Admission Requirements

Application Deadline

The Department admits students for Autumn quarter only each year. All international and domestic application materials must be received by December 15.

The preferred deadline for international application materials is November 1. Due to stricter student visa regulations, we recommend that international applicants make every effort to submit application materials by November 1. We will continue accepting international application materials until December 15.

Application procedures are the same whether or not you are applying for financial assistance from the department. There is no separate application for financial aid.

The Department of Economics does not defer admission. Applicants must begin their studies in September of the year for which they are accepted. If an applicant cannot attend the year for which s/he is accepted, s/he must re-apply for the following year.

Prerequisite Courses and GPA Requirement

Applicants for graduate study in economics should have completed undergraduate training that includes courses in at least intermediate level microeconomic and macroeconomic theory. In addition, applicants must have had at least one year of calculus, one term of linear algebra, and one term of statistics. A course in differential equations is strongly recommended. Additional work in calculus, matrix algebra, and probability and statistics is also strongly recommended. An undergraduate major in economics is not required for admission to the graduate program provided that the above prerequisites have been met. Students who seek admission to graduate programs at the University of Washington must have a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.0 in the last 90 graded quarter hours or the last 60 graded semester hours.

The average GPA of applicants admitted for the last three years was:

The Graduate Record Examination (GRE)

All applicants are required to take the General Test of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE). No consideration is given to an application until the department receives official GRE scores. Therefore, prospective students should sign up to take the GRE as early as possible. GRE scores older than 5 years will not be accepted.

The average GRE General Test scores of applicants admitted for the last three years were:

The Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFLiBT)

26 on the speaking portion of the TOEFLiBT or
7.0 on the speaking portion of the IELTS or
70 on the Versant English Test

Applicants who achieve one of these scores will be given priority for departmental funding, although students who achieve slightly lower scores may also be considered for funding.

The following international applicants are NOT REQUIRED to take a language test to demonstrate spoken English proficiency:

1. International applicants who have completed, or will complete before starting the graduate program, a bachelors degree at a regionally accredited US institution. This exemption does not apply to applicants who have completed, or will complete, only a masters degree at a US institution.

2. International applicants who are native English speakers.

However, the department does reserve the right to require any international applicant to pass the Versant English Test to demonstrate spoken English proficiency in order to preserve the integrity of teaching assignments.

For information about admission procedures and application forms, click here: Admission Procedures and Forms.

Last Updated September 10, 2009