Provide your program's applicable deadline. Programs may format this information in the following ways:

• Month and day (e.g., June 1)
• (Insert month and day) for international students; (insert month and day) for domestic students
• This program does not admit in the (insert applicable term)

International Applicants

Applicants need to be recommended for admission at least 3 weeks prior to the International Student Services deadline to ensure applicants have enough time to submit official documents and accommodate admissions processing. Programs should set deadlines for international applicants no later than the following dates:

• Fall: May 24 to 31
• Spring: October 11 to 18
• Summer: May 7 to 14

Provide your program's requirement for the GRE. Programs may select one of the following:

• Required.
• Not required.
• Not required but may be considered if available.
• May be required in certain cases, consult program.

Provide your program's admission requirement for English language proficiency. If the program follows the Graduate School's policy, insert the following language:

Every applicant whose native language is not English, or whose undergraduate instruction was not exclusively in English, must provide an English proficiency test score earned within two years of the anticipated term of enrollment. Refer to the Graduate School: Minimum Requirements for Admission policy: https://policy.wisc.edu/library/UW-1241. 

Note that the policy link provides the Graduate School's minimum test scores needed for admission. Do not repeat these scores unless the program is more stringent.

Provide information if your program requires other tests. Programs should select one of the following methods to format information:

• n/a
• None.
• Not applicable.
• The MCAT may be accepted as an alternate to the GRE.
• Information about the GRE Subject Test specific to program.

Provide the number (if any) of letters of recommendation required. Options include:

• 3
• 2
• 1
• 0

Your program may include the following sections:

Application Checklist

A complete application includes the following items:

1. Statement of Purpose: Include a few sentences about what the program looks for in a statement of purpose. Link to your program website if you have expectations listed there. Specifically, state the minimum (or maximum) length of statement. You may link directly to the Graduate School's Preparing for Graduate Study for guidance.
   1. Example: "Your essay should be a concise description of your reasons for choosing to study this field at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (not to exceed two pages). Please include your research interests and career goals as well as a description of your preparation for graduate study including relevant coursework, related employment, research experience, publications, presentations, awards, and honors."
2. Supplementary Application: Discuss any supplemental application materials required. If applicable, detail expectations or skills the program is looking for in these materials.
3. Unofficial Transcripts: Programs should clearly state unofficial transcripts are required for the application.
   1. Example: "Unofficial transcripts from all previous postsecondary studies are required. International academic records must be submitted in the original language and accompanied by an English translation. If an applicant is recommended for admission, the Graduate School will ask applicants to request official transcripts sent to the Graduate School from the undergraduate institution."
4. Letters of Recommendation: Describe who letters of recommendation should come from and what skills or qualities the program is looking for in these letters.
   1. Example: "Letters should be from faculty who are familiar with your academic abilities and goals. Letters from supervisors that provide a character reference are also acceptable. The letters of recommendation should be submitted with the online application."

Background Education

Include this section if the program has recommended or required previous education paths.

1. Example: "Successful applicants have a bachelor’s degree in engineering (biomedical, chemical, electrical, industrial, mechanical, etc.) or science (biology, biochemistry, chemistry, genetics, immunology, physics, etc.)."
2. Example: "A background in education coursework is a prerequisite for the PhD program in Curriculum and Instruction. Applicants are required to have taken at least 12 credits in education courses that are equivalent to courses taught within a school of education, as judged by the Graduate Education Advisory Committee. Applicants lacking this background will be required to take a specified number of credits of education coursework in addition to the coursework ordinarily required in the graduate program. The courses taken should be chosen in consultation with the graduate advisor, and each of these courses must be taken for a letter grade (not pass/fail). These courses may be carried concurrently with regular graduate courses; but, being additional requirements, they do not satisfy the requirements of the graduate program."

Preparatory Coursework

Include this section if the program recommends or expects applicants to have experience with specific courses or subject areas.

1. Example: "Students are expected to enter the program having taken the following coursework. Deficient courses may be taken while in the program in consultation with the student's graduate committee."
   1. Physical Sciences - one course in each of the following:
      1. Physics, including electricity, heat and light
      2. Calculus
      3. Organic Chemistry lecture
      4. Organic Chemistry lab or Biochemistry lab
   2. Biological Sciences - one course in each of the following:
      1. Crop Production
      2. Plant Breeding or Genetics
      3. Plant Structure, Plant Taxonomy or Plant Physiology
      4. Plant Pathology or Entomology
   3. One Statistics course
   4. One Soil Science course

Faculty Advisors

Include this section to explain how applicants and faculty advisors are matched.

