Admissions

At the Zschool we are creating a different future by educating leaders.

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Each applicant is viewed as a unique individual. You must be able to meet our requirements by June of the summer you intend to enroll

Brief Application
Start your process with Part 1 of our application. It’s easy to do and takes less than 1 minute. Once you submit Part 1, you are officially in our system as an applicant. You will soon receive email instructions for creating an account and moving on to Part 2. Apply now >
Admissions Meeting

Before filling out Part 2 of the application, we recommend that applicants contact us to set up a conversation and/or a virtual visit. This will help you learn if the Zelikow School is a great match for you.

Full Application

This is the bulk of your application, which includes in-depth questions about your desire to pursue this professional degree.

If you have already submitted Part 1, you should have received an email with login instructions for Part 2. You can return to edit this application at any time.

Are you having issues accessing the application? Contact Melissa Garai for help.

Application Essay

These two writing samples are your chance to share why the Zschool is the right place for you. You’ll upload these essays in the “Supplemental Materials” section of the application portal.

Personal Statement. We want to understand you better. We’re looking for a well-written personal statement that addresses the following themes. Please do not exceed 7 double-spaced pages:

Personal Background

Jewish Identity

Academic Background

Work Experience

Professional Goals

Short Essay: Please respond to 1 of the following prompts in succinct, well-written prose. Please do not exceed 3 double-spaced pages:

A) Defend an unpopular opinion you hold of Jewish life and why you believe it is unpopular.

Or

B) You are the leader of an elite team funded with unlimited budget to solve a problem confronting the North American or global Jewish community. What would you choose and why do you believe it is worth investing community resources to solve?

Supplemental Materials

Students applying for a degree are required to submit 3 letters of recommendation. Please include 1 letter from each category below.

  1. Professional Recommendation. You are encouraged to select a current or previous supervisor of paid or volunteer work (Working applicants must submit a recommendation from a current supervisor unless otherwise approved.)
  2. Academic Recommendation. This can be a college professor or instructor with whom you have engaged in serious academic study. If you have been out of school for 5+ years, adult or informal education instructors work too.
  3. Jewish Life Recommendation. This should be someone who knows you in the context of Jewish organizational/communal life. If you know a graduate of the Zschool, this is a great place to include them, but only if they know you well enough to comment meaningfully on your candidacy.

Transcripts (From all past institutions of higher learning, whether or not they were your degree-bearing institution)

Please have your schools mail the transcripts directly to:

National Office of Recruitment and Admissions
Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion
3101 Clifton Avenue
Cincinnati, OH 45220
tward@huc.edu

For candidates with GPA below a 3.0 from the previous academic institution, please submit:

  • GRE Scores
Admissions Interview

Interview with a panel of Administrators, Faculty, Alumni and/or lay leaders from the Zelikow School. This helps us to assess who you are as a person and allows you to present yourself “off the page”. The interview is also a chance to ask questions of various Zelikow School stakeholders. There is space on the application to indicate your availability.

Brief Application
Start your process with Part 1 of our application. It’s easy to do and takes less than 1 minute. Once you submit Part 1, you are officially in our system as an applicant. You will soon receive email instructions for creating an account and moving on to Part 2. Apply now >
Admissions Meeting

Before filling out Part 2 of the application, we recommend that applicants contact us to set up a conversation and/or a virtual visit. We’d love to introduce you a classroom experience and/or set you up for a chat with a student and/or professor. This will help you learn if the Zelikow School is a great match for you.

Full Application

This is the bulk of your application, which includes in-depth questions about your desire to pursue this professional degree.

If you have already submitted Part 1, you should have received an email with login instructions for Part 2. You can return to edit this application at any time.

Are you having issues accessing the application? Contact Melissa Garai for help.

Application Essay

These two writing samples are your chance to share why the Zschool is the right place for you. You’ll upload these essays in the “Supplemental Materials” section of the application portal.

