Columbia University

A personal statement is required. Columbia Engineering recommends 250 to 1,000 words; exceeding this will not hurt your application and no permission is needed. Preferred format: margins of at least one inch, double spacing, 10-point Arial or 12-point Times New Roman, and your name in the header or footer of every page.

A resume or curriculum vitae must be submitted.

Upload a copy of your official transcript (or a student copy; not screenshots of an online student portal) for every college or university you attended for at least one term and received academic credit from, including professional schools and summer study. Official transcripts are sent only after you are admitted and accept the offer; do not have your institution send them earlier. Transcripts not issued in English need a translation by a reputable service provider.

Letters should be written by faculty members who can assess your academic work, intellectual ability and potential for graduate work; letters from current or former supervisors are also accepted. Personal references are not appropriate.

Columbia Engineering requires three letters of recommendation. Recommenders are contacted after you enter their contact information in the online application; you may not write any part of a letter or be involved in drafting or submitting it.

Not required and not a substitute for the GRE. Applicants to Data Science Institute programs who have taken the GMAT may upload the score report as supplemental material.

If you have taken the GRE and would like to provide your scores, you may, but it is not required as of July 2026. Students who do not submit scores will not be penalized in the graduate admissions review process. Students who do submit scores will be required to submit official test scores should they be admitted. GRE scores are valid for five years from the test administration date according to ETS.

The school’s official pages say this differently. Here is what each one says — check with the school before you rely on it.

Duolingo English Test (DET): Required if you earned your undergraduate degree in a country other than Australia, Canada, Ghana, Ireland, Kenya, New Zealand, Nigeria, Singapore, the UK or the USA, including if you transferred from or have a combined/joint degree from an institution outside those countries. The requirement depends on where you studied, not on citizenship. Only one English test is required. There is no minimum score to apply. The Duolingo English Test is accepted. Scores expire after two years and must remain valid through your first semester. Advisory: a score of 134 or lower may mean you need to improve your English proficiency.

IELTS Academic: Required if you earned your undergraduate degree in a country other than Australia, Canada, Ghana, Ireland, Kenya, New Zealand, Nigeria, Singapore, the UK or the USA, including if you transferred from or have a combined/joint degree from an institution outside those countries. The requirement depends on where you studied, not on citizenship. Only one English test is required. There is no minimum score to apply. IELTS Academic is accepted. Scores expire after two years and must remain valid through your first semester. Advisory: a score of 7 or lower may mean you need to improve your English proficiency.

PTE Academic: Required if you earned your undergraduate degree in a country other than Australia, Canada, Ghana, Ireland, Kenya, New Zealand, Nigeria, Singapore, the UK or the USA, including if you transferred from or have a combined/joint degree from an institution outside those countries. The requirement depends on where you studied, not on citizenship. Only one English test is required. There is no minimum score to apply. PTE Academic is accepted. Advisory: a score of 68 or lower may mean you need to improve your English proficiency.

TOEFL iBT: Required if you earned your undergraduate degree in a country other than Australia, Canada, Ghana, Ireland, Kenya, New Zealand, Nigeria, Singapore, the UK or the USA, including if you transferred from or have a combined/joint degree from an institution outside those countries. The requirement depends on where you studied, not on citizenship. Only one English test is required. There is no minimum score to apply. TOEFL iBT, including the Home Edition, is accepted; TOEFL MyBest scores are not. Scores expire after two years and must remain valid through your first semester. Advisory: a score of 4.5 or lower (tests taken after January 21, 2026) or 99 or lower (tests taken before January 21, 2026) may mean you need to improve your English proficiency.

Waiver / exemption: Columbia Engineering pages word the exemption differently: a master's degree earned or to be completed in Australia, Canada, Ghana, Ireland, Kenya, New Zealand, Nigeria, Singapore, the UK or the USA (requirements page); a master's degree earned or to be completed in the United States before enrollment, on campus for the entire program (FAQ); a bachelor's or Master of Science degree from a school where English is the official and widely spoken language, on campus in that country for the whole program (another FAQ answer). Current Columbia Engineering graduate students applying to another degree program are exempt. No exceptions outside the policy.

Mandatory for Master of Science applicants. It becomes available only after you submit the application and pay the fee, through the application Status Portal. Three randomly selected behavioral questions; 90 seconds to consider your responses and three minutes to record your answer to all three questions. Nothing to prepare in advance. A VPN may interfere with submission.