How to Apply

Iowa State accepts applications up to one year in advance of the date of enrolment. Iowa State offers rolling admissions, so it does not have deadlines. However, to ensure adequate time for processing, students aiming to enroll for Fall Semester should apply prior to February; and applicants for the Spring Semester should apply before August.

The University encourages students to apply online where they may pay their application fee by credit card. If students wish to pay by bank draft, the check must be drawn in US dollars from a US bank. Students are strongly advised to make sure that their names on the application form match what is written on their passports. Any spelling mismatch may result in visa refusal.

Undergraduate application forms

Required documents

• Only academic records and test scores need to be submitted; students are requested to not submit essays, letters of recommendation, honor certificates or other materials.
• If original academic records cannot be provided, students can send photocopies of the original certificates duly signed and stamped by the registrar or principal of the record issuing institution AFTER photocopying. The University does not accept scanned or faxed copies.
• Students who have not yet completed their courses may submit the records that they have available when they apply. If admitted, they are expected to submit complete academic records before their classes begin.
• Students applying as freshmen are encouraged to submit the optional High School Course Report form. This makes the evaluation of their high school preparation more accurate.   
• For transfer applicants and students graduating from non-American high schools, SAT and ACT results are not mandatory; however they can submit these scores if available.
• Undergraduate financial statements should clearly indicate the total amount of funds available to students annually under Source of Funds and for how many years the sponsors can provide the funds. Transfer students are advised to plan for an additional year. Only the first year of funds needs to be documented with a bank statement.

The address to which to mail your Undergraduate Financial Statement and all official transcripts is:
Iowa State University
Office of Admissions
100 Enrollment Services Center
Ames, IA 50011-2011 USA

Response time
During the months of December through April, processing can take 2-3 months due to the volume of applications received. Therefore, acknowledgement of receipt of documents is not possible. The university urges you to use your courier’s tracking service to determine if documents have been received. The Admissions Office will notify applicants via email if any required items are missing.  

Our office receives hundreds of e-mail inquiries daily, which interrupts their processing time, thus causing severe delays in our review of applications. Therefore, please keep your e-mail inquiries to a minimum, and wait 8-10 weeks before contacting us to allow us time to complete our processing. We also ask you to send only one e-mail, and  to address it to the admissions office. It should include the following details:

1. Student’s surname (as it is in the application form) followed by a comma
2. Student’s given name
3. Date of birth
4. Study level applied for (undergraduate or graduate)