FAQs about Math Graduate Programs Admission

1. Do I need to take GRE?

Yes, all applicants are required to take the GRE General Test or the GMAT and have their test scores sent directly from the testing agency to the Office of Graduate Admissions at UNC Charlotte. However, there are two exceptions.

• A student who has already earned a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. from a U.S. institution will not be required to take a standardized test.

• A student who has already earned a Master’s degree from a U.S. institution will not be required to take a standardized test IF the student can demonstrate that he or she has completed the test in the past. In such cases, the program will accept the official student’s copy of the official test scores (note that a photocopy is not acceptable) or an official university transcript on which the scores are printed or a letter on official university letterhead attesting to the score.

2. Do you require a minimum score on GRE?

GRE is waived for all 2025 applications! While it is required, we will expect our doctoral applicants to score 70% or above and master applicants to score 60% or above on the quantitative part of the GRE General Test. Reasonable scores on the other two parts are expected by the graduate school.

3. Do you accept GMAT instead of GRE?

Yes, we accept GMAT.

4. Do I need to take TOEFL?

Yes, you do need to submit official scores on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or the International English Language Testing System (IELTS), if English is not the applicant’s native language and he or she has not earned a post-secondary degree from a U.S. institution or graduated from an institution in an English-speaking country. Required is either a minimum score of 83 on the Internet-based TOEFL, a minimum score of 220 on the computer-based TOEFL, a minimum score of 557 on the paper-based TOEFL, or a minimum overall band score of 6.5 on the IELTS. See English Language Proficiency for details.

5. I will be earning a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree soon from another U.S. institution. Can the TOEFL requirement be waived?

If you have not already earned the bachelor’s or master’s degree, you would still need to provide us a copy of a TOEFL score report that you took in the past that meets our graduate school’s minimum score requirement. In this case, however, a score older than two years MAY be accepted and the Graduate School MAY accept the official student’s copy of the official test score. Please contact our graduate school at gradcounselor@uncc.edu directly if this applies to you. Also, please be advised that the TOEFL requirement is one of our graduate school’s requirements for admissions, so any final decision about the TOEFL requirement is always up to the Graduate School.

6. What are the requirements for GPA(s)?

To be admitted to the doctoral program after a master’s program, an applicant should have earned an overall grade point average of at least 3.5 (on a 4.0 scale) in the master’s degree program. To be admitted to the doctoral program after a bachelor’s program, an applicant should have earned an overall GPA of at least 3.0 in the bachelor’s degree program.

The applicants for our master programs must possess at least a bachelor’s degree, or its US equivalent, from a regionally accredited college or university, and must have attained an overall GPA of at least 3.0 (based on a 4.0 scale) on all of the applicant’s previous work beyond high school. If an applicant has earned or attempted a post-baccalaureate degree (i.e., a master’s, doctoral, or other), grades in that program will also be taken into consideration.

7. I would like to apply for financial assistantship. Do I need to submit a separate application form?

We assume each and every applicant is interested in financial support so there is no separate form for you to fill out for applying for it. Unless you tell us otherwise, you will be considered automatically for available teaching assistantship. If you are not awarded for such a teaching assistantship, AFTER you enroll, you could be offered a Gradership/Tutorship the details of which can be found from Financial Support.

8. I am currently a graduate student at another university and I would like to transfer to your graduate program. What should I do?

We don’t have a separate mechanism for transferring graduate students. In order to enroll in our graduate program, you will have to apply for admission into the program, just like any other applicant. Please explore our websites for detailed information about our program as well as details on application and admission processes. That being said, should you decide to apply and be admitted, some of your graduate credit hours you have taken at your previous university could be transferred. Only courses with grades of A or B may be accepted for transfer credit.

9. I am an international applicant. Do I have to get my transcripts WES evaluated?

Though the admission instructions for International Students recommends having international academic credentials evaluated by World Education Services (WES) as a general rule, this is not necessary for the vast majority of international students applying to the Mathematics and Statistics program, and does not in any way disadvantage an application not evaluated by WES in most cases. This especially applies to students from Canada, China, Europe, India, Japan, Mexico, the Middle East, and portions of South America. Please contact the graduate coordinator if you are not from these regions and/or want to be sure whether a WES evaluation would be recommended in your case.

10. What should I do if I have a Three-Year degree?

Admission to the Graduate School requires a student to show evidence of successful completion of a U.S. bachelor’s degree program or its foreign equivalent from a regionally accredited (in the U.S.) or an officially recognized/approved or accredited institution abroad. Applicants’ academic credentials, if earned outside of the U.S., are reviewed for the purpose of assessing institutional accreditation, as well as the U.S. equivalency of the degree and grades.

International applicants who have earned three-year bachelor’s degrees are required to submit a “foreign credential evaluation” along with their supplemental application requirement. Such evaluation must be performed by a member of the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES), for example: World Education Services (WES) (www.wes.org). Either a document-to-document or a course-by-course foreign credential evaluation meets this requirement. UNC Charlotte will consider such agency’s assessment as to whether the academic credential earned is, or is not, equivalent to a U.S. bachelor’s degree as well as its recalculation of grades. A listing of other NACES members is available at www.naces.org/members.htm.

International applicants who have earned a (three-year) bachelor’s degree (such as a BBA or BCA from India) as well as at least one year of a master’s degree and/or a post-graduate diploma, or those who have earned a standard (four-year) bachelor’s degree (such as BEng) are not required to submit a credential evaluation performed by a foreign credential evaluation service as part of their application for admission.