Admissions

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Welcome, we are pleased that you are considering graduate study at the UW! The scope and quality of graduate education at our university is remarkable, as is the caliber of our graduate students.

The UW welcomes and encourages applicants from all areas of the world and actively promotes a diverse student body comprised of different ethnic, socioeconomic, cultural, academic and personal backgrounds.

Understanding the Application Process

Applying for graduate school can seem like a daunting task. Where do you start? What can you expect? How does the process work? Each program is a little bit different, but we’ve put together a page to help you understand the basics of applying for a program at the University of Washington.

Learn more about the application process

International Students

International students often have very specific questions regarding language, financial requirements, and employment opportunities. We’ve put together some information to help answer your questions about being an international student at the University of Washington.

Information for International Students

Setting Goals & Rewarding Yourself

Welcome back! We hope you made space in your schedule during the break to rest, have fun and celebrate milestones. Now that spring quarter is in full motion, we encourage you to schedule your time wisely to help you be and feel successful. And remember, time spent on self-care will lead to a more productive graduate student experience.

Goal setting. No matter where you’re at in your grad school trajectory, it’s always good to set (and revisit) your goals in order to continue making progress. What larger goals would you like to complete this quarter? Is it a realistic number of goals? Which ones must be completed this quarter versus ones that have flexible deadlines? What manageable, smaller tasks need to be completed to achieve your larger goals? Do you have a support system to hold you accountable and advocate for your progress (e.g. faculty advisors or mentors, peers, community members, loved ones)? In thinking about getting mentor support, be mindful that no single mentor can fulfill all of your needs. It’s best to build a supportive mentor network.

Motivation. Part of the challenge of completing a graduate degree is that incentives and rewards are delayed. This makes it especially important to stay focused on all the reasons you entered graduate school in the first place. Maybe you’re wanting to land that dream job in industry, interested in providing more financial stability for your family after graduation, passionate about creating policies that promote social justice in society or excited about being a researcher beyond the UW. All of these are valid reasons to stay motivated while working towards your degree.

Reward yourself. Related to the previous point on motivation, it’s important to develop strategies and systems that celebrate the range of your achievements in graduate school—no matter how small or big the milestone. Finished reading all of your assigned articles for the day; stream an hour or two of your favorite TV show. Completed one hour of productive writing; make plans to catch up with a friend or family member whom you haven’t talked to in a while. Completed cover letter drafts for job applications; order take out! Rewarding yourself can also include going for a run, making plans for a day hike or going camping for the weekend with peers. Your reward system is individual, so do what feels best for you.

We hope you find these tips useful, and have a great upcoming weekend!

Best,

Core Programs—Office of Graduate Student Affairs
UW Graduate School

UW Scavenger Hunt: Letter for Visa Edition

This post has been adapted from the Grad School Guide’s recent exchange with a student.

Dear Grad School Guide,

I am an international student who earned my graduate degree last fall. I attended the UW on a fellowship with a J1 visa, so after graduation I returned to my home country. Now, I would like to come back to the UW for commencement this spring. To be able to attend the commencement, I need to apply for a visitor visa. Because strict visa regulations apply to my home country, I need a letter from the UW stating that I was a student last year and that I’m invited to this year’s commencement.

I have tried contacting International Student Services, but they are not able to provide me with this letter. The Office of Ceremonies usually sends out personalized invites in May, but by then it will be too late for me to apply for a visitor visa.

Any advice? I really want to attend commencement.

Thanks,
Stuck on a UW Scavenger Hunt

Dear Stuck,

I’m sorry that this has been so difficult. I know it can be really frustrating to be sent to many different offices — it feels like a scavenger hunt, and not in a good way!

I am glad that you’ve reached out to the Grad School Guide, as we can help you as you navigate the many offices and resources of the UW.

Since what you need is a personalized letter confirming your graduation and eligibility to attend commencement, I recommend reaching out to the advisor or program coordinator for your department. Maybe you already know someone you were in touch with while you were a student here — they would be a good person to contact. Or, you can most often find the contact for your departmental advisor on your department’s website.

Please keep me posted on the outcome.

Best,
Your Grad School Guide

Hi Guide,

It worked! I was able to obtain a letter from my departmental advisor.

Thanks!
Un-Stuck

Dear Un-Stuck,

So glad to hear it! I’m sure your departmental advisor would be helpful for other questions of this nature, as well.

Please feel free to reach out again with any questions about the UW, or if you find yourself in another scavenger hunt!

Enjoy commencement!

Best,
Your Guide

Ask Your Grad School Guide is an advice column for all y’all graduate and professional students. Real questions from real students, answered by real people. If your Guide doesn’t know the answer, you Guide seeks out experts all across campus to address the issue. (Please note: your Guide is not a medical doctor, therapist, lawyer or academic advisor, and all advice offered here is for informational purposes only.) Ask your Guide a question >

Enrich your portfolio through conferences

Since spring 2016, the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs has supported the professional and career development needs of postdocs towards independence through quarterly travel grants. To date, we have funded 66 postdocs to travel to regional, national and international conferences. Travel grant recipients kindly shared their conference experiences, and we are highlighting several of them here. We encourage you to check out what your fellow postdocs’ experiences have been and think about how attending academic and professional conferences can enrich your portfolio and move you one step closer to your career goals. Conferences not only provide you with an opportunity to get feedback on your work or to be inspired by others’ work, but also to network and build meaningful relationships that might lead to new collaborations or a future job.

