For application to the internship program, it is required

I got ur point.
U r right.
(B) may be wrong.

In that case I think (A) is best answer.

For application to the internship program, it is required that students submit a 500 to 700 word autobiography essay, a recommendation from a former employer or teacher, a transcript, and a writing sample.

However, that also does not answer ur questions. We need some more help.

'it' and 'there' cannot be subject of a clause if preceeded by a modifier.
So it cannot be A.

Waiting for Paul or Other experts to clarify....

it is definitely not the subject.. In (A), Subject is "that students submit a 500 to 700 word autobiography essay".

I saw anand hovering around in the forum. We can catch him.

B.
it is students that apply to the internship program. Except D, other choices are dangling.
But in choice D, "should" needs be left out.

I would go for A
B seems to have a misplaced modifier problem in that it sounds as if "students" themselves are a requirement for the application.
In A, "it" refers to "requirements" as nocilis said

but there is no such word in the sentence..

Paul,
What do you think if questions starts with submit like "For submitting applications........" . Would you still think "it is required" a better choice.

Does anyone find it interesting that in A required is followed by the unidiomatic that. You can be required to do something or it can a requirement of another body. But to require that, doesn't seem right. A should read, it is required of students to submit. I still think that B is correct despite the modification problem, but then again who knows. OA anyone?

Pick "A" as well, in addition to Paul's comment I also think "A" conveys a subjunctive mood.

Hmm. This is a tough one.
One thing I can say is "it is required that ....."
contains what is called the empty it
Here the "it does not refer to anything but just exists because every verb needs a subject. (verb being "is" )
I did some research on this question but could not find very convincing answer.

First of all "for the application to the internship program" is a prepositional phrase.
Now as per the grammr rules it can act as a noun, or, adverb, or, adjective

From usage perspective I just liked (B).

Let us rearrange each choice

(A) it is required that students submit + X + Y + Z, + for the application to the internship program.

(B) students are required to submit + X + Y + Z, + for the application to the internship program.

My belief is that the prepositional phrase is acting as an adjective. It has to be followed by a noun. I somehow feel that both sentences have a problem.

I have problem with "for the"
I would have really liked "while applying" or "when applying"

I would like to know the source of this SC.

This question is from Master the GMAT CAT 2005.

OA is (C). This is the OE. I am not convinced however.

The original (A) contains two errors: the pronoun it creates ambiguity because there is no obvious antecedent, and the word autobiography should appear as an adjective with the ending –al. The original also uses the passive voice. (B) corrects the pronoun problem but fails to correct the adjective and the use of passive voice.(D) is incorrect because it corrects the pronoun and the passive voice, but fails to correct the adjective. (E) contains the original pronoun and adjective errors.

but shouldn't "requirement" in C be "requirements" as a list of requirements is mentioned?

So, according to the OA, it seems not like the adj. phrase but the adv. phrase. Therefore, there is no dangling doubt. right?

Tough one, Glad it is C, that's what I got but was so unsure.

the requirement for is the correct usage

Am still shocked to see OA as C

Can anyone explain why is "requirement" not "requirements" ??

Never heard of Master the GMAT CAT 2005 before. I agree that "requirements" should be the right element being modified by the introductory modifier. However, although it is possible to singularize "requirement" prior to an enumeration, this is a concept I strongly believe the GMAT will not test.