Graduate Admissions

Applications are submitted online through the Graduate School website. Admission to the Graduate School is limited to a single graduate program unless two disciplines have an approved joint offering (see University Graduation Requirements section of the course catalog for further discussion). The application with all supporting materials must be received in the Graduate School Office by the respective due date:

*Off-cycle applications will be considered by the Department of Chemistry Graduate Committee and Chemistry graduate advisor on a case-by-case basis under special circumstances only (e.g., filling an urgent departmental need for a teaching assistant, a research position with a faculty member capable of providing research assistantship support, etc.).

The GRE is not required for acceptance into the graduate program in Chemistry. Admission is granted by the Graduate School of Western Washington University with the concurrence of the policies of the Department of Chemistry. Favorable application review and recommendation by the Department of Chemistry graduate advisor is required for admission. Key elements of the application package and admission requirements are outlined below.

Faculty Research Advisor

Prior to submission, applicants are strongly encouraged to contact Chemistry faculty to discuss the potential for a position in their research labs. To be competitive, the applicant is expected to identify at least one Chemistry faculty member who agrees to act as a research mentor for the prospective student.

Reference Letters

The application must include three (3) current letters of reference from professors in the applicant's undergraduate major field, or from others able to make an appropriate assessment of the applicant's academic or professional competence as well as personal qualities. References can be confidential and are to be uploaded via the application portal as described by the Graduate School.

Personal Statement

A statement describing past academic and professional experience, research interests and future goals must be supplied. The statement is expected to list up to three potential research advisors with a justification of how each such lab is beneficial to the applicant’s professional development. The document must be written in a concise, clear way and is not to exceed two pages.

Curriculum Vitae

This is a tabulated list of educational and work experiences (place of work/study – time period) as well as of the applicant’s skills, experimental and computational.

Academic Background and Coursework

A baccalaureate degree from an accredited U.S. college or university, or an equivalent degree from a foreign university in chemistry, biochemistry, or a related field is expected. Applicants are expected to have completed the following courses (or their equivalent). For MS Chemistry applicants, these include: Analytical Chemistry (Chem 333), Instrumental Analysis (Chem 434), Organic Chemistry (Chem 351-3), Physical Chemistry (Chem 461-3), and Advanced Inorganic Chemistry (Chem 441). For MS Biochemistry applicants, these include: equivalent of two quarters of Biochemistry (e.g., Chem 471-2). A student who has not earned a grade of B or better in any of these courses may be required to take/repeat that course as determined under advisement with the Chemistry graduate advisor.

GPA

A 3.0 undergraduate grade point average (on a 4.0 scale) in the last 90 quarter-hours or 60 semester-hours of study is preferred. For post-baccalaureate credit to be included in the GPA computation, the course work must be upper division. Post-baccalaureate course work at community colleges will not be included in the GPA used for admission. Applicants with advanced degrees from accredited institutions are considered to have met GPA requirements.

Academic Transcripts

Unofficial transcripts from each college or university attended (no exceptions) prepared by the Registrar of each institution must accompany the application. Official transcripts will be required upon acceptance of admission.

Provisional Admission

In special cases, students who do not meet all the requirements for full admission may be granted provisional admission. Such decisions are made jointly by the Graduate School, Department of Chemistry Graduate Committee and Chemistry graduate advisor.

Tuition and Fees

Current tuition and fees information is available from the Graduate School, Funding & Support section.  Graduate financial aid options are available through the Chemistry department, for more information visit: Chemistry Graduate Financial Aid.

International Applicants

International students should refer to the International Applicants section of the WWU Graduate School webpage. Students who are not native speakers of English must demonstrate competence in written and spoken English. This can be done by submitting a satisfactory score on the international TOEFL or IELTS taken within one year of the date of application. The passing scores information can be found through the WWU Graduate Program Admissions-Related Testing page. Applicants who have received a bachelor's or an advanced degree from an accredited institution in the U.S. or in an English-speaking country do not need to submit scores from the TOEFL or IELTS.