International Applicants

**Please note that processing of visa applications and entry documents into the U.S. for international students has wait times up to 6 months. Therefore, you are advised to complete your application as soon as possible.**

Supporting Documents:

Students must submit their unofficial transcript(s) and letters of recommendation in English to be reviewed via the applicant portal. A WES evaluation (www.wes.org) is not required but is helpful for the review process.

Applicants must demonstrate proficiency in English.

Test of English as a Foreign Language TOEFL/IELTS results must be submitted with your application. The TOEFL/IELTS requirement is waived only if you have received, or expect to receive, an undergraduate or graduate degree from a college or university in the United States of America, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, or Ireland.

The minimum score range requirement for TOEFL is 97-100, depending on the program, with a minimum of 20 in each section. The home edition of TOEFL is scored the same as TOEFL iBT taken in a test center. Both are acceptable. TOEFL Essentials is scored differently and is not accepted by BU.

Some programs may accept Duolingo English proficiency exam.  Please confirm with your program of choice.  Minimum score for DuoLingo is 105. If you take the Duolingo exam, please submit the individualized URL for your test score by emailing the GMS Admissions office (gmsadmsn@bu.edu).

Financial Documentation

International Masters students who accept an admission offer must submit financial documents that support projected expenses via the WebadMIT applicant portal.  The funds must be liquid and can be in the form of a loan from a bank or from a relative as long as a current bank statement for the relative shows the requisite bank balance. The applicant must submit a signed letter of support for their education at Boston University from the relative pledging the loan or the bank lender. Learn more if all or part of your tuition is to be a billed to a sponsor.

Financial documentation for international Ph.D. applicants is NOT required.

International students will be prompted to complete a separate section of materials once they have been admitted to their program of interest and accepted the offer.  Please keep in mind that processing of international documents can take as long as six months. We encourage you to apply early.

For master’s students, it is suggested that if you are applying for spring admission (January start), that you submit your application no later than October 15th, and for fall admission (September start), that you submit your application no later than June 1st.

Since doctoral students are only accepted for fall admissions with earlier application deadlines, their supporting ISSO documents should be submitted in the spring once they have confirmed their commitment to a GMS doctoral program.

These documents can be found here under ISSO (http://www.bu.edu/isso/) on the Documents page (http://www.bu.edu/isso/getting-started/documents-procedures/) and include International Student Data form, passport, and Immigration documents, etc.