To be eligible for admission to any program, applicants must hold a U.S. baccalaureate degree from an accredited institution or an equivalent degree from an accredited/recognized foreign institution prior to the date of  graduate enrollment at the University of Vermont. Individual degree programs may have additional requirements as described within the UVM Graduate Catalogue and under Programs and Degrees. Many departments and programs provide opportunities for selected current UVM undergraduates to participate in Accelerated Master’s Pathway.

Applicants to UVM graduate programs are expected to be fluent in English; instruction at the University of Vermont is conducted in English. There is no intensive English as a Second Language program at the university, although limited instruction is available to enhance speaking fluency in English.

In your statement of purpose, please outline your reasons for wishing to undertake graduate study and comment on your career plans. Describe the strengths and weaknesses of your preparation for graduate study in your proposed field. If you are presently enrolled in a graduate program, please explain why you wish to apply to a new program. If there are gaps in your academic career, please address them.

UVM's Graduate College requires three letters of recommendation evaluating your academic work and potential for graduate study. On the application form, where you list the name, address, email, etc., for each recommender, please click “Submit Recommendation Request.” This automatically generates an email to each explaining that you are applying to the Graduate College at the University of Vermont. That email includes a link to the recommendation form our recommender will complete and submit directly to the Graduate College electronically. We advise you to let your recommenders know they've been selected and an email will be forthcoming.

If your recommender is having trouble with the online recommendation form, they can contact graduate.admissions@uvm.edu for further guidance.

Transcripts must be obtained from each of the post-secondary educational institutions you have attended, alongside, as appropriate, a notarized English translation of the transcripts. At this time, we accept electronic transcripts from the following services:

• Direct from your institutions registrar's office
• eScripts
• National Student Clearinghouse
• Parchment Exchange
• A NACES or AICE approved third-party credential evaluation service which requires official transcripts for evaluation (for international students)

Electronic transcripts can be sent to: graduate.admissions@uvm.edu.

Official Paper transcripts can be sent to:

The Graduate College Admissions Office
The University of Vermont
330 Waterman Building
Burlington, Vermont 05405-0160

“Official” transcripts are transcripts that are sent directly to The University of Vermont, Graduate College Graduate Admissions Office, by another institution or – as unopened documents – by the student who received them from the institution.

“Unofficial” transcripts are transcripts that have been opened by the student or printed from an institution’s student portal.

With the exception of Public Health programs, we accept unofficial transcripts during the admissions review process; you can upload those directly to the application. Official transcripts are required of applicants who are admitted and must be sent to the Graduate College no later than the first day of classes. Failure to send your official transcripts will result in a hold being placed on your account: you will not be able to register for classes for the upcoming semester. If you are currently completing your undergraduate degree, you will need to send an official transcript documenting completion of the degree prior to enrollment.

We do not automatically receive UVM transcripts.  If you have attended UVM you will need to log into your MYUVM portal and request that the Registrar send an official transcript to graduate.admissions@uvm.edu. This service is free and the process straightforward.

Writing samples (term papers or essays) are required by some programs: see the "Requirements" section of your program on the Programs and Degrees page.

The ETS Institution Code for test scores for UVM is: 3920

Special note: To meet the needs of students who are unable to take the GRE® General Test at a test center due to public health concerns, ETS is temporarily offering a GRE General Test at home option. The Graduate College will accept scores from the GRE General Test at home option for admission.

For more information about taking the GRE exam remotely, please visit ETS’s website at – GRE® General Test Takers.

Most UVM graduate programs do not require GRE or GMAT test scores.  Please check the requirements at Programs and Degrees to see if your department or program requires GRE subject scores in addition to the general scores. If your program requires GRE or GMAT test scores, you must request that official scores be sent from the administering agency to the Graduate Admissions Office using school code 3920.  Scores are valid for 5 years from the test date.  Please be sure that the names you use for your application match exactly the names you used in test score contexts.  Please allow 1-2 weeks for your scores to be sent and for your application status to indicate that scores have been received.

Note that The University of Vermont does not have minimum GRE/GMAT scores, and most programs do not require or consider scores.  Those that do, use scores as only one component of your whole application in a holistic review process.

Questions about the GRE examination may be directed to:

Graduate Record Examination
Educational Testing Service
Box 6000, Princeton, NJ 08541-6000
Telephone, 609-771-7670
www.gre.org

For the GMAT examination:

Graduate Management Admissions Test, ETS
Box 6103, Princeton, NJ 08541-6103
Telephone, 609-771-7330
www.mba.com

Applicants whose native language is not English are required to submit proof of English proficiency. For further information about the English Proficiency Requirement, and waiver options, please visit our international admissions page.

We offer application fee waivers for applicants who are 

1. current members of:
   • AmeriCorps
   • Black in AI
   • Gates Millennium Scholars
   • Institute for Recruitment of Teachers (IRT)
   • Maximizing Access to Research Careers (MARC)
   • Peace Corps
   • Post-baccalaureate Research Education Program (PREP)
   • Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS)
2. past members of a TRIO program:
   • Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement
   • Student Support Services
   • Talent Search
   • Upward Bound
   • Upward Bound Math-Science
   • Veterans Upward Bound
3. graduates from:
   • Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU)
   • Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCU)
   • Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI)
4. current recipients of DACA

To request a waiver, please send verification of eligibility to graduate.admissions@uvm.edu and request a review for a waiver code. Please allow a minimum of 1-2 business days for your request to be processed.

The University of Vermont allows you to apply to more than one program, but you must submit a separate application for each program. This is because applications are customized to meet the needs of each specific program.  After you have submitted and paid for your first application, you will need to go back into the application with the same UserID and password and start a new application for the second program you would like to apply to. When you submit the second application, you will be prompted to pay another application fee. 

If you are applying to a certificate program as well as to a degree program, you will first need to apply to the degree as instructed above. Once admitted into to the degree program, you can log back into your portal and click the option to apply as a certificate student. This process will prompt you to contact Graduate Admissions for a fee waiver code.  Note that all requests for waiver will be reviewed to ensure the applicant has been admitted and is enrolled in a graduate degree program prior to being provided a waiver for their application to a concurrent certificate program.