Brandeis International Business School

Applicants must have earned a bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited U.S. or accredited international institution. Three-year degrees that are equivalent to a U.S. bachelor's degree will be considered for admission.

Unofficial transcripts from all post-secondary institutions attended are required. Degree audits will not be accepted in lieu of unofficial transcripts. Transcripts must be provided in English. If you have graduated from a program, and your transcript does not verify your graduation, please submit a copy of your degree certificate with your unofficial transcript(s). Official transcripts are required from each institution only if you accept an offer of admission.

The following prerequisites must be completed prior to beginning the PhD program. Students must earn a minimum grade of “B” to meet the requirement, or have demonstrated sufficient knowledge in the area through completion of related courses.

These courses must be taken at an accredited 3- or 4-year, not-for-profit college or university. Each course must be at least 3 credits or the equivalent of a full-semester course. Courses taken at other educational institutions will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

Calculus (three semesters through Multivariate)
Intermediate Macroeconomics
Intermediate Microeconomics
Linear Algebra
Statistics

Additionally, it is highly recommended that students have completed one semester each of Econometrics and Real Analysis.

Written Essay

One essay is required as part of the online application.

The written essay question is as follows:

Please indicate your reasons for undertaking graduate study. Please cite relevant academic, professional and personal experiences that influenced your decision to obtain a graduate degree. In addition, please describe your qualifications for the doctoral program and your objective in undertaking this program. (1000 words)

If necessary, you may provide additional information, not mentioned elsewhere in your application, that you would like the Admissions Committee to consider as part of your application.

Writing Sample

A writing sample is required for admission to the PhD program. The writing sample can be an economics research paper, such as a term paper for a course or an undergraduate or master's thesis. The writing sample can alternately be something that you wrote as a homework assignment or as research in another field. A good writing sample could be anything that you have written which shows something about your interest in and ability to do research.

A current résumé detailing educational and employment history is required.

We also require a detailed employment history as part of the online application so that we may fully understand your previous and current roles and assess your career progression. Candidates with little or no full-time work experience should include internships in the employment history section of the online application.

A GRE score is required for this program. 

An unofficial test score should be submitted as part of the online application. Official test scores are required only if you accept an offer of admission.

GRE scores are valid for up to five years. Test scores must be valid at the time the application is submitted.

If your test score will expire prior to the start of the program, you must submit your official test score prior to its expiration date.

The International Business School GRE code is 3122.

Please note, that the International Business School does not accept the GRE® General Test at home.

Three recommendations are required for this program. At least two of the three recommendations should come from academic contacts. You will be asked to provide your recommenders' contact information as part of the online application. Use your recommender's institutional or corporate email address. Submissions from anonymous email addresses (Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo, etc.) may be subject to additional review. An email with instructions on submitting the online recommendation will be sent to your recommenders. Only online recommendations will be accepted, and recommendation letters must be submitted on the recommender's organization letterhead.

Applicants must submit a TOEFL, IELTS, Duolingo English Test, or PTE Academic score unless they meet one of the following conditions:

Will complete or have completed a bachelor's degree with at least three full-time academic years of study (ESL and online coursework not included) in a designated country.

OR

Have completed at least one full-time academic year of graduate study (online coursework not included) at the time the application is submitted in a designated country.

OR

Have worked full-time for at least three consecutive years, within the past four years, in a designated country.

Please select the appropriate country below to verify your English proficiency requirement.

Successful applicants typically have a TOEFL iBT score of at least 100, a TOEFL ITP score of at least 627, IELTS score of at least 7.0, Duolingo English Test score of at least 130 or PTE Academic score of at least 68. Brandeis International Business School accepts TOEFL iBT Home Edition, IELTS Indicator and IELTS Online test scores. The Business School only considers TOEFL scores from a single test date, not MyBest™ scores. Our Admissions Committees take a holistic approach to reviewing applications and consider each part of a student's application to evaluate communication abilities and fit for the program.

An unofficial test score should be submitted as part of the online application. Official test scores are required only if you accept an offer of admission.  TOEFL, IELTS, Duolingo English Test and PTE scores are valid for up to two years. Test scores must be valid at the time the application is submitted. If your test score will expire prior to the start of the program, you must submit your official test score prior to its expiration date.

The International Business School TOEFL code is 3122.

A $150 application fee is required. The following students are eligible for an application fee waiver:

• Current Brandeis and Wellesley students

• Brandeis alumni

• Current or former members of the U.S. Armed Forces

• Beta Gamma Sigma members

• Peace Corps, AmeriCorps, Teach For America or other U.S. national service organization volunteers