Admissions Requirements

Prerequisites

The MPS/SCM curriculum is designed for working supply chain management professionals. Accordingly, successful applicants will normally have, before the start of their first semester, at least two years' post baccalaureate work experience in supply chain management or a closely allied field. Additionally, the applicant's baccalaureate degree should be in business, engineering, economics, information sciences, or a related field.

To assure a smooth transition into the curriculum prospective students should have Microsoft Office Excel skills, knowledge of business statistics, and an understanding of basic accounting and microeconomic terms and principles.

Prospective students who need to develop or improve Microsoft Office Excel skills, business statistics (quantitative methods), mathematics for management, and/or financial accounting skills may benefit from the self-paced, individual eLearning courses offered by Harvard Business School Publishing. You can register for any or all four courses, and receive a substantial discount, by doing the following:

1. Turn off all pop-up blockers.
2. Go to http://elearninghome.hbsp.org to register for a course.
3. Click on the "Sign up here" link found under New Users.
4. Fill out the required information, including Organization ID 00053166, to be properly associated with your course. You may choose a username and password of your choice.
5. Click "Find" to see what's available in your Learning Catalog.
6. Select "Register".
7. Click "Confirm." You will then be prompted for payment.
8. Proceed with payment and click "Complete Registration." Your registration is now complete and your course should appear on your enrollments.

If you experience technical difficulty, please contact Harvard's Technical Support Group: 1-800-810-8858 (outside the U.S. and Canada, 1-617-783-7700) or techhelp@hbsp.harvard.edu.  Their business hours are: Monday - Friday, 8am - 8pm ET.

Prospective students may also gain prerequisite skill and knowledge by taking appropriate course work at local colleges or universities or online via Penn State World Campus (www.worldcampus.psu.edu).

Application Process

All items listed in the application checklist, other than official transcripts, should be submitted electronically via Penn State's World Campus online application process.  Deadlines for all materials are found in the Application and Deadlines portion of this web site.

Official transcripts should be mailed to the following address:

Tami Barnes
Department of Supply Chain and Information Systems
Smeal College of Business
489A Business Building
University Park, PA 16802

Application Checklist

Please submit each of the following items:

• A complete application (including $65 Graduate School application fee). The application must be submitted electronically following the directions provided in the application.
• A short, one to two page resume. Submit by uploading to the electronic application.
• A statement (two page maximum) that describes your professional goals, experience, and responsibilities. Submit by uploading to the electronic application.
• One letter of recommendation that addresses the applicant’s professional capabilities and readiness for graduate study. Recent work or military supervisors are preferred. Submit by uploading to the electronic application. (Please note that the Graduate School application indicates 3 letters of recommendation are to be submitted.  However, only 1 letter of recommendation is required.)
• Two official transcripts for all graduate and undergraduate coursework completed at an accredited institution with English translation (literal) of records not in English.  You may request that transcripts are sent directly from the institution to the Penn State address given above.  We  recommend you also request to be notified when the transcripts are actually sent.
• Applicants must take the Official Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) and have scores reported directly from the testing center to Penn State. The GMAT must be taken no more than five years prior to the application. Applicants to our program represent diverse educational and employment backgrounds, and the GMAT provides a common assessment standard. Requiring the GMAT for Master of Professional Studies in Supply Chain Management applicants helps assure that all master's degree students are well qualified. To learn about test centers and schedules, or to request that a previously taken GMAT score be reported to Penn State, please go to www.mba.com. The GMAT program code for the Smeal College of Business Master of Professional Studies in Supply chain Management is ZZ8-HD-64.
• English Proficiency - The language of instruction at Penn State is English. All international applicants must take and submit official scores for the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) or the IELTS (International English Language Testing System), with the exceptions noted below. Please see the information on registering for exams and for reporting scores.
  
  The minimum acceptable score for the TOEFL is 550 for the paper-based test, 213 for the computer-based test, or a total score of 80 with a 19 on the speaking section for the Internet-based test (iBT). The minimum composite score for the IELTS is 6.5. 
  
  International applicants are exempt from the TOEFL/IELTS requirement who have received a baccalaureate or a master's 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.

While it is preferred that all items except the official transcripts are submitted electronically via the World Campus on-line application process, occasionally applicants have had difficulty uploading their resume, statement of professional goals, or letter of recommendation to the electronic application. If you run into this difficulty, then please e-mail the items to Tami Barnes at tbarnes@psu.edu or send the items by surface mail to the address given above. If you e-mail the items, then please use the following format for the subject line of the e-mail: Application materials for the MPS program – Your last name, your first name. In the body of the e-mail, please be certain to indicate the items that are attached to the e-mail.

Acceptance Process

Students applying to the Master of Professional Studies in Supply Chain Management (MPS/SCM) degree program must be admitted by both the MPS/SCM program and the Graduate School at Penn State. The Graduate School requires U.S. applicants to have a baccalaureate degree from an accredited institution earned under residence and credit conditions substantially equivalent to those required by Penn State. (Penn State is accredited by the by the Middle State Association of Colleges and Schools). International applicants must have a tertiary (postsecondary) degree that is deemed comparable to a four-year U.S. bachelor's degree to apply for admission. This degree must be from an officially recognized degree-granting institution in the country in which it operates.

The Graduate School will notify the applicant whether or not they meet the Graduate School requirement for a baccalaureate degree.  Please note however, that acceptance to the Graduate School is not the same as acceptance to the MPS/SCM program. Separate correspondence will be sent from the MPS/SCM program office indicating whether or not an applicant has been accepted to the MPS/SCM program.

Review of applications for Fall admission will begin Spring 2013. All applications and required materials must be submitted no later than June 17th.