PhD How to Apply

The application for Fall 2025 will open in September 2024.

If you're interested in applying for a fee waiver, please see below for eligibility requirements and instructions.

Please upload all academic records to the online application system. If you are admitted, you will be required to submit official academic records and official copies of degrees awarded (and official English translations where applicable). Photocopies and facsimiles of the documents are not acceptable.

International applicants can learn more about appropriate documentation here.

• We require all applicants to submit a minimum of two letters of recommendation (preferably from academic sources) as part of their application, although we will accept up to four.
  
• Letters can be submitted after the deadline, but we cannot guarantee your application will still be in review by the time they arrive.

Please provide a current resume/CV of 1 to 2 pages.

For reference, you can find the application instructions:

• Please write a short essay (typically 2-4 pages) that describes your basic research interests. Describe your exposure, if any, to research in your field of interest. Include non-academic personal or work experiences only if they are directly relevant to the formation of your research interests. You may also use this space to briefly detail your long-term professional objectives.

If you wish, you may upload one (1) research-related paper or abstract. Writing samples are recommended to be no longer than 30 pages. Applicants who would like to submit longer samples, such as an B.A/M.A. thesis, are strongly encouraged to provide an excerpt shorter than 30 pages and include a one-page coversheet contextualizing the excerpt within the larger body of work.

The GRE or GMAT is required of every applicant for admission to the Stevens Doctoral Program. There are no exceptions to this policy.

It is the responsibility of all applicants to ensure that test scores are submitted to the Stevens Doctoral Program by December 15. While we accept test scores received after the application deadline, we cannot ensure your application will still be in review by the time they arrive.

To meet the application deadline, we recommend that you take the required test by early October. GMAT and GRE scores are valid for five years. Prior coursework or degrees at the graduate level do not exempt applicants from submitting the GRE/GMAT as part of their application.

• Please see below for area-specific score requirements:
  • Economics: GRE is required.
  • Finance: GRE is strongly preferred, but GMAT is acceptable.
  • Joint Program in Financial Economics: GRE is required.
• Scores should be sent directly to the Chicago Booth Stevens Doctoral Program by listing the institutional codes below when taking the exam:
  • GMAT: H9X-9F-05
  • GRE: 1501
  • TOEFL (if applicable): 1819
  • IELTS (if applicable): send TRF number to phd@chicagobooth.edu

You may apply for a hardship request for delayed test scores if you are in an area where disruptions may be taking place. You'll still need to submit your application by the deadline regardless of if you've been granted more time to submit individual scores. You can find more information below in the section titled "Hardship Requests for Delayed Test Scores."

Applicants to Stevens Doctoral Program, regardless of citizenship, must either meet one of our waiver criteria (below) or submit proof of English language proficiency. Only the TOEFL iBT or IELTS Academic tests are accepted as proof of proficiency.

Waiver Criteria
There are two ways to receive a waiver from the proof of proficiency requirement:

• Primary Language Waiver: If English has been a primary language of communication and schooling for you since childhood, you may attest to this on the application. We cannot assist you in determining if this is the case for you. Falsifying this information, as with any other information on the application, may lead to revocation of an offer of admission.
• Education Waiver: If you were enrolled for at least one full academic year in the last ten years, as a full-time, degree-seeking student at an accredited English-medium post-secondary institution in one of the following countries or territories:
  • Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Canada, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Hong Kong, Ireland, Jamaica, New Zealand, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Singapore, South Africa, Trinidad and Tobago, the United Kingdom, the United States.
  • Education in English-medium institutions in any countries or territories not listed here does not qualify for the exemption.
  • Only full-time coursework in a degree program at a college or university in one of these countries or territories qualifies. Remote study, lab or research work, non-degree programs, intensive English language courses, or high school/secondary school do not qualify. The qualifying academic year must be completed – i.e., if you are now in a program and are planning to have completed a year by the time you enroll, it will not meet the requirement.

Please do not email us regarding your qualifications for a waiver. If you meet the criteria, we will process the waiver after you have submitted your application.

Acceptable Tests:
In order to meet the proof of proficiency requirement, students may submit either:

• Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) internet-based test (iBT), including tests taken online at-home, or in a testing center
  • The minimum test score requirement for the TOEFL is 100 overall score, no subsection requirements.
  • We do not currently accept aggregate scores such as the TOEFL MyBest scores
• International English Language Testing System (IELTS) Academic
  • The minimum test score requirements for the IELTS is an overall score of at least 7, with sub scores of at least 7 each.
  • We do not accept any other proficiency tests, exams, equivalent coursework, certificate/certifications, endorsement from faculty, and/or other measurement other than the TOEFL iBT or IELTS Academic. This includes the IELTS “Indicator” test and the TOEFL ITP Plus as well as Duolingo.
  • We do not currently accept aggregate scores such as the IELTS One Skill Retake.

Validity:

• TOEFL or IELTS score reports are valid for two years; scores will be considered expired if the test was taken more than two years prior to the application deadline. If you send us a score and it expires prior to the deadline you are applying under, you will need to send a more recent score.
• Photocopies or PDFs of TOEFL or IELTS Score Reports will not be considered valid or accepted in lieu of an official score report from the agency. An offer admission cannot be made without an official score report on file.

It is the responsibility of all applicants to ensure that test scores are submitted to the Stevens Doctoral Program by December 15. While we accept test scores received after the application deadline, we cannot ensure your application will still be in review by the time they arrive.