ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS
In addition to the general admission requirements for graduate study at Northern Kentucky University, applicants for admission to a graduate degree program in counseling must met the following requirements:
- A baccalaureate degree from a regionally accredited college or university with an overall minimum 2.75 undergraduate grade point average on a 4.0 scale. Undergraduate coursework must contain 48 semester credits (or equivalent in quarter hours) in the liberal arts.
- Baccalaureate degree must show completion of a statistics course with a grade of C- or higher.
Application Process
- Submit an online application and application fee to the Office of Graduate Education.
- Submit official transcripts of undergraduate and any graduate coursework sent directly from all institutions of higher education previously attended.
- Applicants with an undergraduate GPA lower than 3.0 must submit official scores on the Graduate Record Exam (GRE).
- Submit the supplemental application, including a 500–700-word essay demonstrating evidence of one’s potential to work effectively with people, reasons for pursuing education to become a professional counselor, any relevant work or volunteer experiences, and professional goals. This essay will be evaluated for clarity, grammar, and structure/organization. The supplemental application is available on the Office of Graduate Education website.
- Submit a writing sample. This may be a paper from the applicant’s undergraduate/graduate studies that evidences their academic capacities or a new paper (3-5 pages in length) in response to one of the prompts available on the Office of Graduate Education website. Submissions will be evaluated for clarity, grammar, and structure/organization.
- Three recommendations from people (e.g., former instructors, supervisors, colleagues) qualified to evaluate academic and professional potential in the field of counseling. These must be submitted on counseling recommendation form. Counseling Recommendation Forms are available on the Office of Graduate Education website.
- Submit a professional resume tailored to educational goals, including educational background, employment history, and accomplishments.
- Successful completion of an interview with the program faculty and a positive recommendation from the admissions committee for admission to the program, to ensure the candidate possesses the interpersonal characteristics and personal dispositions to uphold ethical standards of the counseling profession.
A criminal background check (state and federal), although not required for admission to the program, will be required prior to enrollment in the counseling practicum and internship classes.
The counseling program admits new students for the fall, spring, and summer semesters. Admission to the counseling program is competitive, and admission decisions are based on a holistic evaluation of each applicant’s admission file.
