Graduate and Professional School
Going on to graduate or professional school after earning your Notre Dame degree is a fantastic opportunity to branch out into a new area or dive in-depth into a subject you focused on as an undergraduate.
“While my education will never end because I will always be learning new things, what I do will always be shaped by the four years that I was here. They taught me so much about how to go about finding solutions, how to be a critical thinker, how to be a creative problem-solver, and how to be a really effective leader."
— Sarah McGough ’14
Anthropology major
Master's student, infectious disease epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health
The requirements for graduate and professional schools vary greatly, so meet with advisers in your department and in the Office of Undergraduate Studies to discuss what is needed in your area of study. Some graduate schools — such as medicine, economics, psychology, and fine arts — have prerequisites that you must plan for early.
A senior thesis is a great way to prepare for grad school — it shows your interests and it demonstrates your ability to do serious research and complete an impressive that you are capable of independent work.
The Flatley Center for Undergraduate Scholarly Engagement can help with funding for independent research — and applications for prestigious national fellowships and scholarships such as the Rhodes, Marshall, and Truman.
Recent Notre Dame Arts and Letters graduates have been admitted to prestigious law schools, including:
- Baylor University
- Boston College
- Boston University
- Catholic University of America
- Columbia University
- Cornell University
- Duke University
- Duquesne University
- Emory University
- Fordham University
- George Mason University
- George Washington University
- Georgetown University
- Indiana University
- New York University
- Northwestern University
- Ohio State University
- Southern Methodist University
- University of Arizona
- University of Chicago
- University of Georgia
- University of Illinois
- University of Iowa
- University of Michigan
- University of Minnesota
- University of North Carolina
- University of Pennsylvania
- University of Texas
- University of Virginia
- University of Wisconsin
- Vanderbilt University
- Villanova University
- Washington and Lee University
- Washington University in St. Louis
- Yale University
Notre Dame Arts and Letters students have also gone onto elite medical schools, including:
- Baylor University
- Brown University
- Case Western Reserve University
- Emory University
- Georgetown University
- Harvard University
- Indiana University
- Johns Hopkins University
- Michigan State University
- New York University
- Northwestern University
- Ohio State University
- State University of New York
- Tufts University
- University of Chicago
- University of Cincinnati
- University of Florida
- University of Iowa
- University of Kansas
- University of Michigan
- University of North Carolina
- University of Pennsylvania
- University of Rochester
- University of Southern California
- University of Texas
- University of Virginia
- University of Wisconsin
- Vanderbilt University
Notre Dame Arts and Letters majors have also been accepted into a wide array of Ph.D. programs across the country and around the world, including:
- African studies: Oxford University
- Anthropology: Emory University
- Archaeology: Arizona State University
- Art history: University of London
- Art therapy: Art Institute of Chicago
- Arts administration: Sotheby’s Institute of Art,
- Asian studies: UCLA
- Audiology: University of North Carolina
- Biochemistry: Université Paris Diderot
- Bioethics: Wake Forest University
- Biology: University of Washington
- Biophysics: Georgetown University
- Broadcast journalism: Syracuse University
- Business enterprise: Fordham University
- Chemical biology: Harvard University
- Chemistry: Stanford University
- Chinese: Jiao Tong University
- Classics: UCLA
- Clinical psychology: University of Michigan
- Clinical social work: Washington University
- Cognitive neuroscience: University of Arizona
- Community and regional planning: University of Texas at Austin
- Comparative politics, London School of Economics and Political Science
- Computer science: University of Pittsburgh
- Creative writing: Louisiana State University
- Criminology: American University
- Dance: Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance
- Dentistry: Columbia University
- Divinity: Duke University
- Earth and space sciences: University of Washington
- Economic geography: Johann Wolfgang Goethe University, Germany
- Economics: Brown University
- Education: Harvard University
- English: University of Chicago
- Environmental science: University College Dublin
- Epidemiology: University of Louisville
- Evolutionary biology: Harvard University
- Film: USC
- Finance: Case Western Reserve University
- French: New York University – Paris
- German: University of Wisconsin
- Global health: George Washington University
- Global policy: University of Texas at Austin
- Government: University of Texas
- History: University of Pennsylvania
- Human evolutionary studies: University of Cambridge
- Humanities: University of Chicago
- International public health: Johns Hopkins University
- International relations: Seoul National University
- International security: University of Denver
- Irish studies: Trinity College Dublin
- Islamic and Middle Eastern studies: Hebrew University of Jerusalem
- Italian: Ohio State University
- Journalism: Stanford University
- Leadership development: Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College
- Library science, Drexel University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- Library science: Drexel University
- Library science: University of Texas
- Literature: Queen Mary University, Rutgers University
- Literature: Rutgers University
- Literature: University of Southern California
- Mathematics: Cornell University
- Mathematics: Harvard University, University of Cambridge
- Medical sciences: University of South Florida
- Middle Eastern studies: Hebrew University of Jerusalem
- Modern art history: University of Edinburgh
- Museum studies, San Francisco State University
- Music education: Columbia University
- Music, University of Cincinnati
- Music: Cincinnati Conservatory of Music
- Nursing: Saint Louis University
- Nutrition and metabolism: Boston University
- Optometry: Ohio State University
- Pharmacy, Washington University in St. Louis
- Philosophy: University of Cambridge
- Physical therapy: Northwestern University
- Poetry: University of Iowa
- Political science: Princeton University
- Psychology: Northwestern University
- Public administration, Duke University
- Public health: Dartmouth College
- Public policy: University of California-Irvine
- Publishing: University of Denver
- Refugee and forced migration studies: University of Oxford
- Religion: Yale University
- Russian and Eurasian studies: European University, Russia
- Social work: University of Illinois
- Sociology: Rice University
- Theology: Yale University
- Urban planning: Georgetown University