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Admissions & Scholarships

Graduate Admissions: What Your Students Need Before They Apply

person walking on pathway in front of brown concrete building during daytime — Photo by Tim Alex on Unsplash

Graduate applicants are a different market from school leavers: older, often employed, and making a decision about cost against career return. The application also works differently, and partners who treat it as an undergraduate file with an extra degree certificate lose time.

What is different

  • Departments decide. Academic departments assess graduate applicants against their own criteria, so requirements vary between programmes far more than at undergraduate level.
  • The academic record carries more weight — the undergraduate transcript, the subject match and any research or professional experience.
  • Supporting materials matter. Statements of purpose, references and, for some programmes, a portfolio or writing sample.
  • Tuition is charged on a lower credit load. Graduate tuition is approximately USD 16,720 per year at nine credit hours per semester.

What to collect before applying

  1. Bachelor's degree certificate and full transcripts, with certified translations where needed.
  2. English evidence — IELTS 6.5, TOEFL iBT 78 or Duolingo 105 as a baseline, with individual programmes free to set a higher requirement.
  3. A curriculum vitae covering work experience, research and publications.
  4. Referee details, confirmed in advance so references are not delayed.
  5. A draft statement of purpose the student has actually written themselves.

Positioning graduate study to a working professional

The conversation is about return, not prestige. Three points land consistently:

  • Time to completion. A shorter programme means less foregone income.
  • STEM designation where applicable, which affects post-study work eligibility.
  • Total cost against current salary trajectory, presented as a full multi-year figure rather than a per-semester one.

A note on statements of purpose

Do not write them for students. Beyond the integrity issue, departments read hundreds and recognise agency templates immediately. Coach instead: ask the student why this subject, what they have done in it, and what they intend to do next — then help them structure their own answers.

Programme details are on the graduate admissions page. For programme-specific requirements, ask international@studytxst.com.

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