DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS AND ASTRONOMY

Applications must be received by December 6, 2024

You may begin your application on September 10, 2024

Decisions will be made beginning in mid-February.

The application fee is $95 and is paid in the application portal.

The Graduate School approves all fee waiver requests. Waivers are available to US citizens and permanent residents only. The full qualifications for a fee waiver can be found here.

Fee waiver requests are filed in the last step of the application. After you've completed the application, you may file for a fee waiver. The Graduate School will respond with approval or denial a few days later. The waivers are first-come, first-served.

Updated policy for fall 2025 matriculation:

GRE score submission is optional for the master's and Physics PhD programs.

GRE scores are *not* accepted for the Astronomy PhD program.

Transcripts

Transcripts of work completed or in progress at all colleges or universities attended.

Please make sure scanned transcripts are legible before uploading them. Illegible transcripts will not be reviewed.

Please do not upload foreign language transcripts unless English language transcripts are impossible to obtain. If you only have access to foreign language transcripts, your foreign language transcripts must be accompanied by an official English translation bearing the original ink signature and seal of the issuing university.

Please do not mail official copies of your transcripts to The Graduate School before you have been admitted AND submitted your enrollment decision. Any transcript submitted prior to that point will not be kept and you will be required to submit those transcripts again. 

Letters of recommendation

At least two letters of recommendation from professors familiar with your work must be submitted through the application portal. Professors will be sent an email through which they can submit their recommendations.

Statement of Purpose

English-language tests

International students are required to submit scores from tests such as the TOEFL.

The Graduate School's minimum TOEFL score is 90 for PhD applicants.

Students who attended an institution where English is the main language of instruction may be exempt. Please email the Graduate Program Assistant for more information.

The deadline for accepting or declining an offer is April 15, 2025.

Admitted students must make a decision in the application portal.

Admitted students must mail one official copy of each transcript to The Graduate School Admission Office as soon the transcripts are available. Transcripts should be sent directly from the issuing institution in sealed, unopened envelopes. Please be sure that official transcripts list all the degrees earned prior to enrolling at Northwestern University.

Failure to submit all your transcripts (including degree awarding transcripts) by the end of your first quarter of study (early December of the first year) will result in registration holds

The Graduate School's address is:

Northwestern University
The Graduate School
Rebecca Crown Center
633 Clark Street
Evanston, Illinois, 60208