Admissions

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All departments that offer a graduate program, including FER, are affiliated with NC State’s Graduate School. The Grad School maintains admission standards and exercises control over all graduate degree programs.

Graduate students in FER are actually admitted to the University through NC State’s Graduate School to work on a degree program in a specific department. Faculty in the specific departments review applications and make recommendations to the Graduate School regarding the admission of applicants to their departments.

Students entering the FER graduate program come from diverse backgrounds, both educationally and geographically. Many do not have undergraduate degrees in forestry or natural resources. FER offer a series of mini-courses for students without a forestry/natural resource background.

In general, outstanding students with backgrounds in the biological, physical and social sciences are admitted directly into FER’s graduate program. Any necessary background courses in undergraduate science, mathematics and specialty areas can usually be completed as part of the graduate student program. Some of the Natural Resource Technical Options require specific undergraduate coursework – see each option’s description for requirements.

For more information on applying to an FER graduate program, visit the North Carolina State University Graduate School Online Application System. Many questions regarding admissions details (where to send GRE scores, official transcripts, and more) can be answered through the Graduate School's Frequently Asked Questions website.

Admission Requirements

Generally, minimum requirements for admission are: an undergraduate grade point average of 3.0 and a graduate record examination score of at least 1000, calculated as the sum of verbal and quantitative scores. Admission is contingent upon acceptance by an advisor.

International Students

FER welcomes graduate students from universities all around the world. For international students, the Graduate School requires:

Acceptable TOEFL scores of at least 80 (at least 20 on the reading, writing and speaking sections and 15 on the listening section) on the internet-based version. Click here for other details concerning TOEFL requirements (see Section O: English Proficiency Requirements).
A Visa Clearance Form and a Certificate of Financial Responsibility before a final admission decision can be made.

Admissions Deadlines

The departmental application deadlines to be considered for aid are as follows (deadline given is for a completed application, including all supporting documents):

	Fall	Spring	Summer 1	Summer 2
All Students	January 31	September 30	-	-

Graduate School application deadlines are as follows (refers to the last date to submit a completed application with all supporting documents):

	Fall	Spring	Summer 1	Summer 2
International Students	March 1	July 15	Dec. 15	Dec. 15
US Students	June 25	Nov. 25	March 25	May 10

Diversity Commitment

FER is committed to providing an outstanding education for all people, regardless of gender or race. We welcome applications from graduates students who hail from nontraditional backgrounds, and are particularly interested in enrolling female and minority candidates in our forestry degree programs. For more information, please contact CNR's Community for Diversity in Natural Resources.

Visit Us

We welcome visits from prospective students who want to get a firsthand look at our facilities and meet some our faculty. For more information on how you can schedule a visit and a map of where we are located, please visit CNR’s Visit Us section.