Personal Statement. We want to understand you better. We’re looking for a well-written personal statement that addresses the following themes. Please do not exceed 7 double-spaced pages:

Personal Background

Jewish Identity

Academic Background

Work Experience

Professional Goals

Short Essay: Please respond to 1 of the following prompts in succinct, well-written prose. Please do not exceed 3 double-spaced pages:

A) Defend an unpopular opinion you hold of Jewish life and why you believe it is unpopular.

Or

B) You are the leader of an elite team funded with unlimited budget to solve a problem confronting the North American or global Jewish community. What would you choose and why do you believe it is worth investing community resources to solve?

Supplemental Materials

Students applying for a degree are required to submit 3 letters of recommendation. Please include 1 letter from each category below.

  1. Professional Recommendation. You are encouraged to select a current or previous supervisor of paid or volunteer work (Working applicants must submit a recommendation from a current supervisor unless otherwise approved.)
  2. Academic Recommendation. This can be a college professor or instructor with whom you have engaged in serious academic study. If you have been out of school for 5+ years, adult or informal education instructors work too.
  3. Jewish Life Recommendation. This should be someone who knows you in the context of Jewish organizational/communal life. If you know a graduate of the Zschool, this is a great place to include them, but only if they know you well enough to comment meaningfully on your candidacy.

Transcripts (From all past institutions of higher learning, whether or not they were your degree-bearing institution)

Please have your schools mail the transcripts directly to:

National Office of Recruitment and Admissions
Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion
3101 Clifton Avenue
Cincinnati, OH 45220
tward@huc.edu

Resume

For candidates with GPA below a 3.0 from the previous academic institution, please submit:

  • GRE Scores
Admissions Interview

Interview with a panel of Administrators, Faculty, Alumni and/or lay leaders from the Zelikow School. This helps us to assess who you are as a person and allows you to present yourself “off the page”. The interview is also a chance to ask questions of various Zelikow School stakeholders. There is space on the application to indicate your availability.

Brief Application
Start your process with Part 1 of our application. It’s easy to do and takes less than 1 minute. Once you submit Part 1, you are officially in our system as an applicant. You will soon receive email instructions for creating an account and moving on to Part 2. This application needs to be completed in addition to other HUC applications you will be or have completed. Apply now >
Admissions Meeting

Before filling out Part 2 of the application, we recommend that applicants contact us to set up a conversation and/or a virtual visit. This will help you learn if the Zelikow School is a great match for you.

Application Part 2

This is the bulk of your application, which includes in-depth questions about your desire to pursue this professional degree.

If you have already submitted Part 1, you should have received an email with login instructions for Part 2. You can return to edit this application at any time.

Are you having issues accessing the application? Contact Melissa Garai for help.

Application Essay

These two writing samples are your chance to share why the Zschool is the right place for you. You’ll upload these essays in the “Supplemental Materials” section of the application portal.

Long Essay: We want to understand you better. The Admissions committee will review the personal statement from your previous/additional HUC-JIR application and let you know if an addendum is necessary to complete your application.

Short Essay: Please explain why you would like to attain the Certificate in Jewish Organizational Leadership. How do you imagine the coursework will shape your career? Please do not exceed 3 double-spaced pages.

Supplemental Materials

Students applying for a degree are required to submit 4 letters of recommendation (3 for applicants to the Certificate). Please include at least 1 letter from each category below.

  1. Professional Recommendation. You are encouraged to select a current or previous supervisor of paid or volunteer work (MSOLI applicants must submit a recommendation from a current supervisor unless otherwise approved.)
  2. Academic Recommendation. This can be a college professor or instructor with whom you have engaged in serious academic study. If you have been out of school for 5+ years, adult or informal education instructors work too.
  3. Jewish Life Recommendation. This should be someone who knows you in the context of Jewish organizational/communal life. If you know a graduate of the Zschool, this is a great place to include them, but only if they know you well enough to comment meaningfully on your candidacy.

