Admission requirements

The admission requirements for the master’s programme Econometrics and Operations Research depend on your prior qualifications. Your motivation plays an important role in the admission decision. Other considerations are your prior education and grade point average.

Assessment of your file happens on a rolling basis. This means that, once you submit a complete file, it will be presented to the Board of Admission from this master’s programme and you will receive a decision within 2-4 weeks after completion of your file. We will not wait until the deadline before we present your file to the Board.

This information is currently being updated. We refer to the PDF, which you can find on the right hand side of this page, to consult the information of academic year 2018/19. As from 10 October you can find the current information about academic year 2019/20 here.

All candidates should meet the general requirements:

submit your curriculum vitae,
write a letter of motivation,
demonstrate proficiency in English.

Please check below whether additional requirements apply to you.

Admission requirements academic year 2018/19

UM graduates applying for a
master’s programme

Applicants having been awarded the Degree of Bachelor of Science in Econometrics and Operations Research at the SBE will be admitted to the Master of Science in Econometrics and Operations Research programme. Please note: you have to pass your bachelor’s exam before 1 September 2018. Other SBE graduates have to submit a complete application for assessment by the Board of Admission. The GMAT is not required in this case.

Graduates from a university bachelor’s programme
in Econometrics or a related field

You are eligible for assessment by the Board of Admission. You are required to pass a GMAT/ GRE test. Also provide your GPA (using the 0-10 Dutch grading system).

Admission by Board of Admissions
In order to be eligible for admission to the Master of Science in Econometrics and Operations Research programme, an applicant needs to fulfil the following requirements:

Previous education:

providing proof of having obtained a University Bachelor’s Degree in Econometrics;or
providing proof, including a transcript of exam subjects and grades, of a University Degree programme in which a majority of credits are gained by courses in Mathematics and Statistics; or
providing proof of having obtained a University Bachelor’s Degree in a Business, Economics, Liberal Arts or an Engineering programme and providing proof of a satisfactory GMAT test score or GRE test score.

GMAT exemption is given for:

Applicants having a University (Bachelor’s and/or Master’s) Degree in a programme at a university from a list of universities and programmes that is yearly decided upon and published on the website of the SBE.
Applicants with a University Bachelor’s Degree in Business, Economics, Liberal Arts or Engineering, and providing proof thereof, and who passed at least four (4) of the approved and published courses offered at the SBE.

General requirements

1. Submit your curriculum vitae

All candidates must provide a cv. Please list your education, relevant extracurricular activities and internship/professional experience.

2. Write a letter of motivation

All candidates must write a letter of motivation. Please provide good arguments about why you want to do this master's programme at Maastricht University and why you believe that you can successfully complete the programme.

3. Demonstrate proficiency in English

This master's programme is taught in English. You must therefore have a thorough verbal and written command of English. If you meet one of the following criteria, you do not have to submit additional proof of your English proficiency:

you are a native English speaker
you are an EU citizen
you completed a bachelor's programme that was taught in English

If you do not meet any of these criteria, you will need to submit your scores from an IELTS or a TOEFL exam as proof of your English proficiency. You have to prepare and register for these exams yourself.

Plan to take your exam well before the application deadline. It can take a while before you get the results.

English proficiency exams

IELTS
TOEFL

Required scores

IELTS exam: minimum overall score of 6.5
TOEFL exam, paper-based: minimum overall score of 575
TOEFL exam, computer-based: minimum overall score of 233
TOEFL exam, internet-based: minimum overall score of 90

Language requirements exemption

If you think that you should be exempted from the English proficiency requirements, please use this form to request an exemption.

Statement of English language proficiency

Additional requirements

GMAT or GRE test

Unless you qualify for an exemption, you will need to take either the GMAT or GRE exam. If you decide to take the GRE exam, please convert your score to a GMAT score using the GRE Comparison Tool for Business Schools .

You have to register for these exams yourself.

Indicate UM as a recipient

Official GMAT and GRE score reports have to be sent directly to UM by the exam centre. Please do not forget to indicate UM as a recipient for your scores. The programme code is 2WH-4N-65 (GMAT) or 7102 (GRE), or you can select UM from the list of recipients. We do not accept score reports that you send to us yourself.

Train for GMAT with Mindful GMAT

Mindful GMAT Foundation provides GMAT preparation courses. You will receive a 10% discount on this course if you mention the code 'UM-MSc2017' when registering.

Go to Mindful GMAT

Graduate qualifying exams

GMAT
GRE

Minimum required scores

GMAT score: 500
GMAT-GRE Analytical Writing (AWA) score: 4

Any lower score will result in the rejection of your application.
The files of all other applicants will be assessed by the Board of Admission.

GMAT-/GRE-exemption

If you cannot submit a GMAT-/GRE-score, please fill out and upload the following document when submitting your application via My UM.

Download Form

form_ector.pdf (47KB, PDF)