Admission Requirements

Application Components

• Application Form
• Application Fee ($65)
• Official College Transcripts
• GRE Score Report
• TOEFL or IELTS Score Report
• Letter of Financial Support
• Statement of Purpose
• Letters of Recommendation (3)
• Resume/CV
• Portfolio (optional, but highly recommended)

Application Fee

The application fee for the program is $65 US dollars. The fee can be paid by credit card through the online application or by check and sent by mail. If you pay by check please may check payable to Carnegie Mellon University and mail to the MPD admissions office.

College Transcripts

All applicants are required to submit "unofficial" transcripts from all undergraduate and graduate institutions they have attended into the Apply Yourself system by the application deadline. These scanned copies must be legible and in English. If you are admitted to the program and decide to enroll, then "official" hard-copy transcripts must be mailed directly from the issuing institutions to the MPD admissions office. Click on the CONTACT US tab for our mailing address. Please note that your admission is conditional until your final "official" transcript is approved.

GRE Score Report

Applicants are required to take the GRE test and request an official GRE score report be sent by ETS directly to the MPD admissions office. For the score report to be "official", it be sent by ETS to the MPD admissions office. The GRE codes for the program are as follows: Institution code = 2074, Department code = 1502. We also recommend that applicants upload a unofficial copy of these scores into their online application.

TOEFL or IELTS Score Reports

International applicants whose native language of their home country of citizenship is not English, are required to take the TOEFL test and request an official TOEFL score report be sent by ETS directly to the MPD admissions office. For the score report to be "official", it must be sent by ETS to the MPD admissions office. The TOEFL codes for the program are as follows: Institution code = 2074, Department code = 68. We also recommend that applicants upload an unofficial copy of these scores into their online application. Although the TOEFL test is preferred, we will also accept the submission of official IELTS scores.

Letter of Financial Support

International applicants may also include a letter of financial support with their application. If admitted, applicants will be required to submit an "official" document to Carnegie Mellon's Office of International Education (OIE) as proof of funding in order to obtain immigration paperwork.

Statement of Purpose

The Statement of Purpose is a 1-2 page document (1000 words or less) that answers the following questions:

• What are your reasons for applying to the MPD program at Carnegie Mellon University?
• How will your education, experiences and graduate training in the MPD program help you fulfill your professional goals?
• Why are you a great candidate for the program?

Letters of Recommendation (3)

Applicants are required to submit 3 letters of recommendation. Letters are typically submitted by professors, work supervisors, or mentors who you have studied with, worked for or partnered with and who know you, your skills, strengths, capabilities, etc...Recommenders can submit their letters through the Apply Yourself system or to us directly via email. Once you've created an application in the system you will be asked for the email addresses of your writers. The system will take care of emailing each writer and later adding their letters to your application.

Resume/CV

Applicants are required to submit a current resume describing their educational and professional background. Resumes should be uploaded into the online application system.

Portfolio

A portfolio of work representing recent professional, academic or personal projects is highly recommended. We suggest including a range of projects that best demonstrate your skills, talents and interests and give us a sense of your problem solving abilities, visualization skills, and overall level of craftsmanship. Photographs, drawings, videos, and/or interactive presentations are all acceptable. For each piece submitted, include a brief description so we understand the project/challenge at hand and the solution/deliverable. If you include a collaborative work, make sure to identify your contributions. Quality is more important than quantity, but as a guide, 3-6 projects is sufficient. Portfolios should be digital, provided in formats that can be easily viewed on multiple operating systems (PDF or JPEG) and no larger than 1MB. You can upload your file directly into the Apply Yourself system, provide us a website link, or mail it to us on a CD.