The fall deadline, spring deadline, and summer deadline must list applicable deadlines. Programs may format deadlines as follows:

• Month and date
• Month and date for international students; month and date for domestic students
• This program does not admit in the (term)

Note: International applicants must be recommended for admission at least three weeks before the ISS deadline to accept new I-20 applications. Refer to the Deadlines for Processing International and Domestic Applications KB.

List your program's requirement for the standardized test. Programs may format as follows:

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

Detail 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: The Graduate School's policy follows minimum test scores needed for admission, if your program is more stringent, list the scores and delete the policy link.

List applicable information. Programs may select from the following:

• n/a
• none
• not applicable
• The MCAT may be accepted as an alternate to the GRE.

Provide the number of letters of recommendation required. Options include:

• 0
• 1
• 2
• 3

Programs may choose to link to the Graduate School's online application; use the following link: https://grad.wisc.edu/apply/.

Your program may also include the following sections to explain the application process and requirements.

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 advisor."
   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 Plant Structure, Plant Taxonomy or Plant Physiology
      3. Plant Pathology or Entomology
      4. One Statistics course
      5. 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."

Doctoral minors do not have an admissions table. However, this credential is required to include the following language.

All Graduate School students must utilize the Graduate Student Portal in MyUW to add, change, or discontinue any doctoral minor. To apply to this minor, log in to MyUW, click on Graduate Student Portal, and then click on Add/Change Programs. Select the information for the doctoral minor for which you are applying.

Graduate/professional certificates do not have an admissions table. However, this credential is required to include the following language.

All Graduate School students must utilize the Graduate Student Portal in MyUW to add, change, or discontinue any graduate/professional certificate. To apply to this certificate, log in to MyUW, click on Graduate Student Portal, and then click on Add/Change Programs. Select the information for the certificate for which you are applying. Professional students in the careers of Law, Medicine, Pharmacy, and Veterinary cannot add the certificate in the Graduate Student Portal, and should contact the program for more information.

Below the curricular requirements table, the program's required courses must be listed. This section should detail the courses and/or requirements needed to earn the credential. General guidance includes:

• Use the "sum hours" function in course list to account for the minimum credit requirement.
• Format the "required courses" title as header 3.
• Utilize cascading headers for text below table.

An example of a required courses table:

Program Pathways

If a program uses pathways, use the footnote: "These pathways are internal to the program and represent different curricular paths a student can follow to earn this degree. Pathway names do not appear in the Graduate School admissions application, and they will not appear on the transcript."

Detail your program's prior coursework policies for different types of coursework. These headers (format as H4) must be included in this section:

• 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 the program follows the Graduate School's policy, link to the policy instead of restating it to mitigate missing future policy updates.

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

Detail your program's probation policy. If none exists, you may refer to the Graduate School's policy.

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

Detail program-specific policy or guidance about the advisor or committee structure and roles. If none exists, you may refer to the Graduate School's policy.

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

List the number of credits your program allows per term. If none exists, you may refer to the Graduate School's policy.

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

Detail program policy. If none exists, you may refer to the Graduate School's policy.

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

This section is Graduate School shared content. Do not alter or remove. Program-specific policy should be included after shared content.

If no additional information is needed, do not delete the toggle.

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