Application Process

Application Deadline

M.S. in Psychology
February 1

M.S. in MFCC
The department only accepts application submissions during the application period (between October 1st and January 15th) for enrollment in the following fall. The department doesn’t review applications until the application deadline passes. This means submitting your application early has no influence on your admission.

Undergraduate GPA Required

M.S. in Psychology

• The University requires a 3.0 grade point average for admission. Successful applicants to the program generally have a higher grade point average, but there is no specific minimum grade point average beyond this. We do read all applications to the program and in rare cases we will petition the university to override this GPA requirement when the applicant is outstanding in all other areas.

• The program requires the applicant to have a bachelor's degree, but it does not have to be in psychology.

M.S. in MFCC

Minimum 3.0 GPA in last 60 units

GRE Requirement

None

Prerequisite Courses

M.S. in Psychology

• Because incoming students begin clinical training within weeks of starting the program, our program requires that incoming students have at least a year (preferably more) of clinical practice experiences. These experiences may include any paid or non-paid position that involves supporting the mental health of individuals, children, or families either in-person or remotely in the form of hot-lines (i.e. suicide prevention, child abuse prevention, crisis lines) or warm-lines (i.e., Friendship line for elderly individuals, parenting support). Clinical experience that is solely gained through text-based modalities is not adequate.

• In addition to requiring at least one year of clinical experience, specific courses related to clinical psychology are required (i.e., an upper-division course in Statistics, Abnormal Psychology, & Theories of Personality). Additional courses are recommended but not required (e.g., Introduction to Clinical Psychology, Community Psychology, Cross-Cultural Psychology, Developmental Psychology, Psychology of the Family, Behavior Problems in Children, etc.).

• If you are applying and want to be in the Clinical Focus track, you do not need any research experience. For applicants to the Clinical/Research Focus track, applicants should have at least one year of research-related experience. Examples include, but are not limited to: volunteer or paid work experience within a research laboratory, development of a senior thesis project, and completed research studies done via upper-level coursework.

M.S. in MFCC

• We highly recommended you take these courses as the material is the foundation for first year counseling courses. If your undergrad degree did not cover the material listed; we urge you to take these courses before starting the program. However, they are not currently required.

  • Field of Counseling

  • Multicultural Human Relations

  • Lifespan Development

  • Theories of Personality

  • Abnormal Psychology (a.k.a. Psychopathology)

• Regarding prerequisite volunteer or work experience, each applicant’s situation, experience, and strengths are different. There is no one right profile of an applicant and we look at the overall picture. It is important that applicants have clarity about the field of counseling and the specialization they want to pursue. Experience can help with that, especially experience that is related to the type of counseling you wish to pursue. There are many different volunteer opportunities in the community that provide great experience related to counseling. At the same time, we understand that the current health situation makes volunteer opportunities more challenging. In the application, you will complete two forms summarizing your experience: counseling related experience and non counseling related experience. Both paid and unpaid experience are valuable and important to include.

Application Highlights

M.S. in Psychology

• Letters of recommendation

  • should be from professionals who are familiar with your recent academic and clinical practice experience (and research experience, for those applying to the Clinical/Research Focus).

  • It is best that your letters of recommendation be spread across your experience, for example, one letter from a professor who knows your course work, one letter from a professional who supervised your work at a community agency, and one letter from a professor with whom you did research or teaching assistance.

  • More than three letters of recommendation can be submitted.

• Resume/CV

  • Related experience is any experience, paid or unpaid, that is related to the skills needed to be a psychotherapist; this is the most important factor in determining the relative strength of an application. Examples include, but are not limited to: volunteer or paid work experience on a suicide or crisis intervention line, with an AIDS organization, as a teacher or behavioral technician (especially with children with behavior or emotional problems), in a hospital or community mental health organization, or in group or residential treatment facility.

• Autobiographical statement

  • In one essay please describe the following: What are your professional goals? In addition, we would like you to include an autobiography so that we can more clearly get to know you as a person. We hope that this attempt will produce a meaningful confrontation with yourself and that the process of doing so will be worth the effort. In responding, it is important that you take a careful psychologically-minded perspective of your attitudes, life and goals. Your statement will be a central factor in the evaluation of your total application.

  • The applicant should emphasize those aspects of his or her development that were particularly significant in forming their character and personality and in creating their motivation to become a psychotherapist.

  • The autobiographical statement should be a maximum of 6 typewritten, double-spaced pages.

  • Note: applicants applying with a Clinical/Research Focus should additionally indicate their area(s) of research interest, and clearly state which research mentor(s) they would like to work with.

M.S. in MFCC

• Every year the Department of Counseling Admissions Coordinator creates detailed application instructions for that admissions year. The instructions include the following:

  • Navigating CalState Apply (with Images)

  • Applying for the correct specialization and/or emphasis

  • Specific program application materials required

  • Personal Statement prompt and length as well as Affidavit of Authorship form

  • Experience Summary forms

  • Letters of Recommendation

  • Fee Payment instructions

• Personal Statement

  • Only complete and upload a “Personal Statement” (see instructions on our department website). Do not complete the university “Statement of Purpose”.

  • For the Personal Statement, there is no minimum; maximum is around 1300 words (2-3 pages). It is important to write, read, review, revise, sometimes multiple times to ensure that you are clear, focused, succinct and minimize redundancy. Take time to think this through. Relate your personal experience to your professional goals, making sure you address the specialization and emphasis (if any) for which you are applying and stating why you are choosing this program.

  • Some questions to consider: Why are you choosing to pursue this program? What experiences have you had that brought you to this point? How have your work and/or volunteer experiences contributed to your potential as a counselor? What has contributed to your understanding of yourself and others in terms of cultural identity and how that relates to your experiences and goals? Content will vary depending upon your experiences and personality. Pay attention to grammar, organization, and correct language usage. All students in our program are expected to engage in self-reflection and analysis of highly sensitive issues (e.g., cultural experiences and perspectives, family, history, sexuality, personal psychological issues). This is standard practice in most high-quality counseling programs. There is no specific prompt, rather it is an opportunity for us to get to know who you are and why you have chosen this path. It is important that you are the author of the Personal Statement and will need to verify that if you are admitted to the program.

• Letters of Recommendation

  • No more than two letters will be accepted. The requirement is two letters of recommendation exactly (submitting more than 2 letters may be subject to disqualification). The admissions committee will only review 2 letters.

  • Ideal people to write letters of recommendation would be professional or academic contacts who have been in a supervisory or instructor role and know about your potential as a graduate student and counseling trainee. Personal relationships are not appropriate for letters of recommendation (e.g., family, friends, personal therapists, etc.). Make sure to read the admission application instructiosn on our website for more information.

Interview Requirement

M.S. in Psychology
A subset of the strongest applications is chosen and these applicants are offered an interview on campus. This interview will consist of a series of meetings with faculty members and current graduate students, and will include both individual and group formats. From this interviewing process, 8 applicants are selected and invited into the program. Generally, this process takes several weeks. Interviews are typically in early- to mid-March. Admission decisions typically occur by the end of March.