Admissions

• Math: Please note that taking two semesters of calculus is considered equivalent to taking three quarters of calculus. Additionally, some Washington State Community Colleges teach Calculus in a 4-part sequence – please be aware that you may need both Calculus III and Calculus IV to be eligible for Allen School transfer admissions.
  
• Computer Science: The Allen School’s introductory computing sequence is taught in Java and we strongly prefer that students have college level experience with Java before enrolling at the UW. If your introductory computing sequence is taught in a language other than Java and you are admitted but unable to take a course taught in Java prior to enrolling, you will need to take CSE 123 as a corequisite to CSE 311 during your first quarter.
  
• English: Any college level English or writing course, including courses in other subject areas with a writing designation printed on your transcript, can count toward the English Composition requirement for the purpose of admissions. However, credit by exam cannot substitute for English Composition.
  
• Natural Science: Only calculus-based physics mechanics courses are considered equivalent to PHYS 121. Science courses must have a lab component. Washington Community College students pursuing the Computer Science major should be aware that they may need three biology courses to meet the prerequisite requirement should they choose biology rather than chemistry or physics.
  

If you are attending a Washington State Community College, you can use the UW Equivalency Guide to determine how your community college coursework might transfer to the UW. Some Washington Community Colleges do not offer all of the Allen School prerequisite courses. If this is the case at your school, we recommend enrolling in the remaining prerequisite courses at another Washington State Community College prior to applying.

If you have college coursework from a regionally accredited 4-year or out-of-state institution, you can use our online UW course catalog to determine which courses at your institution are most closely related to our prerequisite courses. Unfortunately, the UW is unable to evaluate equivalency for transfer credit until after an applicant has been admitted. For more information about UW’s transfer credit policies please refer to the Office of Admissions Transfer Credit Policies webpage.

If you have completed exams for credit such as Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB), or A Level & AS Level exams, please refer to the Office of Admissions – Exams for Credit website for information on how your credits would transfer to UW based on your exam score.

Please note that it is not possible to earn credit for the UW’s English Composition requirement through credit by exam at this time, even if your previous institution waived an English requirement based on your credit by exam. All applicants must have an English or writing course at a college or university to be eligible to apply.

All applicants to the Allen School are required to complete the Allen School prerequisite courses (shown above) by the departmental application deadline for the quarter that they are applying. The Allen School’s transfer pathway is designed to be completed within two years of full-time study. Prerequisite coursework is essential to ensure that applicants are prepared for upper division coursework upon entering our program so that they are able to graduate on time. Similarly, prerequisite coursework is necessary to ensure that our academic application review is fair to all applicants.

However, our admission process is not intended to cause large gaps in a student’s academic experience and we will consider requests to apply with one prerequisite in progress. Students can only be considered for a prerequisite exception if they:

• Will have 90 quarter credits completed by the time of enrollment at the University of Washington
  
• Meet all other academic requirements including a minimum of 30 graded credits
  
• Have the final prerequisite course in-progress at the departmental application deadline

Please note: if a prerequisite course is not offered at your current institution, you are still expected to have the course in-progress at the time of application. This does not apply to applicants studying at foreign universities in non-English speaking countries who do not have access to an English Composition course. For students studying in the US, many WA Community Colleges offer online equivalents to the prerequisite coursework.

The Prerequisite Exception Request Form for the spring and autumn 2027 admissions cycles will open in early November. To request a prerequisite exception, please ensure that you have submitted the Prerequisite Exception Request Form by 5:00 pm PT on the departmental application deadline date (January 15 for spring applicants; April 5 for autumn applicants). We recommend submitting the form early, as soon as you can provide proof of enrollment in your final prerequisite course!

You will not be able to submit your application without an approved substitution. If you are filling-out this form close to the departmental application deadline, please complete all other sections and questions in your application by the 5:00 pm PT application deadline. Someone from the Undergraduate Student Services Team will submit your application on your behalf if your request is approved.

Questions about our undergraduate program? Contact our Recruitment Team at
outreach@cs.washington.edu

Questions about the UW transfer application? Contact the UW Office of Admissions at
askuwadm@uw.edu

Additional support through Multicultural Outreach & Recruitment is available for all applicants, but may be particularly supportive for students who identify low-income, first-generation college students, American Indian/Alaska Native, students from underrepresented backgrounds, or foster care youth. Contact the UW Multicultural Outreach & Recruitment Team at reach@uw.edu

No, the completion of an associate’s degree is not required for admission to the University of Washington or the Allen School. However, most successful transfer students have around two years of college coursework completed.

No, there is no minimum GPA required to apply. However, transfer admission to the Allen School is competitive. Most Washington state resident transfer admits have a GPA of 3.75+ and most domestic non-resident & international admits have a GPA of 3.9+. However, more recent coursework, particularly in prerequisite subject areas, carries additional weight in our admissions review. Students with strong recent grades may still be highly competitive for transfer admissions. We understand that each transfer applicant has a unique story behind their transcript and encourage students to share their academic journey in the departmental application’s personal statement.

No. Due to extremely high demand for our program from first-time bachelor’s students, the Allen School does not accept applicants from students looking for a second bachelor’s degree (i.e., post-baccalaureate applications for a bachelor’s degree).

Yes, transfer applicants are required to submit unofficial college/university transcripts from each institution attended for the Allen School departmental application. Academic credits do not expire and an applicant’s entire academic record will be considered in the transfer departmental application admission review process. The University of Washington does not practice grade forgiveness. Failure to disclose and submit unofficial transcripts from all colleges/universities attended, even if no credit was earned, may result in denial of admission or dismissal from the UW.

The writing prompts for the UW transfer application are completely separate from the Allen School departmental application. The UW transfer application writing section is written as one long-form essay while the Allen School departmental application asks students to respond to short response questions.

That being said, there is significant overlap in the questions and students are encouraged to reuse information where appropriate. The Allen School transfer admissions committee will not have access to your UW personal statement, so you may repeat as much information as you’d like. Please do not refer back to your UW essay and please do include all relevant information in both essays.

Yes! Students who have applied to the Allen School previously, whether through the transfer pathway or through the first-year DTM admissions pathway, can be considered for Allen School transfer admissions. Your previous admissions decision will not impact future reviews of your application and we will not check to see if you’ve applied before.

That being said, we do not recommend reapplying to the Allen School more than once. There are plenty of incredible computing-related programs available at UW and at other institutions in Washington state that we would encourage you to consider.

Transfer students who are accepted to the University of Washington and accept the offer of admission are eligible for scholarships and financial aid. The Allen School offers departmental scholarships for undergraduate students including incoming transfer students – See Student Resources. For questions about financial aid, please refer to the UW Office of Student Financial Aid’s website.