Graduate Admissions

Official transcripts are valid when they are issued by the school you attended. They have an official seal/stamp and an official signature by an appropriate academic administrative officer. They are sealed by the university. Official electronic transcripts, sent by authorized delivery agents, are also accepted. Photocopied documents are NOT official. Final transcripts state that a degree has been conferred and provide the date of conferral.

If you are in the process of completing a degree, please send an official transcript that shows your progress to this point. You will need to send a final, official transcript once your degree is conferred. Transcripts that do not show a degree awarded will not delay application processing, but failure to submit final documentation about conferral will result in a registration block.

Applicants with domestic credentials must submit an official transcript from each undergraduate college or university attended, regardless of whether a degree was conferred.  Applicants must also submit an official transcript from each college or university relating to graduate level work, regardless of whether a degree was conferred. 

Applicants with international credentials must submit an official English translation of all coursework showing a complete course-by-course record, GPA, degree, and institution, in addition to the original documents. SBU graduate admissions personnel will evaluate coursework, GPA, degree requirements and institutional equivalence. In some instances where the coursework, degree equivalency, GPA, and/or institution cannot be verified, a course-by-course evaluation from one of Stony Brook University's approved NACES members listed below, may be requested from the applicant. 

1. World Education Services (WES)
2. International Education Evaluations, Inc. (IEE)
3. Education Credential Evaluators (ECE)
4. SpanTran Application

Unofficial copies for both domestic and international credentials are acceptable for an admission decision to be made. If admitted, the applicant must submit final official transcripts/evaluations sent directly from the college/university or evaluation agency as noted above. 

College-level courses completed outside the United States and recorded on official transcripts will be evaluated for transfer credit, provided that the institution where the courses were taken is accredited by the Ministry of Education in that country. International transfer students who have completed college level courses outside the United States may be requested to submit proof of accreditation by the Ministry of Education or provide a WES evaluation.

Official transcripts can be mailed to:

Stony Brook University Graduate School Office of Admissions and Student Services Old Computer Science Bldg, Room 2401 Stony Brook, NY 11794-4433

Electronic transcripts can be sent to gradadmissions@stonybrook.edu

Academic records from international universities that are not in English must be accompanied by an official English translation. Academic records must be translated by an authoritative party:- We will accept translations from any of the accredited agencies that can be viewed at www.atanet.org or naces.org. We will also accept translations from SBU faculty members or the institution from which the degree was conferred.

If your official transcript (or mark sheet) does not specifically state that a degree (or its equivalent) has been conferred, you will also need to submit an official (attested) diploma or an official certification of degree(s) awarded.

Educational systems that cannot be compared to the United States must be evaluated by a US credentials evaluation service before admission can be finalized. The transcript evaluation service accepted by Stony Brook University is World Education Services (WES), which can be accessed at http://www.wes.org/ .

Applicants are required to submit an updated resume and a personal statement in the application portal.

The statement  should answer the following questions: 

• What would you consider your special qualifications, over and above those called for on the previous pages of your application?
• Discuss briefly your experience relative to the area of proposed study outside the classroom.
• What do you propose to do with your advanced degree, professionally?

Letters of recommendation should be from current or former employers or professors. These should be submitted electronically through the online application system. 

To be considered for admission, an applicant who is not a native or primary speaker of English or do not qualify to be exempt from a language proficiency exam based on their answers to the application questions listed above, must present a minimum score for either the TOEFL, IELTS or Gateway tests, as defined below.

• TOEFL iBT: 
  • Exams taken prior to 1/21/2026: Overall score of 90 for doctoral applicants and 80 for master’s applicants.
  • Exams taken after 1/21/2026: Total score of 5 for doctoral applicants and 4.5 for master’s applicants.
• IELTS: Overall score of 6.5, with no subsection recommended to be below 6.
• Gateway English Test: Overall score of 495 for doctoral and master's applicants

Official scores are required to have an application reviewed for possible admission. Applicants who do not meet the minimum test scores will not be considered.

Please instruct ETS to send the official score reports electronically to the State University of New York at Stony Brook, code 2548. www.ets.org/toefl

The GMAT/GRE is optional.  Applicants that have below a 3.2 cumulative undergraduate GPA are strongly encouraged to submit exam scores to strengthen their application.

Payable online by credit card (non-refundable).