Graduate Applications

Each year we attempt to match the best-qualified students with our faculty and graduate student research interests, and see the question of "fit" as especially crucial in predicting your success in gaining admission to, and thriving in, our program. Accordingly, we urge you to seek out our faculty via e-mail for a preliminary discussion of this "fit" question. Elsewhere in this web site you will find lists of recent MA Theses and Doctoral Dissertations, as well as current graduate student and faculty research interests. Insofar as possible, gauge if your interests complement ours before you apply, since we deny applicants who we believe would be better served by other graduate programs.

Desirable qualities in incoming students include: broad educational background, including some exposure to foreign cultures and languages; abiliy to conduct original research; high proficiency in written and oral explanation and exposition, and sophisticated analytical, quantitative and symbolic reasoning skills. Formal background in geography or a closely-allied social science is desirable but not required. Students admitted with deficiencies in geography will be expected to undertake remedial studies as their first academic priority.

Admission into the UW Geography post-master's program (the first step toward the Ph.D.) generally requires completion of a Master's degree in Geography. Applicants who do not have (or expect to have) a Master's degree in Geography before enrolling should (a) make it clear that they would like to be considered for post-Master's status and (b) provide evidence of their success in graduate-level training and research that is relevant to their objectives in the UW Geography graduate program. The department's Graduate Committee reviews all applications for admission to the post-master's program, and consults, with relevant departmental faculty members before bringing recommendations to the faculty as a whole. Since the department is normally restricted to 10 to 15 new graduate students each year, preference is given to applicants with promising academic records and high GRE scores. Weight is also given to letters of recommendation and the applicant's statement of professional and scholarly objectives.

The deadline for admissions to the department is December 15th. Priority will be given to completed applications that arrive by that date. We should have the following materials by this deadline:

1. Graduate School Application. (As a back-up, we recommend that you print out a copy of your application before you submit it. A paper application for international students without access to the web is available here.) https://www.grad.washington.edu/applForAdmiss/
2. Geography Department Application
3. Personal Statement of Academic Direction and Research Interests.
   In two or three pages of expository writing, describe your intended academic direction and research interests. You might provide background information about how the interests developed, i.e., through life/intellectual experiences. Please describe your intended academic direction and research interests as connected to the Geography Department. Include in that statement how the direction of research interests "fits" with the faculty with whom you would like to work.
   
   The Department actively seek diversity of backgrounds, perspectives, and cultural experiences in our graduate program. To help us achieve this diversity, it would help us if, in your personal essay, you could identify any factors in your life which you feel will help broaden our graduate program. These may include economic and educational advantages and disadvantages, cultural awareness, overcoming personal adversity, and leadership awards and potential.
4. Three letters of recommendation, preferably from academic referees. We do not provide a specific recommendation form. Simply have your referees submit their letters on letterhead. They should try and convince us of your probable success in our graduate program, based as much as possible on your prior academic achievement and future academic promise.
5. A signed waiver of access to the letters of recommendation if you wish them to be confidential.
6. Graduate Record Examination scores
7. TOEFL scores if international applicant
8. We request official transcripts, but accept unofficial ones if there is a significant problem getting the official ones to us by December 15. We are willing to make admissions decisions using unofficial transcripts, but must ultimately have official transcripts before your admission can be finalized.
9. Post-masters applicants must submit scholarly work (MA thesis, publications, etc)

Note to Foreign Students: Prospective graduate students from foreign countries are expected to meet the same academic and residence requirements as the U.S. students, including regular attendance in required courses and seminars. All students are expected to have an adequate command of written and spoken English. If your English language competency is not sufficient, you will not be able to participate fully in class meetings and discussions, take notes, or read with sufficient proficiency. Generally, a minimum score of 580 on the TOEFL Examination (or 237 TOELFC) is necessary for acceptance to the department. The Graduate School provides more detailed information to foreign applicants, and screens all foreign applicants for financial qualification before the department can consider them. (See Graduate School Memorandum 40.)

There are three alternative routes to graduate study for students who have been denied admission to the regular UW Geography Graduate Program, are coming from other disciplines, or have been out of school for a long time:

1. Graduate Non-Matriculated status (GNM). This provides a way to enroll in graduate courses and 400-level courses without being formally admitted into the regular graduate program. The purpose of GNM status is, according to Graduate School policy, to allow students to "earn limited graduate credit (12 credits) in a particular area of need." Admission procedures are roughly the same as for the regular graduate program and include a departmental application, GRE scores (and TOEFL scores for international students), statement of objectives, and transcripts from all institutions where applicant earned a degree.
   
   GNM students must register for classes through UW Extension, getting permission signatures from the instructor and the geography adviser, and can only register for classes on a space-available basis. This proves to be a real burden at the beginning of the quarter, particularly in GIS courses, which are almost always full. However, persistence often pays off and GNM students can usually get into the classes they need. GNM tuition is handled by UW Extension, which charges per credit, regardless of in-state or out-of-state residency.

2. Postbaccalaureate status. Also known as the fifth-year program, this is limited to a small number of applicants annually who are working toward a second BA degree in Geography. Admission is highly competitive for this program. Please see the UW Catalog under "Post-Baccalaureate Admission", for more information.

3. Non-matriculated status. This program is administered through UW Extension (543-3000) and is the most direct and least complicated way to take geography courses. To take a course on an NM basis you must 1) obtain a course permission form from UW Extension and get signatures from an advisor and the course instructor; 2) find a course that has openings--no NM student can take the place of a matriculated student; and 3) pay the UW Extension per-credit fees. Please see UW Extension for more information.