Applying for the Wharton MBA:
Application & Admission Requirements

All applicants must hold a bachelor’s degree to be eligible to enroll in the Juris Doctor (JD) program. Applicants who are admitted to the Carey JD/MBA Program are admitted for the fall semester on a full-time basis only. All applicants must take the Graduate Record Exam (GRE) or the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT). The Law School Admission Test (LSAT) is not required. If an applicant takes the LSAT, they must also take the GRE or the GMAT. Regardless of test format, all applicants must register with the LSAC’s Credential Assembly Service (CAS) and all test scores must be reported. (See Standardized Tests and LSAC’s Credential Assembly Service (CAS) information below.)

If you submit and complete an application for Round 1 or Round 2, you will receive a decision according to the Wharton MBA Admissions decision release timeline. Regular Decision applicants who are taking the LSAT should take the LSAT no later than September of the application year for Round 1 and November of the application year for Round 2.

The Carey JD/MBA Program’s Early Decision option is designed for applicants who have thoroughly researched their law school options and determined that the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School is their first choice. Our Early Decision program is binding. Applicants who wish to be considered for early decision must commit to matriculate in the Carey JD/MBA Program if admitted. If admitted, you must withdraw your applications from all other law schools and refrain from initiating new applications. You may not submit an early decision application to more than one law school.

Note: Applications must be submitted through Wharton no later than September 6, 2023, for Early Decision Round 1 and no later than January 4, 2024, for Early Decision Round 2. Early Decision applicants who are taking the LSAT should take the LSAT no later than September of the application year for Round 1 consideration and no later than November of the application year for Round 2 consideration.

As an applicant to the Carey JD/MBA Program, you are required to submit your application through Wharton Round 1 or Round 2. Please do not fill out nor submit the Fall 2025 – First Year JD application through the LSAC Electronic Application service. Once you have submitted your application through Wharton, the MBA application process is conducted independently by each school but the evaluation and decision-making are conducted jointly. The Law School will begin processing Carey JD/MBA applications in early October.

Note: You may not apply to the Carey JD/MBA Program and simultaneously apply individually to the Wharton MBA Program and/or the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School JD Program in the same application cycle. Once you have submitted an application for the Carey JD/MBA Program, you cannot switch to the other degree programs or vice versa.

You are strongly encouraged to answer the application essay questions in relation to the Carey JD/MBA Program as opposed to only the Wharton MBA Program.

All applicants to the Carey JD/MBA Program must take the GRE or the GMAT. We will accept at-home GRE, GMAT, and LSAT scores. The LSAT is not required. If an applicant takes the LSAT, they must also take the GRE or the GMAT. We will accept LSAT results from any exam taken from June 2017 or thereafter for the class entering in fall 2023. GRE or GMAT test dates must align with the Wharton MBA test date requirements for the appropriate application round. If you take a test more than once or take more than one testing format, all scores will be considered and must be reported in the application form. All test scores should be submitted in the JD/MBA application as directed. In addition, you must request GRE and/or GMAT official score reports from ETS and/or GMAC to be sent directly to the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School. The University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School’s school code is 4122 for GRE score reporting and G56-RV-81 for GMAT score reporting. The Law School will not accept test-taker score reports directly from the applicant nor can we accept score reports transferred from Wharton.

Regardless of the testing format you choose to use, each applicant must also register with the LSAC Credential Assembly Service (CAS) and arrange to have all transcripts sent to LSAC from each college or university attended. When the Law School receives your application from Wharton, the Law School will request your CAS report, and LSAC will send it directly to the Law School. Please note that your CAS report will not be released by LSAC until all required transcripts have been received and processed by LSAC. In addition, if you have not or will not take the LSAT, please select the GRE/GMAT only checkbox in the LSAT section of the Test Information section.

The University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School requires that any international transcripts be submitted through the LSAC Credential Assembly Service for applicants who completed any post-secondary work outside the US (including its territories) or Canada. You must use this service for the evaluation of your international transcripts. The one exception to this requirement is if you completed the international work through a study-abroad, consortium, or exchange program sponsored by a US or Canadian institution, and the work is clearly indicated as such on the home campus transcript. This service is included in the Credential Assembly Service registration fee.

You must submit two recommendation letters through the LSAC Letter of Recommendation Service. If you have obtained two letters of recommendation to be used for the Carey JD/MBA application, these letters can satisfy the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School requirement but you must have your recommenders submit duplicate copies of these two letters to LSAC. Your CAS report will not be released to us until at least two letters of recommendation are on file with LSAC and assigned to the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School. This service is included with your Credential Assembly Service registration. You and your recommender must use the letter of recommendation form available online through the LSAC Letter of Recommendation Service for each letter submitted to LSAC. Please do not send letters directly to the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School. Note that we will accept up to four letters of recommendation through LSAC; however, your application is deemed complete with two letters of recommendation.

