Standardized Admissions Deadlines
Starting with the 2027 Admissions Cycle, departmental application submission deadlines must be selected from the pre-approved list supplied by the Graduate Division. Please see the Mar 9, 2026 newsletter for the original announcement.
Below are the available deadlines for the 2027 admissions cycle, followed by some FAQs that may be helpful for departments. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the Graduate Admissions Team.
2027 Admissions Cycle Deadlines
DEADLINE | 2027 Cycle Deadline Date | Admit Quarters |
|---|---|---|
mid-October* | Friday, Oct 16, 2026 | winter only |
early November* | Wednesday, Nov 4, 2026 | winter only |
mid-November | Wednesday, Nov 18, 2026 | spring, summer, fall |
early December | Wednesday, Dec 2, 2026 | spring, summer, fall |
mid-December | Wednesday, Dec 16, 2026 | spring, summer, fall |
early January | Wednesday, Jan 6, 2027 | spring, summer, fall |
mid-January | Friday, Jan 15, 2027 | summer, fall |
early February | Wednesday, Feb 3, 2027 | summer, fall |
mid-February | Thursday, Feb 18, 2027 | summer, fall |
early March | Wednesday, Mar 3, 2027 | summer, fall |
mid-March | Wednesday, Mar 17, 2027 | summer, fall |
early April | Thursday, Apr 1, 2027 | summer, fall |
mid-April | Thursday, Apr 15, 2027 | summer, fall |
early May | Friday, Apr 30, 2027 | summer, fall |
mid-May | Friday, May 14, 2027 | summer, fall |
Additional Dates Reference
FAQs
Why has the process changed?
The standardization of application submission deadlines across all graduate programs ensures that deadlines do not fall on recognized federal, state, or campus holidays or on weekends. In addition, Graduate Division staff will carefully plan these dates each year so as to allow at least two business days immediately preceding the application deadline whenever possible. Dates will also be selected specifically to align as closely as possible with those deadlines that have historically been most popular.
Ultimately, the policy aims to address the following priorities and goals:
Ensure Graduate Division and departmental staff availability to support applicants during high-traffic periods
Reduce pressure on staff during and immediately following holidays and weekends
Allow departments to maintain existing internal admissions review timelines
Provide timely updates and clarity to applicants on pending fee waiver requests and payment submission processes (for example, in the event that a fee waiver is not approved)
How do we indicate which deadline we’d like to use for our program?
The Graduate Division will begin collecting departmental admissions details for the upcoming 2027 cycle in April 2026. Your deadline selections will be requested as part of the regular annual department admissions updates. Instead of indicating a specific date you’d like for your program deadline, you will be able to choose from the above provided options.
How does this work for priority deadlines? What if we have differing deadlines for our PhD versus our Master’s programs?
You are welcome to set multiple deadlines for your department based on a specific program or based on a priority or fellowship deadline. The department will still need to choose from the approved deadlines list. Then, you will need to indicate the specific purpose of each selected deadline, as in prior years.
For example, the Department of Mythology could say they are choosing the early-December date as their priority deadline for all degree objectives, the mid-December date as the final deadline for their PhD program, and the early January date as the final deadline for their Master’s program. This would look like:
PhD & MA priority deadline: early Dec
PhD final deadline: mid-Dec
MA final deadline: early Jan