Admission Requirements

Admission to the School of Economics is competitive. An undergraduate degree in economics or a related field is desirable but not essential for admission. The School of Economics is much more concerned with the applicant’s capacity for graduate study, quantitative reasoning and the quality of previous work. Below is a list of required and recommended courses. Applicants seeking admission generally achieve a B or better in these courses. Applicants seeking funding (see below for more information) generally achieve an A- or better in most of the required courses listed below AND have a 3.5 GPA or higher. Applicants with lower grades/GPA may be admitted/funded, especially if they have unique experiences that demonstrate strong knowledge, skills, determination, and ability to be successful in a rigorous graduate program and make a unique contribution to the School of Economics.

Please visit the UMaine Undergraduate Catalog’s Course Search to view course descriptions for each of the UMaine equivalent courses listed in this table.

Admission Requirements Chart

GRE Test Scores

GRE scores may help faculty evaluate applications where there is uncertainty about potential success in the program. They are recommended but not required. GRE scores of admitted students in the past have been around 160 for each of the Verbal and Quantitative sections and 4 for the Analytical section.

Other Requirements

In addition to the required and recommended courses listed above, we expect: 1) a strong, well-written personal essay that clearly communicates why the applicant is a good fit for our program and why our program is a good fit for the applicant in the context of a set of clear academic and professional goals; the essay should also demonstrate the potential for the applicant to succeed when faced with challenges; 2) strong letters of recommendation from faculty that taught courses included in our admission requirements and/or other mentors of related work (e.g., thesis/research advisor, job supervisor, etc.), which demonstrate the applicant’s ability to be successful in a rigorous graduate program; 3) a well-written and clear resume/CV that demonstrates a strong work ethic and interest in gaining applicable skills/knowledge outside of the classroom.

English proficiency test scores (TOEFL and IELTS)

Official English proficiency examination scores are required unless you received a degree from an English-speaking institution. For more information, visit the Graduate School website or the Admission section of this catalog. For admission, the School of Economics requires TOEFL scores to be above 92, 237 or 580 (on the internet, computer or paper-based exams, respectively), or IELTS scores to be 6.9 or higher. To obtain funding, scores should be higher: TOEFL above 98, 247 or 597 respectively, and the IELTS equal to 7.6 or higher.

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*If, after thoroughly reviewing ALL of the information on our Graduate Program web pages, you still have questions, please visit our FAQ page, fill out our contact form on that page, or email the Graduate Coordinator: Dr. Sharon Klein: sharon.klein@maine.edu.