The application deadline is December 15 for the following Autumn quarter. All application materials, including official test scores, must be received by this date.
Important! Read first: PhD Application Guidelines
All components of the application are submitted on line through the Graduate School Application for Admission, with the exception of the following two items:
-required digital voice file if applying for a TA position
-optional sample project in digital media or public humanities
For your convenience, here is a summary of application requirements:
- Read first: PhD Application Guidelines
- Begin On-Line Application to the Graduate School
- Request Official Test Score Reports: (See Graduate School requirements for English Language Proficiency)
- For most domestic applicants: GRE (2024 applicants do not need to take the GRE.)
- For most applicants whose first language is not English: TOEFL.
- TOEFL iBT, TOEFL pBT (paper based), or IELTS. Minimum score required for admission: TOEFL iBT: 92. TOEFL pBT: 580. IELTS: 7.0. The Graduate School is phasing out usage of the IELTS. Scores from IELTS test sessions dated after June 1, 2017, will not be accepted. Official electronic scores must be submitted to the University of Washington Graduate School by the deadline, so plan ahead. Applicants who completed a bachelor's, master's, or doctoral degree in residence at a regionally accredited institution in the United States or other Anglophone country meet the English proficiency requirement for admission. Complete details on the Graduate School policy can be found here: English Language Proficiency.
- Designate Providers of Recommendations (3)
- Complete Assistantship and Fellowship Application
- All applicants whose first language is other than English, must demonstrate verbal English proficiency to be eligible for a teaching assistant position. Most applicants will need to take the TOEFL. Note that the Graduate School has phased out the IELTS. Scores from IELTS test sessions dated after June 1, 2017, will not be accepted. Minimum score required on speaking portion of TOEFL iBT: 26; IELTS: 7.0 Official electronic scores must be submitted to the University of Washington Graduate School by the deadline, so plan ahead. Minimum score requirements are non-negotiable. Applicants who completed a bachelor's degree in residence at a regionally accredited institution in the United States or other Anglophone country, have met the English proficiency requirement to be eligible for a teaching assistant position. For complete details, see Graduate School: Conditions of appointment for non-native speakers of English.
- Submit Unofficial Transcripts
- Submit Academic Autobiographical Statement
- Submit Writing Sample
- Submit Optional Project in Digital Media or Public Humanities
PhD Application Guidelines
Note: Please DO NOT MAIL any transcripts to the Department of Spanish and Portuguese Studies. All transcripts for the admission application are collected online.
International Applicants - When you receive notification that you have been recommended for admission by your graduate program, you must then submit official transcripts and additional application materials to the Graduate School.
Domestic Applicants - When you accept your formal offer of admission, you must then provide an official final degree transcript to the Graduate School.
For additional information regarding the admissions process, please see the UW Graduate School's FAQs page.
Getting Started with University of Washington Graduate Admissions
Admissions and Selection Process
The University's Office of Graduate Admissions ascertains that the University's general requirements have been met. The Department of Spanish and Portuguese Studies judges the more specialized requisites and will insist that applicants hold at least a bachelor's degree or its equivalent, with a major (or equivalent study) in Spanish. A grade-point average of no less than 3.0 (on a 4.0 scale) for the combined junior and senior years of undergraduate work, as well as for any post-graduate study already accomplished, is highly desirable. No minimum GRE (Graduate Record Examination) score is required from applicants who are required to take this test. However, the Department finds an average score of 500 and above encouraging. Admission to the Department of Spanish and Portuguese Studies is competitive.
Questions may be addressed to spsadv@uw.edu.
Notifications regarding the awarding of Teaching Assistantships, which are the Department's appointments, are issued in the spring by the Chair of the Department of Spanish and Portuguese Studies.