Admissions FAQs

Graduate admission at the University of Washington is a decentralized process. Admission decisions are made by each individual department. Therefore, specific questions regarding your application/admission are directed to your department of interest. The Graduate School can answer general questions, but does not provide academic advising. For academic advising, contact the graduate program (s) you are interested in for graduate studies. The Graduate School hosts the application and will work with you to meet enrollment requirements once a program has admitted you.

Yes, there is no limit on the number of graduate programs you can apply to, but you are required to submit an application fee for each application you submit.

1. Log into your application.
2. Under “Action” click “edit.”
3. On the left hand side of the page select “Review Requirements and Deadlines.”
4. The programs contact information will appear here.
5. It is usually best to e-mail the department. Please allow 2 business days for a response.

How do I contact my department/program after I have submitted my application?

1. Log into your application.
2. Under “Action,” click “status.”
3. The programs email address is listed here under “Materials Required To Be Sent To Graduate Program.”

The deadline for my application is December 1^st.  Should the application be completed before 11:59 p.m. on November 30 or 11:59 p.m. on December 1?
If a department has a hard deadline, the application closes at 11:59 p.m. on the day of the deadline, in this example: you have until 11:59 p.m. on Dec. 1 to submit your application.

When you submit your application, please print the confirmation page as this will serve as a receipt. Otherwise, you may send a request via email and include your application ID number. Send your request to GEMS at uwgrad@uw.edu requesting a receipt for your application fee.

1. Log in to your online application.
2. Select “Create a new application”
3. Enter the Program Information again
   1. After entering this information, you will be prompted to “Review Requirements and Deadlines” before seeing all of the steps along the left-side of the screen
4. Open and complete the step: Report Prior Schools
5. Open and complete the step: Submit Unofficial Transcripts
6. STOP – Do not continue filling out the application and definitely do not pay the application fee again.
7. Confirm you see the school with the unofficial transcript
8. Delete the newly created application from the Home page in the online application

Contact the graduate program you are applying for further assistance.

Unfortunately, the only option at this point is to create a new application. You will see this option in your profile underneath your current application. Some of your profile items will automatically transfer from your current application, while some items will need to be re-entered. After you start your new application, please withdraw your incorrect one in order to avoid any confusion.

No. Your GNM application is only valid for the quarter and year that you intend to enroll.

U.S. Schools

If you have been awarded a degree from a college or university, your school must be academically accredited for your degree to be recognized as sufficient for graduate admission.
U.S. regional academic accrediting authorities are the following: Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools; Northwest Association of Colleges and Universities; North Central Association of Colleges and Schools; New England Association Schools and Colleges; Southern Association of Colleges and Schools; Western Association of Schools and Colleges.
If you are not sure of your school’s academic accreditation, refer to AACRAO for further information.

Schools Outside of the U.S.

Completion and award of an international degree that is equivalent to a U.S. bachelor’s degree from a college or university of recognized academic standing. The World Higher Education Database is a search engine that provides information about higher education systems worldwide, including degrees offered, school contact information, affiliations, and accreditation. The database is maintained by the International Association of Universities.
International schools must hold academic accreditation through the appropriate educational authority in the country, such as, the Ministries of Education, University Grants Commission (UGC), International Association of Universities (IAU), Association of Indian Universities (AIU), and other educational government authorities.

Once you have submitted your application, you can check the status of your application by logging in to your application.

If you are offered admission, you may be eligible to request that your application be deferred once. If your graduate program approves your request, they will submit a petition on your behalf to the Graduate School. If the Graduate School approves the petition, your application will be moved to the appropriate year and quarter. You will receive a new offer of admission from your graduate program.

Graduate Non-Matriculated (GNM) applications are not eligible to be moved to a different quarter.

If you are accepted but do not enroll or you are denied admission, your application will be kept for one year.
If you are accepted and enroll as a student, your application will be kept for six years after your last quarter of enrollment. In accordance with UW Records Management Policy, as per Washington state and federal laws.
As an enrolled student, how can I request my public record?
Email, write or fax asking for the records you would like to receive. All requests must be in writing.

Fee waivers are available to applicants who qualify for financial need. Please review Application Fee Waivers for instructions.

Here are some suggestions:

1. If the file is smaller than 1mb, try using a different browser. (This often resolves the issue)
2. Try setting the scanner to scan as a document and not an image.
3. Try scanning in black and white.
4. Try having the scanner save the file as a PDF.
5. Scan each transcript as a separate file.

