Application Deadlines

• Spring Admission: December 8
• Summer Admission: April 15, March 15 for international applicants
• Fall Admission: August 1, July 1 for international applicants

* All applications materials must be received in our office by the application deadline.

Application

Applications may only be submitted through our online application system. Click button to begin:

An application must contain all of the following in order to be considered complete:

• Completed application
• Current resume
• Non-refundable application fee of $70.00 (Make checks payable to the Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania).
• Application essays
• Official transcripts from each post-secondary school attended, sent directly to LPS address at left
• Standardized test scores, if applicable
• Two letters of recommendation from close professional or academic associates

Application Essays

Please respond to each of the following questions. If you are submitting your essays online, please upload them together in one document. Number your essays clearly and begin each essay on a separate page. Responses may be as long or as short as you feel necessary.

1. Have you ever been placed on probation, dismissed or suspended from any college or university for reasons pertaining to academic integrity? Yes/No
   If yes, please include any facts that you believe bear on the significance of this circumstance.
2. In a 350-word essay, discuss your interest in the MLA program and your reasons for wanting to enroll, drawing on your previous academic experiences, your current intellectual interests, and including any biographical information which may be relevant.
3. To help up advise you, identify as concisely as possible the topical area, intellectual problem, or set of issues you hope to explore within the MLA program.
4. If you believe your transcripts and other records do not present an accurate picture of your ability, please explain.
5. Describe an experience, event, or person that has been important to you in your development.
6. Is there other information about yourself that you consider important which has not been covered in the previous questions?

Letters of Recommendation

You must submit two letters of recommendation. Those letters should come from persons with whom you have had a close professional or academic association, and who know of your desire to enter the MLA program. Recommendations may be submitted online or by mail. For online recommendations, please follow the instructions in the Recommendations section of the online application. For paper recommendations, please print a copy of the University of Pennsylvania’s College of General Studies Official Recommendation Form and supply a copy to each recommender. The form can be downloaded here.

Standardized Test Scores

Standardized test scores are not required. However, you You may opt to submit standardized test scores such as the GRE. Use ETS code 2986 when requesting test scores.

Use the ETS code (2986) when requesting TOEFL scores. If the medium of instruction for your undergraduate degree was not English, you must submit the TOEFL.

Submit TOEFL scores if English is not your first language. Use the ETS code (2986) when requesting TOEFL scores. Applicants who have completed post-secondary work in an institution where the instruction was in English do not have to submit TOEFL scores.

Interview

An interview is required for all applicants under serious consideration for admission. If it is inconvenient for you to come to campus, we can arrange a telephone interview. After a complete application is received and reviewed, candidates under further consideration are invited to interview with a member of the Admissions Committee. Admissions decisions are generally made within two weeks of the interview.