Admission

Application Deadline

  • Application Deadlines

  • Application Period for Spring 2025: August 1, 2024 - August 31, 2024 (classes begin January 21, 2025)

  • Application Period for Fall 2025: October 1, 2024 - February 15, 2025 (classes begin on August 19, 2025)

Application Process

The application process is centralized at the university and requires two steps as described below:

  1. Apply Online at Cal State Apply (For Spring 2025: August 1, 2024 - August 31, 2024).
    • As of Fall 2021 students are required to upload unofficial academic transcripts as part of the Cal State Apply application. 
    • Submit the required official transcripts within three weeks of University application submission.   Please note: If you are a current (or former) Cal State LA student, your Cal State LA transcript does not need to be submitted to the Admission Office. 
  2. Submit official academic records/transcripts to the Admissions Office within two weeks of university application submission.
  • If you have studied at an institution outside of the US, you will need to have your foreign academic work evaluated by the International Education Research Foundation (IERF) or World Education Services (WES) for securing admission into the program
    • IERF - Visit https://apply.ierf.org/ to create an online application requesting the "Detailed Report". The foreign evaluation fee is $165 (USD). When submitting your course work to IERF please make sure to indicate that you were referred by "CSU Los Angeles-Graduate Admissions" and that you would like to have the official agency copy of the evaluation report sent directly to CSU Los Angeles-Graduate Admissions. 
    • WES - Visit http://www.wes.org/fees/evaltypes.asp to create an online application. You will need to order the course-by-course evaluation report. The cost is $205 for the WES ICAP.
    • For steps on how to submit your foreign academic records to these agencies, visit the Admissions and Recruitment page on IERF/WES.

Application FAQs

  1. Graduate Record Exam (GRE) score is NOT required (for the Mechanical Engineering Program). However, GRE score can be considered in the admission process and can also exempt graduate students from the Graduate Writing Assessment Requirement (GWAR) UNIV 4000 if they have a score of 4 on the analytic writing portion of the GRE or GMAT. (For more information, please visit the following website: WPE)
  2. Letters of Recommendation are NOT required (except upon department request for certain circumstances).
  3. Applicants must possess a bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering or a related field with a GPA of 3.0 or better. A promising applicant with a GPA between 2.5 and 2.99 may be admitted as a special action student. Prerequisite courses may be required for students with a non-Mechanical Engineering bachelor's degree, for students from non-ABET accredited Mechanical Engineering programs, or for special action students.
  4. If you do not possess a Bachelor's (or advanced) degree from a postsecondary college/university where English is the only language of instruction, you will need to submit official TOEFL, DET, IELTS, or PTE test scores to the Cal State LA Admissions Office. Be aware that scores are only valid for two years from the exam date. For further information, please visit the following website: /admissions/english-language-proficiency
  5. There may be teaching and research assistantships offered through the Department of Mechanical Engineering.  Inquiries can be sent to me.ecst@calstatela.edu. 
  6. Refer to the Center for Financial Aid for financial assistance available from federal, state and institutional sources at Cal State LA.
  7. Go to the University's Graduate Application and Admission page for more detailed information about the university graduate admission.

After Admission FAQs

  1. Note that the applicants who meet all the university requirements are admitted in one of the two following categories: Graduate Classified and Graduate Conditionally Classified (For more information, please visit the following website: Graduate and Post-Baccalaureate Admission Requirements)
  2. The Mechanical Engineering Department will conduct advisement/orientation sessions for new incoming graduate students to set up a study plan and determine which prerequisite courses must be taken prior to beginning any courses for their graduate program.
    Click to view the ME graduate program orientation meeting PowerPoint.
  3. The Principal Graduate advisor in the Mechanical Engineering Department is Dr. Travis Hu. Another graduate advisor is Dr. Arturo Pacheco-Vega. (Graduate Advising Overview)

For questions regarding ME Graduate Admissions, contact us: ECSTGradAdmission@calstatela.edu