The early November 1 deadline for U.S. and international traditional MPA applicants is just around the corner. If you are working on completing your application by this deadline… great! Early U.S. applicants should receive an admissions decision in mid-December, and your application will be first in line for consideration for potential scholarships. Early international applicants will receive a decision in January.
However, do not be concerned if you are still working on your application. Why?
- We use a rolling admissions process for U.S. applicants in which we review completed applications on a continuous basis until the final May 5 deadline. Your chances for admission would not be affected if you submit and complete your application after November 1 but still early in our admissions cycle. And, although we encourage early application submission for full scholarship consideration, we do award a limited number of scholarships throughout the admissions cycle.
- International applicants still have time to submit an application by the final January 13 application deadline. Submitting your application by November 1 (and completing your application by November 8) will allow you to receive an earlier decision, but your chances for admission would not be affected if you submit your application by the final deadline (and complete your application by January 20). Those who complete their application by the final deadline should receive a decision by the end of March.
- You should take your time to submit the strongest application possible. For example, you may be planning to submit (optional) GMAT or GRE test scores or TOEFL or IELTS test scores (international applicants) and need more time to study.
Your application will not be considered complete and reviewed for a decision until all application materials have been received (see the tMPA admissions packet for a comprehensive list of required materials). If you reported GMAT or GRE test scores or a future test date in the admissions application, we will hold on a decision until the official test scores are received from the testing agency.* Please notify the MPA admissions team if your testing plans change after you submit your application.
*Plan ahead: it takes about 3-4 weeks for the score report to be sent and added to an applicant’s record.
Do you have any concerns about your application? Contact the MPA admissions team or schedule an appointment for an application consultation.
Note to MPA Bridge applicants: Admissions are rolling all year. Apply for summer 2026 anytime before 11:59 pm CT on May 5, 2026.
