Our goal is to admit students whose career goals and scholarly interests can be best nurtured by our faculty and academic milieu. Applicants should indicate why they believe our department can provide a strong foundation in their intended area of study (including ways in which the applicant's interests intersect with those of our core faculty) as well as discuss any unique talents or experiences that applicant will bring to enrich our community of scholars.

Applicants to the Ph.D. program should demonstrate familiarity with the academic field of Women Studies at the undergraduate level. A strong applicant will have some training in either qualitative and/or quantitative research methodology, and will have fluency in a foreign language, at least through the intermediate level. An applicant who does not meet these criteria should plan on completing foreign language and methodology training early in their graduate student career.

In addition, applicants must meet basic Graduate School requirements including:
1. a 3.0 undergraduate GPA or higher over the most recent two years of study
2. a baccalaureate degree from an accredited institution
3. and submission of results from the general Graduate Record Examination (GRE).

Meeting these minimum standards does not ensure admission, however.

Students who have earned an MA from another institution may apply for our Ph.D. program, but an MA is not required for admission to the Ph.D. program.

Applicants will be evaluated on the following criteria:

2. Writing sample. This is intended to help us discern the applicant's capacity to write, to research a topic, and to analyze information. Appropriate samples include seminar or course papers, or a selection from an undergraduate or Master's thesis. The writing sample should include a bibliography. Please do NOT submit take-home essay exams.

3. Three letters of recommendation are required. One (1) letter may be from a non-academic reference who can address the applicant's academic skills. **You will be asked to provide the names and email addresses of your three recommendations as part of the online application process. Your recommenders will then be contacted and asked to fill out the recommendation online. The content of the letter is at your referee's discretion.** If you choose to ask your recommenders to provide a hard copy instead, please note that we do not supply or require a specific form for referees to fill out. The content of the letter is at your referee's discretion. It should be in a signed and sealed envelope and may be sent directly to the department or included in the application package sent by the applicant to the department..**

4. Transcripts:  Upload PDF or Word formatted (jpeg pasted into a word document) versions of transcripts from all institutions you attained a baccalaureate or higher degree  as part of the on-line application.  If you are offered admission you will be required to submit official transcripts  If you are currently working toward your baccalaureate degree, you should upload transcripts from the institution that will award the degree. If you are admitted to the University of Washington, you will be required to submit an official transcript showing the award of your degree before you can enroll.

5. GRE scores. Use 4854 as the "institution code" and you do not need a department code

6. Intended Research Focus. You will be asked to describe (in 40 words or less) your intended research focus.  You should elaborate on this in your Statement of Purpose.

7. Match with Scholarly Interest of Faculty.  Given your research interest stated in the description of foucus, you will be asked to indicate up to three core faculty members who most closely match your own research/educational focus.

You will submit application materials to the Graduate School via the electronic application system, and you will send limited additional materials to the Department of Women Studies.  Instructions indicating the specific components of each application can be found below. You should submit your initial application to The Graduate School electronically.

Students are admitted for Fall Quarter only. The application deadline is December 15. The faculty may not review application material that arrives after the December 15 deadline.

Applicants will be notified of the decision of the faculty in March.

Please note that we cannot guarantee funding for graduate study in our department.  Our current goal is to provide at least one year of funding for all students in our Ph.D. program. This funding is most often in the form of a combination of teaching assistantships (TA's) and research assistantships (RA's) during the first year. Students are encouraged to seek funding from sources outside the department as soon as possible. Consult with the Office of Student Financial Aid for alternative options.

1. Electronic submission of a completed On-line application and associated $50 application fee. 

Mailed applications and payment should be addressed to:

University of Washington
Office of Graduate Admissions
Box 84808
Room 301, Loew Hall
Seattle, Washington 98124-6108

2. U.S. citizens, permanent residents and immigrants:

You do not need to mail any materials to Graduate Admissions if you complete the application and pay the fee on-line by credit card, unless you have earned a bachelor's or higher degree from an institution outside the United States or its territories. If so, then you must print a copy of the application and send it, together with an official copy of the transcript and degree statement, to:

University of Washington
Office of Graduate Admissions
Box 84808
Room 301, Loew Hall
Seattle, Washington 98124-6108

Mail official transcripts, a photocopy of your GRE scores, and the application for teaching assistanship (optional) to the following address:

Women Studies Graduate Admissions
Women Studies Department
University of Washington
Box 354345
Seattle, WA 98195-4345

When ETS submits test scores to the University, they are reported to the Office of Graduate Admissions, not our department. With the high number of applicants the University gets each year, there can often be a period of weeks before our department is notified of test scores. Submitting a photocopy of your unofficial GRE, TOEFL, or TSE scores to our department - as well as requesting ETS report them to the University - will speed up the application process.
(use 4854 as the "institution code", you do not need a department code)

Note: The University of Washington Application for Admission, and the Women Studies Department Teaching Assistantship (optional for Ph.D. applicants) forms are available for download in Portable Document Format (PDF). To view and print the forms in PDF format it is necessary to have the free Adobe Acrobat Reader Software. Adobe Acrobat Reader can be downloaded free of charge from Adobe. Go directly to the Acrobat download page by clicking on the link below. Please follow their instructions for installation on your computer (fairly easy).

Get Adobe Acrobat Reader

International applicants should see this page for additional admissions requirements. Please note that the application deadline for international applicants is November 1.