Ph.D. Program Application Process

You must submit a completed application form via our online application system to be considered for admission to Heinz College. Heinz College does not charge an application fee.

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You must provide documentation of your completed undergraduate degree (a bachelor's degree or its equivalent) from a regionally accredited institution prior to matriculation. If you have not completed your bachelor's degree by the time you submit your application for admission to Heinz College, you may be admitted on the condition that you submit your final transcript, including your date of graduation, prior to the start of your first semester at Heinz College.

Heinz College PhD Programs expect all students to enter with a working knowledge of calculus (multivariable, differential, and integral calculus at the level covered in a university freshman calculus class). Other quantitative skills, such as linear algebra, undergraduate statistics and economics, and facility with computers, while not explicitly required, are used heavily by Heinz students. The expectations in terms of preparation may differ for the joint programs. You will be able to list all relevant coursework in your online application to assist our admissions committee as they review your official transcripts.

Click here for detailed instructions on submitting your transcript

You are required to submit valid test results from either the GRE (General Test) or the GMAT from within the last five years. The test scores must be reported directly to Heinz College by the testing service. We recommend that you take the GMAT or GRE at least one month prior to the application deadline. 

Click here for detailed instructions on submitting your standardized test scores

If your native language (mother tongue) is not English, you are required to submit an official score report from the TOEFL, IELTS, or the Duolingo English Test. The only exceptions are for

• students who have worked or studied for five or more years in Australia, Botswana, Canada, Eswatini (formerly Swaziland), Ghana, Ireland, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Singapore, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, United Kingdom, United States, and/or Zambia.
• students who studied for 4 years of their undergrad education in the United States and earned their bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited US school (students are encouraged to provide unofficial copies of the English Language Proficiency exam they used when they applied to their undergraduate institution as part of their application to Heinz College).

Students who are required to submit test scores must have them reported directly to Heinz College by the testing service. When required, we strongly recommend that you take the exam at least one month prior to the application deadline.

Click for detailed instructions on submitting your English proficiency results

You are required to have three (3) recommendation forms submitted on your behalf. Recommendations should be provided by employers, supervisors, professors, or others who are able to comment on your professional and educational goals and potential. At least one (1) of your recommenders should know you in a professional setting (full-time employment, internship, part-time employment, research, non-academic extracurricular activity, etc.). 

Please note: recommendations from friends, family members or acquaintances, and other sources not able to evaluate applicants on an academic or professional basis, will not be accepted.

Letters of recommendation must be written in or translated into English. Your recommendations must be submitted electronically through the online application system by your recommenders. We do not accept recommendations submitted on paper.

Click here for detailed instructions on submitting your recommendations

You are required to upload your résumé to the application system. Please submit a one- or two-page summary of your educational background, skills, accomplishments, employment experiences, and volunteer experiences. The résumé MUST be current and include all part-time and full-time work experience, the dates of when the employment began and ended, and a brief description of your responsibilities under the title of the position. Click here for an example of a résumé.

Please consider using the "Optional Essay" to address the reason for any "gap" in your résumé, if applicable.

Your résumé should contain only true information and your own, original content. If you include a quote or text written by any other person or published in any printed or online format, you must surround the copied text in quotation marks (") and indicate the original source of the text. Information reported on your résumé is subject to verification. The Heinz College Office of Admissions utilizes several methods to identify plagiarized and falsified content in uploaded documents. Submission of false or plagiarized material as part of the application for admission may result in automatic denial of admission to any degree program.

Submit an essay (approximately 1,000 words long) describing your academic and professional background, your career goals, and how the Ph.D. program will help you achieve your goals. This essay should specify the following: a) the area(s) of policy, information systems, or management where you want to focus your research and the reason(s) why; and b) describe why the Heinz PhD program is appropriate for you and how earning a PhD from Heinz College will help you achieve your professional goals. The required essay may range in length from 800 to 1200 words.  You will upload your essay to the online application.

Your essay should contain only true information and your own, original content. You should not use artificial intelligence (AI), such as ChatGPT, to write any portion of your essay. If you include a quote or text written by any other person or published in any printed or online format, you must surround the copied text in quotation marks (") and indicate the original source of the text. Information reported on your résumé is subject to verification. The Heinz College Office of Admissions utilizes several methods to identify plagiarized, AI-generated, and falsified content in uploaded documents. Submission of false, plagiarized or AI-generated material as part of the application for admission may result in automatic denial of admission to any degree program.

As an applicant to the Ph.D. program, you are required to submit an additional essay describing a potential research project you would like to complete. In particular, describe the idea, why it is important (and to whom), and preliminary ideas on how you would go about conducting the research. Describe the main questions to be investigated and the types of evidence that would be needed to support conclusions.

Your essay should contain only true information and your own, original content. You should not use artificial intelligence (AI), such as ChatGPT, to write any portion of your essay. If you include a quote or text written by any other person or published in any printed or online format, you must surround the copied text in quotation marks (") and indicate the original source of the text. Information reported on your résumé is subject to verification. The Heinz College Office of Admissions utilizes several methods to identify plagiarized, AI-generated, and falsified content in uploaded documents. Submission of false, plagiarized or AI-generated material as part of the application for admission may result in automatic denial of admission to any degree program.

You may choose to submit an essay in which you comment on any item(s) in your application that you consider worthy of further explanation. We are mostly interested in having you address any gaps in your professional experience, or anything you would consider a weakness that could have an impact on your admission status. Please limit optional essays to no more than 250 words.

Your essay should contain only true information and your own, original content. You should not use artificial intelligence (AI), such as ChatGPT, to write any portion of your essay. If you include a quote or text written by any other person or published in any printed or online format, you must surround the copied text in quotation marks (") and indicate the original source of the text. Information reported on your résumé is subject to verification. The Heinz College Office of Admissions utilizes several methods to identify plagiarized, AI-generated, and falsified content in uploaded documents. Submission of false, plagiarized or AI-generated material as part of the application for admission may result in automatic denial of admission to any degree program.

Heinz College is committed to ensuring the integrity of our admissions process and the reputation of our educational programs. We also want to protect and enhance the value of the degrees that we confer. As an enrolling student, you will be required to successfully complete a verification process of your admission application materials. The verification process will be completed by an outside, independent contractor hired by Heinz College and Carnegie Mellon University.

The purpose of this background check is to protect all stakeholders of the program (students, faculty, staff, and alumni) from those who would falsify their backgrounds to gain an unfair advantage in the admissions process. We believe that this verification will support our efforts to ensure integrity throughout the program. Upon admission, you will receive more details about this process from the Office of Admissions.