“During the meeting, I was able to meet with co-authors to discuss plans for a manuscript on continuation of the work I presented. Additionally, I am starting a position as a postdoctoral fellow in the Research School of Earth Sciences at the Australian National University later this year and was able to meet with my future supervisor and colleagues about my new role and research plans. It was a very productive meeting for me.”
– Pamela M Barrett, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Fall 2017 Postdoc Travel Award Winner

“It was a truly wonderful professional opportunity to be able to attend this meeting. I also had the opportunity to discuss ongoing work with two collaborators who were also at the meeting. In particular we started exploring a promising idea to tackle an obstacle we have been facing in our project, something which was much easier to do in person!“
– Mariana Smit Vega Garcia, Mathematics, Winter 2018 Postdoc Travel Award Winner

“Perhaps most importantly, attendances of this small conference were also afforded with ample opportunities to network with one another. I met many leading psychologists and early career researchers who gave me advice on the upcoming job market season. Although the idea of going on the academic job market is terrifying, I am heartened and encouraged by the support network I have developed in this conference.”
– Jin Xun Goh, Psychology, Spring 2018 Postdoc Travel Award Winner

“My original work was well received by the international community and more importantly, I left with a sense of reassurance that my research approach and results will help further the field of microbial proteomics. The conference provided a great platform to network with other early career scientists as well as facilitated meaningful discussions with professors. I met several young professors from smaller institutions in the US who provided encouragement and mentorship and I also made connections to professors at international institutions who introduced me to several early career funding opportunities abroad targeted towards future leaders in environmental science.”
– Rachel Lundeen, Oceanography, Spring 2018 Postdoc Travel Award Winner

“As an early-career member of the society’s Council, I attended council and business meetings, which afforded a view into the inner workings of running a society and planning a large international conference. I would love to help shape the future of this society and take a part in modernizing its web and social media presence. To this end, I am running for Secretary of the society and my candidacy was announced on the last day of the conference.”
– Gabriella H Wolff, Biology, Spring 2018 Postdoc Travel Award Winner

“Another great benefit I received during the meeting was to meet several senior researchers and discuss my future research plan, as well as my plan of applying for a faculty position. I contacted them by email before the meeting started. I was able to meet with the people I contacted while I was at the meeting. The feedback I received from them help me plan for my job application.”
– Ping Chao Mamiya, Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences, Summer 2018 Postdoc Travel Award Winner

Lead from where you are

Traditional views of leadership suggest that you need a title or status to be a leader. However, true leadership can be seen at every level of a team or organization regardless of title or status. Consider this: are you stepping into your full potential as a leader during your time as a postdoc? Leadership skills are always at the top of the list for any sector in jobs you may be seeking, inside or outside academia. We share insights gleaned from top leaders visiting UW throughout the quarter as part of the Husky Leadership Initiative (and yes, we want to have a postdoc contingent in this next year!)

Purpose: Start with your “why”. The “what” you are doing will change and evolve over time and with different opportunities. But the central purpose to your work, and how you engage with it, will be what opens doors and draws others to you.

Be curious: There is evidence to show that starting a conversation from a stance of inquiry opens a conversation. This is far more productive than a judgment or accusation, which can close down or narrow a decision. It is more likely to get you where you want to go, and will leave the person with positive regard for you rather than resentment.

Vulnerability: Rather than being a weakness, rumbling with your own vulnerability is one of the most courageous acts there can be. Developing awareness of your vulnerability, rather than guarding against it or pretending it isn’t there can help you to ask for the help you need, seek contributions from others and work toward genuinely co-creating solutions.

Conflict as generative: We often talk about “normalizing feedback” – where everyone has an opportunity to reflect on what’s going well (specifically) and identify a place we can improve. The challenge is transitioning from a culture where conflict has been toxic (judgmental, personal, emotional) to one where it can be healthy.

Superchickens³ don’t win. All of this may seem antithetical to the traditional academic and grant-funded environment we find ourselves in, where competition is the norm. However, research on effective teams and innovative leaders shows that competitive environments become places where people perform at much lower productivity levels: because they are scared, under pressure and not sharing ideas that may grow creative solutions.

Take a moment and reflect on your own teamwork and leadership style. It does not mean being the most charismatic, outgoing or decisive person. Genuine leaders are humble enough to know they do not hold all the answers; they are curious to know what others can bring to the problem or mission at hand. Whatever role you play within your group, you can ask thoughtful questions, invite others to speak and share, value contributions of others, and provide guidance in shaping team or project direction. We believe in you and see you as leaders everywhere throughout our UW ecosystem — thank you.

