Admissions

Below you will find information about the Department of Human Centered Design & Engineering (HCDE) admission requirements for the Master of Science program. If you have questions about these materials, or if you want further information, please contact the Director of Student Services.

There is a dual admission process for all graduate programs at the University of Washington (UW). HCDE applicants must apply to both the HCDE department and the UW Graduate School. All application materials, however, are uploaded to the same Graduate School application for your convenience.

Departmental applications materials are available on the HCDE Application page. All uploaded application materials must use the PDF format. Please do not mail or email any materials directly to the HCDE department.

Note: The HCDE department will keep your application on file for one year after the application deadline. If you are not accepted, or if you decline admission, your application materials will be shredded.

Use the following links to view information about the admission process:

• Deadlines
• Prerequisites
• Common Academic Backgrounds
• Standardized Exams
• International Applicants
• Additional UW Resources

Deadlines

HCDE admits students for autumn quarter only. Students are encouraged to begin collecting their application materials at least two months before the deadline to ensure their submission is complete on or before the due date. Applicants are limited to submitting one application per academic year.

Note: If you took any classes as a graduate non-matriculated (GNM) student or UCD Certificate student, please tell the Director of Student Services that you already submitted some or all of the application materials.

Note: HCDE's core courses are offered in the evening.

The deadlines for future quarters are:

Prerequisites

Applicants for HCDE graduate study must hold a Bachelor's degree. Applicants with relevant experience are regularly admitted to the HCDE graduate program, even if their undergraduate coursework was in a different field. To guarantee that all HCDE graduate students have a basic foundation for graduate level HCDE courses, we require the following math prerequisite:

• Math Prerequisite: College Level Statistics

You do NOT have to complete the math prerequisite to apply to the program; you may take the class concurrently with other degree courses. If you wonder whether your previous coursework satisfies this requirement, please make an appointment with the Director of Student Services.

Common Academic Backgrounds

Human Centered Design & Engineering is an interdisciplinary program. As such, we attract applicants from a wide variety of academic backgrounds. Approximately one-third of our applicants come from technical backgrounds, one-third from social science or research backgrounds, and one-third from design backgrounds. These backgrounds include Anthropology, Architecture, Business Administration, Computer Science, Economics, Electrical Engineering, English, Graphic Design, History, Human Centered Design & Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Informatics, Information Technology, Mechanical Engineering, Political Science, Product Design, Psychology, Sociology, Software Engineering, Technical Communication, and Web Design & Development.

Standardized Exams

HCDE does not use the GRE as part of our admission process. Our faculty use a holistic review process that takes into consideration multiple factors from academic background and performance to professional experience and recommendations. The only standardized exam required is for international applicants whose native language is not English and were educated in a foreign language. For more details, please see TOEFL.

International Applicants

HCDE encourages international applicants to familiarize themselves with the policies and procedures of the UW Graduate School. You can access information regarding international degrees, language proficiency requirements, and other important information on the UW Graduate School international student application page. The Graduate School also maintains a page of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) for international applicants.

Additional UW Resources

Below you will find links for UW-related information, including links for the graduate school and UW Professional and Continuing Education (PCE).

• UW Graduate School
• UW Professional and Continuing Education (PCE)