Applications for Fall 2025 admission are open and are due January 6, 2025.
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The online application for the M.Eng. program is due: January 6, 2025, at 8:59 pm, Pacific Standard Time. Applications submitted after this time will not be accepted. You will not be informed if your application is submitted late–it simply will not be processed. Supporting data, such as recommendation letters and TOEFL scores, should arrive no later than the application deadline. Though we do not have a rolling application process, it is always best to apply as early as you can. That way, if there are errors, we can let you know in advance.
Required Materials
- The Graduate Application for Admission and Fellowships (online)
- Two (2) Required Letters of Recommendation; Third (3rd) letter is optional. The online application will prompt you for three letters of recommendation. If you are only submitting the required two, just enter your own name into the third space.
- A Completed Recommendation Waiver Form and additional materials (completed online after you apply)
- Unofficial Transcripts (submitted online)
- Conversion of GPA (for International Students Only)
- The Graduate Record Exam (GRE) is no longer required for admission.
- Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or The International English Language Testing System (IELTS) Official Scores (for international students only)
- Application Fee
Applications that are incomplete by the time of review will not be competitive for admission. Making sure an application is complete is solely the responsibility of the applicant and should be done in a timely manner. The application process is ENTIRELY ONLINE. Please DO NOT mail copies of the Statement of Purpose, TOEFL scores, publications, resumes, transcripts or recommendation letters. Directions for submitting the recommendation letters online are included below. Any supplemental data, such as publications, resumes, and homepages, should be submitted by including the URLs in the confirmation e-mail you will receive about a week after submitting your online application. All applications must be submitted through the Berkeley campus’ online application site for graduate admissions. Please take care to ensure all email addresses, as well as your own email address, are entered correctly.
Admission Requirements
The following are the minimum admissions requirements as outlined by the UC Berkeley Graduate Division: “(1) a bachelor’s degree or recognized equivalent from an accredited institution; (2) a satisfactory scholastic average, usually a minimum grade-point average (GPA) of 3.0 (B) on a 4.0 scale; and (3) enough undergraduate training to do graduate work in your chosen field. Satisfying minimal standards, however, does not guarantee your admission, since the number of qualified applicants far exceeds the number of places available. As a result, many well-qualified applicants cannot be accommodated.” Please see the Graduate Division for more information about admissions requirements.
Applicants from countries in which the official language is not English must also demonstrate English language proficiency. Refer to the TOEFL section below for full details. Admissions decisions are governed by committee, and are based on several factors in the application, including (but not limited to) test scores, academics, essays, letters of recommendation, and prior research and work experience.
Students from all educational fields are eligible to apply, but all applicants should be aware that the masters curriculum includes required coursework in bioengineering fundamentals; applicants with a non-technical background should make it clear in their application why they feel that they will be able to handle the more rigorous technical components of the coursework. Conversely, applicants who already hold a masters degree in bioengineering (or a similar field) will need to carefully specify their reasons for pursuing this additional masters; duplicate degrees are not allowed.
Application Instructions
- The Graduate Application for Admission and Fellowships has several sections, including two essays. Common questions about the application are answered below.
- Do I have to complete the Graduate Division Application for Admission? Yes. This part of the application is required for all applicants.
- Which application should I complete? The master’s program is listed as “M.Eng.” Select “Bioengineering M.Eng.” when starting a new application: https://gradadmit.berkeley.edu/apply/start.html.
- How do I determine if I will be classified as a legal resident of California? If you enroll in our program, your residency will be determined by the Office of the Registrar. For application purposes, please provide a self assessment based on UC Berkeley’s Residency Office’s criteria. The Ethnic Survey is part of this form; do I need to complete it? No, participation in the Ethnic Survey is voluntary. We do encourage US Citizens and Permanent Residents to respond, since the data is used by the department for various purposes, including determining eligibility for financial support. International applicants should not complete the Ethnic Survey.
- Do I have to complete the Departmental Application for Admission? Yes. This part of the application is required for all applicants.
- Do I have to complete both essays in the application? Yes, the Statement of Purpose and the Personal History Statement are required of all applicants. These must be two separate essays – do not submit the same essay twice. Refer to the application tips for additional help with the essays.