Carey JD/MBA interviews are granted by invitation only. If you are invited to interview, you are required to complete the Wharton Team Based Discussion as well as a Carey JD/MBA interview.

The University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School Admissions Office is committed to serving our applicants as efficiently and effectively as we can during the MBA application process. Please be advised that it may take approximately two weeks from the date that we receive the Carey JD/MBA application from Wharton to process and complete the applicant file. We will notify you of the date upon which we receive your application from Wharton and inform you of any missing documents upon receipt of your Credential Assembly Service report. We will also notify you of the date upon which your application is complete.

You can check the status of your application at any time using Application Status, the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School’s online status checker. To access the online status checker, please visit https://www.law.upenn.edu/admissions/jd/.

For additional Law School application instructions, please visit https://www.law.upenn.edu/admissions/jd/how-to-apply.php.

For detailed information on Law School tuition and financial aid, please visit https://www.law.upenn.edu/admissions/financing/.

An Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) is required of all Lauder applicants and must be scheduled and completed with Language Testing International (LTI). To schedule an OPI, complete and submit LTI’s online application. When scheduling your OPI(s), please be sure to register as a Lauder applicant with LTI. There is no need to forward your scores to the Admissions Committee—Lauder OPI scores are available for the Admissions Committee to review through LTI’s online portal.

The OPI may be completed any time after July 1, 2024 to count for the current admissions cycle.  OPI ratings are valid for a single application cycle, and reapplicants to the Lauder program will need to retake the OPI(s). If you have any questions about scheduling the OPI please contact LTI by phone at +1-914-963-7110 (extension 115 or 127) or by email at testing@languagetesting.com. Please consult with the Lauder admissions office if you have questions regarding the language requirements for Lauder.

For applicants to one of Lauder’s five Programs of Concentration: An OPI in the proposed language of study is required. The ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines for the OPI range from Novice to Distinguished, and an Advanced rating is the expected level for admission to Lauder.

Educated native speakers of Romance languages* [such as French, Italian, Spanish] will be considered for the Latin America/Portuguese program without prior knowledge of Portuguese. These applicants should test in their native language and are required to submit a Superior-level OPI rating for that language. In addition, educated native speaker applicants who speak some Portuguese should take an OPI in Portuguese even if the expected rating is at or below Advanced.

Educated native speakers in Romance languages* [such as French, Portuguese, Spanish] will be considered for the Europe/Italian program without prior knowledge of Italian. These applicants should test in their native language and are required to submit a Superior-level OPI rating for that language. In addition, educated native speaker applicants who speak some Italian should take an OPI in Italian even if the expected rating is at or below Advanced.

* a person who speaks that particular language as a first language AND whose formal education was delivered in that language through high school.

For applicants to Lauder’s Global program: One OPI in a language other than English is required of all applicants to the Global program. Applicants to the Global Program must test at the Superior level. Applicants may test in their native language provided it is not English.

For applicants to Lauder’s General Track Africa Program of Concentration: Candidates applying to the General track Africa Program must demonstrate Superior-level proficiency on the OPI in any language other than English. Applicants may test in their native language provided it is not English.

Discuss why you are applying to the Lauder Institute, detailing specific reasons, experiences, and background for choosing your Program of Concentration, as well as your interest in further study in that Program. Applicants to Programs of Concentration involving language study (Africa-French; East and Southeast Asia; Europe; Latin America; South Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa) should also discuss what they hope to gain from advanced language and cultural education, as well as describe how they have learned the language they will study (e.g. undergraduate courses, undergraduate major, etc.). Finally, please describe how you see yourself benefiting from, and contributing to, the Lauder community.   (800 words)

Lauder interviews are granted by invitation-only, based upon a full review of your submitted application. Typically, the Lauder interview is conducted remotely or on-campus with a current Lauder student. If you are invited to interview, you are required to complete the Wharton team-based discussion as well as a Lauder interview.

The Lauder Institute is committed to supporting candidates who are admitted to the Lauder Institute. In fact, nearly all of our students receive some kind of financial support for the graduate degree in International Studies. Please visit our website for more information on Lauder fellowships, tuition and financial aid.

Lauder applicants may also apply for the University of Pennsylvania’s Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowships program.

We offer clear admission to highly qualified candidates pending confirmation of official academic transcripts and test scores. Admissions are made on an individual basis & all applicants are measured against both the MBA admissions requirements & in the greater context of all applicants.

We offer conditional admission to candidates who clearly demonstrate significant potential for success both within the Wharton MBA program and post MBA, but whom we feel need additional preparation before beginning the Wharton MBA program. Conditional admission is typically based on the need for strengthening a candidate’s analytical background or improving English communication skills.

Candidates can expect to remain on the waitlist until the previous round of decisions are released. There is no rank order to the waitlist, and we are unable to offer feedback to candidates while they remain on the list.

