Admissions

A 4-year bachelor’s degree or equivalent with a GPA of 3.0 or higher (across all undergraduate coursework and/or institutions attended).

List your postsecondary institutions in your application, and upload a transcript for each institution. Applicants are required to list/upload copies of official transcripts from all undergraduate and graduate institutions where more than 15 credits of coursework were completed and/or where program prerequisites were completed (any number of credits). This gives the admissions committee a more complete picture of your academic preparation for graduate study.

WES (new window) or NACES (new window) credential evaluation services are highly recommended for international transcripts.

Follow the transcript instructions in Admissions FAQ (new window) to ensure you upload proper documentation.

Recommendation letters may be from previous professors, research mentors, or employers in a position to appraise your potential for graduate study.

Guidance on the Academic Statement of Purpose

This statement is one of the most critical parts of your graduate school application. To dispel any mystery of what should be covered, or leave to chance that you’ll miss key points, we outline below what is generally addressed in the statements of our most competitive applicants (in no particular order), followed by some general advice. 

• The factors (personal/professional) that motivate you to apply for a PhD in Neuroscience (IPN). Why a PhD?  Why this field?

• Your academic preparation for this degree program (coursework at bachelor’s and/or graduate level). If there are any areas of your transcript that might be a cause for concern on the part of the admissions committee, such as low grades in coursework relevant to the degree, be sure to address them clearly.
• Your research background. What research have you done, either independently or as an assistant? What do you find attractive about research as a profession?
• Your reasons for selecting the IPN (faculty research interests, for example).
• Your long-term career goals. (We know people have a range of goals, and that’s OK!)
• Any additional information that you would like the committee to consider as they review your application.  We understand that many different factors (socioeconomic status, personal/familial challenges, racial/ethnic/cultural background, gender/gender identity, sexual orientation, being the first in one’s family to attend college and/or to pursue STEM graduate education, historical/structural/institutional obstacles, etc.) impact the path to a PhD in the sciences. We strive to promote equity and inclusion in our program, recognizing the many ways that we can each enrich the academic and scholarly community through our unique backgrounds and circumstances.

General Advice

• When talking about faculty research areas, it is advisable to first look and see what they have published recently (e.g., do a PubMed search). 
• Make sure you can identify at least two or three faculty members with whom you would be interested in doing research. If you can’t, a program (at Georgetown, or anywhere else) is likely not the right fit for you. 
• Proofread. This one sounds obvious, but we receive applications each year with grammatical errors, typographic errors, faculty names misspelled, etc., and this comes across as unpolished and unprofessional. Be sure to have someone else (a fresh set of eyes) read your statement to check for errors. Remember, you are going to be doing research for 4-6 years in our labs – we want to know that you are careful and detail-oriented.

The IPN Supplemental Essay is a maximum of one page. Answer the following prompt: Please tell us about an incident in your research where you experienced failure. Include what you did about it and what you learned from the experience.

Upload the supplemental essay to the Neuroscience Supplemental Information section of the online application.

Your CV/resume should include relevant professional (such as research, volunteer and intern experiences) and academic experiences with dates and descriptions/responsibilities. When applicable, items in each section should be in reverse chronological order, with the most recent experiences listed first. For experiences involving research, please note clearly the name of the principal investigator of the lab. Include citations for your publications, abstracts and presentations (if applicable). Use 11pt font size or larger; allow your CV/resume to span multiple pages if necessary.

The application fee is nonrefundable but limited application fee waivers may be available. View information about the application fee (new window).

Applicants to any Georgetown program may choose to submit an Optional Statement that addresses diversity, personal background and contributions to community. A detailed prompt for the statement can be found in the application.

GRE scores are not required, but we invite applicants to report these scores if they are available. View instructions for submitting official test results (new window).

All applicants are required to demonstrate a level of proficiency in the English language sufficient to meet the admission requirement of the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences. Follow the TOEFL/IELTS instructions in Admissions FAQ (new window) to determine whether you need to send us test scores to prove your English language proficiency.