Apply to a Graduate Program
At Columbian College, you will be given the tools to thrive both intellectually and professionally. With nearly 90 advanced degrees and graduate certificates to choose from, you have the opportunity to find a program suited to your academic, professional and personal goals.
Admission to the college is selective. Prospective students must have demonstrated academic excellence and hold a bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited institution of higher learning.
Application Types
Application requirements, and the process of applying, may differ depending on your situation. Note: More than one of the categories below may apply to you.
- I have never studied at GW before.
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Welcome! The first step you will need to take is to create an account. Make sure you use an email address that you will have access to for more than a year in the future - you might decide to apply to another program that uses the same platform!
Please note that if you applied to GW as an undergraduate student and did NOT use the Common Application, you may already have an account.
- I was educated internationally.
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If you completed your undergraduate degree abroad, you may be required to submit additional materials in addition to the core required documents to complete your application, so make sure you give yourself extra time to collect all of the required documentation. We recommend that you review the International Applicants FAQs for answers to many of your questions.
If you were educated internationally but you are a US citizen or Permanent Resident, you still may need to provide additional information including English Language proficiency. Our staff may follow up with you for a more detailed account of your education history. Additionally, transcripts provided will need to be translated into English by the institution or a NACES translation service member.
- I'm not sure if I am an international or domestic applicant.
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You are considered an international student if you are studying in the US on an F1 Student Visa or J1 Exchange Visa.
As you answer questions in the application, you will be asked about your citizenship, whether you are currently on a visa, and if you will need GW to sponsor your visa. Answers to these questions will determine if you need to provide additional documentation for US visa sponsorship.
You can decide if you would like to include those documents with your application or if you want to wait to submit documents if you are admitted - your financial situation does not affect your admissibility.
- I am a current CCAS graduate student.
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You may (or may not) need to submit a new application.
- If you are interested in pursuing a second CCAS degree program, you should review the Dual Enrollment Information.
- If you are currently enrolled in a certificate or master’s program and you want to pursue a program in a higher level (e.g., a current certificate student looking for a master's or PhD program), you will need to submit a new application. It is very likely that you will not need to submit standardized testing if you previously submitted testing.
- I am a current GW graduate student.
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It is possible that you already have an account within our application system. If you have applied to the School of Nursing, ESIA, GSEHD, GWSB, CPS, SEAS, or SOM, then you already have an account and you should use that account to submit your application.
If your program requires standardized testing, it is likely that we already have it on file. Please confirm the testing has not expired and it was sent to GW (institution code 5246) so you can avoid sending scores again.
- I am a current GW undergraduate student.
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If you are interested in pursuing a graduate program at the completion of your undergraduate program, you are considered a new applicant and will need to submit a new graduate application. You may also be eligible for the Grad2Grad tuition discount. Check out our Grad2Grad page for more information.
If you are a current GW undergraduate student, you may be interested in pursuing a combined degree. Check out the Combined Degree Programs page.
Application Myths
| A month or two is sufficient time to prepare to apply to Graduate school. | No. We recommend at least 6 months to research your options and to collect the necessary information in preparing your application for graduate school. Also, application deadlines can be more than 6 months in advance of the start of class, so you should start researching at least 12 months before you intend on starting your graduate program. |
| Rankings and name recognition provide the best way to select a program. | No. Rankings are often at the institutional level and do not necessarily reflect the level and recognition of a particular graduate program. |
| Admission decisions are based on a single piece of the application. | No. Graduate admissions is often a holistic admission process. In the Columbian College, faculty review all applications and assess based on multiple criteria. This includes all documents submitted as part of your application, as well as if you and your research interests match the department's. |
| Schools establish cut off GRE/GMAT scores. | Not really. Columbian college does not set minimum GRE scores. The admissions process is a holistic process that takes many factors into account. We can provide the average GRE scores for students admitted to our program upon request. |
| A recommender's title is more important than knowledge of the applicant. | No. It is important for you to choose a recommender that can identify you and your academic and English skills. |
| Schools set quotas for the number of applicants admitted from specific countries. | No. Columbian College does not have any country quotas for any programs. |
| Online and Hybrid courses lack the quality of regular programs and appear differently on transcripts. | No. Technology has improved immensely over the past decade and allows online courses to be taught at the same level of quality as in-person courses. |