How to Apply

Our online application allows you to fill out portions of the application, save your information, and go back in at a later date. A non-refundable application fee of $80 must be submitted by credit card immediately after submitting your application. See below the grid for more information on supporting materials. Admissions decisions are released on March 6, 2025 at 12 noon eastern time.

* - applies to international students    O - optional     † - required for Urban Design Concentration

The fall 2024 application is available here. An application fee of $80 must be paid at time of application submission.

Deadlines vary by program. Applications must be submitted by 11:59 PM eastern time.

• November 1, 2024: Certificate applications for spring 2025 enrollment
• December 12, 2024: MS in Architecture, PhD in Architecture, and PhD in City and Regional Planning
• January 3, 2025: Master of Architecture (M.Arch), MSD in Robotics and Autonomous Systems (MSD-RAS), MSD in Advanced Architectural Design (MSD-AAD), MSD in Environmental Building Design (MSD-EBD), and Master in Environmental Building Design (MEBD)
• January 8, 2025: Master of City Planning (MCP), Master of Landscape Architecture (MLA), Master of Urban Spatial Analytics (MUSA), Master of Fine Arts (MFA), MSD in Historic Preservation (MSD-HP), and MS in Historic Preservation (MSHP)
• February 3, 2025: Certificate applications for fall 2025 enrollment (Application will open January 1, 2025.)

You are required to upload transcripts from each college and university that you have attended for credit. This includes institutions where you have taken courses but did not receive a degree. You will need to submit separate transcripts for study abroad programs and transfer classes if your home institution did not report your grades, courses, and dates of attendance. Many transcripts only note that your home institution received the credits, but we will need to see the specific courses and grades you received for these classes.

Your transcripts must include the following:

• All courses attended and grades received
• Proof of degree conferral (if applicable)
• Date of degree conferral (if applicable)

Applicants who have attended institutions outside the United States must upload transcripts or certified attestations of study. If these documents are not written in English, certified English translations are required. Once translated, the original transcript as well as the certified translation should be scanned into one file and uploaded to the online application.

Current Penn students must upload an unofficial Penn transcript.

We will accept unofficial transcripts for the application review process. If admitted and you choose to enroll, official transcripts will be required.

Our online application will not accept or properly display encrypted or password-protected documents. Official electronic transcripts (e-transcripts) must be printed first, then scanned and uploaded.

Admitted Candidates

Applicants are required to send official transcripts and/or course-by-course evaluations from their previous institutions to the Weitzman School of Design ONLY if they are admitted and decide to enroll. Directions for submission of these documents is as follows.

US Institutions and Canadian AAU-Affiliated Schools – Official Transcripts

If you are admitted and plan to enroll in the Weitzman School of Design, you must have one official transcript from each college or university attended for credit sent directly to the Weitzman School of Design. 

Official transcripts may be sent electronically directly from the issuing institution to admissions@design.upenn.edu or by mail to Weitzman School of Design Office of Admissions, 110 Meyerson Hall, 210 South 34th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6311. Please make sure your transcript is sent to the Weitzman School of Design, not the general University of Pennsylvania.

Non-US Institutions (except Canadian AAU-Affiliated Schools) – Course-by-Course Evaluations

If you are admitted and plan to enroll in the Weitzman School of Design and are completing undergraduate and/or graduate degrees from institutions outside of the United States or have completed more than one year of study for credit at a non-US institution, you are required to submit a either a BASIC course-by-course evaluation from World Education Services (WES) or a course-by-course evaluation from Educational Perspectives for each institution. You do not need to send us an official transcript from your school. Credentials received via the WES or Educational Perspectives service are considered official. Both services charge a fee to evaluate your credentials.

You do not need to submit this course-by-course evaluation if you have taken courses for one year or less, or if you have attended an AAU-affiliated school (McGill University or University of Toronto); however, you will need to submit an official paper or electronic transcript from that institution. If you are admitted to your program before you have received your degree(s), you may be required to submit a second evaluation or upgrade showing your conferred degree prior to entering the Weitzman School of Design in the fall. Note: There is an additional charge for this service.

Study Abroad Programs

If you are receiving a degree from a US college or university and have participated in a study abroad program, you do not need to submit a course-by-course evaluation for that program if the course names and grades from the program abroad appear on your main transcript. If the course names and grades from the exchange program do not appear on your main transcript and you attended the program for only one or two semesters, you may have the study abroad institution send us an official (paper) transcript instead of submitting a course-by-course evaluation. However, if the study abroad program was longer than two semesters, you must submit a course-by-course evaluation for the study abroad program in addition to your official main transcript.

Three letters of recommendation are required, with at least two from college instructors. Applicants who have been out of school for several years may submit recommendations from employers or others in a position to evaluate their professional abilities and academic potential. 

