Graduate Application FAQ

Visit our Academics page to see the graduate programs offered at Miami University. Click on your degree of interest, including graduate certificate, to see our graduate programs available. The listed programs are hyperlinked to their program page.

Interested students must first apply and be admitted to a graduate degree program, graduate certificate program or apply as a non-degree/non-certificate seeking (CGS) student.

Yes, you must submit a complete application for each degree program and pay the application fee for both.

A non-refundable application fee is required for each graduate application. When applying to a graduate degree program, the fee is $50. For students interested in pursuing a graduate certificate, the fee is $20. Applicants applying as a non-degree/non-certificate student do not have an application fee.

Miami University has a limited number of graduate application fee waivers available. Applicants must meet one of the following criteria:

• You have earned a graduate degree (master's or higher) from Miami University
• If you are a Ronald E. McNair Scholar or Alum
• If you are from a low-income country designated by the World Bank

Required items are as follows:

• Application and application fee, if applicable (paid online with a credit card or electronic U.S. check)
• A PDF of your official or unofficial transcripts from the bachelor's degree-granting school and all schools attended after completing the bachelor's degree
• English language proficiency scores (if applicable)
• A copy of the green card (if applicable)

All other items required by the department should be uploaded when completing the application. If you are admitted, you must have a final/official bachelor's degree transcript and transcript from any courses taken after the bachelor's degree sent to Graduate Admission to register for classes.

The Graduate School minimum undergraduate grade point average is 2.75 out of 4.0. Some graduate programs may require a higher GPA for admission consideration.

If you were educated outside of the United States, an equivalent U.S. grade point average will be calculated as part of the application review process. We do not require applicants to submit credential evaluations from WES or ECE.

Some programs require the GRE or GMAT. Most programs do not have minimum score requirements. Instead, test scores are viewed as one factor in the context of a student's overall application file. Because these tests are required by departments rather than by the Graduate School, review your program of interest for more information about GRE or GMAT test scores. If you take the GRE test and want to send us your official test scores, our ETS Institution Code is 1463.

Supplementary materials are additional application items that an academic program may require. Most supplementary materials are needed to be uploaded with your online application. The following are the most common supplemental materials:

• Personal Statement: This is a 2-3 page essay that should explain why you want to pursue a graduate degree. You should list your specific area of study or research and list the name(s) of faculty members with whom you would like to have as an advisor. You should also indicate how you plan to use the knowledge, skills, and degree earned in this program in your future career. Some programs have specific question(s) for you to answer in your personal statement - if so, be sure to answer the question(s).  Some programs may include specific questions on the application for their Personal Statement. If so, applicants should respond to these questions.
• Curriculum Vitae/Resume: A document that describes your professional, academic, personal or related experiences. Your document should include the names of schools attended with the degrees you earned, the names of previous and present employers with the positions held and the dates employed, awards won, publications, presentations, hobbies/interests and any other relevant skills.
• Letters of Recommendation: These are letters from individuals familiar with your academic or professional work. This includes former professors, colleagues, or supervisors. Family members and personal acquaintances should not be used as recommenders. These letters should convey the relationship between you and the recommender, why they believe you are a good candidate for the graduate program, and what notable skills or academic strengths you possess. Applicants enter contact information for their references and an email is sent directly to them with a link to upload their letter directly to the application. We do not allow applicants to upload letters of recommendation.
• Portfolio: A portfolio should include examples of undergraduate and/or graduate/professional work. Your portfolio should include design projects, studio arts, photography, film, musical compositions, scripts, theatrical reviews, creative writing, or architectural projects. The portfolio should include work that demonstrates creative accomplishments.

On the application, there is a question regarding assistantship to indicate interest. Not all programs offer graduate assistantships or other university funded assistance. Check with your program of interest to determine if it offers funding. You can also visit our Funding and Awards webpage for more funding opportunities.

Until the application is submitted, you can make changes to the application.

Once your application is submitted, you can log back into your Application Status Page where an Upload Materials section is available. Upload any new document(s) to your application using this option.

You can check the status of your application by logging into your Application Status page. From there, you can view your application checklist and upload any missing document and/or pay the application fee.

There is no set time limit. It depends on when you apply, when you submit your required documents, and when the admission committee meets to decide. Once an admission decision is made, you will receive an email.

Log into your Application Status page, and The Application Checklist will provide the instructions on how to re-send notification emails to your recommenders.

Sometimes. Log into your Application Status page and review your Application Checklist section. If the status is "awaiting" and the recommender has not started yet, you will see an option to "Edit this recommender" or "Add recommender." Once a recommender has started their letter, the opportunity to edit/change is no longer available.

From the Status page, you must first indicate if you plan to pay using an international or U.S. credit card. Once this is done, then you pay the application fee using that method. Note, if you indicate you are paying with an international card, the U.S. payment option will be listed as waived. You still need to pay the fee using the option selected. 

It may take up to 2 to 3 days for the payment to be received and processed.  If it is listed as ‘pending’ this indicates there is a delay in the processing of the fee. It will soon change to paid or rejected. If rejected, you can try the card again or use a different card. If you receive an email receipt from Miami University and the application fee is not posted to your Status page, please forward the receipt to Applygrad@Miamioh.edu. 

One reason is that your permanent address entered on the application does not match the mailing address for the credit card. If you have any difficulty, confirm the addresses match.

A check payment takes 3-5 business days to process and update.

Students who have accepted Miami’s offer of admission may request to defer their enrollment for up to one full academic year. This is to defer the offer of admission. This defer request does not guarantee any financial awards, although applicants may again be considered for awards. 

Students who wish to defer should take the following steps:

1. Confirm enrollment, including paying the non-refundable tuition deposit.
2. Submit the Request to Defer Form in the Applicant Status Page prior to the start of the entry term for which they were originally admitted.
3. Provide documentation (if required) to support their reason(s) for deferring.

Students will receive notification from Miami within 10 business days if their deferral has been approved or denied. If approved, students receive additional instructions via email prior to the start date of their deferred-to semester, including a reactivation form.Approved defer students must adhere to the following:

• Students are responsible for updating the Office of Graduate Admission should any of their information change.
• Students may be subject to a range of disciplinary actions, including admission revocation or expulsion, should the information they’ve provided be found to be false.

After their deferred semester or year has passed, students who are unable to enroll at Miami at that time must reapply for admission if they wish to attend in the future.