If these do not work, please contact your department to determine how to send the files separately, if necessary.
Contact information for the department/program can be found by:

1. Logging into your application.
2. Under “Action,” click “status.”
3. The programs email address is listed here under “Materials Required To Be Sent To Graduate Program.”

If your application has been submitted, any files that are not part of your Applicant Profile cannot be updated (resume, statement of purpose, supplemental documents). If you have revised versions of these, we recommend contacting the program directly to see if they can be replaced.

We ask that you report the GPA for your last 2 years (aka 60 semester or 90 quarter credits). It is best that you convert your scores to the US GPA system, the help files in the application will link you to some tools to do this. In the individual school section students report using their schools scoring system or the US GPA system, you may choose.
To calculate the Grade Point Average (GPA) for the last 90 quarter or 60 semester graded credits:

1. Working from the most recent quarter/semester add the graded course credits (excluding thesis or dissertation courses) until you reach 90 quarter or 60 semester credits. Use these 90 quarter or 60 semester credits to calculate your GPA.
2. To calculate your GPA, multiply each course grade by the credits to achieve grade points. Add all grade points and divide by the total number of credits.
3. How do I convert between quarter and semester systems on a 0.0-4.0 scale?

Colleges and universities that operate on a semester system award semester credit. The UW awards quarter credit.  If the last 90 quarter or 60 semester credits span two or more institutions on different academic calendars use the following formulas to convert grades to a single system. Multiply by 1.5 when converting from semesters to quarters and divide by 1.5 when doing the reverse. For example a 4-credit class under a semester system is equivalent to a 6-credit class under a quarter system (4 x 1.5 = 6) and vice versa (6 ÷ 1.5 = 4). A student who earns 30 credits in an institution on a semester calendar would have earned 45 quarter credits at the UW.

You can convert your grading scale by looking up the country and the grading scale used.
The GPA Calculator may also be used.
Additional information on additional grade conversion scales.

Check your program’s recommendation requirements before applying. Go to our graduate program locator and select your program to view the requirements.
While you complete your online UW Graduate School Application, you will be able to designate who your recommenders will be.
Do not designate a recommendation until you are ready to have the recommender contacted. You can designate recommendations before and after you have submitted your online application up until the program deadline.
Your recommenders will receive an email stating that they have agreed to provide a reference for you. When you designate a recommendation, the person you have designated is immediately sent an email to submit a recommendation on your behalf.
If, after designating a recommendation, you learn that the recommender will not submit a recommendation, you may withdraw the recommendation. (You cannot withdraw a recommendation once the recommender has submitted it.)

Once you have submitted your application, you can check the status of your recommendation letters by logging in to your application status page.

The Graduate School does not require the Graduate Record Exam (GRE). Graduate programs determine whether or not to require the GRE for the admissions review process. Contact the graduate program to learn if GRE scores are required. Our institution code is: 4854. Department code: 5199 (any department).

Proficiency in English is required for graduate study at the University of Washington. Therefore, every applicant whose native language is not English, must demonstrate English proficiency. No waivers of this requirement may be given. See Graduate School Policy 3.2.

Yes, we accept the official TOEFL test. Contact the Educational Testing Service (ETS) to order your official TOEFL score report. TOEFL scores are valid for two years from the test date. Our institution code is: 4854. Department code: 99 (any department).

Students must be proficient in English: Applicants whose native language is not English must demonstrate English language proficiency. The ways in which proficiency can be demonstrated are outlined in Policy 3.2: Graduate School English Language Proficiency Requirements.

The University of Washington only accepts scores submitted electronically by the IELTS testing center. No paper Test Report Forms will be accepted. All IELTS test centers can report scores electronically. You must request from the center where you took the test that your scores be sent electronically using the IELTS system (E-TRF) to the following address: University of Washington All Campuses, Organisation ID 365, Undergrad & Graduate Admis, Box 355850, Seattle, WA, 98105, United States of America. If you have already taken the IELTS, you can go to the IELTS test center location for the email address of the IELTS Administrator to make your request. Allow a minimum of 13 working days for reporting test results to our school. IELTS scores are valid for two years from the test date.

