Before You Apply

We recommend reviewing the Where to Begin page located on the Graduate School website. 

To be considered for graduate admission to The University of Texas at Austin, you must meet both the minimum requirements set by the Graduate School and the requirements of the GOV PhD program. 

If you are an international student applying to the GOV PhD program, there is a page dedicated to International Student applicants. This page covers submitting transcripts and additional test scores such as the TOEFL and IELTS. We also suggest you visit the International Student and Scholars (ISSS) page.

We recommend that you begin your application a few weeks before the application deadline.

Give your recommenders plenty of lead time when requesting letters of recommendation. You must submit the online application before your recommenders receive the e-mail directing them to submit their recommendation letter. 

You can submit your online application here:  Graduate School Application for Admission

After submitting your online application, you will receive an email within 2-3 business days with instructions on how to access MyStatus. Be sure to check MyStatus regularly. It is the only way to know if anything is missing from your admissions file. 

When filling out the online application, be sure to provide an e-mail address that will be active until the end of May 2026. If you change e-mail addresses, please email the gov-PhDadmissions@austin.utexas.edu.  

To preview the entire application process, please refer to the How to Apply for Graduation Admission page published by the Office of Graduate Admission.