Applying
We welcome your interest in the Master of Arts (M.A.) in Rehabilitation Counseling Program! We hope you will explore our website to learn more about our Program's goals and curriculum. We encourage you to learn more about our current students and our faculty, or come to East Lansing to tour the MSU campus.
We also invite you to reach out to a student or contact a faculty member with any questions about the M.A. Program or the admissions process.
Domestic Applicants must complete Steps 1-4. International Applicants must complete Steps 1-6.
Admissions Deadline
Applications for the M.A. program in Rehabilitation Counseling should be submitted by February 15th. However, applicants interested in the M.A. program but unable to meet this date should contact the program to discuss the possibility of submitting an application after February 15th. Applications are reviewed only once each year, and students are admitted to the program for the following Fall semester only.
Application Process
Consideration is given to the applicant’s previous academic and professional experience. There should be in each applicant’s background a pattern of experience that supports his or her expressed desire to pursue advanced graduate studies in rehabilitation counseling. Appropriate evidence of such experience should be reflected in the applicant’s letters of recommendation.
1. Complete and submit the University Application
- After you complete the University Application and submit your payment, an email inviting you to complete the GEA Portal will be sent to the email address submitted on your University Graduate School Application. The supplemental application will serve as an electronic depository for your student-generated application materials.
2. Completed the MSU Graduate Education Application (GEA Portal)
- The GEA Portal allows you to upload supplemental documents, request letter of recommendations, check the status of your application, and send e-messages to the program. Log into the GEA Portal using your Applicant ID and Password to complete the application process and monitor your application status.
- Provide contact information for three (3) individuals who will completed Letters of Recommendation in the GEA Portal.
- Upload your Professional & Scholarly Goal Statement to the GEA Portal.(Please see the description of content and formatting of this statement).
- Upload your Vita or Resume to the GEA Portal
- List professional experience, awards, honors, publications, presentations, professional affiliations, and professional development activities.
- Optional Writing Sample
- You may submit an example of academic or professional writing, e.g., something that you have published, a master’s thesis, or a paper you might have submitted to fulfill graduate course requirements. You must have authored the sample exclusively. The purpose is to demonstrate your ability to write analytical English prose in order to give the review committee a clear idea of how well you will be able to carry out the kind of analytical writing that is such a central component of advanced graduate study. Samples whose content is close to the applicant’s stated interest are most useful. Writing samples may be submitted through the GEA Portal.
3. Complete the Graduate Record Examination (GRE)
- Applicants with grade-point averages of less than 3.00 (B) in their last two years of undergraduate study must also submit scores from the Graduate Record Examination General Test (subject test scores not required).
- The verbal, quantitative, and analytical portions of the GRE should be submitted. Applications should have official test results reported to institution code 1465.
4. Send one set of Official Transcripts from all previous institutions attended
- These transcripts must be sent directly from the institution; please contact the Registrar’s Office at the institutions you attended for the appropriate procedures and fee information.
- Have the transcripts sent directly to the corresponding Graduate Admissions Representative. Note: Transcripts and the CDGDC report (for applicants from Chinese universities) are the only materials to be sent to admissions representatives.
- International Applicants: Submit original or attested copies of all transcripts, diplomas, mark sheets, and certificates from all secondary schools and colleges attended and official English translations if original or attested documents are not in English.
- Applicants who attended Chinese Universities: Please arrange for a verification report of your university academic records with the China Academic Degree and Graduate Education Development Center (CDGDC). The report must be mailed directly to the corresponding Graduate Admissions Representative by the CDGDC, rather than by you or any third party.
- China Adademic Degree and Graduate Education Development Center Verification Division B-17, Tongfang Scientific Plaza No. 1 Wangzhuang Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100083, P.R. China Tel: +86-10-82379480 Fax: +86-10-82378718 (24 hours) Email: cqv@cdgdc.edu.cn Website: www.chinadegrees.cn
5. Requirements for the English Language Proficiency
- Applicants whose first language is not English are required to submit proof of proficiency in the English language as a condition for regular admission to MSU. Details regarding profficency testing and minimum scores required by the University may be located here.
6. Upload Proof of financial support to the GEA Portal
- International applicants are required to submit an Affidavit of Support and financial proof. This statement, which is found on the Grad School's website, must originate from your source of support and must be a certified, original statement with stamp and original signature.
Have questions? Check out the FAQ’s listed on each CEPSE graduate program’s website. Also, the Program Admission Representative for each graduate program can answer questions related to the submission of your materials. Note that all admissions decisions are made by the CEPSE faculty.