Admissions

Admission criteria

In order to pursue a program leading to an advanced degree, you should meet the criteria for both the University of Nevada, Reno Graduate School and the Finance Area of the MGRS Department MSF program. All complete applications are reviewed by the MSF admission committee. Only complete applications will be reviewed by the committee. Applications approved by the committee are forwarded to the Graduate School for final disposition. Admission requirements, procedures, and deadlines are described below.

Graduate School requirements:

  1. A baccalaureate (or an advanced) degree from an accredited four-year institution; any major is acceptable.
  2. Official Duolingo, TOEFL, IELTS, Pearson, or Cambridge English exam scores if your educational history is from a non-English speaking country.
    • Minimum score requirements:
      • Duolingo: 115
      • TOEFL: 79 IBT (including Home Edition and Paper Edition) or 8.5 (Essentials)
      • IELTS: 6.5 (academic version)
      • Pearson (PTE): 59
      • Cambridge: 176

Finance Department requirements:

  1. Grade Point Average of 3.00 on a scale of 4.0.
  2. Resume or curriculum vitae.
  3. Statement of Purpose for pursuing the Master's Degree in Finance, addressing the student’s particular interest in Finance and his or her future professional and/or academic goals.
  4. Three letters of recommendation.

Specific prerequisites

A bachelor's degree in business or finance is not required for admission. Students without an undergraduate degree in finance or business normally earn the MSF degree by completing the following pre-core courses:

  • Basic Calculus (equivalent to MATH 176)
  • Statistics of Decision-Making (equivalent to BADM 700)
  • Financial Reporting and Accounting (equivalent to BADM 710)

Application deadlines

To be considered for Fall semester, all materials must be received by March 15.
To be considered for Spring semester, application materials must be received by October 15.

Questions?

Contact the Finance MS Director

Dr. Hongchao Zeng
hzeng@unr.edu
(775) 682-9195