DEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY

You must submit your application through an online system. Available September 2024 for Fall 2025 admission.

Three separate letters of recommendation are required. All letters of recommendation can be uploaded by the NU (Northwestern University) application software. The NU application software will ask you for the names and email addresses of three references. As you submit your application, an email will be sent to your references providing them with instructions for submitting their letters of recommendation. The NU application software will send you a confirmation email once your references have uploaded their letters of recommendation. If your references are uncomfortable using the web, you may wish to consider sending hard copies.

While completing your online application, you must submit one scanned copy of your transcript from each school you have attended. Scanned transcripts should be exact duplicates of the 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 are 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 must submit those transcripts again. The Graduate School’s address is listed below.

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

Any fraudulent activity or discrepancies found between uploaded and official transcript[s] will result in the immediate revocation of admission and/or dismissal from Northwestern University.

Transcript requirements of the Graduate School

The Northwestern Chemistry Ph.D. program no longer requires the general GRE on graduate applications.

Much of your success in graduate study will rely on your ability to understand, read, write, and speak English. If your native language is not English, you must certify your proficiency in the English language in one of the following three ways.

Providing official scores for either the TOEFL or IELTS exam. The test must be taken no more than two years before the intended quarter of entry. (If you are applying for Fall 2024 entry, test scores must be no older than September 2021). For the TOEFL, you must score 600 or higher on the paper-based test, 250 or higher on the computer-based test, or 100 or higher on the internet-based test. For the IELTS, you must receive a score of 7.0 or higher.

Providing official transcripts verifying an undergraduate degree from an accredited four-year institution or equivalent, where the language of instruction is English.

Providing official transcripts verifying a graduate degree from an accredited institution where the language of instruction is English.

TOEFL requirements of the Graduate School

All material, such as publications or awards can be uploaded electronically.