We accept up to four letters of recommendation. You will need to register your recommenders in our online application. All recommendations must be submitted through our online system; we do not accept paper or emailed recommendations.

Resume

All applicants must upload a resume including employment, activities, community service, education, and academic or professional honors.

Personal Statement

All applicants must upload a personal statement, no more than 500 words long, describing your background, interest in your field, and your academic and career objectives. You should be as specific as you can about the area in which you plan to study. If you are an MFA applicant, you should include your ideas, as well as the stylistic and conceptual priorities for your work.

Writing Sample

A writing sample is required for the Master in Environmental Building Design, MSD (Advanced Architectural Design, Environmental Building Design, Historic Preservation, and Robotics and Autonomous Systems), MS in Architecture, PhD, and MS in Historic Preservation programs. The writing sample should be an essay or research report in English about their field of specialization. 

MS in Historic Preservation applicants must submit an essay or research report related to Historic Preservation and/or the history of the built environment.

This writing sample can be a paper you have already written, or you can write a new sample specifically for the application. Your writing sample must be written by you in English. The writing sample may not be translated by an outside party, even if English is not your first language. Your writing sample should be no more than 10 pages.

Computing Skills and Software Proficiency Statement

A description of your computing skills and software proficiency is required for the Master in Environmental Building Design, MSD in Advanced Architectural Design, MSD in Environmental Building Design and MSD in Robotics and Autonomous Systems programs.

Research Statement

Applicants to the PhD programs must submit a research statement. In a statement of no more than 500 words, describe the area or field of study you propose, and if possible the topic or kinds of topic you would like to research, explaining the importance of such a study, and the ways in which you are prepared to undertake this research and writing.

Additional Essays

All master's and doctoral applicants must submit a community essay. Some programs require additional program-specific essays. The application will display the essays for the current application cycle.

Plan of Study

A plan of study is required for certificate and non-degree applications.

A digital portfolio is required for the following programs:

• Master of Architecture
• Master of City Planning - Urban Design concentration
• Master of Fine Arts
• Master of Science in Design (Advanced Architectural Design, Environmental Building Design, Historic Preservation, and Robotics and Autonomous Systems)
• Master in Environmental Building Design
• Master of Landscape Architecture
• Master of Science in Architecture
• PhD in Architecture
• Time-Based and Interactive Media Certificate
• Urban Design Certificate

A digital portfolio is optional for the following programs:

• Master of City Planning - Concentrations other than Urban Design
• MS in Historic Preservation
• Master of Urban Spatial Analytics

Important notes about the portfolio requirement:

• Paper portfolios will not be accepted, and if submitted, will not be returned.
• Website portfolios are not accepted.
• Once your application is submitted, you will not be able to edit or replace your portfolio.
• The cover page and table of contents page(s) do not count towards the portfolio page limit.
• Only Master of Fine Arts and Time-Based and Interactive Media applicants may upload videos. Uploaded videos from other programs will be deleted.
• All portfolios must adhere to the requirements below. The application system may allow you to upload additional or different items. Uploaded portfolios that do not meet the below requirements or additional materials will be deleted.

Architecture, MSD, MEBD, Landscape Architecture, and Urban Design Certificate Portfolios

The portfolio is a synopsis of one's creative work. As a visual essay, it tells a story of a person's interests, skills, and development over time. It should include projects that best express one's visual, spatial, and constructional abilities. These projects might include drawings, paintings, sculpture, or photography; graphic, industrial, or interior design; architectural, landscape, or urban design. The faculty who evaluate the portfolios look less for competence in architectural or landscape architectural design and more for a coherent demonstration of visual and spatial abilities expressed through a basic understanding of material and construction. 

Applicants to the MSD programs should include at least five fully developed projects done solely by the person submitting the portfolio; other group work can be added. If this is a school project, you must clearly identify the professor who led the project, along with their email and phone number. 

Student group work from applicants to the MLA programs is limited to 5 pages. Professional work from MLA applicants is limited to 2 pages and one letter of recommendation must be from the office in which the work was produced.  

The digital portfolio should be formatted as one PDF document no larger than 20 MB, with no more than 20 pages (maximum page size 10 x 12") or 10 pages (maximum 10 x 24") if you use spreads. The cover page and table of contents page(s) do not count towards the portfolio page limit. The digital portfolio should be optimized for viewing on a standard size computer screen. We suggest that you keep the format consistent. For instance, if you are using spreads, use all spreads. If you are using pages, don't mix in spreads. 

City Planning, MS in Historic Preservation, and MUSA Portfolios

Applicants with professional experience who wish to include examples of their professional work may do so, but are advised to limit these to projects in which they had principal design roles. If examples of collaborative projects are submitted, the applicant's contribution should be specifically described.

