Design and Merchandising Graduate Program Required Documents Design and Merchandising Master's Program

We require a statement of purpose for three reasons:

1. To evaluate the fit between your professional/educational goals and the offerings of our graduate program/the scholarly interests and expertise of our Design and Merchandising faculty members. We want to make sure that our program can help you meet your objectives.
2. To provide you an opportunity to address the relevance of your academic, professional, and personal experiences to your goals for graduate study.
3. To allow you the opportunity to demonstrate your communication skills. The successful completion of graduate work relies heavily on the ability to communicate your thoughts in written form.

You will submit your statement of purpose as part of your online application.

DM MS Essay Prompt for Inclusive Holistic Review

The Statement of Purpose serves as an academic writing sample for the faculty to determine your readiness for graduate-level writing, to learn more about you, and to ascertain how your goals align with the program. Thus, we invite you to please prepare a 2-3 page statement in which you address the following points:

• Your professional, academic, and/or extracurricular leadership experiences;
• Your life experiences that demonstrate perseverance and resilience;
• Your goals for graduate study; and
• The alignment of your scholarly interests with one or more Colorado State University Design and Merchandising faculty members’ research/creative scholarship interests. Learn more about the Apparel and Merchandising and Interior Design Graduate Faculty research/creative scholarship interests.

You also may use your statement to address any questions that the Graduate Committee may have about your ability to be successful in a graduate program. Please write your statement using a formal (i.e., academic) tone and use 12-point Times New Roman font, double-spacing, and 1-inch margins.

Requirement: 3 Letters of Recommendation

• You will need to identify a minimum of three people who are willing to write a letter of recommendation in support of your application. We strongly prefer letters of recommendation from individuals who can speak from first-hand experience to your academic performance in higher education/your ability to be successful in a graduate program.
• On your application, we will need the contact information for those individuals who are going to write your letters of recommendation. This will prompt email communications to these individuals, who will then be responsible for submitting their letters of recommendation to us.
• Letters should be written on letterhead and must be signed (electronically).

We require a resume to give us a better understanding of your professional background.

• Submit your resume as part of your online application.
• You can attach it as a PDF or Microsoft Word document.

Interior Design Applicants

We do require a portfolio of your previous work. Portfolios can include the following:

• Samples of your prior coursework in interior design.
• Examples of student work from courses you taught.
• Professional experience in interior design.

Submit your portfolios as a PDF attachment to your online application.

Apparel and Merchandising Applicants

We don’t require a portfolio for Apparel and Merchandising Specialization. Please know your application will be reviewed equally if you do not submit one.

If you do have prior experience portfolios can include the following:

• Samples of prior coursework in apparel design.
• Examples of your professional experience in apparel design.

Submit your portfolio in hard copy, slide, or CD formats to the following address:

Graduate Program Assistant
522 W. Lake St.
1574 Campus Delivery
Colorado State University
Fort Collins, Colorado 80523-1574

Please mail official hard copy transcripts to Graduate Admissions at the address below.

Admissions – Graduate Processing
Colorado State University
1062 Campus Delivery
Fort Collins, CO 80523-1062

Electronic transcripts are acceptable and may be sent on your behalf to gradadmissions@colostate.edu directly from the prior institution via a secure server such as Parchment, eScrip-Safe, the National Student Clearinghouse, or any other secure site used by the sending institution. Transcripts sent via email through a nonsecure third party will be considered unofficial and will not fulfill the checklist requirement.

The Online Graduate School Application (GS1 form) contains a section where you can indicate your interest in a graduate teaching or graduate research assistantship. No further steps are required.

If you want to be considered for an assistantship, please submit your online application on or before the following dates:

• Fall Semester: Feb. 1
• Spring Semester: Oct. 15

International students are required to submit one of the following exam scores as evidence of English proficiency. You can be exempt from this requirement if the official language of your country is English or if you have recently earned a degree at an American university.

CSU requires that proficiency in the English language be demonstrated either by the TOEFL, IELTS, Duolingo, or/and PTE Academic tests prior to admission.

• TOEFL (including the TOEFL My Best Score) minimum score – 550 (paper based), 80 (Internet based)
• IELTS (including the IELTS OneSkills Retake) minimum score – 6.5
• Duolingo minimum score – 120
• PTE minimum score – 58

Official scores, taken within two years prior to admission, must be submitted directly from the testing agency.

We require all international students to submit a financial statement to Colorado State University. This statement can be submitted after you are admitted.