Admissions
HDO Master’s Admissions
Fall 2025 Admission Cycle
The application period for Fall 2025 admission is closed. Our pre-application process for Fall 2026 is open below.
If you would like to learn more before submitting an application, attend one of our on-demand information sessions. If you are interested in obtaining employer support for your HDO education, please see our Employer Support Resources page.
Not ready to apply?
You can complete HDO’s brief pre-application form at any time. By completing the pre-application, you’ll be added to our list of potential MA program applicants and receive special communications from our program manager and alumni informing you about important events and application dates and sending you resources to prepare you to be a successful HDO Master’s student.
Admissions Information
Applicant Requirements:
- At least 3 years of career-level work experience post-undergraduate degree (5 or more years preferred).
- In exceptional circumstances, the program will count some types of substantive work experience prior to a student’s undergraduate degree.
- An applicant’s career path should demonstrate professional growth in a particular field or set of related fields. This experience does not have to be with one employer.
- A successful applicant must demonstrate the potential to apply insights from work experiences to classroom curriculum focused on organizational challenges.
- A bachelor’s degree in any discipline from a regionally accredited college or university (or a comparable degree from a foreign academic institution).
- A grade point average of 3.0 in upper-division coursework (and graduate work, if applicable).*
- International students are required to submit TOEFL scores.
*If you have questions about this or any other requirement, please contact us at hdo-ma@austin.utexas.edu
A Completed Application Includes:
- Official university transcripts
- A résumé or CV detailing relevant work and academic experience
- Three letters of recommendation (these may be professional and/or academic in nature)
- Two essays (see prompts below)
Application Instructions
All students applying for admission to the HDO Master’s program must complete the University’s Graduate School Application for Admission.
Application Process
Please note, applicants must possess at least 3-5 years of career-level experience to be considered for admission.
Complete an application for admissions and pay the application fee. The application fee is $65 (U.S. citizens/permanent residents) and $90 (International).
Please make sure to select Fall 2026 as your requested semester. Select ‘Human Dimensions of Organizations- Option III’ as your major (it’s listed under the ‘Liberal Arts’ area.)
HDO Recommendation: Complete the application as early as possible. You do not need to wait until you have received your transcripts to complete your application. You will submit your transcripts, essays, resume, etc. after you have officially submitted your application. Your selected recommendation letter writers will also be contacted upon application submission.
Within 1–2 business day(s) after submitting and paying for an application, applicants will receive an email message acknowledging that the application has been received. The applicant’s UT EID and temporary password will be included in this correspondence, as well as a link to the Admissions Status Check page. From that site, applicants will be provided instructions on how to upload application documents.
Required Application Documents
All materials are submitted online. Please do not send hard copies of required application materials to HDO. We are unable to return original copies of documents.
Documents are submitted to the Office of Graduate Admissions (OGA) via the directions you will receive in an email after you submit your application.
All admission documents are carefully reviewed by the admissions committee, but particular consideration is given to the two essay questions and the three letters of recommendation.
- Essays (Statements of Purpose): There are two (2) required essays. Responses to each essay question should be 500-600 words.
- Essay Topic 1: We would like to learn why you are interested in HDO and why you view it as a good fit. In this essay, please describe two things: (1) The particular skills you are hoping to develop through the HDO coursework/program; and (2) the type of topic you currently see yourself studying more intensively through our Capstone Requirement.
- Note: The Capstone Project is a student’s opportunity to research an organizational issue in more depth, using the lens of the humanities and/or social sciences. For this essay, you do not have to know or commit to any specific project; simply give us a sense of the type of research question that you would like to explore through the program and why it interests you.
- Learn more about the Capstone requirement and review topics explored by past HDO students at https://hdo.utexas.edu/masters-capstone-projects/.
- Essay Topic 2: Think about your professional, educational, or social life and give us an example of a time when you had to collaborate with others who are different from and in which you had your ideas challenged or changed. Describe the situation, the particular challenge to your ideas, and how you responded to this circumstance.
- Essay Topic 1: We would like to learn why you are interested in HDO and why you view it as a good fit. In this essay, please describe two things: (1) The particular skills you are hoping to develop through the HDO coursework/program; and (2) the type of topic you currently see yourself studying more intensively through our Capstone Requirement.
- Three (3) Letters of Recommendation: You are encouraged to select writers who can attest to distinct perspectives of your work experience. A recommender should be able to discuss how they know you (and for how long), your work abilities, and your capabilities to thrive in the HDO program. These may be professional and/or academic in nature.
HDO Recommendation: Encourage your recommenders to submit written letters (vs. only answering a question via the link they are sent) as the admissions committee pays particular attention to recommendation letters. The link will have instructions on how to do this.
- CV or Résumé: Your document should detail relevant work and academic experience. You will upload via the online Application Status Check (MyStatus)page.
- Transcripts: Official transcripts from every senior college you have attended are required. Upload an official copy to the Status Check page. If you are admitted official hard copy transcripts will be required. Do not mail transcripts. For more information/instructions, please see OGA’s instructions on uploading transcripts.
- TOEFL Scores: International applicants must submit TOEFL scores unless they are from an English-only speaking country or have earned a four-year undergraduate degree in an English-speaking country. Detailed TOEFL score submission instructions are available on OGA’s website.
- Note: The GRE is not required though students are welcome to submit their scores.
Application Status Check
Visit this link: Application Status Check to upload materials to your application file, edit lists of recommenders or check on the status of an application.
Office of Graduate Admissions (OGA)
View contact information for the Office of Graduate Admissions (OGA) here.
Utilize this site for specific email addresses for various topics concerning admissions. Please make sure to include your EID in any correspondence for more timely responses.
You will find detailed information about graduate school admission here.
“As brilliant as the faculty were, learning from the wisdom and experience of my cohort mates was equally valuable. I’ve relied on the cohort network many times since graduating. Choosing a favorite professor or identifying the most useful course is like asking about a favorite flavor of ice cream. All different; equally delightful; impossible to pick one. My biggest takeaway from HDO is the joy of discovery. The faculty ‘showed us where to look, but not what to see’ (Maori proverb).”
HDO’s Outstanding Professor of the Year for 2018, Clay Spinuzzi, discusses why he enjoys teaching in the program and what differentiates HDO and its students from other graduate programs.