Requirements for Admission

Graduate Studies

  1. UNDERGRADUATE DEGREE - Applicants must hold from an accredited American college or university a bachelor’s degree comparable to one offered by Bucknell, or certification of corresponding achievement from a foreign institution. A final official transcript, verifying final grades and conferral of the baccalaureate degree, must be filed with the registrar before acceptance to graduate standing can be confirmed and finalized.
  2. GPA - Applicants must have a minimum undergraduate grade point average of 3.0 (on a scale of A=4.0) in coursework comparable to that offered at Bucknell and a grade point average of 3.0 (a) in the undergraduate major, and (b) in courses of the proposed graduate major.
  3. GRE - All applicants for admission must submit their scores on the Graduate Record Examination general test and a subject test (if required by department) . The minimum score on the general test is 1000 or the equivalent in the new scoring scale.
  4. UG MAJOR/MINOR - The student must have completed an undergraduate major or a minor of at least four courses or the equivalent in the department of the proposed graduate major. The following exceptions should be noted:

    a. In education, a candidate’s undergraduate work will be appraised in relation to graduate objectives in professional education. Requirements for graduate work and, possibly, for additional undergraduate work will be designed to meet requirements for certification and for a graduate degree from Bucknell.

    b. In psychology, undergraduate majors in other subjects may be acceptable, provided the applicant has a background in experimental science. Additional undergraduate prerequisites may be specified.

    c. In engineering, an undergraduate major in one of the physical sciences from an accredited institution may be acceptable. However, each engineering department lists areas of emphasis, normally covered in its undergraduate degree program, which must be satisfied in addition to the standard graduate course requirements for the master of science degree. Therefore the number of actual courses required will vary, depending upon a candidate’s previous academic experience.
  5. GRADUATE ADVISER - In some programs, admission will be contingent on the availability of an adviser for the area or project of interest.