Exceptional Student Admission Program (ESAP) – Program Application
(steps under dropdown “How can I apply?” required for eligibility consideration*)

*Program Application Process with Deadlines (Eligibility is Subject to Student Following the Steps Below Including completion of the ESAP Application Survey Within the Posted Deadlines and no later than the student’s final active quarter prior to degree completion, within the survey open period,
There is NO “automatic” notification process, if you do not complete the ESAP survey you will NOT be ESAP eligible)

Effective W21, students who believe they meet ALL ESAP eligibility criteria, MUST complete the ESAP application survey in the quarter that the student meets all eligibility (see instructions under dropdowns below)

What is ESAP?

ESAP is a guarantee of admission to the UCLA Samueli Engineering M.S. program for outstanding UCLA engineering undergraduates who have met certain criteria. ESAP is for admissions to the graduate program of your BS department. ESAP students are also eligible for the M.S. Online (MSOL) program and the new Master of Engineering(MEng) program (ESAP eligible for all 7 areas of concentration), so students may apply for whichever of the three options they would like. The program that these students are admitted to is the exact same program to which any other M.S. applicant is applying, with the difference being the guarantee of admission.  ESAP-admitted students are genuine graduate students who may be eligible for graduate fellowships and Teaching Assistant positions if available. Note: ESAP is only applicable for the M.S. program.

How can I be considered for ESAP?

To be considered for ESAP students must

  • apply for eligibility review by completing steps in the 2 sections below  NO LATER than their final active quarter, within the survey open period (e.g. If you are a Spring 24 degree candidate, the latest you can become eligible is after Winter 2024 grades) AND complete the regular UCLA graduate application and must meet those application deadlines. Students are advised to speak with the department graduate counselor if he/she expects to become ESAP eligible in the Winter term or later in order to assure the student is meeting graduate department deadlines. See section on this page “What if I expect to meet the ESAP eligibility after the UCLA graduate application deadline”.
  • ESAP students should not delay submitting their graduate applications and supporting materials whether or not they have received their ESAP notifications (since often students do not meet the ESAP eligibility until after the official campus graduate application is due). For the campus graduate application, there is an application fee, and applicants must provide the department with copies of their transcripts (unofficial UCLA transcripts are sufficient)
What are the criteria for eligibility?

To be eligible students must have:

  1. An overall Cumulative UC GPA of at least 3.500
  2. A Major Field Upper Division GPA of at least 3.500
  3. valid degree term declared on myUCLA
  4. Review your DARS (Degree Audit Reporting System) report, after declaring your Technical Breadth Area and major options on MyEngineering. DARS must confirm that you have no more than 36* units remaining to be completed for the B.S. degree
    *including in progress, as well as units needed for degree completion including minor(s), double major, and excess units since CUM GPA is part of the eligibility which includes all graded course work. UCLA GEs are counted as 5 units since UCLA GE courses are 5 units (DARS will show the GE unit minimum as 4 units – this minimum takes into account the minimum units for TRANSFER courses from another school that have been articulated to satisfy GE credit).
  5. Complete the ESAP Survey – see section on this website “How can I apply within ESAP application survey DEADLINES AND graduate applications DEADLINE”
  6. Students must meet the requirements (including having completed the ESAP Application Survey) NO LATER than their final active quarter, within the survey open period (e.g. If you are a Spring 24 degree candidate, the latest you can complete the ESAP survey is Spring 2024 within the posted deadlines (eligible would based on grade through Winter 2024 grades).  Students are advised to speak with the department graduate counselor if expect to become ESAP eligible after the posted UCLA graduate application deadlines.
  7. Must be an continuing undergraduate students when the eligibility audit is reviewed  (if student has declared non-attendance for the term, must be planning to enroll the following term. i.e. if declared non-attendance for F23, plans to enroll W24)
  8. Comply with degree audit information – step 1 at the website linked to this text (and follow steps 2-3 the quarter before you graduate)
  9. intending to apply to the graduate program of your BS department. ESAP students are also eligible for the M.S. Online (MSOL) program and the new Master of Engineering (MEng) program (ESAP eligible for all 7 areas of concentration), so students may apply for whichever of the three options they would like.
  10. MUST File and meet the posted deadlines for the UCLA graduate application
How can I apply within ESAP application survey DEADLINES AND graduate applications DEADLINES