The digital portfolio should be formatted as one PDF document no larger than 20 MB, with no more than 20 pages (maximum page size 10 x 12") or 10 pages (maximum 10 x 24") if you use spreads. The cover page and table of contents page(s) do not count towards the portfolio page limit. The digital portfolio should be optimized for viewing on a standard size computer screen. We suggest that you keep the format consistent. For instance, if you are using spreads, use all spreads. If you are using pages, don't mix in spreads. 

Master of Fine Arts and Time-Based and Interactive Media Certificate

The portfolio should indicate your major interest, represent your best work, and demonstrate your abilities. At least half of the portfolio should consist of work completed in the last two years. Applicants may choose to provide still images and/or video. All work in the portfolio, including images and concepts, must be original material created by you, and should be identified as academic, professional, or personal. If professional or team projects are included in the portfolio, you must clearly identify your specific role and responsibility in the production of the project. Labels and writing should clearly explain the work.

Still Images

The digital portfolio should be formatted as one PDF document no larger than 20 MB. The digital portfolio should be optimized for viewing on a standard size computer screen. The portfolio should contain a total of 20 RGB JPEGs. To describe your work, include an image list on your PDF that lists and describes your images. The list should be headed with your name and list the image number, title, date, medium, and dimensions of each work.

Video Submissions

We will accept up to 5 video links only for the Master of Fine Arts and Time-Based and Interactive Media Certificate programs. Each video can be up to 10 minutes long. It is acceptable to provide excerpts if videos are longer than 10 minutes. After uploading the video, please provide the year, size, medium, and description in the “Edit Details” section of your portfolio.

All applicants will receive an email invitation to complete an optional video interview after submission. The video interview must be submitted within one week of your program’s application deadline. While the video interview is optional, it can positively impact your application. All applicants are strongly encouraged to submit the video interview, especially if your native language is not English (even if you attend an English-speaking institution).

The PhD and MFA programs require interviews. The program will contact you directly if your application progresses to the interview stage.

Other programs may contact you for informal interviews to learn more about your interests and skills.

Graduate Record Examination (GRE)

GRE scores are required of applicants to the following programs:

• PhD in City and Regional Planning

GRE scores are not required of applicants to the following programs:

• Master of Architecture
• Master of City Planning
• Master of Fine Arts
• Master of Science in Historic Preservation
• MSD programs (Advanced Architectural Design, Historic Preservation, Robotics and Autonomous System, Environmental Building Design)
• Master of Landscape Architecture
• Master of Urban Spatial Analytics
• Master in Environmental Building Design
• Master of Science in Architecture
• PhD in Architecture

For applicants whose programs require the GRE: 

Registration is available through the Educational Testing Service (ETS) at www.gre.org. Official test scores must be sent by ETS to the University of Pennsylvania Weitzman School of Design. Use institution code 1175 to request your scores; you do not need a departmental code. We are unable to retrieve scores sent to the wrong institution code. GRE scores are valid for five years. We do not accept scores older than five years. We suggest a minimum score of 160 for Verbal, 148 for Quantitative, and 4.5 for Analytical Writing. These are not cut off scores; we look at all of your supporting material when evaluating your application.

English Language Proficiency Scores

Applicants whose native language is not English and whose undergraduate training of at least four years* has not been conducted in English must submit an English language proficiency test. 

*The English language proficiency requirement will be waived for applicants who received a three year undergraduate degree, as long as the entire degree was conducted in English.  

We accept the IELTS, Duolingo English Test, or TOEFL test (including the TOEFL iBT Special Home Edition offered by ETS). The IELTS, Duolingo, and TOEFL test are valid for two years. We do not accept any other English language proficiency test. 

Minimum Suggested Scores

• TOEFL: 100 total and a minimum of 25 in each section
• IELTS: 7 overall band score and a minimum of 7 on each section
• Duolingo: 135 total

Test Registration and Submitting Scores

Applicants may register for the IELTS at www.ielts.org, for the TOEFL at www.ets.org/toefl, and for the Duolingo English Test at www.englishtest.duolingo.com. Testing may be limited in some countries and territories. You should register for a test date well in advance of our application deadlines to ensure your scores will be received in time.

Candidates admitted to the Weitzman School of Design may be required to successfully complete an English Language Program prior to matriculation. They will be notified of this condition in their letter of admission. 

Please find information on submitting your scores below as they vary for each testing service. We are unable to retrieve scores sent to the wrong institution code.

• IELTS – Log in to your IELTS account and request scores be sent to "University of Pennsylvania Weitzman School of Design".
• TOEFL – Log in to your TOEFL iBT account and follow the prompts through “Order Score Reports.” Use institution code to request official TOEFL 2984. You do not need a departmental code, but if asked, enter 99.
• Duolingo – Log in to englishtest.duolingo.com with the email address you used to take the test. Scroll down to your certified test results and click the "SEND RESULTS" button. Once there, please select University of Pennsylvania Weitzman School of Design.