Application requirements

Below are the admission process requirements for all degree programs:

• Online Degree Application for Admission
• $75 non-refundable application fee is required for every degree and non-degree application submitted. 
  Applicants have two payments options:
  • Pay by credit or debit card via the web;  To pay the fee online, you must log into the Agora Portal using your BC Username and password.  You must already have an application on file to use this payment link.  If you do not have your BC Credentials, please contact the admissions office.
    
  • Pay by check or money order made payable to Boston College, via regular mail. If you are applying online, please print a copy of your confirmation page and send your check/money order and the confirmation page along with the rest of your paper materials in one package to the address above. If you are applying via paper application, please include your check/money order with all of your materials in one package to the address above.
    
    Please note:  The application fee cannot be refunded for any reason.  If you qualify for a fee waiver, you should not pay the fee when you submit the application form. 
    

Fee waivers are granted to the following applicants:  Jesuits, current JVC members, and current STM students.  Email the admissions office to request a waiver.

• Official transcripts from all colleges, universities, seminaries, or theological schools that you have attended. Official transcripts can also be sent along with other supporting application materials in a sealed, signed envelope.  Please send one copy of each transcript.
  
• Three letters of recommendation Download this form and provide it to your recommenders.  Each recommender should be familiar with the applicant’s academic competence. For applicants who have been out of school for a significant amount of time, the recommenders should be familiar with the applicant's professional competence. For M.Div., M.A., and M.Ed. applicants, one recommender should be familiar with the applicant's ministerial potential and experience. Recommendations can either be sent directly from the recommender to the STM Processing Center, or submitted with other supporting application materials in a sealed, signed envelope.
• Personal statement (Maximum 1,000 words)  this can be uploaded
  
  • The academic, professional, and personal development that has motivated you to apply to the STM. Include a sketch of your educational background and interests, any experience you have in ministry and/or religious education, and any other relevant professional and volunteer experience;
  • Your understanding of theological education and/or ministry in the context of the Church’s mission;
  • How you plan to apply your theological education;
  • Given your experience, how you assess your principal strengths for theological education and/or ministry as well as your areas of needed development.
• Statement of intent (Ph.D. and S.T.D. only)  this can be uploaded with personal statement  Applicants should include in the personal statement additional information (up to an additional 1,000 words) outlining your specific area and field of academic interest, how your previous academic, professional, and/or pastoral experience has prepared you for studies within that particular field, the service in the Church that one would render with the Ph.D./ S.T.D. degree, why you are applying to STM, and the faculty member(s) with whom you would like to work.
• GRE scores  Scores need to be received directly from ETS. Our GRE code is 2508.  All applicants applying to the Ph.D. and S.T.D. degree programs must submit GRE scores -- no exceptions will be made.  For master's applicants, the admissions office may accept other standardized tests (for example, the Miller Analogies Test).  The admissions committee may also decide to waive this requirement for master's applicants if previous graduate work has been done.
  
• TOEFL scores  All international applicants must submit official TOEFL scores (received directly from ETS). Our TOEFL code is 3971. An acceptable TOEFL score is 79 or higher on the iBT exam, 213 or higher on the computer-based exam, or 550 on the paper-based exam.
  
  The TOEFL score is not required if:
  • you are a citizen of Australia, Canada (except Quebec), Great Britain, Ireland, New Zealand, Guyana, an Anglophone country of Africa, or an English-speaking country of the Caribbean;
  • you earned your prior college or university degree in the U.S. or one of the countries listed above;
  • you are currently enrolled as a full-time student in a U.S. degree-granting program or at an American or English-speaking school in one of the countries listed above and will have completed two academic years of college/university work before beginning your studies at Boston College.
    
    
• Curriculum vitae or resume  this can be uploaded
  
• Writing Sample (Ph.D. and S.T.D. only)   this can be uploaded 
  Academic paper, usually no less than 10 pages, not to exceed 25 pages. S.T.D. applicants are also required to submit a copy of their S.T.L. thesis upon its completion.
• Major Superior Form for all applicants that are priests or members of religious orders.
• STM Financial Aid Form   this can be uploaded
• Personal Interview The admissions committee may request a personal interview with you to be conducted in person or online.