MPAc Admissions Information

Upon Provisional Admission to UC San Diego

All admitted, international applicants are required to complete and submit a WES Course-by-Course evaluation. Please go to wes.org to create your account. You will be prompted to input your academic history, and will then be provided with a list of documents required for the completion of your evaluation. Applicants with academic work in progress who expect to complete a degree program before the intended date of enrollment at UCSD must provide evidence of degree conferral and a final academic transcript as soon as they are available.

Please do not send official documents to the Graduate Admissions Office. As an international applicant, you must submit a WES Course-by-Course evaluation via WES once you have been admitted for your admission to UC San Diego to be finalized.

Submit your most up-to-date resume or CV. We encourage you to:

• Highlight quantitative and technical preparation (coursework, certificates, research, programming, case competitions, online training, internships).
• List only internships and work experience that can be verified by your employer’s HR department.
• Upload HR-issued documentation for each internship (optional but strongly encouraged).
• Exclude volunteer or unofficial work from the Work Experience category.
• (Optional) Add your LinkedIn profile to your application.

TIP: In a professional resume, you don’t want to misrepresent volunteer or unofficial work as formal “Work Experience” since that implies paid, HR-verified employment. Instead, you can present it honestly while still highlighting the value. Here are a few categories that work well, depending on the type of role:

• Volunteer Experience – best if the work was unpaid and mission-driven.
• Relevant Experience – useful if the volunteer or unofficial work is directly related to your field and demonstrates transferable skills.
• Leadership & Service – good for roles where you took initiative or contributed to organizations.
• Professional Projects or Independent Experience – works if the assistant role or project work mirrors professional responsibilities, but wasn’t formally employed.

Your accounting foundation is the cornerstone of your success in the Rady MPAc program and a key step toward CPA eligibility. We seek students who arrive ready to engage with advanced material from day one—prepared for both our rigorous curriculum and the accounting profession’s competitive hiring environment.

Building Your Foundation for Success
By the start of the program in September, incoming students must have completed 24 quarter units (18 semester units) of accounting coursework, including:

• Financial Accounting
• Managerial Accounting
• Intermediate Accounting I
• Intermediate Accounting II
• Auditing
• Federal Taxation (Individual or Corporate)

These courses provide the technical depth needed for graduate-level coursework and position you to compete for roles in audit, tax, advisory, risk, and corporate accounting. Since many of our students are finding career opportunities in tax, and because our tax and transactional courses (e.g., M&A) move so quickly, we strongly recommend completing both courses if available.

Courses must be taken through a regionally accredited university or recognized extension program (e.g., UC San Diego Division of Extended Studies).  MOOC platforms (Massive Open Online Courses) such as Coursera, edX, or Udemy do not meet this standard due to differences in rigor, assessment, and instructor engagement.

International Applicants
We welcome applicants with accounting degrees from outside the U.S. and the global perspective you will bring to our community. We understand that international curricula differ, and some of the six prerequisite courses may not have been available in your program. Any missing courses may be completed separately through accredited U.S. universities or extension programs before enrollment.

Career Changers and Applicants Still Completing Foundational Coursework
We recognize that strong candidates come from diverse academic backgrounds. If you are still completing prerequisites, your application should include a brief statement outlining your plan to finish any remaining courses before September.

Many of our most successful students followed this path and entered exceptionally well-prepared.

As future accounting professionals, applicants are expected to uphold the values of honesty, integrity, and responsibility in presenting their academic plans. We do not require advisor approval or formal documentation—only an accurate and professional statement of your intended timeline and preparation. We trust applicants to follow through on the commitments they outline, and this information helps us understand your readiness and seriousness in joining the program.

Why This Foundation Matters
These courses are investments in your academic and professional success. A strong foundation helps students:

• Excel in graduate-level coursework
• Compete confidently for internships and full-time roles
• Progress efficiently toward CPA licensure

Students who arrive underprepared often struggle to keep pace and may miss important recruiting windows while trying to fill knowledge gaps.

Technical Skills (Strongly Recommended, Not Required)
While not required, proficiency in Excel, business data analysis, and visualization tools (e.g., Power BI or Tableau) will help you stand out and get the most from the program —especially as the profession moves deeper into analytics, automation, and AI applications.