And thanks to the community leaders who came forward this quarter to generously share their insights about leadership, and the Husky Leadership Initiative.

Deep dive:

Brene Brown, Dare to Lead. Random House, 2018
Amy Edmundson, Building a psychological safe workplace.
Margaret Heffernan, Why it’s time to forget the pecking order at work. (Opens with the superchicken example if you want to learn more!
Simon Sinek, Start with Why.

Steve Sawada, MPA ’17, shares his GO-MAP story

Steve Sawada, second from left, strikes a pose with GO-MAP colleagues.

I had the special pleasure of serving as a GO-MAP* Graduate Staff Assistant (GSA) for the two years I attended the Evans School, 2015–17. As a non-traditional student with 15 years separating my undergraduate and graduate education, I was beset with imposter syndrome, and GO-MAP provided me the exact levels of encouragement and mentorship I needed to thrive and succeed. Our staff meetings were great instances of this as Cynthia (Morales) would regularly ask me for my opinions if she noticed I was quiet or reserved — a function of my own self-doubt. This was further exemplified in her support of my vision for a campus-wide racial justice caucus and organizing project where over 100 students gathered to process the police killing of Black people in 2016.

My final year with GO-MAP coincided with the beginning of the political and social tumult we face today, which created a precarious campus climate for students of color, especially for Black, Latinx, immigrant and refugee students. I will never forget the day after the election. We all came into the office around the same time, dour and weary, and went around the room unpacking our feelings and analyses of what happened and what lay ahead. The commonality in our thoughts was the need to pull together as a community to support students and each other. So, we set out some coffee and cookies and consulted with nearly a dozen students about their feelings and concerns as they trickled into the office looking for community to process with.

The GO-MAP staff — Cynthia, Vanessa, Anthony, Carolyn — worked earnestly to support us students through the vulnerabilities and challenges we faced during this period with the kind of care and empathy one extends to a family member. I will forever be grateful, and feel indebted, to the staff and students of GO-MAP. Thank you so much for all your hard work and compassion. Happy 50th Anniversary!

*GO-MAP was the name of a program that is now called GSEE: the Office of Graduate Student Equity & Excellence

MakerSpace

The MakerSpace is a free resource for students that includes 3-D printers, industrial sewing machines, multiple 3D printers, Kinect v@, 4 iMac desktop stations, electronic fabrication and assembly. Paid for by the Student Technology Fee, so really, you should take advantage of what you pay for.

Reaching Out for Support

We know that you’re working hard to meet deadlines, achieve milestones, and fulfill commitments within and beyond your graduate program. During these last few weeks of the quarter, we encourage you to tap into support resources that match your needs. Your success is not only about your ability to complete your grad program requirements for the quarter, it is also about being able to get support for yourself as a whole person.

Peer support. Consider scheduling a writing group session for a few hours in the upcoming weeks. Peers need not be in your grad program. The goal is to schedule structured time dedicated to completing final projects. Just sitting next to one another can break the isolation of graduate study, and you can hold one another accountable to meeting your writing goals. Depending on the environment that works best for all of you, meet at a café, find a spot in your campus library, or make it a potluck/work group so you can enjoy good food at the same time.

Campus and community support. Let’s be real! Graduate school is stressful — with some weeks feeling more challenging than others. If you’ve been experiencing anxiety or depression for more than a few days, we encourage you to reach out to counseling services on your campus (Bothell, Seattle, Tacoma). Each counseling center can refer you to low cost community-based mental health resources in your city or area. If you need to talk to someone in more immediately, consider calling your county’s free 24-hour crisis line: King County, Pierce County, Snohomish County. If you’re having a hard time taking any of these steps, consider asking a trusted peer, friend or staff to sit with you while you contact support resources. There’s no shame in asking for professional mental health support.

Faculty support. Email your professor, drop in during their office hours or schedule a short online meeting if you have follow up questions about final projects or tasks that are due. Life also happens, and you may need more time to complete your final project. Be proactive and contact your professor as soon as possible to see if you can get an extension. Be clear about why you need an extension and include a realistic timeline for turning in your project. More often than not, professors are accommodating. Just remember to be proactive.

Self-care. There’s always time for self-care, and there’s never a better time to practice self-care than during crunch time near the end of a quarter. Hold off on making any new commitments, and reschedule times for meetings and projects that can be put on pause for the next couple of weeks. Consider marking out time in your daily schedule to get up from your workstation to stretch, drink water or catch up on the phone with friends and loved ones. We all think better when we get enough sleep, so set limits for yourself while you’re working (use a timer if needed), so you can get ready for bed at a reasonable time.

We hope these tips are helpful, and let us know what has worked for you!

Best,

Core Programs—Office of Graduate Student Affairs
UW Graduate School

Surplus Store

When your department gets rid of office furniture, computer equipment, pianos, artwork, whatever, it goes to the UW Surplus Store. And the inventory is open to the public at rock bottom prices every Tuesday. Check it →

A+ Teacher

The College of Education features doctoral student Polo DeCano in this video about his role as a teacher, leader and scholar.