The application review process for Aerospace Engineering (AERO) Master’s of Science in Engineering (MSE) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) graduate programs is managed by Rackham Graduate School and the Aerospace Engineering graduate program. Applicants interact with both offices.
Find out more about our admissions guidelines and admission requirements for international students. The online application and application materials are submitted to Rackham.
The name used on the application should be your full legal name as it appears on your passport or other legal documents. It is very important to note any other name that appears on prior academic records or test score reports.
UMID (University of Michigan identification) number will be emailed to you within five business days after completing page 5 of the online application. Please note your UMID number on all your application materials to ensure accurate and timely processing. If you need to submit your application before you receive your UMID number, please note your date of birth and the program’s name (ex. AERO MSE) on your application materials.
Master’s applicants choose one of three fundamental areas as your subplan. Although the master’s program is a multi-disciplinary program with the opportunity to explore all three areas, this choice will be used in matching admitted students to faculty academic advisers.
PhD applicants should explore the research areas and the faculty working in each research areas. On page 3 of the PhD application, choose one of twenty research areas as your primary subplan. On page 9, indicate your second and third subplan preferences, as well as, up to five faculty members with research of interest.
The Graduate Admissions Committee considers the abilities of our faculty to mentor additional PhD students in their labs. A PhD applicant will only be admitted if there is a match of interest with faculty member(s). You are not required to find a faculty advisor before applying. But, we recommend that applicants to the PhD program contact faculty whose research is of interest.
Submitting transcripts is a two-step process. For detailed instructions see Rackham Graduate School’s transcript information.
All applicants are required to upload a scanned copy of their official transcript, for each Bachelor’s, Master’s, Professional, or Doctoral degree earned or in progress, to the online application.
The Aerospace Engineering graduate program requirements:
The academic statement of purpose, personal statement, and curriculum vitae (CV) or resume together give a fuller picture of your interests, motivations, and experiences to the Graduate Admissions Committee.
The Academic Statement of Purpose should be a concise, typically no more than two pages, well-written statement about your academic and research background, your career goals, and how this graduate program will help you meet your career and educational objectives. You can include information about potential research labs and faculty advisors in this statement.
The Personal Statement should respond to the question: How have your background and life experiences, including cultural, geographical, financial, educational or other opportunities or challenges, motivated your decision to pursue a graduate degree at the University of Michigan? In this statement, you can note additional information or extenuating circumstances specific to your situation. The statement should be about 500 words and different than the Academic Statement of Purpose.
The resume/ curriculum vitae is included in your application and should describe your education, work experience, research publications, teaching experience, honors and awards. We recognize that your resume represents a snapshot of your experiences when you submit your application. Although your experiences may change, the application is not updated after it has been submitted.
A letter of recommendation should be current and written for purpose of the applicant’s program. See Rackham’s Letter of Recommendation Information.
Yes, we will accept recommendations that arrive after the deadline. However, a missing recommendation needs to be received to completely review the application. Applications missing a recommendation will be at a competitive disadvantage during the evaluation process.
All recommendations are submitted electronically. If extenuating circumstances require a letter of recommendation to be submitted by other means, please contact Ruthie Freeman, Graduate Student Services Coordinator. She will contact the recommender and to request the letter and Recommendation for Admission form.
The GRE and TOEFL tests’ reporting code is 1839 (a department code is not required).
GRE scores have been required for the PhD and MSE applications in the past, and will again be required starting in the 2022 admissions cycles. For Winter and Fall 2021 admissions, the GRE requirement will be waived due to difficulties in test scheduling and taking caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Once this requirement is reinstated, note that GRE scores of up to five years old, as of the application deadline, may be used. See Academic Background of Applicants for information about the typical test scores of admitted students.
English proficiency must be shown by applicants whose native language is not English. Proficiency is demonstrated by either an English proficiency examination or qualifying for an exemption. See Rackham’s English proficiency requirements and exemptions.
Due to the high volume of applications, the Aerospace Graduate Office does not respond to application status inquiries. Applicants may check the status of their application materials.
After allowing for processing time (see above), then email Rackham rackadmis@umich.edu. The email must include: your UMID, the AERO graduate program, and information on your application material (a scanned copy of your ETS report for GRE/TOEFL scores, email receipt from Parchment electronic transcript service, or transcript information (names of school, spelling of your name by the school, and how transcript was sent (electronic/mail).
If an applicant applies again, a new application must be submitted.
Department of Aerospace Engineering