Tell us about an obstacle or challenge you encountered in the past few years and what did you do to overcome it?

The GRE/GMAT test requirement is optional for the Master of Professional Accountancy program. Applicants are welcome to include valid GRE or GMAT test scores at the time of application submission.  If you choose to include a GRE or GMAT test in your application, you should be aware that your application will be considered incomplete and will not be moved forward or reviewed until official scores are received from the testing institution and verified by the Rady Admissions Office.

• The code for the GMAT is 3NS-ZK-33
• The code for the GRE is 4836

The Rady Admissions Office encourages all applicants to prepare appropriately for these examinations. Study can be done individually, in classroom environments, or online. Though the Rady School does not endorse any particular test prep organization, the following are organizations that have been utilized successfully by previous applicants:

• GMAT Mini-Quiz
• UC San Diego Extension
• Kaplan Test Prep
• Manhattan Prep
• Princeton Review

Demonstrated proficiency in the English language is required for all international applicants.  International applicants may be exempt from this requirement if they have earned or will be earning a bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral degree with grades of B (3.0) or better from either:

• A regionally accredited U.S. college or university where English is the sole language of instruction, or
• A foreign college or university which provides instruction solely in English. You may verify whether your institution meets this requirement by looking up your institution in the IAU World Higher Education Database (WHED). If English is not the sole language of instruction listed, if no language is listed at all, or if the institution does not appear on the WHED website, you are required to submit English proficiency exam scores. No other documentation (e.g. letters, language certificates, school websites) may be used in place of WHED as a means to obtain an exemption from the English proficiency requirement. 

UC San Diego accepts the following English language proficiency exams listed below.   UC San Diego has no preference on the English language proficiency exam that is taken and submitted. 

Duolingo English Test (DET)

 UC San Diego accepts the Duolingo English Test (DET) as one of the approved options to meet the English language proficiency requirement for graduate admission.

• Minimum Total Score: 120 (out of 160)
• Score Validity: Scores are valid for two years from the test date
• Official Score Submission: Scores must be sent electronically to UC San Diego Rady School of Management directly from Duolingo.

To send your Duolingo English Test scores to UC San Diego Rady School of Management, follow these steps:

1. Log in at englishtest.duolingo.com
2. Go to "My Tests" and click "Share Score" on your certified result
3. Select "university" and search for "University of California – San Diego – Rady School of Management”
4. Check the box next to "University of California – San Diego – Rady School of Management” in the dropdown menu

For more information or to register, visit the Duolingo English Test website.

Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL)

• Minimum Total Score: The university-wide minimum TOEFL score required for consideration for graduate admission is 85 for the internet-based test (iBT). Competitive scores for the Rady School of Management will be above 100.
• Score Validity: Scores are valid for two years from the test date
• Official Score Submission:  When ordering your TOEFL score reports, use UCSD's institution code 4836. TOEFL score reports are sent to the university four to six weeks after the test is administered. 

At this time, UC San Diego does not accept TOEFL MyBest Scores offered through ETS. Consult the TOEFL website for further information.

International English Language Testing System (IELTS)

• Minimum Total Score: The university-wide minimum IELTS Academic Training exam score required for consideration for graduate admission is Band Score 7.
• Score Validity: Scores are valid for two years from the test date
• Official Score Submission:  To submit official test scores to UC San Diego Rady School of Management, applicants must contact the IELTS test center where they took the test to request their official test results to Rady/UC San Diego. UC San Diego does not accept unofficial copies of IELTS Test Report Forms from students. An institution code is not required.

IELTS is jointly managed by the British Council, IDP: IELTS Australia, and the University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations. Arrangements for taking the IELTS Academic Training exam may be made through the website.

The Pearson Test of English Academic (PTE)

• Minimum Total Score:  The minimum PTE Academic score required for graduate admission is Overall Score: 65.
• Official Score Submission:  PTE test takers must select the University of California, San Diego as a score recipient, then submit a copy of your scores directly to our Graduate Admissions office at: Rady School of Management, UC San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive #0553, La Jolla, CA 92093-0553. Include your registration ID number and exam date on your application. Official scores will be verified online.

PTE Academic is a computer-based academic English language test benchmarked to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEF). For registration and test information consult the PTE website.