How to apply

You may apply at any time. However, if the spaces on the relevant program have already been filled for the year, your application may not be reviewed until the following year. Therefore, you are encouraged to apply early. Faculty in most programs begin to consider applicants for Fall admission in December of the preceding year (e.g. December 2007 for admission in Fall 2008). You should also check the "Admissions Requirements" page for the program(s) you are interested in, to see if there are program-specific deadlines.

1. Submit a Penn State Graduate School application and pay the associated application fee

• Complete the online Penn State Graduate School application form at http://gradsch.psu.edu/portal/ (you may want to open this link in a new window). If you are applying to a graduate program that is offered at both University Park and Hershey campuses, you will need to select just one of these to complete the application form. Please select the campus where courses and faculty are likely to be of most interest to you. All students are admitted to one campus; however, if your program is offered on two campuses, you will be able to participate in laboratory rotations on the other campus, and you may be able to switch campuses should it turn out your advisor of choice is located on a different campus to you.
• Make sure you pay the $45 application fee. Applications without fee payment cannot be processed. You can pay the fee online by credit card (follow the instructions associated with the online Graduate School application form). If you are unable to pay online, see the instructions on the Application Fee Payment Form about how to send payment by check or money order.

2. Submit a Huck Institutes supplemental application form

Once you have completed a Penn State Graduate School application (step 1 above), complete this supplemental application form online. (To access this form you need the same username and password you used to complete the Penn State Graduate School application; this is a Friends of Penn State Account or Access Account.)

Among other things, this supplemental form asks for a statement of purpose describing your motivation, goals and preparation for study in the degree program to which you are applying.

3. Mail us an application packet

Prepare an application packet consisting of the following documents (note: please do not send unsolicited materials, e.g. copies of publications, with your application packet):

• Your resumé / curriculum vitae.
• Letters of recommendation from three people who can testify to your academic credentials. There is no set form for the letters of recommendation. Recommenders may discuss academic record, research experience, overall aptitude for graduate study, or any other information relevant to your qualifications and application. Each recommendation must be in an envelope with the recommender's signature across the seal.
• Two official transcripts from each higher education institution you have attended. If you need to obtain transcripts, you can download a Transcript Request Form (2 formats are available: View and Print or Type On and Print). If your institution does not issue transcripts, you must submit official or attested university records, with certified translations if these are not in English. Notarized copies are not sufficient.
• GRE (Graduate Record Exam) scores for the General Test and for any subject tests required by the program to which you are applying. Please request ETS (Educational Testing Services) to send your official scores to The Pennsylvania State University's Graduate School (Institution code R2660), labeled with the "department code" of the program to which you are applying (for details of what this code should be, see the "Admission requirements" page of the relevant program).
• Official notification of TOEFL or IELTS score. With some exceptions (noted below), international candidates are required to take the TOEFL (Test Of English as a Foreign Language) or the IELTS (International English Language Testing System) and submit the results of the test with application for admission. Please ask for your official scores to be sent to The Pennsylvania State University's Graduate School, and enclose a photocopy of the test score report with your application packet. International applicants are exempt from the TOEFL/IELTS requirement who have received a baccalaureate or a masters degree from a college/university/institution in any of the following: Australia, Belize, British Caribbean and British West Indies, Canada (except Quebec), England, Guyana, Republic of Ireland, Liberia, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, Scotland, the United States and Wales.
• International students. If you are not a U.S. citizen or permanent resident, please include a completed Application for Visa Document (pdf download) and any associated documentation. To fill out the financial certification:
• Please specify any support from your own funds (#1) and family funds (#2).
• If you are applying for a PhD program and do not have your own funding, a scholarship, government funding or other sponsorship, at #4 you may write "Anticipate funding from Penn State [insert name of program] Program"; please leave the amount blank. For the section entitled "Anticipated source and amount of support for the subsequent years of study", you may write "Anticipate funding from Penn State [insert name of program] Program"; please leave the amount blank.

Mail this application packet to:

Admissions Committee, [insert name of program] Program

Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences

The Pennsylvania State University

201 Life Sciences Building

University Park, PA 16802-5807

USA

Please note

The graduate programs and Penn State Graduate School are committed to verification of application materials. Therefore please ensure that all of your documents (transcripts, diplomas, letters of recommendation, test scores, etc.) can be readily verified as being accurate and authentic. Admission is granted jointly by the Penn State Graduate School and the relevant program.