MS and PhD - UW Graduate School Application Materials
All application materials must be received by the deadline, including letters of recommendation.
PhD Admissions: There is one application round per year for PhD applicants. Complete applications received by December 1 will be considered for admission in autumn quarter (September) of the following year.
MS and MPH Admissions: There are 2 application rounds for MS and MPH applications. Both rounds open on September 1st. Round 1 closes on December 1, applicants are notified in February - March. Round 2 closes on May 1st, applicants are notified in early June.
Start your UW Graduate School application here
After setting up a profile, on the landing page, click the link for “Start Graduate Application” and create a new application. On the Program Information page, select “Graduate” for question 1 and “Environmental Health Sciences (MS or PhD) for question 2.
Complete all sections of the application, including transcript submission.
1) UW Application Fee
A $90 application fee is required. A limited number of need-based fee waivers are available from the Graduate School. Applicants to concurrent degree programs (MS/MPA, MPH/MPA or MPH/MUP) must submit two separate applications and pay two application fees. If you intend to use the application fee waiver, the recommendation is to submit your application one week prior to the submission deadline.
2) Test Scores
The GRE is not accepted as part of the MS, MPH or PhD application process. See #3 for additional information on TOEFL/IELTS score.
3) English Language Proficiency Requirement for Non-native English Speakers
Proficiency in English is required for graduate study at the University of Washington. Therefore, every applicant whose native language is not English, regardless of citizenship, must demonstrate proficiency with the English language. The most common way to fulfill this requirement is to submit official TOEFL scores. The institution code for submitting TOEFL scores to the University of Washington is 4854. Additional ways to fulfill the English language proficiency requirement are outlined on the UW Graduate School website.
4) Three Letters of Reference
Choose people who are familiar with your academic goals and who can speak to your potential for achieving those goals. You will provide the name and email address of your recommenders in the online application. Your recommenders will then be sent instructions for submitting their letters online. Note that many email accounts filter out messages from computer systems such as these. Encourage your recommenders to monitor their spam inbox so they don't miss the instructions for letter submission. All application materials including letters of reference must be received by the application deadline.
5) Prerequisites and Unofficial Transcripts
Unofficial transcripts from all undergraduate and graduate institutions you have attended are required (in PDF format). If you are accepted and enroll, the UW Graduate School will request official transcripts from you when you accept the offer of admission. Your transcripts should show completion or projected completion of the following minimum degree and prerequisite requirements:
- Degree: Applicants to the PhD, MS, MS Applied and MPH degree programs should have a bachelor’s degree or higher. Applicants to the MPH in Occupational and Environmental Medicine must have an MD, DO or PhD degree.
- Grade point average (GPA):
- Applicants must have at least a 3.0 cumulative grade-point-average on a 4 point scale (or equivalent measures of performance if a graduate of an institution with no grading system; or equivalent grade-point-average from an accredited foreign institution) for those credits earned at the regionally accredited institution awarding the bachelor’s degree OR at least a 3.0 grade-point-average (on a 4 point scale) for the last 90 graded quarter credits or 60 graded semester credits. Applicants with exceptional strengths in other areas with a GPA below 3.0 may still be considered if their overall application is extremely strong.
- Prerequisites: All MS, MPH and PhD degrees require foundational understanding in the areas below, typically through having taken one or more courses. Applicants who have not taken coursework in these areas may be able to demonstrate competency through professional or other experience. Alternatively, coursework may be completed after admission, before starting the program.
- General biology (biodiversity of life forms, ecology, structure and function of biomolecules, cell structure, animal development and physiology)
- General chemistry (chemical nomenclature, chemical reactions, stoichiometry, chemical bonding)
- Organic chemistry (organic compounds, functional groups, aromaticity and stereochemistry)
- Advanced algebra, precalculus or calculus (students who have not taken calculus should be ready to work with calculus-level concepts)
Applicants who are unsure of whether they meet the prerequisites are invited to contact an adviser.
6) Resume or Curriculum Vitae
A brief description of your professional experience, honors awarded or scholarships, special skills, publications and research presentations.
7) Academic Statement of Purpose (max 500 words)
To help us better understand your academic goals and fit with our graduate program, please answer the following questions: Why are you interested in pursuing graduate studies in environmental and occupational health sciences? What specific topics and questions interest you? What are your career goals and how will pursuing a graduate degree in our department help you attain those?
Review our Student Research page to learn about recent projects DEOHS students have completed as well the faculty who mentored those projects.
8) Personal History Statement (max 500 words)
Please read and respond to the prompt in the online application.
9) Ranked Areas of Emphasis (MS, MS applied and PhD students only)
Students will choose an area of emphasis which will allow you to gain specialized disciplinary training, or you can create your own customized degree pathway. Read more about the areas of emphasis here. Your answer here in no way impacts your likelihood of admission.
10) Ranked Faculty List
You will be asked to provide the names of three to five DEOHS faculty whose research interests you, and who you think might be a good fit for mentoring your thesis research, capstone or applied project. The ranking you provide is intended to give us a better idea of how your interests align with our faculty. You may end up working with a faculty member who isn’t in your initial ranking, and we cannot guarantee that you will work with any of the faculty that you have listed. Before you add faculty to your ranked list, please look at the "mentorship" section on their faculty profile to ensure they are taking on new students for your degree category. On their faculty page, you will find a short list of student research projects recently mentored by that faculty member. PhD applicants are encouraged to reach out to faculty before they apply. To see a complete list of all projects mentored by all faculty, please see the student research page.