NUIN Application Requirements                       Apply Now

Online Application

Deadline
Applications for Fall 2012 should be received no later than December 1, 2011, so they can be processed in time for a mid-December review.

Supporting material received after the deadline will slow the review of your application, however, these documents will be accepted within a reasonable amount of time past the application deadline.
All applicants are required to fill out the Northwestern University application. Please use ApplyYourself to complete your application.

Research Experience
The PhD is about doing research, and successful applicants will have had at least one solid laboratory research experience. Research need not have been in a neuroscience laboratory.

Coursework
All incoming students, regardless of major or research interests, should have a solid grounding in the basic sciences (biology, chemistry, physics) as well as calculus-level mathematics, either through formal courses or as a result of significant research experience. Applicants who are weak in any of these areas should plan to take undergraduate-level courses during their first year in the program or, ideally, take such courses prior to entering graduate school.

Statement of Purpose
As part of the ApplyYourself online application, applicants need to submit a statement of purpose describing their unique background, experience, and motivation for pursuing a PhD in neuroscience at Northwestern. The statement may not exceed 5,000 characters.

Recommendation Letters
Each applicant is required to have three letters of recommendation. Ideally, at least one of these recommendations will be from a supervisor of research. The letters should be requested and submitted online via the ApplyYourself tool. If submitting the letter this way is not possible, please have letters mailed to the NUIN Admissions Coordinator (details below).

Resume
ApplyYourself gives applicants an opportunity to upload a resume. While not required, applicants are encouraged to do so.

Transcripts
While completing your online application, you will be required to submit one scanned copy of your transcript from each school you have attended. Scanned transcripts should be exact duplicates of the official transcripts issued by your institution (bearing the institution’s seal). 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 make sure your scanned transcripts are legible before uploading them. Illegible transcripts will not be reviewed.

If you are recommended for admission and decide to enroll, you will be required to mail one official copy of each of your transcripts to The Graduate School Admission Office as soon the transcripts are available. Your transcripts should be sent in sealed, unopened envelopes, directly from the issuing institution. Please be sure that your official transcripts list all the degrees that you have 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 will result in registration holds.
Please do not mail 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.

Entrance Exams

• GRE: The general GRE test results are required for all applicants. No subject test is required, nor is there a minimum score requirement.  Please send your GRE scores to Northwestern University via ETS code: 1565.
• TOEFL or IELTS (International Students Only):  This test must be taken no more than two years before the intended quarter of entry.  The TOEFL may be waived if the applicant has completed a two or four year degree from an institution where the primary language is English. TOEFL Test Score Requirements:
  • 600 or higher on the paper-based test
  • 250 or higher on the computer-based test
  • 100 or higher on the internet based test

  IELTS Test Score Requirements:

  • 7.0 or higher

Please send your TOEFL scores to Northwestern University via ETS code: 1565.  IELTS Department Code: 01.  TOEFL iBT: Program Name or Option 99.

Application Fee
The application fee is $75 and must be paid via credit card at the time of application submission.  Your application will not be processed without payment of the fee.

Additional information regarding admission procedures of The Graduate School at Northwestern University are available here: http://http://www.tgs.northwestern.edu/admission/index.html