Admission FAQs

Yes. All applicants must have the equivalent of a four-year, US bachelor's degree conferred prior to the start of the term of admission.

No. The School of Graduate Studies only manages the programs listed here. CWRU has many more graduate options at the School of Nursing, School of Law, School of Medicine, School of Dental Medicine, Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, and Weatherhead School of Management. For information about programs housed in other CWRU schools, you should reach out to their admissions offices directly. 

Unofficial transcripts are the ones uploaded onto the application and can be used for evaluation purposes. An unofficial transcript is one that:

• is sent by email in PDF format from the student
• has been opened by the student
• is a photocopy or screenshot of the original
• was not produced by the school
• was translated by the student or a nonprofessional translation service

Official transcripts are submitted to the School of Graduate Studies only if accepted; they are used to verify your previous degrees. Transcripts are considered official if they are sent directly to our office from your previous school or are delivered in a sealed envelope. Additionally, we can accept official transcripts via encrypted email at gradadmit@case.edu if your school participates in a transcript ordering service. 

There are no minimum scores on this well-known graduate admission test. The departments will review each applicant's qualifications individually. The GRE scores are valid for 5 years from the date of the exam. 

Applicants must have a B-average or rank in the upper third of their graduating class at an institution where status and programs are readily assessed.

Absolutely! You can apply to as many programs as you wish, however, you will need Create an Application for each application and pay the $50 fee for each one (if applicable). You will receive separate admission decision letter for each program you apply to.

Within the application, you can upload all documents such as CV/Resume, Personal Statement, unofficial test score results, and unofficial transcripts.  Note that you do not have to submit official test scores unless you are accepted and plan to attend CWRU. Test scores can be submitted to CWRU by using the school code 1105.

* Please do not send hard copies of these documents to the School of Graduate Studies unless you have received your official acceptance letter. Please note that transcripts uploaded to the application are considered unofficial. If accepted, then the official copies are required to be submitted to the School of Graduate Studies for full standing admission.

No, official transcripts are not necessary during the application process. Within the application you can upload unofficial copies of your transcripts on the Academic History page. These are not considered official transcripts but will be used by the programs to perform the application review.

Only if you are officially admitted to the University and plan to attend, will you be required to send official transcripts with degree certification (if applicable) from each school listed on the application to the School of Graduate Studies. These official copies will then become property of the School of Graduate Studies. 

No, official test scores are not necessary during the application process. Within the application you can upload unofficial copies of your  score reports on the Test Scores page. These are NOT considered official but will be used by the programs to perform the application review. ONLY if you are officially admitted to the University, will you be required to send official test scores through ETS using CWRU's school code of 1105. IELTS test takers, please do not request official score reports to be sent, simply provide your Test Report Form number to Graduate Studies and we can verify it online.

Those who have agreed to give you a recommendation are notified by email if they will be providing the recommendation through the online recommendation system. If the recommendation will be submitted by mail or email, you still need to list each provider and have those documents sent directly to the program to which you are applying.

If you are submitting an Interfolio packet, please list out each recommender on the application and mark it as a mailed recommendation. 

Yes, please submit your application as soon as it is completed. Your recommendation letters will trickle in to the department during the review process and will be linked to your application. 

Your program will review all application materials thoroughly. If your department recommends you for admission, the School of Graduate Studies will then review your record and make the final decision. Regardless of the decision, you will receive an email notification prompting you to log back in to the online application system. Please note that a decision is not final until you receive the email notice from Graduate Studies. If accepted, you will need to accept or decline our offer of admission. This allows your record to matriculate and you will receive your CWRU Network ID. For international students, accepting our offer will also set the process in visa motion with the Center for International Affairs. 

The department to which the student has applied will review all application materials and recommend admission. The dean of the School of Graduate Studies will then make the final approval. You will receive an email from gradadmit@case.edu informing you to log back in to the online application system to view your official decision. Please be sure to accept or decline your offer of admission. 

Due to the variety of our programs and departmental admissions committees, there is not one set date that admissions decisions are released. We will make every effort to make admissions decisions in a timely fashion. 

If you are planning to accept the offer, you will need to log into the online application system and formally accept our offer of admission. If you do not accept, your record will not matriculate into the Student Information System (SIS) and you will be unable to register for courses. For international students, your visa and I-20 process does not begin until you formally accept our offer. 

If you intend to decline our offer, we would still like to have a record that you decline. Additionally, we would appreciate if you could provide a reason as to why you declined our offer so that we may use that information to improve future admissions. 

While the School of Graduate Studies does not have a deadline, your department might, you should follow the department deadline. We encourage you to accept early so we can begin communicating with your about registering, orientation, activating your Network ID. For international students, you cannot begin your visa and I-20 process until you accept the offer, so allow yourself at least 2-3 months (minimum) for the immigration process. 

* If your offer involved funding for a Fall term, also see question below about the April 15th Resolution. 

First off, congratulations! You will want to check out our Important First Steps and Graduate Student Orientation sites. As the directions state, you will need to activate your CWRU Network ID and access your CWRU email account.

