Admissions and Aid: Application Requirements

Your writing sample should demonstrate your strengths in writing, research, and critical analysis—skills that will be directly applicable to academic work at HDS. You can choose to submit: 

• An excerpt of an academic paper in any subject area within...

Your letters of recommendation should address the ways in which your professional experience supports your goals for graduate theological study. Many of our students have been out of school and working for a number of years. In cases where applicants have...

Letters of recommendation are some of the best sources of information our office receives about you, as they allow us to hear how your mentors, supervisors, and professors view you and your abilities.  

Letters should address your intellectual abilities...

You can access the project proposal form and instructions within the HDS online application for admission. 

Within the program, master of religion and public life (MRPL) students will complete a final project that engages the topic of religion within their...

Applicants must submit a transcript for each institution from which they have received postsecondary academic credit. This includes community colleges and study abroad programs.

Applications are not considered fully complete until all materials have been received and verified by our office. Please note that, at any time within the admissions process, our office may request additional materials to be submitted to complete your...

Social security numbers are required in order to verify applicants’ identities and to correlate with information provided as part of the financial aid process. Our confidential receipt of applicants’ social security numbers is in compliance with federal...

The Statement of Purpose is an integral part of the application and is evaluated with great care by the Admissions Committee. It should include your general background (education, work experience, volunteer work, and/or relevant personal experience) and...

We do not have a minimum GPA (grade point average). The admissions committee reviews each application holistically and each component of the application is carefully reviewed with the knowledge that successful HDS students possess strengths in different...

Please upload your most recent transcript via the online application.

Should you be admitted and choose to enroll at HDS, you will be required to provide final, official transcripts from all degree-granting institutions you attended.