College of Science

Transcripts

• One official transcript from all higher education institutions attended must be mailed to the Office of Admissions at the address listed above. (We recommend that you request an additional copy to be mailed directly to you. Leave the envelope unopened until you have confirmation that Admissions has received your official transcripts.)
• One transcript (unofficial are acceptable) from all higher education institutions attended must be also be uploaded to your MIST graduate application portal.
• A GPA of 3.0 is expected for the most recent 60 units of college-level work attempted. GPA between 2.5 and 3.0 may be considered with substantial alternative demonstration of ability to succeed in the program.

Statement of purpose

Include a 1000-2000 word Statement of Purpose (statement of educational and professional goals) that demonstrates your writing ability.

Letters of reference

Email addresses for two letters of reference uploaded to your MIST graduate application portal. Letters should come from individuals familiar with your professional or academic work. Please inform your references to watch out for an email from CSUMB that has instructions about submitting the recommendation letter.

Test scores

GRE (optional): We recommend that you take the GRE test to improve your competitive standing but it is not required. CSUMB's school code for ETS is 1945.

Foreign credit and TOEFL

If you have international coursework and/or English is not your native language, please consult the CSU Monterey Bay International Student Admission Requirements. It is possible that you will also need to take the TOEFL examination and provide the university with a Foreign Credential Evaluation. Please read below for more information about the requirements for the TOEFL and Foreign Credential Evaluation.

If you need assistance regarding the online application or admissions requirements, please contact the Student Services Coordinator at mist@csumb.edu.

All transcripts from schools outside the United States must be sent, at the applicant's expense, to a foreign credential evaluation service.

A detailed "course-by-course" report is required for all programs. Foreign credential evaluations can be obtained at these services.

• International Educational Research Foundation
• World Education Services
• Educational Credential Evaluators

TOEFL (if applicable): For those students required to demonstrate English proficiency, the MIST program requires a TOEFL score of 80 or above.

Applicants with degrees from foreign universities should visit Admissions & Recruitment for more information about English proficiency requirements and Foreign Credential Evaluations.

Fall 2025 Application Dates

December 15th

Priority application and document deadline. Capacity of the MIST program is limited. Applications received by this date with all required supporting documents (see list of required documents above) are eligible for priority application review and selection. Qualified applicants have a better chance of selection during the priority review due to less competition for available spaces than at the final review.

January 15th

Application deadline for applicants with foreign coursework Applications that include transcripts from foreign colleges and universities take longer to process than applications for applicants who have never taken courses in another country. Also, the time needed for correspondence and obtaining documents can take months. Applicants with foreign coursework should apply as soon as possible to avoid denial due to missing documents on the final document deadline listed below. Applications may still be accepted after this date if space is available.

January 22nd

Priority application review and selection The MIST candidate selection committee will convene for a priority review of eligible applications. Applicants selected for the program will be given priority admission to the program. Applicants not selected at this time will either be denied or held over for inclusion in the final application review and selection.

March 15th

Recommended Deadline. Applications received by this date with all required supporting documents (see list of required documents above) are eligible for review before the rolling admission period begins.

March 16th - May 31st

Final application deadline extended, review, and selection The MIST candidate selection committee will convene for a final review of eligible applications. Applicants selected for the program will be given admission to the program if spaces are available in the program. Applicants not selected at this time may be denied, moved to a waiting list (in case any selected students elect not to attend), or advised of additional information requests if there are any remaining spaces available after this date. If there are remaining spaces available after this date, complete late applications may continue to be reviewed on a first-come, first-served basis.