Apply to the WKU Counseling & Student Affairs Program

Request official transcripts to be sent to WKU. If you will graduate this semester, please upload your current transcript now and submit your final, degree-conferring transcript after graduation. Your final transcript must be received at least one month before your first semester begins.

Prompts & Guidelines

• Career Goals: Discuss how your career objectives and personal dispositions (e.g., interpersonal skills, ability to handle stress) make you a good fit for the counseling profession. Provide support for and specific examples of why you believe your interests, as well as personal and interpersonal dispositions (including interpersonal skills and experiences, as well as ability to handle stress and emotional triggers) are appropriate and fitting for the profession. (CACREP SECTION 1:J.1.)
• Aptitude and Graduate-Level Readiness: Briefly describe your aptitude for graduate-level study through both face-to-face and digital delivery modalities. Provide evidence for why you believe you are ready for graduate studies. How will you adapt to both in-person and digital learning environments and maintain focus and connection with instructors, as well as student peers? How will you seek and maintain relationships with instructors in both face to face and digital settings so as to assure your success in the course? (CACREP SECTION 1:J.2.)
• Forming Effective Relationships with Diverse Populations and in Diverse Settings: How will you form effective relationships with clients/students in both face-to-face and digital settings? How will you create effective relationships in diverse settings (i.e., families, groups, school setting) and with diverse people?) What are your skills, experiences and dispositions that lend themselves to building effective relationships; what are opportunities for your own growth? (CACREP SECTION 1:J.3.)
• Sensitivity to Interpersonal Differences: Describe your experiences with people from different backgrounds. How do you show respect for differences, and in what ways will you need to develop to be a culturally sensitive professional, as it may relate to social and cultural identities and experiences different than your own (age, ability, ethnicity, race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status)? (CACREP SECTION 1:J.3.; SECTION 3.B.)

Note: Applications with significant writing errors or that fail to address all prompts may be denied or asked to reapply for a future cycle.

Submit a current resume that includes a reference list of 3 individuals (with their title, phone, and email) who can speak to your academic and professional readiness. Faculty may contact them.

A background check is required. You must upload a copy of the completed report to your application portal. Direct questions to Verified Credentials at 1-800-938-6090.

Counseling Program CheckStudent Affairs Program Check

The Admissions Application Portfolio provides faculty/staff observers with the opportunity to assess applicants according to the following CACREP-accreditation standards:

• Transcripts (CACREP SECTION 1.J.2.);
• Career Goals consistent within the field of the Counseling Profession (CACREP SECTION 1.J.1.);
• Aptitude for Graduate-level Study (CACREP SECTION 1.J.2.);
• and Professional Dispositions (CACREP SECTION 1.J.3.).

Based upon a holistic review of each applicant's application portfolio, applicants are invited to participate in a group interview or denied admission. The Department of Counseling and Student Affairs provides an admission decision for the overall MAE in Counseling, rather than to a specific practice pathway (CMHC or MCFC), resulting in acceptance or denial to the program as a standalone entity rather than to a specific practice pathway. Due to the complexity of individual admittance decisions, details of which are not shared with applicants. Students who are denied can apply during an upcoming admissions cycle and are encouraged to compare and contrast their portfolio with program admissions expectations and guidelines.