The committee welcomes important updates that you believe add significant value, growth, or development to  your application since submission.

The MBA Admissions requirements are as follows: a college-level education equivalent to a four-year American undergraduate or baccalaureate degree (the same as a first university degree). Several universities around the world offer three-year undergraduate programs. If you received a bachelor’s degree upon completion of one of these undergraduate programs, you are eligible to apply to the MBA program. Many candidates from three-year programs have a master’s degree as well, but it is not required.

When applying, list all of the post-secondary educational institutions you have attended, including technical and professional schools. Use the full names of the institutions attended, and provide the titles of all diplomas or degrees earned.

Please submit only official academic records from educational institutions. Official records are defined as original documents issued by the institution that bear both the actual (not photocopied) signature of the registrar and the institutional seal. Records issued only once by institutions should be photocopied and certified as official copies by school officials or legal authorities, such as embassies or public notaries. Please do not send the original copy of an academic record that cannot be replaced.

If you have attended more than one institution, submit official records from each institution, except study-abroad programs that are listed on your official undergraduate transcripts. If academic records and diplomas are not issued in English by the institution, submit both the official record and an authorized English translation.

All translations should be complete and literal renditions of the original record. Records should show the date of enrollment, courses taken, units of credit or time allotted to each subject during each term or year, your marks or ratings in each subject, and, if available, your rank in the total class or group.

The institutional grading scale (or other standards of evaluation, including minimum passing and failing marks and the definitions of grades between them) should appear on official records, or you should provide them as an attachment. For more information on the general MBA Application process, see the ‘Application Checklist‘ section above.

Results from one of the following tests is required for non-native English speakers with limited exposure to English:

• TOEFL iBT
• Pearson PTE
• IELTS

You may waive an English test if you have earned an undergraduate degree or master’s degree in an English-speaking country or from an institution at which English is the language of instruction. You must provide evidence to support the waiver. If your test score is more than two years old (from the date of the exam to the date of application arrival), you must retake the test.

How to take a test:

• The TOEFL iBT is offered at more than 3,000 authorized TOEFL iBT test centers or from the privacy of your own home and monitored online by a human proctor.
• The PTE is offered at 400+ test centers in 117 countries or at home.
• The IELTS is offered in test centers or at home.

Wharton only accepts official scores for English language tests.

Should an offer of admission be extended and accepted, you are eligible to apply for either an F-1 or J-1 visa. To meet the eligibility requirements for a student visa, you must show proof of equivalent academic documents (diplomas), results from the TOEFL or PTE examination, and financial resources to pursue your course of study. Detailed information regarding the requirements and application process to obtain a student visa is sent to admitted students in the spring.

You must apply to both Wharton and the second school or program. This means that the appropriate standardized test scores (e.g., LSAT, GRE, or MCAT), a completed application form, your transcript(s), and your letters of recommendation must also be sent to the partner school.

Admission decisions are made independently by each school, and you may pursue a dual-degree program only if admitted to both schools. Unless otherwise indicated, you may apply to both programs simultaneously. However, if you are admitted to both programs and do not want to begin at Wharton, you will need to request a deferral and will be subject to our deferral policy.

If you are already enrolled in a program, you may apply to Wharton in the fall semester following commencement of study in the co-sponsoring school. If you are applying to a three-year program, you may apply in the fall of your second year. If you are enrolled in the MD, DMD, or VMD program, you may apply to Wharton to start during any August up to and including the August following the third year of enrollment in the medical program.

To satisfy the MBA program requirements of the dual-degree program, you must take at least 15 courses at Wharton. Courses taken at Wharton prior to admission and matriculation into the Wharton MBA program may not be applied toward the degree requirements of the MBA.

Applicants to the three-year Carey JD/MBA Program must apply via a shared application. Given the unique nature of the program, applicants may not, after receiving an offer of admission, decide to enroll in one school and not the other (i.e., an applicant may not choose to only attend Wharton and not Penn Law, or vice versa, after a joint decision has been rendered). Applicants are encouraged to apply prior to matriculation in the Law School. However, since the first year of the three-year JD/MBA program takes place at Penn Law, Penn Law students have the option of applying during their 1L year, during Round 1 or Round 2 of the Wharton MBA admissions timeline.

Also, the joint-degree Lauder Program application is reviewed in its entirety by both the Lauder and Wharton Admissions Committees, and you must apply via a shared application. Accepted MBA/MA students are admitted jointly into both programs, not independently into each.

If you are reapplying, you are required to complete the requisite application essays plus the optional essay. Please use this space to explain how you have reflected on the previous decision on your application and to discuss any updates to your candidacy (e.g., changes in your professional life, additional coursework, and extracurricular/volunteer engagements). You may also use this section to address any applicable extenuating circumstances. (250 words)