Admission to the Kent Campus as a first-year student is selective. The Admissions Office uses multiple factors to carefully review each applicant and make our admissions decisions.
To apply to the Kent Campus as a first-year applicant, you should:
You should prepare the following items to submit to Kent State for consideration.
Kent State University offers two ways to apply: the Kent State Application or the Common Application. The choice is yours! Complete and submit an application, then pay the non-refundable $50 application fee. Pay attention to application priority deadlines such as the ones listed below.
Your official transcripts provide us with a lot of information to help us make admissions decisions, such as your cumulative grade point average (GPA), the type of classes you took, the difficulty of those classes, trends in your grades, etc.
The full college preparatory curriculum as recommended by the Ohio State Board of Education consists of the following:
Applicants must contact their school and request an official transcript(s) of their entire curriculum. If you have attended multiple secondary schools, transcripts are required from each school you have attended (or the results from your GED, HiSET or TASC) to be considered for admission.
For your transcript to be considered official, it must be sent directly from your school. Your school counselor or another school official may submit your transcript using a secure electronic provider, email (transcripts@kent.edu) or mail.
If mailed, please use the address below:
Admissions Office
Kent State University
P.O. Box 5190
Kent, OH 44242-0001
Kent State University is test-optional, meaning students applying for first-year or transfer admission are not required to submit standardized test scores (ACT and/or SAT).
On both the Common App and Kent State Application, you will be asked if you want your test scores to be considered with your application. If you select Yes, we will review your application when test scores and other requirements are received. If you select No, your application will be reviewed once all other application requirements are fulfilled. If you choose to use test scores and your application completes without them, we may choose to review your application under our test-optional policy.
Please note: Once an applicant indicates whether or not test scores will be submitted, this decision cannot be changed by the applicant online. If you wish to change your test score preference, please contact our office as soon as possible to indicate if you would or would not like your test scores to be considered for admission.
Should you submit SAT or ACT scores, please be mindful of Kent State’s test score codes:
SAT Code: 1367
ACT Code: 3284
After review for admission to the Kent Campus, additional academic program requirements are needed for the following academic areas to be admitted.
To be considered for the aerospace engineering major, first-year applicants must have at least a 3.0 cumulative high school grade point average (on a 4.0 scale) and demonstrate competency in math to be placed into Calculus I or beyond.
Students who do not meet admission requirements for aerospace engineering may be accepted into aeronautical systems engineering technology and request to change their program to the aerospace engineering major after their first year.
To be considered for the architecture major, first-year applicants must have at least a 3.0 cumulative high school grade point average (on a 4.0 scale).
If a student does not meet admission requirements to architecture, students will be reviewed holistically and if admissible to KSU, the student will be placed into the pre-major of architecture general.
To be considered for the cybersecurity engineering major, first-year applicants must have at least a 3.0 cumulative high school grade point average (on a 4.0 scale) and demonstrate competency in math to be placed into Calculus I or beyond.
Students who do not meet admission requirements for cybersecurity engineering may be accepted into computer engineering technology and request to change their program to the cybersecurity engineering major after their first year.
Students must audition before being admitted to the dance program. Detailed audition information and dates can be found here. Inquiries can be directed to the School of Theatre and Dance director at:
To qualify for a teacher education program, freshman applicants must have at least a 2.75 cumulative high school grade point average (on a 4.0 scale).
To qualify for the fashion design major, first-year applicants must have at least a 3.0 cumulative high school grade point average (on a 4.0 scale).
If a student does not meet admission requirements to fashion design, students will be reviewed holistically and if admissible to KSU, the student will be placed into the pre-fashion major.
To qualify for the fashion merchandising major, first-year applicants must have at least a 3.0 cumulative high school grade point average (on a 4.0 scale).
If a student does not meet admission requirements to fashion merchandising, students will be reviewed holistically and if admissible to KSU, the student will be placed into the pre-fashion major.
Applicants for any major may participate in the Honors College program. Selective criteria will be reviewed after admission to the university. Students who meet the criteria for admission to the Honors College will be invited to submit an application including an essay. For more information about our Honors Program, please visit the Honors College website.
To be considered for the interior design major, first-year applicants must have at least a 2.75 cumulative high school grade point average (on a 4.0 scale).
If a student does not meet admission requirements to interior design, students will be reviewed holistically and if admissible to KSU, the student will be placed into the pre-major of architecture general.
To be considered for the mechatronics engineering major, first-year applicants must have at least a 3.0 cumulative high school grade point average (on a 4.0 scale) and demonstrate competency in math to be placed into Calculus I or beyond.
Students who do not meet admission requirements for mechatronics engineering may be accepted into mechatronics engineering technology and request to change their program to the mechatronics engineering major after their first year.
Students must audition before being admitted to the School of Music. Detailed audition information and dates can be found here. Inquiries can be directed to:
Students must audition before being admitted to the B.F.A degree program in musical theatre. Detailed audition information and dates can be found here. Inquiries can be directed to the School of Theatre and Dance at:
To be considered for the nursing major, first-year applicants must have completed high school math, biology and chemistry.
In addition, students must have achieved one of the following:
Students who are not accepted into the nursing major may be accepted into the public health program.
To qualify for the speech pathology and audiology major, first-year applicants must have at least a 3.00 cumulative high school grade point average (on a 4.0 scale).
