DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY

Admissions

Due to the ongoing difficulties associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department of Sociology at Northwestern University is not accepting applications for the 2021 graduate student admissions cycle and this includes the JD/PhD joint degree program. In an effort to best support our current graduate students and the university in this time of unprecedented turmoil, we have reluctantly concluded that pausing admissions for one year is the best path forward. We apologize for the inconvenience this has caused our prospective students and thank you for your patience and understanding. We anticipate accepting applications in fall 2021 and recruiting a fantastic new group of graduate students to begin fall of 2022.  

Detailed information on Application

Send the following materials directly to The Graduate School:

• Application Fee (application fees are paid online via credit card only)

• Official Graduate Record Examination (GRE) scores are required from all applicants. To be considered valid for Fall 2021 admission, GRE scores must be no older than September 2016. Please request that ETS send your GRE scores to The Graduate School using our ETS institution code of 1565.

  Applications for whom taking the GRE is difficult or impossible because of COVID-19 may request a waiver of the GRE requirement.  To request a waiver of the GRE requirement, email the admission committee (sociol@northwestern.edu) explaining briefly why a waiver of the GRE requirement is needed.

• Test of English as a Foreign Language score (TOEFL) (required of all international students). Minimum score is 100 on the internet based test (iBT). Official scores must be taken no more than two (2) years before the intended quarter of entry and must come directly from the Educational Testing Service (ETS). While TOEFL is the preferred test, we do accept IELTS scores and require a minimum overall score of 7.0. Official IELTS scores must be no more than two (2) years before the intended quarter of entry and must come from IELTS directly.
• We strongly recommend that you include a copy of your unofficial score reports (GRE and TOEFL, if applicable) with your online application.  Applications are not marked complete until official scores have arrived from ETS to the Graduate School. 
  • It is also recommended that you take your test(s) one to two months before the admission deadline, as late scores will hold up your application.
  • All material must be received by the December 15th deadline to avoid delays with your application

• Statement of Purpose
• Resume/CV
• A copy of official transcripts from all post-secondary institutions are required.
  • The exception is if the class, and its grade, appear on another school’s transcript that is already being uploaded to your application.
  • This includes partial post-secondary education, where a degree was not completed.
  • Do not send official transcripts to the Sociology Department, a copy of your transcript is sufficient for review purposes.
• Two (2) letters of recommendation
  • Maximum of three (3) letters of recommendation
  • Letters must be received by December 15^th deadline
• One (1) Writing sample: social scientific papers are preferred, but not required
  • Maximum of 30 pages
  • Applicant must be sole-author of writing sample.

• Diversity Statement (for U.S. Citizens only)
• Cluster Statement
  • Upload statement under Cluster Statement
• Quantitative Fellowship Statement*
  
  • Upload as supplemental document 1
  • Must include "Quantitative Fellowship Statement" at the top of the page.
• Data Science Fellowship Statement* 
  • Upload as supplemental document 2
  • Must include "Data Science Fellowship Statement" at the top of the page.

Note on supplemental documents: NO supplemental documents other than the Quantitative Fellowship and Data Science Fellowship statements will be accepted. All other supplemental documents will be removed from applications prior to review.