Prospective Graduate Students

Chemical Engineering graduate studies at Penn State is based on a very flexible program designed to meet the divergent needs of students involved in a variety of research projects in the department. The requirements are kept to a minimum and the students are given a wide choice in developing their own programs of study. To facilitate this process, you will be provided with a handbook containing a description of all the existing departmental requirements. Additional regulations to meet the requirements of Penn State's Graduate School are described in the Graduate Bulletin and the Thesis Guide.

Admissions are done once a year, for the Fall semester. Applications received for the Spring semester are not always reviewed. We are primarily looking for Ph.D. students; admissions for the M.S. are rare and usually under special circumstances. We do not impose cut offs on GPA or test scores, but rather consider the application package as a whole.

The letters of recommendation are equally important to numerical indicators. You are asked to write a statement of purpose with the application, in which you may highlight other qualities not captured in the remainder of the application.

Applications are due Dec. 15, and admissions decisions are made by Jan 15 for domestic students and Feb 15 for international students. Applications of high quality for which offers are not made at that time are typically held until mid-April.

In designing their programs of study, students should pay particular attention to the general requirements listed below,

All Students

• Teaching
• Coursework
• Departmental seminars
• Graduate student colloquium
• Candidacy Examination
• Comprehensive Examination
• Dissertation Defense

International Students

• By the graduate school: American English Oral Proficiency Test
• By the chemical engineering department: English competency test

Note

The set of policies described in The Chemical Engineering Graduate Handbook are those currently in force. They are subject to changes as the chemical engineering discipline and hence our graduate program continue to evolve. The student has to make sure that he/she satisfies all the requirements that are in force at the time of his/her admission to the graduate program at Penn State.

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