Full-Time Graduate Admissions
General Requirements
To be admitted to graduate study in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, students must submit credentials sufficient to convince the faculty that he or she has a good chance of completing the requirements for a graduate degree within a reasonable time frame. No academic degree is required, but the applicant should have achieved very high scores on the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) or should have other evidence of outstanding ability.
Admission decisions are based on the following primary criteria:
• The applicant’s undergraduate transcript (which must be provided in the English language);
• GRE general scores;
• The applicant’s statement of purpose;
• An evaluation of three letters of reference;
•TOEFL or IELTS scores (only for most international applicants whose native language is other than English).
In order to apply to the program, go to the Full-Time Application and follow the instructions. Paper applications are not accepted. Applicants may request a waiver of the application fee, but the waiver will generally be granted only for exceptional applicants who demonstrate true financial hardship and whose chances of admission are strong. The request must be sponsored by a department faculty member.
Applications for admission are accepted beginning in mid-August.
Visits to Campus
The department encourages interested individuals to visit the campus to discuss their background and plans for graduate study. The department will occasionally cover visiting expenses for particularly strong graduate applicants, usually at our annual Graduate Visit Day.
Graduate Record Examination (GRE)
Taking the general GRE is required for all applicants. There are no minimum score requirements for the GRE for an application to be considered, nor are GRE subject tests required. Because of the long communication/transit times involved in the international application process, international applicants to graduate study are advised to take the necessary examinations early so as to have a complete application by mid-December.
The Mechanical Engineering department will accept GRE scores less than five years old. Additional information may be found at http://grad.jhu.edu/admissions/GRE.htm.
TOEFL and IELTS
Johns Hopkins University requires students to have adequate English proficiency for their course of study. Students must be able to read, speak, and write English fluently upon their arrival at the University. Successful study demands the understanding oral lectures and taking comprehensive notes during lectures.
Applicants whose native language is not English must submit proof of their proficiency in English via a TOEFL or IELTS before they can be offered admission and before a visa certificate can be issued.
There is an exception to this requirement. Applicants who have either received or are about to receive a bachelor's degree or master's degree from an institution in the United States, England, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Barbados, or the Bahamas are exempt from taking the TOEFL or IELTS.
Johns Hopkins prefers a minimum score of 600 (paper-based), 250 (computer-based), and 100 (internet-based) on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) and IELTS Academic Band Score equal to 7. Results should be sent directly to the appropriate program by the Educational Testing Service (ETS) which administers TOEFL or captured by IELTS' Global Recognition System.
The Mechanical Engineering department will accept TOEFL scores less than two years old. Additional information may be found at http://grad.jhu.edu/admissions/IELTS.htm and http://grad.jhu.edu/admissions/TOEFL.htm.
Submitting GRE, TOEFL, and IELTS Scores
Please arrange with the Educational Testing Service (http://www.ets.org) to have official verification of scores of your GRE and TOEFL sent to us. Please use the following codes to ensure that the scores arrive here:
GRE: Institutional Code 5332 and Department Code 1502
TOEFL: Institutional Code 5332 and Department Code 68
IELTS GLOBAL RECOGNITION SYSTEM SELECTIONS
Institution Name - Johns Hopkins University, Whiting School of Engineering
Country - USA
Bandscore - 7
Course ID Number - 4610 (Graduate Admissions)
If ordering the submission of official verification of your exam scores is a true financial hardship, please contact us to explain your situation. Alternate methods of verification may be available.
What to send in your application package
All application documents must be provided in English (either the original or translations of the original documents). If you are unable to secure translations to English, we recommend that you contact World Education Services.
Please do not submit any items from your application package until after you submit your online application. Please upload your statement of purpose and ask your recommenders to upload their Letters of Recommendation to your online application. If your recommenders prefer, in lieu of uploading they can send their sealed letters of recommendation to you to include in your application package. Do not open the letters, as they will be unusable unless they are in sealed envelopes when they arrive.
After submitting the application, please send your college transcripts to us, again in their sealed envelopes as opened transcripts cannot be used. You may also include optional materials, such as your resume, CV, personal copies of GRE, TOEFL, or IELTS scores; and publication information. For all materials, the University requires the use of a Mailing Label and Cover Sheet. Please note the Graduate Admissions Office will only accept regular mail, Certified Mail, UPS, DHL and Fed Ex deliveries.
Supporting documentation should be sent, in one envelope, to the following address:
Johns Hopkins University
Full-time Studies in Arts, Sciences and Engineering
Graduate Admissions Office, Shriver 28
3400 N. Charles Street
Baltimore, MD 21218 USA
If applying to more than one department, please mail a complete application packet for each department to the Graduate Admissions Office.
Application Package Submission Deadline
The application package should be submitted and postmarked no later than October 15, 2009 for Spring 2010 and December 15, 2009 for the Fall 2010 semester. The University will accept application packages that arrive later.
Financial Aid
Nearly all doctoral students receive support from Departmental Fellowships or Research Assistantships. Tuition support is provided through fellowships and waivers. Departmental Fellows are not required to perform any particular duties for the Department, however Research Assistants are expected to actively participate in the activities or their advisor’s research group.
Supplementary Teaching Assistant positions, for fixed amounts per course per semester, are also available on a competitive basis to all graduate students including fellows and research assistants. The Teaching Assistant is typically required to perform some grading and to hold some sections and office hours for undergraduate courses.
During the summer, most graduate students are supported by research assistantships. Research assistantships are funded through programs with the National Science Foundation, the Office of Naval Research, the Army Research Office, the Department of Energy, NASA, the Center for Nondestructive Evaluation, industry, and other sources.