Applicants who intend to apply for a teaching assistantship or an appointment that does not specify whether duties are for teaching or research are required to meet conditions of the TA appointment and who are not native speakers of English:

• Meet Academic English Language proficiency requirement or UW AEP courses.
• Meet spoken English proficiency requirement.
• Participate in the Teaching Assistant Program at the Center for Teaching and Learning
• See Graduate School Policy 5.2 for the University’s policy.

Please allow 14 business days from the date you requested Educational Testing Service (ETS) to send your official test scores to the University of Washington (Institution Code: 4854).
From the time you submit your online application, it takes 1-2 business days for your official scores to match your online application. If these times have elapsed, confirm with ETS that your official scores were sent to the University of Washington. If yes, scan and email your score report to uwgrad@uw.edu so we may determine why the scores have not matched to your application.
For the IELTS test, please allow 13 business days from the date you requested your IELTS centre to electronically send the scores to the University of Washington. If the scores are still not showing, please scan and e-mail your score report to uwgrad@uw.edu so we can determine why the scores have not matched to your application.

You can confirm transmission of electronic test scores by logging into your application, and checking your Application Status Page > Tests section (successfully sent scores will show a date under “Date Received” column). 

If your name is misspelled or listed differently on your application and score report, they will not match up in the system. Please notify us if that is the case as we will need to manually search for your scores.

If you previously sent your test scores to the University of Washington, you will not need to re-send them. These scores are retained on file and can be used for a future application, assuming they are still valid.

If you are applying to multiple graduate programs, you only need to request your official test scores once. As long as you have correctly indicated the University of Washington, institution Code 4854, they will match up with any graduate applications you submit, regardless of the department code.

No, as long as you indicated the Univ of Washington- 4854- as the institution code, your scores will match to any applications on file regardless of the department code you specified. This is not a field we use with our student database.

This school does not grant waivers of the English proficiency requirement. However, this requirement can be met in a number of ways, as specified in Graduate School Policy 3.2. If your U.S. degree will be conferred by the start of the program you are applying to, the conferral of your U.S. degree will complete the Graduate School’s English proficiency requirement. If admitted, the Graduate School will ask for an official transcript with degree posted before your first quarter of enrollment, to complete the English proficiency requirement.

The on-line application is asking for me to provide an English proficiency test. I will be receiving as U.S. degree. How do I complete the test section of the application?

You may leave this section blank on your application, as you will be receiving a U.S. degree. You will be able to submit your application and pay the fee.

The Graduate School does not require you to send official transcripts during the application process.
Review the application materials required of the graduate program you are applying to, to confirm if you need to send an official transcript directly to the graduate department.

If you are offered admission and confirm your intention to enroll, you will be prompted in your application‘s pre-registration page, specifying the degree transcripts needed for degree verification upon enrollment. Contact the registrar to mail your official transcript with degree posted, directly to the Graduate School. Your pre-registration page will provide the mailing address of the Graduate School.

If you are offered admission and confirm your intention to enroll, you will be prompted within the application‘s pre-registration page, specifying the degree transcripts needed for degree verification upon enrollment.
Please review Prepare & Mail Final Degree Transcript for further information.

You are an international applicant if you are NOT a U.S. citizen or green card holder (permanent resident). International students must have a U.S. visa status that allows academic study at the University of Washington. International applicants include students who hold U.S. visas, such as F-1, J-1 Exchange Visitors, H-1, dependent visas or any other non-immigrant classifications.

• Cost of tuition and living expenses >

We do not require financial documentation until after you have been offered admission and you accept the offer. The Graduate School does maintain information on estimated costs and acceptable documentation here:

• View the Financial Ability Requirement page >

Before you submit an application, please confirm that the graduate program you are interested in, allows part-time study.
Regarding US government regulations (issued June 2015), this new rule permits dependents (F-2) of international students to engage in study at SEVP-certified schools in the U.S., as long as they are enrolled in part-time study. Although F-2s can only study part-time, that part-time study can result in the attainment of a degree. However, the F-2 would not be eligible for any employment, including on-campus, CPT, or OPT.
At the University of Washington Graduate School, if an F-2 wants to enroll in a full course of academic study (10 credit minimum), they must apply for and obtain approval to change their nonimmigrant classification to F-1 or J-1.
For further information on this new rule, refer to the Department of Homeland Security website.

You will receive access to the UW I-20 Request Form after accepting your offer. If you would like to review steps in advance, please visit Admitted International Graduate Students.