Admissions Criteria
Each year, from an application pool of approximately 500, the Michael G. Foster School of Business PhD Program admits a class of approximately 15 highly qualified PhD students. In selecting applicants, we give primary consideration to academic potential and aspiration. Each applicant is evaluated in terms of the following:
- Academic accomplishments to date
- Institutions attended and graduate and undergraduate grades and courses taken
- Scholarships, awards, and honors earned
- Graduate Management Admission test (GMAT) scores, or Graduate Record Examination (GRE) scores
- TOEFL iBT and/or IELTS scores (if applicable)
- Academic and other references
- Relevant nonacademic experience
- Statement of Purpose: academic objectives and past or future experiences/contributions (including to advance the Foster School’s commitment to diversity and inclusion).
Admission decisions are also influenced by the availability of faculty, the number of students already in the program, and the availability of financial support in each major area of specialization.
Application Process
Start your application to the Foster School of Business PhD program today
Application Deadlines
Students are admitted Autumn Quarter only. Applications for admission must be received by the department specific deadline listed below. Due to possible administrative or mail delays, we suggest that applicants submit all materials well ahead of the deadlines to ensure full consideration.
| Program | Deadlines |
|---|---|
| Accounting Finance Information Systems Management (Organizational Behavior) Management (Strategic Management) Management (Technology Entrepreneurship) Marketing Operations Management | December 15th |
Selection information
Applications are sorted and distributed to the relevant departments immediately after application deadlines. Each department has a committee that reviews all the applicants to their discipline, identifies the top candidates, and provides that information to the PhD Program office.. We extend offers based on the faculty-generated lists and the number of openings available to each department. We aim to have all offers out by April 15th.
Please keep in mind the following: A highly qualified incoming student will typically have a very high GMAT/GRE score (e.g., 90th percentile), a very high GPA (e.g., 3.9) often in both undergraduate and graduate level work at highly regarded institutions and they will have some, if not extensive, experience with research.
Applicants are strongly encouraged to review the past research and current interests of department faculty in their desired area of specialization. Regarding research, faculty can be contacted directly. For department-specific questions about the program, contact the area coordinators using information available under the Areas of Specialization tab.
Required Application Materials
Uploading unofficial transcripts via the online application system is a requirement to complete the Foster Ph.D. application. You should not have official transcripts mailed to the University of Washington unless we directly request them.
Three letters of recommendation are required. We do not accept additional letters.
Letters of recommendation are submitted via the online application system. In the online application, you will submit the names and email addresses of three recommenders. The system will send them an email that provides instructions on how to submit the recommendation letter on your behalf.
The admissions committees prefer recommendations from academics familiar with your scholastic and research capabilities; those from faculty members with whom you have worked in a research capacity are particularly valued.
Submit a copy of your CV. Be sure it includes relevant experience not addressed elsewhere in your application materials.
This can also be referred to as statement of academic objectives. Please state as clearly as possible your objective in pursuing a PhD program and your areas of interest for teaching and research.
As part of or in addition to this statement, please comment on how your past experiences and/or future contributions will advance the Foster School’s commitment to diversity and inclusion; the DEI Primer provides clarification on how to do this.
Applicants are required to submit either the GRE or the GMAT regardless of previous experience and/or advanced degrees. The GRE At Home and the GMAT Online exam will be accepted.
Copies of the score reports should be uploaded into the application. Test scores on either the GRE or GMAT are accepted only if taken within the last five (5) years.
Unofficial test score reports may be used during the application review process; however, official test scores are required if admission is recommended.
Scores are considered “official” when sent directly to the University of Washington from the testing agencies: ETS for the GRE score and GMAC for the GMAT score. If submitting GMAT, then request that GMAC send your official scores to the University of Washington, school code 459-75-53. If submitting GRE, then request that ETS send your official scores to the University of Washington, school code 4854. Allow three to four weeks for our office to receive your scores.
Applicants to the Michael G. Foster School of Business, whose native language is not English, must demonstrate English language proficiency through one of the following ways to be eligible for funding:
- Education in English-Speaking Country:
- Hold a bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited institution in the United States or from an institution in Australia, the Bahamas, Canada, Ireland, Jamaica, Kenya, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, Trinidad and Tobago, or the United Kingdom, where English is the medium of instruction. The student must have been in residence on campus while enrolled at the degree-granting school. (Note: A master’s degree does not satisfy this requirement).
- US-Based Doctoral or Juris Doctor Degree:
- Hold a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) or Juris Doctor (JD) from a regionally accredited institution located in the United States where English is the medium of instruction.
- Official English Language Test Score:
- The following scores are the minimums required for admission to the Foster School of Business PhD Program:
- TOEFL iBT: Total score of 92, with a minimum of 23 in the speaking section
- TOEFL myBest: Total score of 92, with a minimum of 23 in the speaking section
- IELTS: Total score of 7.0, with a minimum of 6.0 in the speaking section
- The following scores are the minimums required for admission to the Foster School of Business PhD Program:
If admitted with the speaking score minimums mentioned above, students must satisfy UW policy 5.2 within their first quarter of enrollment to remain eligible for funding. The target language scores to satisfy UW policy 5.2 are as follows:
- TOEFL iBT: Total score of 92, with a minimum of 26 in the speaking section
- TOEFL myBest: Total score of 92, with a minimum of 26 in the speaking section
- IELTS: Total score of 7.0, with a minimum of 7.0 in the speaking section
Funding information
The School’s goal is to provide financial support for at least four years for all doctoral students who make satisfactory progress toward the completion of the degree and maintain a high standard of performance in their assignments. Financial aid in the form of tuition waivers, teaching and research assistantships, fellowships and scholarships is available in the Ph.D. Program. The objectives of financial support packages are to help fund the student’s educational program and to provide the student with supervised professional experience in both teaching and research. The financial packages for more senior students are designed to allow them to focus on their own individual work (i.e., the dissertation). At this stage, many students also successfully compete for national fellowships and research grants.
Financial Aid Form
Since the requirements for several of the School’s fellowships and scholarships list financial need as one of the criteria for selection, applicants who are admitted to the program will be strongly encouraged to submit a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). University policy requires that this application be filled before a student can be considered for any fellowship or scholarship that specifies financial need as one of the criteria. Applications can be filled out and submitted at the FAFSA website. Note that applicants with substantial income in the year before entering a doctoral program may still qualify for financial need based on projected income for the first year in the program.