College of Built Environments at the University of Washington.
Application Procedures
Application Deadlines
Application materials from U.S. citizens, permanent residents, and immigrants are due by February 1, and from international applicants by January 1.
Application Forms
A completed online Application for Admission to the Graduate School and a Departmental Application form must be submitted.
Curriculum Vitae
Please submit a detailed biographical outline, including your employment history and explanation of work responsibilities, any publications, honors, awards, professional registration and societies, foreign language and computer skills, extra-curricular collegiate activities as well as avocations, hobbies, places traveled.
Statement of Purpose
Prepare a two- to three-page (single-spaced, typewritten, or equivalent) statement outlining your career objectives, reasons for choosing to undertake doctoral study in the built environment and your expectations from the program. The admissions committee uses this statement to understand your personal goals and desires with respect to the field. It is important to outline clearly your research objectives and focus. You are encouraged to prepare this document very carefully. This document should addresses the following items:
- A brief overview of your academic and professional background, including previous research experience.
- Describe your motivation for pursuing doctoral studies and your current research interests.
- Identify at least three members of the faculty you would like to work with.
- Briefly outline your intended course of study, including your primary research interests.
- Conclude with a short description of your envisioned future and the role you would like to play in the field.
Transcripts
Send copies of transcripts from each post-secondary school you have attended to the program. Transcripts do not need to be official. All applicants who have attended institutions outside the U.S. and Canada should include a degree statement with their transcripts. Please see What is required when sending my international transcripts?. If accepted to the program, you will then need to send the Graduate School will then request official transcripts.
Letters of Recommendation
Applicants are required to submit three letters of recommendation: at least two from college instructors and, if appropriate, one from an employer. One or two additional letters are welcomed but not required. Applicants should include letters from instructors knowledgeable about your research and academic potential, one preferably to include your master's thesis advisor. You should specify your recommenders and have them submit their letters as per the instructions which are part of the online Graduate School Application process. If necessary, you may use this downloadable form and have your recommenders send them by postal mail.
Sample of Work
An exhibit of work which best illustrates the applicant's interests and abilities in areas related to the built environment must be submitted, and should focus on showing evidence of promise for scholarship and research, rather than design abilities. This can be an essay, a paper, a master's thesis, a publication, a report, or a project for which the applicant has had major responsibility. The exhibit will not be returned, should be in hard copy except in exceptional circumstances, and should fit in letter-size files.
Graduate Record Exam
Graduate Record Examination results must be submitted by all applicants. Although more recent scores are preferred, tests taken within the past five years are acceptable. Score reports over five years old from the test date are no longer valid. Tests should be taken no later than December in order to meet the review deadline. Request Educational Testing Service forward your GRE score report using our institution code 4854 (there is no department code). For further information about GRE examinations write to: Educational Testing Service, Box 955, Princeton, New Jersey 08540-6000 or see: GRE.
English Proficiency
In accordance with Graduate School Memo 8, prospective international, immigrant, and permanent resident students whose native language is other than English and who have not received a degree from an accredited institution where the native language is English must submit a satisfactory TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language), Michigan Language Test (MLT), or International English Language Testing System (IELTS) score. English proficiency test scores older than two years will not be accepted. Please see Graduate School Memo 8 for score requirements, and note that students with scores below that which will exempt them from Academic English Program requirements are unlikely to be accepted to our program.
Submitting the Application
Apply directly on-line to Graduate Admissions.
As part of the On-Line Graduate Admissions process, arrange for your recommenders to send their recommendations electronically, if possible.
Please send by postal mail a printed, signed copy of your online Application for Admission to the Graduate School, along with the Departmental Application Form, a curriculum vitae, a statement of purpose, one copy of all transcripts, a work sample, and any sealed reference form letters of reference that your recommenders did not upload, to:
Neile Graham, Program Coordinator
Ph.D. in the Built Environment
University of Washington
Box 355740
Seattle, WA 98195-5740
Express or courier deliveries for which a street address is required, use: Ph.D. in the Built Environment, 410 Gould Hall, 3949 - 15th Ave. N.E., Seattle, WA 98105.
Additional Notes
Applications are considered only once a year (by the February 1 or January 1 deadlines) for admission the following Autumn Quarter.
For questions please contact: Neile Graham, bephd@uw.edu, 206-543-5996 (mornings).
The Graduate School also offers an admissions FAQ.