Admissions

Application Deadlines

View a list of application deadlines. All deadlines are 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time for the published date.

 

All prospective students must apply using the online application. Printed applications are not available.

In your application, you must specify the department and doctoral program or free-standing Master’s degree program in which you wish to study. A complete application includes: 

  • Transcipts of all previous post-secondary education
  • A statement of academic purpose
    • The statement should be 1,000 words in length (roughly 4 pages, double-spaced).
  • A personal statement
    • We are committed to admitting candidates with a wide diversity of
      experiences and perspectives to our program. The Personal Statement
      (maximum of 1,000 words) should describe how your personal experiences
      and history will allow you to contribute to the wealth of perspectives
      in the entering class of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and
      in the Columbia community at large.
  • A curriculum vitae or résumé
  • Letters of recommendation from academic sources 
  • GRE scores
    • The GRE General Test is required for the doctoral program application; GRE Subject Tests not required. 
  • Official TOEFL or IELTS scores
  • A sample of scholarly writing
    • ​​​​​​​The sample should be 15-20 pages in length, exclusive of the bibliography or works cited page(s).
  • Payment of the application fee
    • ​​​​​​​Requests for application fee waivers should go directly to the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. 

You may find additional information on submission of transcripts, letters of recommendation, and standardized test scores on the GSAS website

Note that the applicant must submit all materials directly, not through an agent or third-party vendor, with the sole exception of submissions by the US Department of State’s Fulbright Program and its three partner agencies IIE, LASPAU and AMIDEAST, by the Danish-American Fulbright Commission (DAF), or by Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD). In addition, the applicant will be required to attest to the accuracy and authenticity of all information and documents submitted to Columbia. If you have any questions about this requirement, please contact the GSAS Office of Admissions at [email protected]

Failure to submit complete, accurate, and authentic application documents consistent with these instructions may result in denial or revocation of admission, cancellation of academic credit, suspension, expulsion, or eventual revocation of degree. Applicants may be required to assist admissions staff and faculty involved in admission reviews in the verification of all documents and statements made in documents submitted by students as part of the application review process. 

Please note that all application materials become the property of Columbia University and are not returnable. Additionally, materials will not be shared with or forwarded to third parties. Applicants who have not waived their right to view letters of recommendation may request to view the letters only after they enroll in the GSAS program to which they have been admitted. Under the guidelines of the Federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), students who do not receive an offer of admission, or who are admitted but do not enroll, are not permitted access to the letters at any time. A complete explanation of the FERPA policy may be found here.

Columbia GSAS is aware that circumstances beyond an applicant’s control may affect their ability to submit an application or supporting materials in time to meet an application deadline.  If you are affected by a natural disaster, civil unrest/war, or by a regional internet outage, Columbia GSAS will do its best to accommodate the submission and consideration of your application. Information on completing and submitting your application is available here.