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Application Requirements

Questions?

If you have specific questions regarding your application, contact your program directly. You can find your program's contact information on the Explore Programs page.

Answers to common questions can be found on our FAQs page.

Applications for 2026-2027 are now open.

Please note: In compliance with U.S. sanctions regulations, Northwestern University is not currently accepting applications from individuals located in, or ordinarily resident of, comprehensively OFAC sanctioned countries or regions, including Iran, North Korea, and the Crimea, Luhansk, and Donetsk regions of Ukraine.

The Graduate School at Northwestern University sets minimum application requirements for applicants to our PhD and master's programs. Each program may also set additional application requirements beyond what is listed on this webpage. As a result, when preparing your application materials, we highly recommend reviewing the website of the program to which you are applying to find information regarding their requirements and application deadline.

Individuals admitted to programs at The Graduate School must hold a U.S. bachelor’s degree — or a non-U.S. degree equivalent to a U.S. bachelor's degree — from a regionally accredited institution. Applicants can check whether their non-U.S. degree is the equivalent to a U.S. bachelor's degree on our "International Applicants" page under "Degree Equivalency." You may be considered for admission before you finish your undergraduate degree, but you must complete that degree before you enroll at Northwestern.

In general, to apply to The Graduate School (TGS), you will be required to:

Online Applications

TGS only accepts online applications during each application cycle, beginning in 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.

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:

  • TGS only allows applicants to submit one application to one program per year. For example, if you submit an application for Fall Quarter 2027, the earliest you may submit an application again is for Fall Quarter 2028. Duplicate applications will not be reviewed and duplicate application fees cannot be refunded.

  • Your application will not be submitted until you have answered all of the required questions and paid the application fee (by credit or debit card only).

  • Many departments accept students for the fall quarter only.

  • 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.

Guidance for Ethical Use of GenAI for TGS Applicants

Please Note: The following guidance incorporates and draws from language from the University of Michigan Rackham Graduate School.

Your application will include essays, statements, writing samples, portfolios, videos, audio recordings, photographs, creative works, or other supporting materials. Given that scholars should not represent the ideas or work of others as their own, including content or ideas generated using Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI), all application materials should authentically reflect your unique academic, research, and life experiences.

You should be the sole creator and author of any substantive content submitted as part of your application. It is appropriate to ask other individuals for guidance on the application process, or to receive limited assistance with proofreading, grammar, spelling, formatting, or technical preparation of application materials. However, it is not appropriate for another person, or a GenAI tool, to substantially create, compose, generate, translate, edit, manipulate, or otherwise produce content that is presented as your own work. TGS’ guidance for the ethical use of GenAI is similar to guidance for involving other individuals in the preparation of your graduate school applications.

Ethical Use

Below are several considerations for how you can ethically use GenAI in your graduate school application process:

  • GenAI tools may be used to search for guidance and suggestions on the application process to graduate school. Please Note: We strongly encourage you to review the TGS application webpages and your program’s admissions webpage for application information, as GenAI Tools may mislead or provide inaccurate information.

  • GenAI tools, like Grammarly, may be used to review grammar and spelling of your application essays.

  • GenAI tools, like Google Translate, may be used to aid and check translation of words and phrases. Please Note: Machine-aided translation tools may produce errors.

Unethical Use

Unethical use of GenAI in your application process would include:

  • Use of GenAI tools to outline, substantively draft, or write the content of your application essays, writing sample, or other written materials, including copying and pasting language generated by GenAI tools.

  • Use of GenAI tools to generate prose or replace your unique voice and style as a sole author of your essays.

  • Use of GenAI tools to translate substantial portions of an essay written in another language into English and submitting that output as your own writing.

  • Using GenAI tools to create, generate, or substantially alter videos, audio recordings, photographs, artwork, design work, portfolios, or other creative or multimedia submissions when doing so misrepresents the extent of your own contribution and abilities.

  • Submitting AI-generated images, audio, video, code, creative works, or portfolio materials as evidence of your skills, experiences, research, artistic practice, or achievements when those materials were not primarily created by you.

Finally, please note that the TGS application will require your attestation that all substantive written and audio/visual application materials (e.g., essays, personal statements, writing samples, portfolios, etc.) are your own personal work and not the product of generative AI. Admission to Northwestern University may be revoked if any part of the application contains falsifications, misrepresentations, or omissions. This includes falsely attesting that you have not used GenAI in unethical ways in your application.