You will also need to complete the items on the New Student Checklist. The Checklist link may give you an error message stating "You do not currently have any active checklists. Please wait up to 2 business days after you pay your deposit for the checklist to be active". Don't worry, this usually just means that we have not yet opened it yet for your starting term and the only program that requires a deposit is MEM. Watch your personal and case.edu email accounts for more information. 

You can always view your official offer letter from the School of Graduate Studies by logging back into the online application system. Your offer letter will list any conditions remaining such as missing transcripts or test scores and any academic provisions set by the department. *Note: If you believe there is a discrepancy in your letter, please contact the School of Graduate Studies.

Yes, programs that fall under the School of Graduate Studies must follow the April 15th Resolution. What is the Resolution? The April 15th Resolution says that departments cannot require applicants accepted for the Fall term to commit to a decision that involves funding before April 15th. Applicants are welcome to make their decision before that date, but should not feel pressured to make an early decision until all of their options are available. Note that this only applies to Fall admissions, and only for offers that involve funding. Click here for a full list of participating institutions. 

* Note: This does not mean that all Graduate Studies decisions are released by April 15th.

We receive thousands of applications per year for only a limited number of spots. Unfortunately we are not able to accept everyone that applies. If you are looking for information about why you were denied, please reach out to the department you applied to and they may be able to provide some feedback about how to make your application stronger for the future. 

You can log back into the online application system, click the Start New Application button and apply to a later term to be considered for future admission. We cannot reactivate or update your old application. It may help to reach out to the department in which you applied to inquire how to make your application stronger for next time. 

Applicants are guaranteed admission only for the term specified in their admission letter. If unable to enroll, you may request postponement up to two regular semesters. The department may accept or reject that postponement request.

Terms of readmission may differ from the original offer. If entry is delayed more than two semesters, your application must be reviewed again. If entry is delayed more than two years, the applicant must reapply; and because files are kept for a maximum of two years, all new documentation must be resubmitted.

If you would like to defer your enrollment, please email gradadmit@case.edu to request the deferment. We will verify with your department if they approve or deny the deferment and we will update your file accordingly. 

This depends on how far in advance of the term you were accepted. You will receive an email from the School of Graduate Studies when your SIS ID is ready to be activated. 

After accepting your offer, you will receive an email from Graduate Studies containing your 7-digit student ID number and steps to activate your Network ID.

We also have listed out Important First Steps for new students including activating your Network ID, logging into your CWRU email account, starting your visa process (if international), working on the New Student Checklist, and finding a place to live.

* Depending on how early you are admitted, you may not receive information about Orientation and the New Student Checklist until the term approaches.

International admitted students will work with International Student Services to obtain a visa, not Graduate Studies. Please refer to the second page of your official offer of admission in the online application system for instructions on beginning the visa process in Terra Dotta. * Note that ISS will not begin to work on your visa until after you accept your offer of admission. 

All newly admitted graduate students will have Orientation to assist in getting to know your resources on campus. Information on your upcoming Orientation can be found here. You will receive additional emails when it gets closer to the event. 

In an effort to save paper and reduce waste, Graduate Studies will only send the admission decision letters and official communications via email, but you can always access and print them out from the application system as PDFs. 

Unfortunately, Graduate Studies does not have the capacity to offer campus tours at this time. However, the office of Undergraduate Admission offers a variety of tour experiences and they are always happy to have graduate students participate. Their page also offers resources on parking, directions, and staying overnight. The CWRU visitor page also has some great resources to help you plan your visit. 

Alternatively, you can talk to your department about scheduling a time to come to campus and meet with their office. You can see an interactive map here or a printable map here. 

All new students must submit proof of covid-19 vaccinations and the booster to the university's secure health record system, MyHealthConnect.

BS/MS students DO NOT require a new ID.

The Office of University Housing currently does not offer on-campus graduate student housing. However, their Office provides several resources you can use to find a housing option that is right for you.

Visit the Graduate Student Life office website or the Living in Cleveland page on the Postdoctoral Affairs website for more information on local areas and rental resources.

Cleveland is an incredibly diverse community and we have students attending our programs from around the globe. Specific information about diversity at CWRU can be found here and statistics on students can be found here from studies done by Institutional Research.  

We have a wide array of resources available to the CWRU community to feel welcome and develop inclusion across campus. Some of those resources include the Office of Multicultural Affairs, the LGBT Center, the Women's Center, and Graduate Student Life.

Yes, CWRU receives its institutional level accreditation from the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. Please see case.edu/ir/cwru-facts/accreditation/ for details.

Statistics can be found on the Registrar's website here. Additional data is provided by Institutional Research. Quick and current facts at a glance can be found here. 

As part of the Coalition for Next Generation Life Science, we are committed to providing transparent admissions, demographic, and completion data for our PhDs in the life sciences. Currently, we have data published for Biology, Biochemistry, Biomedical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, Clinical Translational Science, Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Genetics and Genome Sciences, Molecular Biology and Microbiology, Molecular Medicine, Neurosciences, Nursing, Nutrition, Pathology, Pharmacology, Physiology and Biophysics, and Systems Biology and Bioinformatics. Coalition for Next Generation Life Science Data

Information on the rankings of Case Western Reserve University can be found here.