Counseling Program Admission Requirements

Central Michigan University's CACREP-accredited counseling program offers three concentrations, Addiction, Clinical Mental Health and School Counseling.

Admission requirements

• 2.8 GPA
• Two professional letters of reference (must be academic or professional) who can speak to potential in the counseling field and/or graduate study. Personal letters are not accepted.
• A written statement should consist of a 3-page APA (cover page does not count as 1 page) formatted essay detailing the following:
  • State your career goals;
  • Describe how completing an M.A. in Counseling will help you fulfill those goals. 
  • If you are applying to the online program describe your readiness to engage in a digital learning environment; and
  • Describe your strengths and areas for growth as a graduate student.

Admission process

• Initial Review: Faculty review all applications and rate applications on a rubric that rates the following: 
  • GPA, prior experience, quality of recommendation, quality of writing in SOP, and if SOP meets guidelines. 
• Initial decision: Faculty determine if an applicant should move to interview, waitlist for an interview, or deny.  
• Admission Interview:  Applicants moved to interview are emailed with interview times.  Applicants attend a one-hour virtual group interview that requires responding to questions, reading an article, and engaging in a non-facilitated group discussion with each applicant in the group. 
• Admission Decision: Faculty either accept the application for admission, waitlist for admission, or reject.