Transcripts (From all past institutions of higher learning, whether or not they were your degree-bearing institution)

Please have your schools mail the transcripts directly to:

National Office of Recruitment and Admissions
Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion
3101 Clifton Avenue
Cincinnati, OH 45220
tward@huc.edu

Resume

Admissions Interview

Interview with a panel of Administrators, Faculty, Alumni and/or lay leaders from the Zelikow School. This helps us to assess who you are as a person and allows you to present yourself “off the page”. The interview is also a chance to ask questions of various Zelikow School stakeholders. There is space on the application to indicate your availability.

NOVEMBER 15, 2023

First Round Online Applications Due

NOVEMBER 15, 2023
DECEMBER 11-15, 2023

First Round Interview Dates (Zoom)

DECEMBER 11-15, 2023
FEBRUARY 15, 2024

Second Round Online Applications Due

FEBRUARY 15, 2024
MARCH 4-8, 2024

Second Round Interview Dates (Zoom)

MARCH 4-8, 2024
APRIL 8, 2024

EXTENDED Final Deadline!

APRIL 8, 2024
APRIL 16-18, 2024

Third Round Interview Dates (Zoom)

APRIL 16-18, 2024
Financial Aid

We believe cost should not be a limiting factor for those wanting to pursue a Jewish professional career. We provide generous scholarships of up to 80%.

Calendar

All Zschool dates subject to change

Spring (2024)

Tues, January 16: First Day of Classes
Mon, February 19:  Presidents’ Day (No Classes)
Mon-Fri: April 3-14: Pesach Break (No Classes)
Monday, May 1: Last Day of Classes
Wed-Mon, May 1-6: Reading Period
Tues-Wed, May 7-8: Final Exams
Sat, May 11: Zschool Graduation Havdallah
Mon, May 13: HUC-JIR Graduation- LA Campus

Summer (2024)

Sun-Thurs, June 2-6: Zschool 2024 Leadership Conference
Held in-person in Los Angeles for all current Zschool students
Wed-Thurs, June 12-13: Shavuot (No Classes June 10-14)
Mon, June 17: First day of Classes
Wed, June 19: Juneteenth (No Classes)
Thurs, July 4: USA Independence Day (No Classes)
Tues, July 30: Last Day of Classes
Wed, July 31: Zschool Culmination and MSOLI Graduation

Fall (2024)

Mon, August 19: First Day of Classes
Mon, September 2: Labor Day (No Classes)
Thurs-Fri, October 3-4: Rosh Hashanah (No Classes)
Fri, October 11: Kol Nidre (No Classes)
Thurs-Fri, October 17-18: Sukkot I-II (No Classes)
Thurs-Fri, October 24-25: Shmini Atzeret, Simchat Torah (No Classes)
Thurs-Fri, November 28-29: Thanksgiving Break (No Classes)
Tues, December 10: Last Day of Classes
Wed-Thurs, December 11-12: Reading Period
Mon-Tues, December 16-17: Final Exams

Certificate in jewish organizational leadership* (7 weeks)

Enrollment confirmation

$200

Enrollment confirmation

$200

Enrollment confirmation

$200

Cost of attendance

$55,350

Learn more about program costs and scholarship information.

Our Admission Requirements

  • A BA or BS degree from an accredited college or university
  • An academic record reflecting the ability to do graduate work at a 3.0 grade point average (GPA) or above on a four-point scale
  • Students with a GPA of a 3.0 or above from a previous institution do not need to submit Graduate Record Examination (GRE) scores. However, students with a GPA below 3.0 will need to submit GRE scores.
  • International applicants from non-English speaking countries must take the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), now an internet-based test (IBT). International applicants must have a working knowledge of English and a score of at least 90 on the TOEFL, with at least 22 on each constituent part.
  • A readiness for graduate study, including the capacity to meet the intellectual, ethical, and emotional demands of graduate school.
  • A serious commitment to Jewish communal life, learning and values.
  • An ability to engage in abstract reasoning, to think analytically and conceptually, and to formulate mature, independent judgments.
  • An ability to speak and write clearly and articulately.
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