1. Example: "It is recommended that applicants contact departmental faculty directly to determine openings in the lab and an interest in their area of research. Students are admitted to the program if a faculty member agrees to accept the candidate into their research group and to provide laboratory/desk space and research support, and upon the approval of the Graduate School. The faculty member also decides whether to offer an assistantship to the candidate. If a faculty member is interested in a completed application, the applicant will be contacted by them personally. If a faculty member is interested in accepting an applicant, a recommendation for admission will be sent to the Graduate School. The Graduate School will make the final determination for admission."
2. Example: "Admissions decisions are made by a committee of faculty with research expertise spanning the four research areas of the department. Individual faculty do not recommend admissions decisions and advisors are not determined at the time of application. Instead, students will match with advisors after meeting with all faculty during the fall semester. Additional information about the application process, detailed information on required application materials, advice for preparing a competitive application, information on application fee waivers, and frequently asked questions are available here."

Rolling Deadline(s)

Include this section if the program continues to accept and review applications on a rolling basis. Explain if any additional considerations are given at any point in the year.

1. Example: "Applications are accepted on a rolling basis. Applications submitted by the deadlines listed above will be considered for limited Department funding."

This table appears for major pages but not for the parent pages of named options. It appears on all named option pages.

The Mode of Instruction table must be accurately completed by the program. Content under the expanded toggle of "Mode of Instruction Definitions" is Graduate School shared content, and not editable by the program.

If the program is doctoral, the Curricular Requirements table will also have a line for "Graduate School Breadth Requirement." All rows must be filled in with an actual policy or credit amount. Do not write "Contact the program for information about this policy," as Guide should serve as the official source for program policy and requirements.

The table should be titled, "Curricular Requirements", and formatted as a header 3.

The required courses section should list all of the remaining course requirements. Typically, this is a list of courses in the course list format (refer to table help KB). The course list should include every course needed for completion of the major. The amount of credits in this list will add up to the minimum credit requirement.

Additional considerations when building a course list includes:

• If instructing students to select a course/number of credits or a range of courses/number of credits from a list below, best practice is to include the total credit amount in the header of that section and indent all the courses below the header.
• Table should be titled, "Required Courses", and formatted as a header 3.
• If information is included under the course list, utilize cascading headers to provide an outline of information.

If the degree/major has named options, underneath the Required Courses table will be a Named Options (Sub-Majors) Header 2 with the following language (substituting your degree credential type and name):

This is followed by links to the Named Options pages.

Service-based pricing programs are required to include shared content at the bottom of their Requirements tab that informs students they may not take courses outside the prescribed curriculum or enroll in double degrees.

Programs should describe how they handle prior coursework from the following three categories (included as subheaders). 

• Graduate credits earned at other institutions
• Undergraduate credits earned at other institutions or UW-Madison
• Credits earned as a Professional student at UW-Madison (Law, Medicine, Pharmacy, and Veterinary careers)
• Credits earned as a University Special student at UW-Madison

If a program follows the Graduate School: Transfer Credits for Prior Coursework, linking to the policy rather than restating it mitigates missing future policy updates.

Example: "Refer to the Graduate School: Transfer Credits for Prior Coursework policy."

Program-specific policy on probation may be included here.

If none exists, provide reference to the Graduate School: Probation policy.

Example: "Refer to the Graduate School: Probation policy."

Include program-specific policy, procedures, and/or guidance about the advisor and/or committee structure and roles. The Graduate School policy on advisor and committees may be used if no program specific policy exists. 

Example: "Refer to the Graduate School: Advisor and Graduate School: Committees (Doctoral/Master's/MFA) policies."

Provide the number of credits your program allows per term.

Example: "15 credit maximum. Refer to the Graduate School: Maximum Credit Loads and Overload Requests."

At minimum, the Graduate School: Time Limits policy should be referenced. Program-specific policy may also be integrated into this section, when applicable.

Example: "Refer to the Graduate School: Time Limits policy."

This section begins with shared content from the Graduate School:

Program or school/college-specific policy is required after the shared content.

Policy in this section is optional. Do not delete this toggle if there is no program-specific information.

Examples: n/a, none, information about funding, etc.