The current UW Student admission pathways is for students who complete prerequisites before applying to the major. Most often these students would be 'interest changers' - students who came to UW with another interest in mind and later developed a passion for computer science and computer engineering. UW students apply to both Computer Engineering and Computer Science through a joint online application for Autumn or Spring admission. Applicants who satisfy the minimum prerequisites below will be given thorough consideration by the Allen School Admission Committee. However, because demand exceeds capacity, the Allen School cannot offer admission to all applicants who meet these minimum qualifications.
Applicants must be enrolled at the UW Seattle campus.
Personal Statement Review Resources▼
If you would like to discuss course planning or have other admission questions, please attend Quick Questions to chat with an Allen School Academic Adviser (held Tu, W, & Th). Additionally, all prospective students are highly encouraged to attend a current UW student information session, held on the second Tuesday of each month via Zoom.
Please reach out to ugrad-adviser@cs.washington.edu if you have any questions.
The Allen School accepts applications for students to start in both Autumn and Spring quarters, we do not have Winter or Summer admission cycles. Please note: the Allen School departmental application is typically open for about 2 weeks prior to the application deadlines.
Allen School Application Deadline:
January 15* Extended to January 16 at 5:00 PM PST for Spring 2024
Allen School Application Deadline:
July 1st
Allen School admission decisions will be sent by February 15th.
Allen School admission decisions will be sent early August.
We offer different types of information sessions to support prospective students applying through the current UW student admissions pathway.
Students interested in applying to Computer Science or Computer Engineering must complete at least 30 graded credits (not from AP/IB) and complete the prerequisites listed below by the time of application. Applicants must submit an online application through the application portal, write a personal statement, and fill out a work history section outlining their work & extracurricular involvement.
The Computer Science major is offered through the College of Arts & Sciences. Students applying to this major must complete the following requirements prior to the application deadline:
Computer Engineering is an ABET-accredited program offered through the College of Engineering. Students applying to the Computer Engineering major must complete the following requirements prior to the application deadline:
How is the personal statement evaluated, and what should I discuss in my personal statement?
Our evaluations for all parts of the application are holistic, we consider the whole person, which comes out in the essay, versus just considering grades. We do not provide specific feedback on an applicant's personal statement. However, we provide below an overview of what we ask you to discuss in the personal statement:
Please address all the required topics below. Your responses must be formatted in sections with these exact headings. The response under each heading should be no more than 250 words.
What are some resources I can use to help me write a strong personal statement?
A good essay conveys important information clearly, but is still concise. Expect that writing your personal statement will take time: start thinking about your essay and writing drafts well before the application deadline. Plan to have your essay reviewed by a mentor/teacher, parent or friend.
Here are some resources to consult to ensure you submit a statement of the highest quality.
What are my chances of admission?
There are always more qualified applicants than space available in our programs. Therefore, our process is competitive, and we must deny admission to some students with good academic records. We typically have space for approximately 25-35% of all students who apply however this number changes depending on increases in funding. It's also important to note that we do not admit differently between Computer Science and Computer Engineering, we consider all applications together and admit without taking specific major into account. The admit rate in 2020 was 28% (113 admitted/402 applied), in 2021 it was 30% (165 admitted/554 applied), in 2022 it was 30% (134 admitted /444 applied), in 2023 it was 33% (165 admitted /495 applied) and in 2024 it was 32% (168 admitted/522 applied)
All applications are reviewed by the Allen School Undergraduate Admission Committee, comprised of faculty and advisers. We use an evaluative, rather than a quantitative, process in our admission review. This means our decisions are based on more than simply which applicants have the highest grades. We do not tally up points; rather, we form an overall evaluation based on academic background and other factors, such as outside interests and activities, evidence of leadership and a sense of direction, and life experience. We do not expect all students to excel across the board, but achievement in relevant academic areas or evidence of overcoming hardships can strengthen an application.
What factors are considered in the review process?
Here are some points to keep in mind about the Allen School admission process:
How are applications to the Allen School evaluated?
Allen School applications are reviewed by a committee of Allen School faculty and staff. We have a rubric that our faculty and staff are trained to follow to ensure that we are reviewing all applications consistently. Generally speaking, we evaluate two pieces of an application: the academic record (grades in prerequisite subject areas and overall grade trends) and the answers to the essay questions. While the rubric provides general guidelines for reviewers, we do have a method for flagging applications that don’t fit the rubric or have other information that needs to be captured during our discussion.
We know that students are curious about how we evaluate applications. Therefore we provide the rubric here for past cycles. You should, however, take note that using this to prepare for an upcoming cycle may not be in your best interest as this rubric is changed and updated every year. The new essay questions or evaluation materials are posted by Nov 15th each year.
Although we post the rubric publicly, please note that we do not conduct any pre-evaluations of a student's application. The best way to prepare an upcoming application is to (1) address all the essay questions thoughtfully, carefully, and substantively and (2) do your best academically in all your coursework. We also highly recommend that all prospective students attend an information session to learn more about the Allen School and our evaluation process. These information sessions are free and open to the public. You can find more about our information sessions online.
What should I do if I am not admitted?
Students applying to the Allen School should consider alternative degree options as well. UW offers many other excellent computing-related majors that are far more than "back-up" plans. Choose a major you enjoy and that will help further your personal, academic, and professional goals. Students in any major may take non-major Allen School courses to build technical skills.
For some students who are denied admission to the Allen School on their first application, applying a second time may make sense. Reapplying does not automatically improve your chance of admission. You must identify what specifically kept you from being competitive the first time, and resolve these issues. Note, however, that the primary reason most students are denied is that space is limited; the Allen School denies many very strong applicants and sometimes there is no specific issue.
For students who decide to reapply, here are some things to consider:
