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Admission Criteria & Application Materials

Admission to the Counseling Program and one of its three sequences is competitive. There is no guarantee of admission just because an applicant meets or exceeds the minimum criteria. The minimum criteria for admission are described below. Deadlines for the program are: February 15 for Fall admission and August 15 for Spring admission. You can review the program's admission requirements in the GSU Catalog. 

  1. In addition to the GSU graduate application for admission, applicants must have at least a:
    • cumulative GPA of 2.75 or higher for all undergraduate course work attempted; or
    • GPA of 3.0 for the last 60 hours of undergraduate coursework.
    • If the cumulative GPA for all undergraduate coursework attempted is 2.74 or below, student must 
      • attain a score of at least 302 on the verbal and quantitative portions of the Graduate Record Exam—General Test (score of 1050 if the test was taken prior to August 2011); or 
      • take COUN 6600, COUN 6630, and COUN 6609 (writing course) and complete with B’s or better.  (NOTE: Completion of these courses or the GRE does not guarantee admission.)
       

     
  2. Recommendation of the faculty based on the submission of supplementary application packet which includes:
    • One copy of official transcripts of all previous college work (see Step 5 below for details)
    • Counseling Application Form
    • Statement of Character Form (included in the application)
    • Three Personal Reference forms
    • The GRE, if applicable, and a copy of the Test of Academic Proficiency exam results (formerly the Basic Skills test) for school counseling applicants

       
     
  3. Complete specified prerequisite coursework with a GPA of 3.0 or higher. If these are not completed at the time of admission, they must be completed prior to attaining candidacy.

    Prerequisite courses for the Clinical Mental Health Counseling and Marriage and Family Counseling sequences include statistics (STAT4720), a course in research methodology (PSYC4750), a course in abnormal psychology (PSYC3430), and course work in Addictions Studies at the 5000 level (Marriage and Family sequence must complete ADDS6300) or above totaling three semester hours; Applicants for the School Counseling sequence must have completed a course in statistics (STAT4720), a course in research methodology (PSYC4750), and course work in Addictions Studies at the 5000 level or above totaling three semester hours.

Admission to the program is determined by the program faculty.  Program faculty reserves the right to request personal interviews with applicants to the program.

Students must follow sequence, program, college, and university requirements and policies.

Note: Admissions are made into a specific counseling sequence (school, marriage and family, or community).  Changing sequences may require a new application review.  As a result, it may not be possible to change sequences based on accreditation limitations or the amount and quality of applicants.

HOW TO APPLY

THE GRADUATE APPLICATION PROCESS:

IMPORTANT! Getting your application in early increases your chances of progressing through the application process successfully. Waiting until the day of the deadline decreases your ability to get in any missing documents and therefore might cause your application to be denied.

Getting your application in early does not increase your admission chances; it ensures a complete and accurate packet. If you do submit your application packet the day of the deadline, make sure it is COMPLETE, including all transcripts required.

STEP 1 

Print out the Application Procedures. READ THIS CAREFULLY. This document makes the difference between a complete, accurate application and one that may be denied due to missing materials. 

STEP 2 

Print the Checklist so that you can verify that you are compiling everything necessary. Turn this Checklist in with your packet.

STEP 3 

Fill out the GSU Graduate Application. This application is the GSU admission application--there is a $50 fee.

STEP 4

Fill out the Counseling Application.  This application is the required Counseling application and must be filled out and submitted. If you experience any problems filling this out in Word, please contact Bonnie Gregg at bgregg@govst.edu.

STEP 5 

Request official undergraduate transcripts (whether you went to one school or multiple—we need transcripts of all your undergraduate courses, not just where you received your bachelor’s degree).

PLEASE NOTE: Even if transfer work is listed on a particular transcript that will not be accepted.  You must send an official transcript for each and every undergraduate school you attended, even if you only took one class there.  Our Admissions office is unable to complete your GPA calculation if you do not turn in every transcript.  An incomplete set of transcripts will result in your application being denied.

STEP 6 

Complete the supplemental materials required by the Counseling Program. These materials consist of:

STEP 7 

Send (or drop off) the materials (preferably as one packet) to:

Admissions Processing Office
Governors State University
One University Parkway
University Park, IL  60484

PROCEDURES FOR CURRENT GSU STUDENTS WHO WANT TO TRANSFER INTO COUNSELING

  1. In addition to the above, please submit a Change of Major/Status Form with your packet.
  2. You do not need to pay the $50 application fee.