RESOURCES FOR ACCEPTED STUDENTS

The open houses will be excellent opportunities for accepted students to hear from our faculty, staff, program directors, and the Dean. Accepted students will also have the opportunity to engage in small group discussions to learn more about a variety of topics, including academic affairs, student life, financial aid, housing options, as well as MSW practicum education, MSSP internships, and NPL practicums.

Please register for your preferred session.

ON-CAMPUS

Saturday March 16, 2024 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM

Wednesday March 27, 2024 5:30 PM – 7:30 PM

ONLINE

Tuesday February 27, 2024 10:00 AM – 11:30 AM

Wednesday April 3, 2024 5:00 PM – 6:30 PM

Wednesday April 10, 2024 9:00 AM – 10:30 AM (International Students)

If you would prefer to request a meeting with a member of the admissions team, please email apply@sp2.upenn.edu.

You may submit your enrollment decision through the online application system, where you will also be asked to supply your enrollment deposit. The enrollment deposit will be credited towards your tuition. Your enrollment deadline is indicated in your acceptance letter.

Complete these steps to find and apply for sources of student aid:

• Complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form
• Complete loan entrance counseling and sign the master promissory note at studentloans.gov.

Find local banks located on the Penn campus

You must sign up for Student Health Insurance, or show proof of acceptable alternate insurance, by the deadline of August 31st. If you miss the deadline, you will automatically be enrolled (and billed for) student health insurance.

If you have not done so already, be sure to submit your final, official transcripts of your bachelor’s degree and, if applicable, postgraduate study to the Admissions office; transcripts must display degree conferral information. Official transcripts for transfer or study abroad credits are not required. 

If you earned your degree internationally, you need to submit a final, official transcript and confirmation of degree conferral in English directly from your institution in order to attend Fall classes.* Final evaluated transcripts from a third-party evaluation service, such as WES, Educational Perspectives, or another NACES accredited member, including a degree conferral, must be sent as soon as possible to register for future semesters.

Domestic transcripts should be sent directly from your university’s registrar’s office. Electronic deliveries are strongly preferred.* Your registrar should email a digital transcript to apply@sp2.upenn.edu or mail a paper transcript to:

University of Pennsylvania School of Social Policy & Practice
ATTN: Admissions Office
3701 Locust Walk
Philadelphia, PA 19104

If a final, official transcript with degree conferral will not be sent before the Fall semester begins, please have your registrar send a confirmation of degree conferral to the Admissions office at the above email address. The Admissions office will require final, official transcripts with degree conferral before you can register for future semesters.

*Important Note: Please be sure to submit your transcript to the University of Pennsylvania School of Social Policy & Practice, and not simply the University of Pennsylvania, as the latter will result in the delivery of your transcript to the undergraduate Admissions office resulting in your failure to fulfill the requirement with the SP2 Admissions Office. 

PennKey gives you access to a Penn email account and other essential online services. You will receive a PennKey Setup Code approximately five to seven business days after you submit your enrollment fee. Use this code to set up your PennKey as soon as possible; however, if you have attended Penn in the past, possibly with a different name, or been employed at Penn or Penn Medicine, it is important that we identify your previous PennKey. Please contact us before taking any additional steps. New incoming students will receive their PennKey setup code via email (to the email address that exists in Pennant).

For questions or support, click here.

Accepted SP2 students will receive their email account as part of the PennO365 site license after they have successfully created their PennKey. Please wait two to three business days after creating your PennKey before following the instructions below for accessing email.  

1. Your Penn O365 email account password will also serve as your PennKey password. You may need to reset your PennKey password (it can remain the same) in order to sync with your email password.
2. You can access your Penn O365 account at https://portal.office.com or from the Webmail jump station from the Penn homepage by clicking Penn O365. Your username for Penn O365 is pennkey@upenn.edu where “pennkey” is your actual PennKey name.
3. If you have waited three business days and you do not have access to your Penn O365 email, please fill out this form.

Additional Penn O365 resources:

• Instructions for setting up email on your mobile devices and computers.
• Additional help & resources for using Penn O365

You are highly encouraged to complete the SRFS Must-Do List once you set up your PennKey. Completing these items will ensure that you do not have registration holds placed on your account, your student account is set up with your preferred privacy settings, and you receive any expected funds quickly and securely. Throughout your time at Penn, you will be asked to refer back to these tasks to keep your information up-to-date.

International students must obtain the necessary immigration document for their program. The International Student & Scholar Services office supports students throughout the process.

Technical Requirements 

The MS NPL program is designed for participation from either a desktop or laptop computer (PC or Mac) with a stable internet connection and a camera. Content is also accessible on a mobile device, though we do not recommend mobile devices as a primary method of access. A headset with microphone is recommended, especially for students enrolled in online classes. 

You will need to ensure that your computer meets the technical requirements for the following systems: 

• Canvas (learning management system) 
• Panopto (video hosting platform) 
• Zoom (virtual meeting platform) 
• Microsoft Office 365 (suite of tools including Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.) 

For further guidance, read the SP2 IT Resources page, especially the For Students section. 

Learning from Outside the United States 

Some technologies used in online courses may be unavailable outside the United States. While use of a Virtual Private Network (VPN) can remediate this issue in some cases, students are advised to consult local laws and regulations before connecting to a VPN as they are illegal in some locations. For more information, please consult CETLI’s International Availability of Web Tools. 

MSW students are eligible to take waiver examinations for SWRK 6010: History and Philosophy of Social Work and Social Welfare and SWRK 6020: Human Behavior in the Social Environment in August prior to beginning the MSW program. These exams are designed for students who have completed prior coursework in these areas and offer the opportunity to demonstrate mastery of material covered in these foundation courses. Students who successfully pass a waiver exam must substitute an elective course into their first-year schedule. Students must register for waiver exams. 

Information about registering for a waiver exam will be available soon.

MSW

Incoming Students (excludes Advanced Standing and Part-time Students):

• Hepworth, D. H., Rooney, R. H., Rooney, G. D., & Strom-Gottfried, K. (2017). Direct social work practice: Theory and skills (10^th ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning. Chapter 1, “The Challenges and Opportunities of Social Work,” pp. 2-22.

All students

• Green, W. & Simon, B. L. (Eds.) (2012). The Columbia Guide to Social Work Writing. New York, NY: Columbia University Press.
• The Penn Approach
• University of Pennsylvania School of Social Policy & Practice Practicum Education Manual (see below)

MSSP

• Incoming students often ask what they can do to prepare for their master’s study prior to arriving on campus. As a starting point, we recommend reviewing SP2’s recent “One Book, One SP2” book choices. Additionally, we recommend students to devote time to the online, asynchronous Penn Experience course, which aims to prepare all SP2 students for master’s level study. The course contains an abundance of resources, articles, and videos that students can use to further enhance their academic understanding of social welfare policy and history in the U.S.  

NPL

None. Please note that professors may assign required summer reading for specific courses. Updates will be emailed.

Entering students are asked to complete The Penn Experience: Racism, Reconciliation, and Engagement online course. This non-credit asynchronous course aims to establish common language and concepts for incoming graduate and professional students to facilitate conversations about race, racism and difference in the classroom and beyond.

All entering students are required to attend Convocation. See the New Student Orientation schedule for details.