MLIS: Prepare to Apply Online

The online application opens annually by September 1st. Before you apply online, we recommend gathering the necessary information, preparing your personal statement and supplemental responses, and saving them as separate electronic documents. These steps will allow you to copy and paste your prepared statements into the online application. If you try to compose your answers online, the session may time out.  However note that you do not have to fill out your application in one setting; you can start the application soon after September 1st, fill in parts of it, then save it and return to it later.

You will be asked to enter the following information on the online application:

1. Test Scores

If you are applying to the MLIS program, you will be asked to enter your GRE scores on the Graduate School application. If you are applying to the Law MLIS program, you will be asked to enter your LSAT scores on the Information School application. (Law MLIS applicants need not submit the GRE.)

2. Resume or Curriculum Vitae

Upload an electronic copy of your curriculum vitae or résumé, in Microsoft Word, RTF, or PDF format. Your curriculum vitae or résumé should include the following information:

  • Work experience related to the library and information professions (include employer, position title, and dates of employment)
  • Other types of employment experience (include employer, position title, and dates of employment)
  • Involvement with volunteer, community, and/or diversity-related activities (include organization, position title , and dates of service) 
  • Relevant honors, awards, publications and presentations

3. Three Recommendations

On the UW Graduate School application you will be asked to provide names and contact information for three persons from whom you have requested recommendations. Your recommenders will be sent an e-mail prompt with instructions for submitting their letter of recommendation online once you activate their names as ready for the e-mail instructions. For this reason we recommend you start your application soon after September 1st - so your recommenders are given plenty of time to receive this e-mail prompt and write your letter.  (Note that once you start your application you can always save it and return to it later to finish filling it out.)  Requesting your letters of recommendation online will allow you to see when the letters have been submitted. Additional instructions are available within the online UW Graduate School application.

Request recommendations from three people who know you well and who are able to comment on your academic competence, ability to engage in graduate study, and potential for future success in the library and information science professions, or who can comment on your employment experience. Unless academic- or work-related, do not submit recommendations from family members, clergy, or friends.

Though we prefer that your recommenders submit their letters through the online option, they can also opt to send a letter via regular mail. If they choose this option, the recommendation should be written on company or organizational letterhead and sent with a completed MLIS Recommendation Cover Sheet, in pdf form below:

Recommenders who choose the regular mail option should send their letter to:

MLIS Admissions Committee
Information School
370 Mary Gates Hall, Box 352840
University of Washington
Seattle, WA 98195-2840

4. Program Delivery Mode Preference

The MLIS program is delivered in two modes: residential and online. *International students and Law MLIS students are only eligible to apply for the residential program.*

You will be asked to specify your preference for program mode. You will not be able to change your preference once you submit your online application or once you begin the program, and your application will only be considered for the modes you specify in your response.  Therefore, think carefully ahead of time what your preference is.  You will be asked to type in only one of the following choices:

  • Residential program only
  • Prefer residential, but would accept online
  • Either program
  • Prefer online, but would accept residential
  • Online program only

After you type in your preference, you may explain your choice in 50 words or less. 

5. Personal Statement of Educational and Professional Goals

Your statement should communicate to the Admissions Committee your aspirations for your future in the library and information science professions.  Among other things, it could discuss:

  • What you hope to accomplish from this program
  • Your reasons for choosing the Information School and our MLIS program
  • Your tentative career goals for your professional career
  • Your experience with information technology
  • Your leadership experience and potential for leadership in the profession 

We will use your personal statement to assess your writing ability.  Your Personal Statement should be between 750-1000 words.

The Information School believes that diversity contributes to the intellectual and social enrichment of the School. We welcome applicants who have varied cultural experiences and educationally or economically diverse backgrounds. If you wish to have these factors included in the review of your application, please include in your statement a section concerning relevant factors such as personal history, family background, and influences on your intellectual development. This statement could include cultural and educational opportunities (or lack thereof), social and economic disadvantages that you may have had to overcome, and the ways in which these experiences affected you.

6. Supplemental Question

A supplemental question will be required of you to answer.  For example, here is the 2010 question:

Please answer the following question in 100 words or less:

Imagine that sometime in the future a movie is being made about your life as an information professional.  What incidents from your life (past or projected) would it portray?  Who would play you in the movie, and why?

 

 

If you have questions about the application process, please contact the Information School’s Office of Student and Academic Services (OSAS) by e-mail at mlis@washington.edu or by phone at 206-543-1794.