If you meet the ESAP GPA and unit criteria:

1. Open a new window of your browser

2. Go to Google Drive – Personal Cloud Storage & File Sharing Platform – Google

3. Click “Sign in” in the top right corner (if you are signed into your personal account, logout)

4. Enter your UCLA email (your myUCLA username followed by @g.ucla.edu) ex. joebruin@g.ucla.eduEnter your myUCLA password

5. Click the underlined “APPLICATION” link below

6. COMPLETE the ESAP APPLICATION  SURVEY within the deadlines **  posted below and NO LATER than your final active quarter prior to degree completion.(If you had previously received an ESAP eligibility notification informing you that are ESAP Eligible, you do NOT need to submit this survey again)

For students who complete the survey, audits will be done approximately the 4th week of the quarter and notifications will be sent at approximately the end of the 5th/6th week of the quarter (early August for summer)

**ESAP application Survey is open on the following dates:
 Fall 2023: October 2, 2023 – October 16, 2023 (closed)
 Winter 2024: January 8, 2024 – January 22, 2024 (closed)
 Spring 2024: Monday, April 1,  2024 8:00AM – Monday, April 15, 2024 11:59PM
 Summer 2024: TBD

7. MUST File and meet the posted deadlines for the UCLA graduate application

What if I expect to meet the ESAP eligibility after the UCLA graduate application deadline?

 If you expect to become ESAP eligible AFTER the posted graduate application deadline, it is advised that you complete the UCLA graduate application and ALL supplemental materials that are required for NON-ESAP students.   If you become ESAP before B.S. degree completion and follow the steps above, you can still be admitted via ESAP in a later term.    If you file the graduate application believing you are “ESAP pending” since you expect that you will meet the ESAP eligibility after the UCLA graduate application deadline (such as in the Winter quarter), and submit the application without the GRE (if required by your department) and submit 2 references (instead of 3 as detailed below) but then do NOT meet the ESAP criteria, your application will be considered incomplete and you would no longer be considered for admission to the graduate program as a non-ESAP eligible student. We recommend that you also reach out to the department graduate counselors (listed on the bottom of this page) to inform them that you expect to become ESAP after the campus wide graduate application deadline so that they can flag your application.

For ESAP students in the departments of Computer Science and Electrical and Computer Engineering:

ESAP students in the departments of Computer Science and Electrical and Computer Engineering must apply for, and start the program in, the Fall quarter that immediately follows their B.S. degree completion. Students may forgo submitting GRE scores (If you are ESAP and do not take the GRE nor intend to, on the online application you should be able to leave blank the date that you plan to take the GRE) and are required to only submit 2 letters of recommendation.

For ESAP applicants applying for the Computer Science MS program, they will need two Computer Science faculty recommenders.
The Electrical and Computer Engineering Department prefers letters from academic faculty.

The recommendations are for the purpose of determining the appropriate area of study; as a graduate student. The system will email your recommenders and ask them to submit their recommendations electronically (you are advised to inform your professors that they have been listed on your graduate application as references and that you confirm their email addresses).  See your department’s graduate website for more details.

For Computer Science, On the 3rd recommender line of the application which you will be prompted to complete during the admissions application process, to flag your ESAP status for the 3rd reference you should be able to enter: first = “esap” last = “esap” email = either the applicant’s own email address or saadmin@seas.ucla.edu type = General Recommendation.

For Electrical and Computer Engineering, for the 3rd recommender in the application, the text should be appl@seas.ucla.edu. You should put the first and last name of the recommender as ESAP / ESAP.

Since the Computer engineering major, is jointly administered by the Computer Science Department and by the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department (formerly the Electrical Engineering Department), ESAP students in that major have the option to apply to either department’s graduate program.

Merit-based financial support is at the discretion of the department but has no bearing upon admission itself. For financial aid information, contact the Financial Aid Office.

Note: ESAP is only applicable for the M.S. program.

