Application Items: A few more details about . . .
 The CollegeNet Application:
Make sure you read the directions carefully before proceeding with the application. Also, it is important to the outcome of your decision that you go to the SBES website (http://www.sbes.vt.edu/) and “do your homework”, i.e., learn everything you can about the program here and what is available to you in terms of specialty areas of interest, specific research projects, and professors with whom you might like to work.
Transcripts:
Submit official, complete transcripts from each college or university previously attended for at least one academic year (junior/community college work transferred to another university does not require separate transcripts if that work appears on the other). If you are currently enrolled, you should send transcripts for all work completed so far. Later you will be asked to provide a full transcript after you graduate in order to show that a degree was awarded.
Test Scores:
GREs -
The School of Biomedical Engineering & Sciences and the Wake Forest Graduate School require GRE scores of all regular M.S. and Ph.D. degree-seeking students. All three sections of the General Test (Verbal, Quantitative, Analytical/Analytical Writing) must be submitted. No subject test is required. The scores should be sent directly from Educational Testing Services to the VT Graduate School at institution code 5859. Photocopies of scores are acceptable (in the department) for assessment purposes early in the application review process, but official scores must go to the VT Graduate School. NOTE: For Wake Forest campus applicants, an official set of scores will only be required if an admission offer is made.
There are no definitive “cut-off” scores in the various testing areas since GREs are considered as one part of the total package, but for guideline purposes SBES applicants previously accepted into the program have presented average scores of 1200 total (Verbal + Quantitative). Old style Analytical scores average around 600-650. On the newer Analytical writing test, 4.0 and better is encouraged. Test scores must not be older than 5 years from the date of application.
TOEFL -
Applicants whose native language is not English and who have not graduated from an Anglophone university (English is the language of instruction) are required to submit TOEFL test scores. The scores cannot be more than two years old from the date of application. The SBES desired minimum score for TOEFL is 600 paper-based (250 computer-based, 100 internet-based). You may apply with scores somewhat lower than these but your competitiveness will likely be decreased. If you are international but you have a degree from an Anglophone university, your TOEFL requirement will be waived. Waivers are given by the Graduate School – not the department. If you are not sure about your status, or if you have questions about this or any other immigration/international-related issue, please see the following web site for information: http://www.igss.grads.vt.edu/.
Letters of Recommendation:
Three (3) letters of reference are required (note that the application mistakenly specifies two), and they go directly to SBES, not to the Graduate School. Online letters are the preferred and recommended type. The CollegeNet application has a built-in system for handling this function. If you or your referrers have any problems with the system, please contact the
Graduate School for help. If online letters cannot be used, paper letters should be mailed directly to the department by the recommender, or included in a sealed, signed-on-the-flap envelope along with other mailed materials. Regular (printed) letters should be accompanied by the VA Tech Reference form which can be printed from the Graduate School’s website where the paper application is provided.
Statement of Purpose:
This is an optional one-two page document stating your reasons for undertaking graduate work at SBES, as well as an explanation of your academic interests, and your professional goals. It is not an application requirement, but if you have one you’d like to submit, it will be included in your packet. Many students have them already prepared as a matter of course. Note that on the SBES Supplemental Form section of the application, you are asked for basically the same kind of information, so in answering that question, you have, in essence, delivered a statement of purpose.
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