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The application process

Applications are submitted electronically through the Graduate Admissions office and are forwarded directly to the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department for review. All materials, such as transcripts, statement of purpose, supplemental questions and resume (letters of recommendation can be submitted via email in the online application), are to be uploaded with your application.

Note to current Stanford undergraduates who wish to apply to the CEE Coterm Program:  do not use the Graduate Admissions online application - it is for external applicants only.  The application  to the CEE Coterm program for current Stanford undergraduates canbe found at the following website: http://cee.stanford.edu/academics/undergraduate-programs/coterm

The Graduate Application website provides comprehensive and detailed information to guide you through the process. This page provides the department-specific requirements that you will need to fulfill as part of your application. These details are not on the Graduate Application website.

Graduate Admissions website »

Graduate application checklist

A completed application consists of:

• Application (must be submitted online through Graduate Admissions)
• Application Fee (must be paid online through Graduate Admissions)
• Statement of Purpose (must be submitted online through Graduate Admissions)
• Supplemental questions for students applying to graduate programs (must be submitted online through Graduate Admissions)
• Letters of recommendation (must be submitted by your recommenders via email through Graduate Admissions)
• Transcripts (must be submitted online through Graduate Admissions), two official copies sent to CEE department
• GRE general results (submitted directly to Stanford by ETS)
• TOEFL results (if required — submitted directly to Stanford by ETS)

Use the address below for mailing official Transcripts to the department. All other documents and supplemental material must be submitted online through Graduate Admissions.

E-Mail: CEE-admissions@lists.stanford.edu

Application

The application is accessed through Stanford's Graduate Application website. Please carefully read all information and instructions.

Statement of Purpose

Your Statement of Purpose should identify personal and professional goals. It should also discuss your development to date and your intentions for graduate study and life beyond Stanford. The CEE Graduate Admissions Committee reads your Statement of Purpose with interest because, along with the Letters of Recommendation, it offers insight into who you are as an individual. Your Statement of Purpose should not exceed two pages in length (single spaced).

Supplemental questions

MS, Engr, and PhD applicants for CEE programs must submit a supplemental questionnaire. A supplemental form with these questions has been included with the online application.

The online application is accessed through Stanford's Graduate Application website. Please carefully read all information and instructions.

Letters of recommendation

Follow the instructions on the Graduate Application website for letters of recommendation.
Warning: The email address provided for each recommendation letter writer must be the official email for their university or workplace. Use of a personal email address for a recommendation letter writer may result in a significant delay in reviewing your application, as the admissions committee will have to contact the letter writer directly to verify the authenticity of the letter.

Letters of recommendations must be submitted online.

Transcripts

Two original, sealed, official transcripts from all colleges or universities attended full-time for one year or more are required. Send them to:

GRE general results

All applicants, including foreign students, must take and submit scores from the Graduate Record Examination (GRE). 
Scores must be from an examination taken within the last five years. If you are also applying for financial aid, plan to take the test on or before the October test date so your scores are received in time to be considered for an award.

The Educational Testing Service (ETS) has modified its administration of the computerized Graduate Record Examination (GRE) for students who take the examination in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan or Korea. The student must take the Analytical Writing component of the examination at least six weeks prior to taking the verbal and quantitative components of the exam. All three scores will be reported to the schools at once by ETS. The new fiscal year for ETS is July 1 to June 30. The three tests components must be completed within one fiscal year.

TOEFL Results

• Exemptions are granted to applicants who have earned a U.S. bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral degree from a college or university accredited by a regional accrediting association in the United States, or the international equivalent degree from a university of recognized standing in a country in which all instruction is provided in English. Therefore, applicants with degrees from the U.S., Australia, Canada (except Quebec), New Zealand, Singapore, and the United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales) are exempt from taking the TOEFL and do not need to submit the TOEFL Waiver Request form.
• Applicants with degrees from institutions in countries other than those listed above and in which English was the only language of instruction must submit the TOEFL Waiver Request form in order to be evaluated for a waiver to the TOEFL requirement.This exception does not apply if the courses were completed in a country where English is spoken but not all courses were provided in English.
• Being a U.S. citizen does not automatically exempt an applicant from taking the TOEFL; if the applicant’s first language is not English, the applicant must meet the exception above or submit TOEFL scores. Stanford does not accept IELTS scores.

Stanford does not accept IELTS scores.
For more information please visit the Graduate Admissions TOEFL FAQ.

Application submission tips

Save your sheet protectors for something else

Some applicants send their supplementary information inserted into sheet protectors possibly in the hope of making a more visually appealing presentation with their application. Unfortunately, the Student Services staff must remove your material from the sheet protectors before it is reviewed by the Admissions Committee and only delays the review of your application. Help us out and avoid the temptation to use sheet protectors.

Video tapes, CDs, other material

Each year we receive a volume of supplementary material such as video tapes and other media that, while well intended by the applicants, are too lengthy or otherwise impractical for the Admissions Committee to review. It's best to keep your application to the materials requested and to concentrate on making those have the most positive impact. "Extras" like video and audio presentations will not be reviewed and create a storage problem more than anything else.

Costs

Graduate students should budget at least $600 per quarter for books and supplies above tuition and housing costs. Information on tuition fees and other typical costs such as for housing may be found on the following sites:

Office of Grad Admissions — Estimated Expense Budget »
Student Housing — Housing Assignments & Rates »

If you have questions

For further general information on admission to the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, contact CEE-admissions@lists.stanford.edu or call the department at 650-723-3074.

Additional information about graduate admissions for each specific program can be found by navigating to our section on Graduate Programs. If you still have program-specific questions after reading the information on our website, you can contact the faculty member in charge of graduate admissions for that program by sending email to:

•    ae-admissions@lists.stanford.edu (Atmosphere and Energy admissions)
•    sdc-admissions@lists.stanford.edu (Sustainable Design & Construction admissions)
•    ees-admissions@lists.stanford.edu (Environmental Engineering & Science admissions)
•    efmh-admissions@lists.stanford.edu (Environmental Fluid Mechanics & Hydrology admissions)
•    strgeo-admissions@lists.stanford.edu (Structural Engineering and Geomechanics admissions)