When filing an application form, the student should specify the department or doctoral program subcommittee under which he or she wishes to study. In any given term, a student may apply for study under only one department or subcommittee.
Some departments require a sample of scholarly writing.
The Graduate School requires the submission of scores from the Graduate Record Examination General Test and recommends the submission of Subject Test scores for all applicants, regardless of whether the scores are required by the department to which a student is applying. GRE well in advance of the January admissions deadline. In order to guarantee consideration for Columbia-administered fellowships, complete applications must be received by January 3 for the fall semester. Applications received after this deadline and prior to April 30 will be considered for admission only at the discretion of the Graduate School. The M.A. is either a degree objective in itself or a degree in course offered by most doctoral programs.