When you are ready to apply you may go to the application at the Grad School Admissions and Program Information Portal, which will guide you through the materials required by the University, as well as program-specific required documents.
All applicants must submit GRE scores. You will be asked to report your scores as well as having official scores sent by ETS (institution code 2660).
Scientific Writing Sample. Please submit a document you wrote alone or took the lead in writing. For example: a literature review, an honor's thesis, or a manuscript published, accepted for publication, or submitted for publication. For international students, your writing sample must be in English. Submissions will not be returned.
A copy (front and back) of all official transcripts/documents from all post-secondary institutions attended. Only a photocopy is needed at the initial application stage, official verification will be required before a student is permitted to enroll.
Curriculum Vitae or Resume
Statement of Professional and Career Plans. This statement should not exceed 3 pages (double spaced) in length. The statement should address the following questions: (1) Why are you interested in Penn State's HDFS program? (2) What are your professional and career plans? (3) How will your educational/research experiences at Penn State contribute to your career plans? (4) Which faculty members in HDFS are you interested in working with and why?
Three letters of recommendation. Letter writers will submit their letters directly to the application portal. Letter writers should be individuals who can attest to your academic skills, readiness for graduate school, and potential for success.
TOEFLor IELTS scores, can also be submitted electronically to Penn State by the administering agency. All international applicants whose first language is not English or who have not received baccalaureate or master's degrees from an institution in which the language of instruction is English, must take the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) examination. A TOEFL score of 550 on the paper test is required for admission. If you take the iBT (internet-based TOEFL test), the minimums are 80 (total score) and 19 (speaking). The minimum composite score for the IELTS is 6.5.