Application Requirements
Admitted students must hold a U.S. bachelor’s degree — or an equivalent non-U.S. degree — from a regionally accredited institution. TGS will accept applications from international students with 3-year bachelor's degrees. You may be considered for admission before you finish your undergraduate degree, but you must complete that degree before you enroll at Northwestern. Additional aadmission requirements may vary from program to program. For complete details regarding admission requirements and application deadlines, please be sure to review the website of the program to which you are applying.In general, to apply to The Graduate School (TGS), you will be required to:
- Submit an application online.
- Pay an online application fee by credit card.
- Submit your Statement of Purpose.
- Upload your transcript or academic record.
- Submit your test scores (if required by your admitting program).
- Upload two to three Letters of Recommendation.
Online Applications
TGS only accepts online applications during each application cycle, beginning the first week of September. You do not, however, need to complete the online application in one sitting. You can access your application and change your answers as many times as you like. Keep in mind, once you have submitted your online application, you cannot make changes to it.
The online application process basically involves three steps. To apply, you will need to:
- Submit your application and pay the application fee.
- View our decision.
- Submit your enrollment decision.
Once you have created an account with the online application tool, please be sure to read the application instructions thoroughly and check with your program department for additional information before submitting.
Please note:
- Your application will not be submitted until you have answered all of the required questions and paid the application fee (by credit card only).
- Many departments accept students for the fall quarter only.
- TGS only allows applicants to submit one application per year. For example, if you submitted an application for Fall Quarter 2023, the earliest you may submit an application again is for Fall Quarter 2024.
- Applicants may not apply to more than one program per year, nor may applicants apply to the same program multiple times within one year.
- Duplicate applications will not be reviewed and duplicate application fees cannot be refunded.
- All materials submitted in support of your application become the property of the University and will not be returned or forwarded.
- To expedite the admission process, admission decisions will be conveyed via the online application. You may access the online application as many times as you like to check if a decision has been made on your file. If a decision is available, a "View Decision" link will appear. If a decision has not yet been made, no link will be present.
- TGS also reserves the right to admit or deny admission whenever it believes that it has sufficient evidence to do so.