
Application Fee to be submitted using the payment system associated with the Online Application. The application fee is required to complete submission of the application. An application can be started without paying the fee. The department may grant fee waivers for partially completed applications based on the strength of the applicant's GPA, GRE, TOEFL/IELTS, and transcripts. Requests for fee waivers should be sent directly to eegrad@nd.edu.

Admissions Process

Fall versus Spring Semester Applications: The deadline for Fall applications is December 15. The deadline for Spring applications is November 1st. It is strongly recommended that applicants apply for the Fall semester to stay in sync with the rest of their entering class. Spring admits are only made at the request of a faculty member for a specific student.
Initial Ranking: Completed applications are initially ranked by an admissions committee to form a shortlist of the most competitive applications. This ranking is based on the entire application: GPA, transcripts, TOEFL/IELTS scores, GRE, recommendations, and statement of intent. There is no GPA/GRE threshold for making this list. But as a point of reference the average GPA and GRE Quantitative of previously admitted students (2016-2019) was approximately 3.75/4.0 and 166, respectively.
Admission of PhD Applicants: All PhD admission decisions are based on a faculty member's recommendation. Faculty members review the shortlist of ranked applications and select applicants that they wish to work with. That recommendation is then reviewed/approved by the admissions committee and an "unofficial" offer of admission is sent by the department indicating who the student will be working with and what type of funding (research assistantship or teaching assistantship) is being provided. All PhD offers come with full finanical support (tuition waiver, living stipend, and health insurance). The tuition waivers and teaching assistantships are provided by the graduate school. Research assistantships are provided directly by the faculty member who recommended admission.
Connecting to Faculty Advisors: Because admission decisions originate with a faculty member, it is critical that the application identify those faculty advisors the student wishes to work with. This is done in the Online application as well as in the applicant's statement of intent. To help applicants connect with faculty members, the department holds a number of online ZOOM information events during the Fall (October-December). Selected faculty participate in the ZOOM sessions breakout rooms. The schedule for these ZOOM sessions will be sent to all students who request more information about the EE department at the following grad school request-info page. Prior to these ZOOM events, applicants should visit the department's research page to see what research is currently being done in the department.
Admission of MS-only Applicants: MS-only applications are only accepted for the Fall semester. Offers of admission to the MS degree program are only made to students that are self supported (tuition, living expenses, health insurance). The department provides no finanical support for MS-only students. Admission decisions to the MS program are made by the department's Admissions committee based on the strength of the completed application.

Further Questions

First consult the NDEE Admissions FAQ, if you have questions about the required materials or preparing your application.
For additional questions please contact NDEE graduate studies at eegrad@nd.edu
If you are ready, then you can start your application at https://gradconnect.nd.edu/apply/. The deadline for the Fall semester is December 15. The deadline for the Spring Semester is November 1st.