Applying to the Graduate Program
All application materials for Fall 2010 admission are due by December 15, 2009. You can apply online, download the application forms, and learn more about graduate admissions at Penn by visiting the website for the Graduate Division of Penn's School of Arts and Sciences.. Access the electronic application form for information about applying and the Graduate Division of the School of Arts and Sciences. NOTE: All application materials must be submitted electronically, with the exception of the writing sample.
The following mailing address should be used for sending the writing sample:
University of Pennsylvania
Ernestine Williams
History and Sociology of Science
249 S. 36th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6304
Timeline
Deadline for applications: December 15
On-campus pre-admission interviews for invited students: January and February
Admissions offers go out: Late February
Post-Admission Re-Visit Day for admitted students: mid-March
Decision deadline for admitted students: April 15
Admissions Requirements
The GRE General Test is required. Other than that, there are no department-specific prerequisites for admission. Applicants for whom English is a secondary language are required to take the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) and earn a score of 575 or higher (paper-based) or 233 or higher (computer-based) in order to be considered for admission.
Joint Programs
An M.D./Ph.D. program is offered in conjunction with the Medical School. For more information about this program click here.
Visiting Campus
After reviewing applicant files, the faculty invites those students who seem most promising to spend a full day at Penn. Prospective students who are invited to visit meet with faculty and graduate students and learnmore about our facilities, setting and program. Any interested student is of course welcome to attend one of our Monday workshops.
Financial Aid
The department and the Graduate Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences provide qualified Ph.D. students with full funding, including stipend, tuition, and health care during at least their first five years. All fellowship packages also include two years of summer support, which can be taken in any two summers that the student is enrolled. All fellowship support depends on satisfactory work, which is formally evaluated in each of the first two years.
Funding beyond the guaranteed five years is available from the following sources within the university:
1. University fellowships. Awarded competitively across the University.
2. Teaching assistantships. Students are required to teach for two years (four semesters), generally during the second and third year. Depending on the size of the course, students may teach recitation sections or conduct classes.
3. Research assistantships. Students may aid faculty members on their research projects.
4. Lecturerships. For experienced graduate students, generally beyond the second year, who teach undergraduate courses (mostly in the College of General Studies) and work with undergraduates in the department.
In addition, our students enjoy extraordinary success in earning outside awards, including (but not limited to) fellowships from the Smithsonian Institution, the Fulbright program, the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the Chemical Heritage Foundation, the Social Sciences Research Council, the Miller Center and many others. For a list of awards garnered by current graduate students, please go to Congratulations to Our Graduate Students.
Graduate students in our program also engage in part-time research and teaching at Philadelphia's many technical and educational institutions and in various University research programs
