FAQs

Common Questions About Applying To Graduate School At WPI

Below you will find answers to the most frequently asked questions.  If your question is not addressed below, you can email us at grad@wpi.edu.  Due to the large number of inquiries we receive, it may take up to five working days to hear from us (longer during the peak period of mid-December through early February).

1. What is the application deadline and where should I send my support materials?
2. Did you receive my application?
3. Have you received my transcripts, letters of recommendation, test scores, or other support materials?
4. What is the status of my application?
5. Do you accept letters of recommendation via email?  Do you accept paper letters of recommendation?
6. My recommender did not get (or lost) my electronic invitation.  Can you send my recommender another?  
7. How do I apply for funding?
8. Can the application fee be waived?
9. Do you accept copies of official TOEFL or GRE scores?
10. What happens if my support materials for Fall admission don't arrive by January 1st?
11. (For International Students): Should I provide proof that I have the financial resources to attend WPI in my application?
12. I tried to pay with a credit card, but the program won't process the payment.  What should I do?
13. When will I receive a decision?

1.  What is the application deadline and where should I send my support materials?

 

You can apply at any time; we admit students year-round.  Applications for admission to the Spring semester should be submitted by October 1st to guarantee consideration, and applications for the Fall semester should be submitted by January 1st if you are seeking financial aid.  (See points 7 and 10, below).  

All statements of purpose and letters of recommendation should be submitted electronically through our online application---this will expedite the processing of your application.  Paper copies of transcripts, letters of recommendation, or statements of purpose should be sent to:

WPI Graduate Application Processing Center
P. O. Box 840
Randolph, MA 02368-0840

or

DataBank
437 Turnpike Street
Canton, MA 02021
Attn: Donna Morrison, WPI Graduate Application Processing Center
+1 508-831-5301  

All support materials must be accompanied by the cover sheet you receive via email after you have submitted your application.  

Please DO NOT send us bank statements, publications, certificates unrelated to your degree, or other materials not specifically requested.  They will not be forwarded to the departmental review committee.

IMPORTANT: If you are an international student and cannot obtain multiple official copies of your academic record, please contact WPI's Office of Graduate Admissions at grad@wpi.edu. Do not send unique original copies.  Beginning with the Fall 2011 application cycle, all paper documents we receive will be scanned and destroyed.

2.  Did you receive my application?

If you clicked the "submit" button at the end of your application and received a confirmation email, the answer is "yes". 

A few weeks after you submit your application you will receive an email from us with instructions on checking the status of your application online.  You will then be able to view its status anytime you want.

3.  Have you received my transcripts, letters of recommendation, test scores, or other support material?

Probably, but it does take several days before these documents are added to your application file and updated in our database.  If you are sure that more than two weeks have passed since the WPI Office of Graduate Admissions received a letter or a transcript for your application, please call the delay to our attention by emailing grad@wpi.edu. 

Before you contact us, we recommend that you contact the registrar of the institution providing your transcript or the person writing your letters of recommendation to verify that your materials have been sent.

4.  What is the status of my application? 

If you submitted your application within the past week and you have not received an email with instructions for viewing its status, it is waiting for entry into our database.  The database is updated at least once a week. 

Once your application is in our database, it can take several days for us to process support materials like transcripts and letters of recommendation, but as soon as they are processed you will see the status of your application updated in the Banner database.

5.  Do you accept letters of recommendation via email?  Do you accept paper letters of recommendation?

Yes, but we strongly urge you to ask your recommenders to submit your letters through our online system because these are processed faster.  You can invite people to write letters of support when you fill out your application.  

6.  My recommender did not get (or lost) my electronic invitation.  Can you send my recommender another?

Only the applicant can request letters from a referee, and the invitation must be sent from within the application.  You can send multiple invitations to the same professor, and you can check the status of the letter from within your application.  This diagram (PDF, 339 KB) shows you how to send an invitation and where to check on the status of your letters.

7.  How do I apply for funding?

Funding is disbursed by the admissions committees in each of the academic departments.  These decisions are made in tandem with the admissions decision, so there is no separate application for assistantships or fellowships. 

You do have to indicate that you want to be considered for funding when you apply for admission, and your application should be complete on or before the January 15^th deadline to ensure consideration.   Applications that are completed shortly after January 15^th (think ten days to two weeks) will also receive the earliest consideration for funding. 

With each passing month the availability of funds decreases, so it is in your best interest to complete your application as close as possible to two-week processing period that runs from January 15^th to January 31^st.

If you are interested in securing a student loan, please contact the WPI Office of Financial Aid after you have accepted your offer of admission.

8.  Can the application fee be waived?

Current WPI students and WPI alumni are not required to pay the application fee.  No other waivers are available.

9.  Do you accept photocopies of TOEFL or GRE scores?

No.  The faculty won't have access to your application until we have received official test scores from the ETS.  TOEFL scores must be less than two years old, GRE scores must be less than five years old.

10.  What happens if my support materials for Fall admission don't arrive by January 1st?

It will just take a little longer to complete your application file.  We process materials chronologically, according to the date they arrive in the mail, but there is no penalty or strict cut-off for credentials that arrive after January 1st.  Since we have rolling admissions (i.e., you can apply at any time) your application will still receive full consideration.

11.  (For International Students): Should I provide proof that I have the financial resources to attend WPI in my application?

No.  If you do not need funding from WPI to pursue your studies, please note that on the application.  You don't have to send proof that you have the financial resources to study at WPI until after you have been admitted and after you have notified us that you will attend WPI.

12.  I tried to pay with a credit card but the program won't process the payment.  What should I do?

If you can't submit your credit card payment online, you can always call the WPI Office of Financial Services at 508-831-5203, or you can mail a check or money order to the Office of Graduate Admissions, 100 Institute Road, Worcester, Massachusetts 01609.  Never send your credit card information via email.

13.  When will I receive a decision?

Once your application is complete, it is forwarded to the department for review within 48 hours.  It is not unusual for a department to take six weeks to reach a decision.  The Office of Graduate Admissions will notify you by mail as soon as it learns whether you have been admitted.  International students usually receive unofficial notification by email.