When is the application deadline?
The deadline is December 1. If you intend to apply for a fee waiver, you must submit your application at least 7 days prior to the Dec 1 deadline. Please do yourself a favor and do not wait until the last day to submit your application. Waiting until an hour before midnight on December 1 leaves no time to resolve last-minute problems.

What time are applications due on Dec 1?
Anytime that day will be fine.

Do you require GRE scores?
As of Autumn 2019, GRE scores are neither required nor considered when reviewing your application.

Do you offer an M.S. option?
No. Students are admitted only to the Ph.D. program.

Do I need to have an M.S. degree before applying?
No. Most of our students go directly from a Bachelor's degree to the Ph.D. or spend their post-graduation time in an industry research job or a non-degree-granting postbaccalaureate research program.

Can I apply with a three-year undergraduate degree?
No, either a four year undergraduate degree or a Master's degree is required in order to apply.

Should I contact faculty ahead of time?
Contacting our faculty ahead of time will not increase your chances of admission to our graduate program, though you are certainly welcome to contact faculty who interest you to inquire whether they are accepting students and ask questions about their current research interests. Students are admitted to the Genome Sciences program as a whole, rather than to a specific faculty lab. Note that some other Ph.D. programs admit students to work with a specific faculty advisor; for those programs, unlike ours, it is essential to contact faculty before you apply.

Do you offer application fee waivers?
The UW Graduate School offers a limited number of fee waivers based on income. The option to request a fee waiver is available on the last screen of the online application. Please note that fee waivers must be requested a minimum of seven days before the application deadline. International applicants are unfortunately not eligible for application fee waivers.

What funding package do you offer?
All Genome Sciences students receive full funding, including a tuition waiver (which pays all tuition charges except for approximately $265 per quarter in student fees), health insurance, and a stipend for living expenses ($47,004 as of 7/1/24).

I attended multiple schools. Do I need to send a transcript from each if all courses are listed on the transcript of the college I am attending now?
If all courses taken are listed on one transcript, there is no need to send a separate transcript from each college. Similarly, if you took a course at a community college or similar that isn't listed on your main university transcript and is not related to your major, no need to include it. There is no need to list study abroad semesters separately from your main university. The take away here: unless these are directly related to your preparation for graduate school, we do not need miscellaneous transcripts.

I'm a domestic applicant. Do I need to send in hard copies of my application materials?
No. Really, please don't send a hard copy.

I'm an international applicant. Do I need to send in hard copies of my application materials?
No. Really, please don't send a hard copy.

Don't you need a hard copy of my official transcript?
No. Really, please don't send this. If you do end up enrolling in our program, the UW Graduate School will at that point request official transcripts, but for application review purposes, we do not need this. No need to worry about it at this point.

I have attended multiple schools. Do you need a transcript from each one?
Please don't send five different transcripts if your transfer courses are listed on your main transcript.

May I submit more than 3 letters of recommendation?
We review a large number of applications in a short period of time and our admissions committee has found that three letters are sufficient. If, however, you have an outstanding 4th letter of recommendation, you may submit it. Please definitely do not submit 4th letters from non-science sources or from recommenders who do not know you well. A test: if the fourth recommender is not well-acquainted with your research talents, you should not include a letter from them.

What can I do to improve my chances for admission?
Get as much research experience as you can! Gaining research experience and attaining an evaluation of it in your letters of recommendation are important components of your application. Admission is quite competitive; ~ 10 % of applicants receive offers of admission. If you have just completed your undergraduate degree and do not have much research experience, we encourage you to take a year or two to work in a lab, gain experience, and prove to yourself that a career in research is the right path for you.

Do you have a minimum GPA requirement?
There is no minimum GPA requirement beyond the UW Graduate School's requirement of a 3.0 for the two most recent years of study, and we do occasionally request GPA waivers from the graduate school to admit students with sub-3.0 GPAs. That being said, high grades in science coursework will, as you might expect, help your chances. A GPA in the neighborhood of 3.5 or higher is typical, but again, we would like to strongly emphasize there is no minimum requirement.

What is the TOEFL code for this program?
The institution code is 4854. You do not need to list a department code.

Which courses do I need to take before applying to the program?
Our students are chosen from a very competitive pool and come from a wide variety of backgrounds; admission depends less on taking specific courses than on general academic excellence. Generally speaking, the coursework required to complete a degree in a relevant field (Biology, Biochemistry, etc) is considered sufficient preparation to apply for this program.

Applicants commonly have undergraduate degrees in a science such as Biology, Biochemistry, or Chemistry or a quantitative field such as Mathematics or Computer Science. An ideal applicant will have some experience in both experimental and computational science.

How many applications do you receive each year?
We typically receive between 325-400 applications each year. Approximately 30 applicants will receive offers of admission.

If I apply to Genome Sciences, am I allowed to apply to other UW graduate programs?
Yes. You may apply to as many graduate programs as you wish. The University of Washington does charge a separate application fee for each program.

When will I know the status of my application?
We should have an answer for you by mid-January, if not sooner. Finalists for admission will be invited to visit the department in February.