Undergraduate students are welcome to apply to the Submatriculation Master’s program in AMCS in the Fall of their Junior Year. The first step is to start with the College first. See below for details on how.
Workflow with detailed steps on how to apply for the program.
College Advisor Opens Application: The application process is initiated by the student’s College advisor. Once the advisor opens the workflow, they will first select the student’s program. Based on the student’s majors and concentrations within that program, the advisor will then choose an eligible Submatriculation program from a drop-down list.
Student Submits Application: Once the application has been opened by the student’s College Advisor, the student will receive an email notification regarding the Submatriculation application into a Graduate Arts and Sciences program that was initiated. The student will be instructed to log into BP Logix and officially submit their application. The student will be asked to upload a completed College Submatriculation Form and list two references to support their application. When identifying references, the student will have the ability to search for any active faculty/staff member at Penn or manually type in a reference’s information.
References Add Recommendation Letters: Once the student officially submits their application, their references will be notified via email and prompted to upload a letter of recommendation. The first reference listed on the application will be notified initially. After their recommendation is uploaded, the second reference will be notified.
Grad Group Coordinator Reviews Application: After two recommendation letters are added to the application, the workflow routes to the Major Coordinator of the Submatriculation program the student applied to. The Major Coordinator is expected to review: Submatriculation program requested, College Submatriculation Form,Two recommendation letters.
Grad Group Chair Reviews Application: After the Coordinator approves the application, it is routed to the Grad Group Chair. The Chair will alse review: Submatriculation program requested, College Submatriculation Form,Two recommendation letters.
Student Admissions Decisions: Once the Graduate Group Chair approves the application, the workflow is sent to the Admissions Office for formal admission or denial into the program. At this stage, the Admissions Office also has the option to modify the program’s Start Term.
Admit: If the Admissions Office admits the student, an email from the Graduate Dean (Beth Wenger) is sent to the student with an official acceptance letter attached. The student must then select either ‘ACCEPT OFFER’ or ‘DENY OFFER’ within the workflow to continue to the final process of their application.
Deny: If the Admissions Office denies the student, a formal denial letter is sent to the student and the workflow ends.
Requirements for the Master’s Degree in AMCS: A student submatriculating into the AMCS master’s program is expected to complete the two degrees simultaneously within the normal four undergraduate years.
The students must fulfill all of the following requirements for a Master’s degree:
- Apply via BP Logix for Submatriculation in the AMCS program in the fall of their Junior year.
- After being admitted into the program, students are expected to complete two of the four courses AMCS 6081/6091; AMCS 6025/60350; AMCS6481/6491; AMCS 5461(or the equivalent).
- Must pass the AMCS Preliminary Exam by the beginning of their senior year.
- Fulfill the Master’s degree AMCS Master’s Course Requirements.
- Writing a Master’s Thesis is (optional): Soon after passing the preliminary exam, the student should immediately begin planning for the thesis by seeking/assigning a faculty member who can serve as their thesis advisor. You should make an appointment with the AMCS Graduate Chair for assistance in choosing a thesis advisor.
- Before your thesis defense, you should consult with your advisor as to who should sit on your committee as a reader, and act as the Chair of the committee. Submit a completed Thesis Defense Committee Form (MA) to Nichole Battle-Walker at nichb@sas.upenn.edu.
- Register for graduation with a master’s degree during the first academic month of the semester in which you plan to graduate. You will receive guidelines from Graduate Coordinator, Nichole Battle-Walker on requirements.
- Pass the required coursework or Master’s Thesis Defense.
For the course requirements as many as 4 credits can be counted for both the bachelor’s degree and the master’s degree. Graduate level courses completed before admission to the Submatriculation program can be applied towards the master’s degree. All of the courses for the master’s degree must be taken for a grade.
For general questions regarding Submatriculation, contact Nichole Battle-Walker at nichb@sas.upenn.edu