- Do I need to complete the Fellowship Application? Yes, if you want to be considered for any kind of financial aid. US Citizens and Permanent Residents should complete the Fellowship Application for Domestic Students (pp. 28-29) and International applicants should complete the Fellowship Application for International Students (p. 30).
- Letters of Recommendation. Do not send hardcopies to the department, letters are accepted via online portal ONLY. Recommendation letters should arrive no later than January 6.
- Recommendation Waiver Form and Additional Materials if applicable. Shortly after you apply you will receive an email, which will ask you for:
- Recommender contact information (please be sure to double check all email addresses; if the address is incorrect, there is no way our system will be able to contact your recommender).
- Your waiver decisions. ‘Yes’ indicates that you do wish to waive your rights to see your letters and ‘No’ indicates that you want to be able to see them later. (Please keep in mind that letters to which you have waived access are generally thought to be more reliable than those for which you have not waived access. A few recommenders also refuse to write letters if access to them has not been waived. Given this, this may be something you should discuss with your recommenders beforehand.)
- Once you have submitted the waiver information, you will not be able to change it.
- Please note: if you cited any publications or papers in your application you will need to upload them, or include links for them, at this time.
- Transcripts. Please upload unofficial transcripts from each college or university you have attended. Applicants who studied outside the United States in non-English speaking institutions must upload the English translated transcripts. Uploaded files must be in PDF format and no larger than 8 MB. Please make sure that your social security number (SSN) does not appear on your transcript (if it does, black it out before uploading the document). (Please note that even if you have not yet finished your coursework when you apply, we still require a current transcript from you. If you are admitted, at that time, we will ask you submit a final official transcript showing the degree awarded to complete our records.)
- GPA Conversion. If you attended an international university, you need to convert your grades to our system. To assist you in the conversion off your GPA please visit the gpa conversion page.
- We are no longer requiring the GRE for admission to the BioE MEng program. If you have already taken the GRE, you are welcome to submit those scores as an optional component of your application. The institution code for Berkeley is 4833 and the Department code is 1603.
- TOEFL – Refer to the Graduate Division for more information. All applicants from countries in which the official language is not English are required to submit official evidence of English language proficiency. This requirement applies to applicants from Bangladesh, Nepal, India, Pakistan, Latin America, the Middle East, Israel, the People’s Republic of China, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia, most European countries, and non-English-speaking countries in Africa. If you have completed at least one year of full-time academic course work with grades of B or better in residence at a U.S. university, you do not need to take a standardized test. Instead, you must submit an official transcript from the U.S. University. Applicants must receive a score of at least 570 on the written test. The minimum score for Next Generation TOEFL (iBT) is 90. It is advised to take the TOEFL at least 60 days prior to the deadline. Inquiries about the TOEFL can be made at https://www.toefl.org or at gro.ste@lfeot. The institution code for Berkeley is 4833. There is no Department code for the TOEFL. The International English Language Testing System (IELTS) is also acceptable. The minimum acceptable score is 7 on your most recent exam. More information about IELTS can be found at https://www.ielts.org. Also, please keep in mind that ETS sends us test scores (GRE and TOEFL) twice a month electronically, so even if you’ve received them, it does not mean that we have. Because this is the case, it’s a good idea to take the tests as early as possible in advance.
- Application Fee. You must submit an application fee when you apply. The application fee is not refundable. If you are a U.S. citizen or current permanent resident, the application fee is $135; for all others, the fee is $155. Fees are subject to change. When you apply online, you may pay the fee by credit card. If you submit a check or money order, it must be drawn on a United States bank and should be made payable to “UC Regents.” Do not submit UNESCO coupons, traveler’s checks, international postal money orders, Eurocheques, or cash. We do not accept electronic funds transfers.
Admission Decisions
Applicants offered admission will typically be notified by mid-April for the fall semester. Applicants who are not offered admission will be notified by the Program as the admissions committee makes their decisions.
Competition for Admission
If the MEng program is your preferred choice for graduate study, we encourage you to apply. However, you should be aware that the admissions process is very competitive. Those eventually entering the program had average GPAs of 3.63 (4.00 scale).
More Information
Please see our Career Center’s web pages on applying to graduate school. Refer to the application tips for additional advice on completing your application.