For ESAP students in the departments of Bioengineering, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Materials Science and Engineering, and Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering:

The guarantee of admission is valid for three academic quarters after students earn an undergraduate degree.  The formal application may be filed within this time frame. Students should meet with their graduate department’s Student Affairs Officers (contact information at the bottom of this page )  to discuss the scheduling of courses and to best plan which quarter is most beneficial to enroll in (contact information below). Additionally, please note the quarter in which you intend to enroll may have a significant impact on the availability of financial aid. Students are not required to take the GRE. However, GRE scores may be required for students who want to be considered for departmental financial support or for other departmental purposes. Check directly with your department. If you are ESAP and do not take the GRE nor intend to, on the online application you should be able to leave blank the date that you plan to take the GRE. Students are required to only submit 2 letters of recommendation. The two recommenders should be professors in your department. The recommendations are for purpose of determining the appropriate area of study; as a graduate student. The system will email your recommenders and ask them to submit their recommendations electronically (you are advised to inform your professors that they have been listed on your graduate application as references and that you confirm their email addresses). See your department’s graduate website for more details. On the 3rd recommender line of the application which you will be prompted to complete during the admissions application process, to flag your ESAP status for the 3rd reference you should be able to enter: first = “esap” last = “esap” email = either the applicant’s own email address or saadmin@seas.ucla.edu type = General Recommendation.

All ESAP Students

ESAP students must complete the regular graduate admissions application form and must meet the posted application deadlines. ESAP students should not delay submitting their applications and supporting materials whether or not they have received their ESAP letters.

There is an application fee, and applicants must provide the department with copies of their transcripts (unofficial UCLA transcripts are sufficient).

Departments are notified of the new ESAP students, but when students talk to the departments they should identify themselves as ESAP students.

Who Should I contact if I have questions?

Questions regarding ESAP Eligibility should be directed to the ESAP Message Center Queue

For information specific to the graduate curriculum or content of graduate courses [click here], or the campus-wide graduate application process [click here] and refer to
the department graduate admissions websites.
If you have further questions specific to the graduate program not covered in the above-linked information,  you should direct those questions to your department graduate counselor (contact information below)

Students who meet the above conditions will receive a notification on MyEngineering informing them of their ESAP eligibility. To maintain eligibility a student must maintain the specified GPAs and complete your B.S. degree. Admission is guaranteed to the graduate program in the department in which you earned your B.S. degree, for the time period specified in the ESAP notification, subject to your meeting the posted deadlines for filing the graduate admissions application and any enforced department deadlines.

Graduate Student Affairs Officers

Department Contact Room Email Phone
Bioengineering Lili Bulhoes 5121L ENGR V lili@seas.ucla.edu  (310) 794-5945
Chemical &
Biomolecular
Engineering
Lesly Navas 5531 Boelter Hall cbesao@seas.ucla.edu (310)825-1203
Civil &
Environmental
Engineering
Mimi Baik 5732A Boelter Hall mimi@seas.ucla.edu (310)825-1851
Computer
Science

Helen Tran

Juliana Alvarez

291 ENGR VI

helen@cs.ucla.edu

jalvarez@cs.ucla.edu

(310)825-6830

(310) 825-0060

Electrical and Computer
Engineering

Ylena Requena

Deeona Columbia

57-127 ENGR IV ylena@seas.ucla.edu

deeona@seas.ucla.edu

(310)825-8592

(310)825-7574

Materials
Science &
Engineering
Natasha Levy 3121-K Engineering V  nlevy@seas.ucla.edu

 

(310) 825-8913

 

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Abel Lebon 46-127J ENGR IV abel@seas.ucla.edu (310)825-7780
Master of Engineering Program (MEng Program) Yatin Saini 4732 Boelter Hall yatin@seas.ucla.edu (310)825-1759
M.S. Online (MSOL) program Shanna Revoner 4732 Boelter Hall shanna@ea.ucla.edu (310)825-6505

Questions regarding ESAP Eligibility should be directed to the ESAP Message Center Queue

Questions specific to the graduate program, courses, graduate application process, etc should be directed to your department graduate counselor listed above.

To file the graduate admissions application online, start here.